Kiki Siregar, Nusantara, Indonesia – These days, eastern Kalimantan has a new tourist attraction.
In the middle of a lush forest, a large sign says "Point Zero Nusantara". It marks the site of Indonesia's new capital city and serves as a reference point for calculating the height of the future buildings in the vicinity.
Jakarta – The National Police have arrested 13 suspected militants believed to be members of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) during separate operations by counterterrorism squad Detachment 88 in the province of Aceh.
Jayanty Nada Shofa, Bandung – After months-long negotiations between youth delegates of G20 countries, the Y20 Summit finally came to a close on Friday night with the announcement of policy recommendations for the leaders of the world's biggest economies.
Eka Yudha Saputra, Jakarta – Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan targeted Indonesia to become the qibla or the benchmark of the world's Muslim fashion by 2024. The government, Zulkifli said, supports the growth of the sector through exports.
Jakarta – Indonesia has launched a crackdown on peer-to-peer (P2P) lenders through a new regulation and capital requirements, in a move that industry sources say should help clean up a booming online lending sector beset by consumer complaints.
Three men attempted to intimidate a journalist at his house in Tamiang Layang, Central Kalimantan, on July 17, allegedly for his coverage of sexual harassment by a local official.
A global media watchdog has urged Timor-Leste to drop charges against a journalist accused of violating judicial confidentiality by publishing reports questioning the virginity tests of underage girls in an abuse case involving an ex-priest.
Indonesia's leading Catholic university has signed a deal to collaborate with nine universities and colleges in neighboring Timor-Leste, as part of an effort to improve education quality and foster fraternity between the institutions.
Jakarta – Nothing can justify the act of violence that claimed the lives of 11 people and wounded another, all unarmed civilians, on July 16 in Nogolaid village in Nduga regency, Papua.
Hamdan Cholifudin Ismail, Jakarta – The Communication and Information Ministry (Kominfo) decided to give five more days for private electronic systems providers (PSE) to register their platforms, extending the registration deadline to July 27, 2022. The ministry had sent an official letter to unregistered PSE.
Fransisca Christy Rosana, Jakarta – State air carrier Garuda Indonesia has added three aircraft to its active fleet after the Central Jakarta District Court declared the company free from bankruptcy. Garuda president director Irfan Setiaputra said the company will operate Boeing 737-800 NG that were previously relocated by lessors.
Death, taxes, and civil servants sitting on their asses are truly some of the only certainties in life. On the latter, it should come as no shock that civil servants also neglected their work during work from home (WFH) arrangements.
Jayapura, Jubi – The Jayapura District Court on Thursday, July 21, 2022, continued the trial of the alleged treason case involving seven Papuans who raised the Morning Star flag at Cenderawasih Sports Center and marched carrying banners with the Morning Star on December 1, 2021.
Ali Akhmad Noor Hidayat, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Pandjaitan said that Saudi Arabia did not want to lose Indonesia as its partner. Luhut added that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said that Saudi wanted to make more investments in Indonesia.
Jayapura, Jubi – An academician of the Musamus University in Merauke, Yosehi Mekiuw, said the formation of three new provinces in Papua would marginalize indigenous peoples as it would trigger further exploitation of Papua's natural resources when forests are the source of people's livelihood. Today, many sago forests have been replaced with oil palm plantations.
Jakarta – The Asian Development Bank, or ADB, has revised up its growth forecast for Indonesia to 5.2 percent this year, reflecting the country's robust domestic consumption and windfall revenue from high global commodity prices.
The latest projection was 20 basis points higher than the multinational lender's previous forecast in April of 5.0 percent.
Lani Diana Wijaya, Jakarta – Jakarta Deputy Governor Ahmad Riza Patria publicly voiced his support for Prabowo Subianto to run as a presidential candidate in the 2024 general elections.
Riza, who is a cadre of the Gerindra party and the chairperson of the party's Jakarta executive board (DPD), said Prabowo had contributed to advancing the party over the past 14 years.
Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Timor Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta on Thursday talked about how arduous it is to get a seat in ASEAN and even said that entering heaven would be easier than getting full membership in the Southeast Asian grouping.
Yustinus Paat – Jakarta. The Election Supervisory Agency, or Bawaslu, has cleared Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan of allegations that he misused his authority to campaign for his daughter, a potential candidate for the House of Representatives.
Jakarta – At least nine bodies have been found after a ferry sank off the coast of Ternate island due to bad weather, a search and rescue official said Thursday.
The KM Cahaya Arafah capsized in waters off Ternate island on Monday evening, prompting a search and rescue operation for 13 missing people.
Bernadette Christina Munthe and Fransiska Nangoy, Jakarta – The Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) has accused 27 cooking oil companies of unfair business practices, saying it has enough evidence to put together a formal case against them.
Indra A, Azis Kurmala, Jakarta – Head of the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) Moeldoko has said that the Indonesian government is serious about the welfare and progress of the people in Papua region.
A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil, Jakarta – Indonesia has pushed back against the suggestion that its debate with neighboring Malaysia on migrant labor recruitment has been resolved, with an official saying that a temporary ban on sending workers there would be upheld.
Jakarta – Indonesia said on Thursday Alphabet Inc's Google has signed up to its new licensing rules for technology platforms, but warned that companies that had yet to register would be blocked in five working days.
Bangkok – Indonesian authorities should investigate a series of incidents of harassment and intimidation against local journalists, identify and bring the relevant perpetrators to justice, and work to better protect media members and their ability to report without fear of reprisal or violence, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.
Muhammad Aulia, Jakarta – Controversial Muslim figure Rizieq Syihab was released on parole on Wednesday, five months before the completion of his two-year prison sentence handed to him for lying about the result of his Covid-19 diagnostic tests.
Anything concerning the Catholic Church is extremely sensitive in Timor-Leste, as Raimundos Oki, the editor of The Oekusi Post website can confirm, reports the Paris-based global media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders.
Jakarta – The Constitutional Court on Wednesday rejected a judicial review of the country's narcotics law that would have paved the way for legalizing marijuana for medicinal use, a panel of nine judges ruled.
Maurits Pardosi, Parapat – The Women 20 (W20) Summit held at Toba Lake in North Sumatra on July 20 has been greeted by demonstrations and sharp criticisms from rural women activists.
During the action, a number of women activists unfurled a huge banner in the middle of Lake Toba with the message, "North Sumatra Women Against Deforestation".
Hardline cleric Rizieq Shihab is conditionally a free man starting today, as he has been released on parole after serving two years in prison.
Isabella Kaminski – Residents of an Indonesian island threatened by rising sea levels have begun legal action against the cement producer Holcim.
The claim for compensation, filed in Switzerland by three men and one woman, is understood to be the first major climate damages lawsuit against a cement company.
Yanuar Nugroho – President Jokowi's recent Cabinet picks may not necessarily be the best persons to do their jobs. It seems the President may have prioritised consolidating power instead.
Katharina Reny Lestari – Indonesia's Catholic activists say they would be watchful over an influential hardline Islamic cleric after his release on parole following more than one year of imprisonment.
Muhammad Rizieq Shihab, founder and former leader of the banned Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), was released from Cipinang Penitentiary in East Jakarta on July 20.
Basten Gokkon, Yogi Eka Sahputra, Natuna/Jakarta, Indonesia – A year after it was introduced as a replacement for a type of fishing net long seen as unsustainable, the square-mesh seine net has prompted concerns from fisheries experts in Indonesia.
Aisyah Llewellyn, Medan, Indonesia – Indigenous and women's rights groups in Indonesia are protesting against the G20's headline event for gender equality over the alleged exclusion of local voices and failure to address key women's issues in North Sumatra.
Jakarta (Reuters) – Neither Alphabet Inc's Google nor Twitter Inc had signed up to Indonesia's new licensing rules as of midday on Wednesday (July 20), ministry records showed, as a deadline loomed that could see their services temporarily blocked in the country.
Jakarta – Foreign direct investment into Indonesia has accelerated to a new record high from April to June this year, highlighting the country's robust economic recovery amid a prolonged Covid-19 pandemic and new global inflation and recession threats.
Damien Kingsbury – Tensions have erupted as the Indonesian government attempts to further divide West Papuan territory. But with few international allies, the Papuan resistance may be destined to fail.
It's not the end of the road by any means, but efforts to make marijuana permissible for therapeutic use in Indonesia have taken a huge setback after the Constitutional Court (MK) today rejected a legal challenge to the country's narcotics law.
Waropen, Jubi – Chair of the Synod of the Kingmi Church (GKI) in Papua Rev. Tilas Mom said the church was the last line of defense to unite Indigenous Papuans (OAP) in Papua. He said that amid the division of regencies and cities in Papua and West Papua following the formation of three new provinces, the church must keep Papuans from being divided.
Maria Fatima Bona, Jakarta – A group of state university chancellors and prominent education figures on Tuesday demanded the specific mention of the Educational Institution for Teachers, or LPTK, in the Bill on the National Education System.
The bill fails to mention the LPTK, causing concern about the future of the very important institution.
Prisca Triferna, Fadhli Ruhman, Jakarta – Some 206,935 hectares of peatland ecosystem are in a severely damaged state based on data collection conducted in 2022, Environmental Pollution and Destruction Handling Director General at the Environment and Forestry Ministry Sigit Reliantoro stated.
Timor-Leste and the United States have signed the largest cooperation agreement ever, valued at US$420 million, focused on improving infrastructure in Dili over the next five years.
The agreement was signed by the Timor-Leste Cabinet office minister, Fidelis Magalhaes, and Millennium Challenge Corporation Vice Chairman Cameron Alford, at a ceremony in Dili.
TAPOL expresses its concern and deep sorrow at the numerous events that have occurred recently in West Papua, which have led to the deaths of several people.
Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta has said he will be nominating two moderate Indonesian Muslim organizations for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Jayapura – The formation of new autonomous regions (DOB) in Papua is still leaving problems in its wake, the latest being the issue of bribes allegedly paid by Merauke Regent Romanus Mbaraka to House of Representatives (DPR) lawmakers to change an article in the revised Special Autonomy (Otsus) Law on Papua so that regional expansion falls under the control of the central government
Jakarta – Timor Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta said on Tuesday during a visit to Indonesia that he hoped to boost trade ties between the countries and seal a decades-long bid by his nation to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) next year.Ramos-Horta met his counterpart Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on his first state visit to neighbouring Indonesia since he was elected
Dian Erika Nugraheny, Jakarta – Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director Usman Hamid is calling for an end to the cycle of violence in Papua following the killing of 11 civilians in Nduga regency on Saturday July 16.
"It's time for the state to end the cycle of violence in Papua", said Hamid in a press release on Monday July 18.
Jakarta – The Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) student community Student Executive Council (BEM KM) has dismissed a BEM official for uploading a photograph with a rainbow flag background coinciding with Pride Month.
Sebastian Strangio – This last weekend brought the news of another deadly attack in the Papua region of eastern Indonesia, amid rising tensions ahead of the Indonesian government's planned subdivision of the region.