Chris Barrett, Singapore – Australia and Indonesia can build much-needed trust by deepening trade and investment ties that have for too long been underdeveloped, according to one of the south-east Asian nation's most powerful business figures.

Ardito Ramadhan, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has proposed revising the TNI (Indonesian military) Law so that active TNI officers can hold posts in government ministries and institutions.

Agatha Olivia V, Fadhli Ruhman, Jakarta – Indonesia's economy in the second quarter of 2022 is still concentrated on Java Island, according to Head of Indonesia Statistics (BPS) Margo Yuwono.

This is apparent from the fact that provinces in the island dominate in terms of contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP).

Jakarta – Indonesia's economic growth accelerated in the second quarter of 2022 despite global uncertainty, official data showed Friday, thanks to soaring commodity prices and easing COVID-19 restrictions.

Indonesia's economy expanded 5.44 percent on-year in April-June, slightly up from 5.01 percent in the previous three months, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) said.

Maulana – Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan claims he was surprised to hear that the Indonesian government is often accused of being communist.

News Desk, Jakarta – The state-run Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) has found that more than half of the Rp 1.7 trillion (US$113.9 million) in charitable donations collected by popular humanitarian organization Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT) was transferred to entities affiliated with its executives and used for private profit.

As Bali gears itself to host the G20 Summit this November, the local administration has announced that it will shut down the biggest landfill in the province just before the inter-governmental event begins.

Strain operator PT KAI says it has fired a janitor who is accused of peeping and filming a female passenger in the bathroom of Ciamis Station in West Java.

Sugiharto P, Nabil Ihsan, Jakarta – Minister of State-owned Enterprises Erick Thohir emphasized that a zero-tolerance approach will be applied to perpetrators of sexual harassment within the ecosystem of state-owned enterprises.

With neighboring countries already reporting cases, the Indonesian Doctors' Association (IDI) says there's a big probability that monkeypox is already in the archipelago, but it has gone undetected thus far.

Jayapura, Jubi – Head of the Papua Agriculture and Food Agency Semuel Siriwa encourages the people of Lanny Jaya Regency to change the cycle of planting and harvesting sweet potatoes. This is to reduce the risk of damage to food crops due to extreme weather such as hail, Siriwa said in Jayapura on Thursday, August 4, 2022.

Yogyakarta (Antara) – The headmaster and three teachers of a state high school in Yogyakarta have been suspended by Governor Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X following reports that a female student was forced to wear hijab.

Beritasatu, Jakarta – Former Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Roy Suryo was detained by the Jakarta Police on Friday evening, two weeks after he was named a suspect for alleged blasphemy related to his tweets about the Buddhist temple Borobudur.

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Fires are flaring up in Indonesia's Riau province, the perennial epicenter of the burning season in Sumatra, as the dry season sets in.

At the end of March, fires had burned nearly 169 hectares (417 acres) of land in Riau, where large swaths of forests and peatlands have been burned to make way for plantations of oil palms and pulpwood.

Antara, Jakarta – The electability of the NasDem Party in a recent survey conducted by the Center for Political Communication Studies (CPCS) has reportedly dropped after openly announcing that it would endorse the Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan in the future presidential election.

Hendartyo Hanggi, Jakarta – Statistics Indonesia (BPS) Head Margo Yuwono said policies of subsidies and social aid, as well as benchmark interest rates, were quite effective in controlling domestic inflation, maintaining people's purchasing power, and ensuring a conducive business climate.

Antara, Jakarta – Indonesia recorded 6,527 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours as of Thursday noon, August 4. According to the Health Ministry's data, Jakarta was the province reporting the most daily infections with 43.11% or 2,814 cases.

Jakarta – Indonesia's economy has accelerated in the second quarter against a gloomy global economic backdrop, thanks to windfall revenue from rising prices of its commodity exports and strong household consumption during the Islamic festive season as the number of Covid-19 cases receded.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Indonesia's mining sector expanded 4.01 percent in the second quarter of 2022, a growth which the Central Statistics Agency or BPS attributed to, among other things, the rising foreign demand for coal amid Europe's decision to ban Russian imports of the combustible black rock.

Luke Hunt – Expectations that Timor-Leste would be shepherded into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen have been formally dashed amid concerns the tiny country is not ready for membership in the bloc.

Jakarta – The People's Coalition Against Evictions (KRMP) has again urged Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan to immediately revoke Gubernatorial Regulation (Pergub) Number 207/2016 on Guidelines on the Use and Control of Land Without Entitled Permits.

Jakarta – The Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace is asking Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim to take firm action against state schools forcing students to wear the jilbab – an Islamic female headdress which leaves the face exposed.

Luke Hunt, Phnom Penh – Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Aug 3 that he was confident Timor-Leste would become the 11th member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) by next year, shelving plans to shepherd the tiny state into the bloc under his stewardship.

Mutia Yuantisya, Jakarta – Jakarta Legislative Council (DPRD) Speaker Edi Marsudi spoke up about the latest policy introduced by the capital city's governor Anies Baswedan who changed the fundamental description of regional general hospitals from rumah sakit to rumah sehat.

Antara, Jakarta – The PKS Party House of Representatives (DPR) member Amin Ak warned the government to not utilize State Budget (APBN) to cover the cost overrun of one of Indonesia's ambitious projects, the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway.

Riani Sanusi Putri, Jakarta – Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the government allocated Rp44.8 trillion from the State Budget (APBN) to suppress the stunting rate among children this year.

Mutia Yuantisya, Jakarta – The Civil Coalition Against Evictions (KRMP) is set to stage a demonstration if Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan does not respond to the letter requesting a hearing. They urged Anies to fulfill his promise to revoke Governor Regulation (Pergub) No. 207/2016 on the guideline of land use or control without entitled permits.

Stefani Wijaya, Jakarta – A high-ranking police officer on Thursday blamed slain policeman Brigadier Nopryansyah Yosua Hutabarat for harassing his wife which led to the fatal shooting by his personal assistant who has been named a murder suspect.

Herman, Jakarta – The Jakarta Police halted the criminal investigation into the finding of more than 3.7 tons of government rice buried by delivery company JNE Express, saying on Thursday there is no proof of malice.

Randy Mulyanto and Leo Galuh, Jakarta, Indonesia – Indonesia's temporary ban on major websites including PayPal has exposed the difficult balancing act Jakarta faces as it seeks to both tighten control of the internet and become Southeast Asia's next tech hub.

Quick Bahasa Indonesia lesson for ya: Rumah sakit, which means hospital, is a combination of the Indonesian words for house and sick, respectively. Now, keep in mind that the Indonesian word for good health is sehat.

Leon Kastayudha – The Draft Criminal Code (RKUHP) initiated by bourgeois politicians contains a series of problematic regulations which in essence legalise despotism and at the same time facilitate the extension of capitalist exploitation – the very thing that was the main target of the Reform Corrupted (Reformasi Dikorupsi) movement in 2019.

Sentani, Jubi – Artists in Jayapura Regency regretted the lack of creative space for them to do their work in that area. Until now, Jayapura Regency has yet to have a cultural park as a center for arts that supports the development of arts and culture, as well as fostering artistic and cultural programs.

Jakarta – US payments firm PayPal has registered as an electronic systems operator in Indonesia and its customers can now access its services, the company said on Wednesday.

Balikpapan – Indonesia and the United States began their annual joint military exercise code-named Garuda Shield in East Kalimantan on Wednesday amid the growing geopolitical tension in the region triggered by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Indonesia is seeking to host the 2036 Olympics in Nusantara, the country's planned new state capital located in the province of East Kalimantan.

Ryan Dagur – Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta has urged citizens to respect and not discriminate against the Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.

"Timor-Leste must show a model or example about respect, tolerance to our children, to our brothers involved in this community," he said in a statement on his official Facebook page on Aug. 3.

Riani Sanusi Putri, Hendartyo Hanggi, Jakarta – The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) chairperson Tulus Abadi on Wednesday responded to the current heated debate on the increased entry fee to one of Indonesia's most exotic tourist sites, Komodo Island National Park.

Fajar Pebrianto, Jakarta – Member of the East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) House of Representatives (DPR) Law Commission, Benny Kabur Harman, has called for the National Police Chief to free the local residents who protested against Komodo Island's Rp3.75 million entry fee that the government imposed, a decision which many local tourism businesses are against.

Antara, Jakarta – West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil on Wednesday talked about the number of vehicles that have paid their taxes in the region he leads He said that not even 50 percent of vehicles registered in the region have had their taxes paid by their owners.

Hamdan C Ismail, Eka Yudha Saputra, Moh Khory Alfarizi, Jakarta – The Labuan Bajo association of the local tourism industry claims that West Manggarai tourism is being monopolized by the East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) regionally-owned enterprise PT Flobamor.

PayPal announced today that it has registered as an Electronic Service Provider (PSE) with the IT Ministry (Kominfo) so that Indonesian users don't lose access to their funds in the payment platform.

Kominfo's PSE registry does indeed show that PayPal was approved as a PSE in Indonesia today.

Jayapura, Jubi – Head of the Cenderawasih University's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (KKR) Team Melkias Hetharia said that violations of human rights in Papua can be resolved through customary law.

Indonesia's IT Ministry (Kominfo) has lifted its ban on several internet services and games in the latest update to the ongoing Electronic Systems Provider (PSE) saga.

Muhammad Syaifulloh, Jakarta – The popular news headline in recent weeks comes from the decision by the Communications and Informatics Ministry (Kominfo) to block international tech firms that fail to register themselves under Indonesia's PSE regulation, or electronic system providers.

A grade 10 student at a public high school in Banguntapan, Yogyakarta has moved to another school after she claimed teachers forced her to wear a hijab.

Asri Saraswati – Over the past few weeks, Dukuh Atas Park, located in the heart of the Sudirman business district in Jakarta, has been packed with young people. From late afternoon to evening, magnificently dressed teenagers have used a zebra crossing as a catwalk, creating a DIY fashion show that has been dubbed "Citayam Fashion Week".

Suryadi, Bengkalis, Indonesia – On the east coast of the island of Sumatra lies a grove of timber, fruit and native trees known as the Marsawa Peat Arboretum.

Devi N S R, Mecca Yumna, Jakarta – The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) recorded the most flooding events in one week in the period from July 25 to 31, 2022.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – A district administration has reported another forest fire that has erupted near the Lake Toba tourist area in the North Sumatra regencies of Simalungun and Samosir, with suspicions that the blaze was started by land clearing activities for agricultural plantations.