Elizabeth Byrne – Canberra lawyer Bernard Collaery has asked to be allowed to call for more evidence from two former presidents of East Timor to support his case as a judge orders a trial date must be set.

Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Indonesian Muslim cleric Abdul Somad Batubara has been refused entry to Singapore with the country pointing to his extremist belief.

"Somad has been known to preach extremist and segregationist teachings, which are unacceptable in Singapore's multi-racial and multi-religious society," the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement late Tuesday.

Triyan Pangastuti, Jakarta – The Minister of Investment/Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia is optimistic that Tesla will realize an investment in Indonesia after the company's chief executive officer Elon Musk's met with President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo last week.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Indonesia on Wednesday reported that it had identified 14 suspected cases of acute hepatitis of unknown origin, thirteen of which were still waiting for their test results before being classified as a probable case.

Antara, Jakarta – Minister of Investment and Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia ensured that the government would ban the export of bauxite and tin this year. The policy was decided as part of the government's effort to develop the domestic downstream mineral industry and raise the added value of mining commodities.

M Julnis Firmansyah, Jakarta – Epidemiologist from Australia's Griffith University, Dicky Budiman, assessed that President Jokowi's policy that allows people to take off face masks in open spaces was issued in haste. The removal of the mask mandate, he opined, should only be announced when the booster vaccination coverage is high enough.

Fajar Pebrianto, Jakarta – Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin stated that there is no significant increase in COVID-19 cases after the Eid al-Fitr holiday. But referring to last year's experience, Budi said signs of a surge in cases usually emerge 27 to 34 days after the long holiday.

Hannah Thomas – If the 96% of people who want a federal ICAC with teeth get their way after the Election, it's difficult to imagine an institution with a bigger backlog of work from its very inception. From sports rorts to car park rorts, from the Leppington triangle purchase to the Paladin contract – a federal ICAC will have an overflowing pile of cases to investigate.

A woman in the Cianjur regency of West Java was reportedly banished from her village after her neighbors found out about her polyandrous marriage with two men.

If you did the crime, you can't suddenly wear a hijab or a kopiah to save yourself from doing the time, as Indonesia's attorney general is set to enforce new dress codes preventing defendants from donning religious garb during their trial just to score sympathy points.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Just days before the scheduled inauguration of President-elect Jose Ramos-Horta on May 20, Timor-Leste's parliament passed a bill establishing the president's responsibilities, along with criminal threats, to the country's constitution.

Bernadette Christina and Fransiska Nangoy – Indonesia, the world's biggest palm oil exporter, has since April 28 halted shipments of the edible oil in a bid to flood the domestic market with supplies to control the soaring prices of cooking oil.

Gayatri Suroyo and Stefanno Sulaiman, Jakarta – Indonesia's trade surplus jumped to its largest ever at $7.56 billion in April, as exports rose to a record high while imports grew slower than expected, data from the statistics bureau showed on Tuesday.

Jakarta – Hundreds of smallholder farmers on Tuesday staged a protest in the capital Jakarta and in other parts of the world's fourth most populous country, demanding the government end a palm oil export ban that has slashed their income.

Fitria Chusna Farisa, Jakarta – Indikator Politik Indonesia researcher Bawono Kumoro says that there is a good possibility that three presidential and vice presidential candidate tickets will emerge in the 2024 presidential elections.

Lona Olavia, Jakarta – The government has decided to relax the mask requirement in open places with no crowds and drop the testing rule for domestic and foreign travelers, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo Tuesday announced on Tuesday, marking the country's significant improvement in Covid-19 pandemic handling.

Jakarta – Indonesia's famous Muslim cleric Abdul Somad was denied entry at a Singapore port as he arrived with his family for a vacation from nearby Batam Island on Monday.

Somad said Singaporean authorities didn't provide any specific reason why he was refused entry.

M Julnis Firmansyah, Jakarta – Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas on Tuesday denied allegations claiming that the hajj funds collected from pilgrims are used to finance the construction of the New Capital City of Nusantara (IKN). He insisted that the Ministry never diverted hajj funds to other projects.

The Australian Capital Territory's (ACT) Supreme Court has ruled the lawfulness of an alleged Australian spying operation in East Timor is not relevant to whistleblower Bernard Collaery's charges.

Collaery is accused of unlawfully sharing classified information about the alleged bugging operation of the East Timor prime minister by Australian officials in 2004.

Aisyah Llewellyn, Medan, Indonesia – Indonesia, the world's largest producer of palm oil, has struggled with rising prices and low stocks of cooking oil amid a surge in global prices of the raw ingredient.

Christopher Knaus – The federal government has successfully blocked Bernard Collaery from obtaining key documents about the lawfulness of the notorious spy operation against Timor-Leste, arguing that questions about its legality are irrelevant.

Pasuruan, Indonesia (Reuters) – As dark clouds gather in the morning sky, Indonesian apple farmer Ali Akhbar hurries to finish spraying pesticides onto his trees before yet another afternoon downpour.

Jakarta (Agencies) – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's approval rating has hit a six-year low amid dissatisfaction over soaring cooking oil prices and the perceived failure of an export ban to swiftly reduce the rising cost of goods, a new poll showed on Sunday.

Surabaya – At least 14 people were killed and more than a dozen others injured when a bus carrying domestic tourists crashed into an advertising sign in East Java province early on Monday, police said.

Donny Iqbal, Warief Djajanto Basorie – "Recover Citatah Karst, Make People Prosper." That's the call printed in red letters on a huge white banner pinned on a limestone cliff in Indonesia's West Java province.

Nivell Rayda, Yogyakarta, Indonesia – As a person stricken with polio since he was a toddler, Triyono knows firsthand how hard it is for people with disabilities in Indonesia to travel to school, work or seek medical attention.

Tri Ameliya, Uyu Liman, Jakarta – National Police chief, General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, lauded Indonesian workers for holding the May Day Fiesta peacefully at Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) Stadium, Jakarta, on Saturday.

The activity was held to commemorate the 2022 International Workers' Day. The celebration had been postponed as May 1 fell in the Eid al-Fitr holiday period.

Jakarta – The Labour Party considers it normal for Indonesian police chief (Kapolri) General Listyo Sigit Prabowo to have attended the commemoration of the May Day Fiesta 2022 at the Bung Karno Sports Stadium (GBK) in Jakarta on Saturday May 14.

Antara, Jakarta – At least 42.4 million Indonesian citizens have received the third or booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Saturday, according to a report from the COVID-19 Handling Task Force.

According to the task force data received by ANTARA on Saturday, the number of third dose recipients grew by 213,553 on Saturday, taking the total tally to 42,415,365.

Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo met Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk on Saturday in Texas to discuss potential investments and technology, Indonesia's government said in a statement.

Kiki Siregar, Wawonii, Southeast Sulawesi – Farmer Ratna, 65, had been walking barefoot for 40 minutes through a hilly plantation covered with lush cashew and coconut trees on the Indonesian island of Wawonii.

The air was humid and the soil was wet from a steady downpour which had stopped less than an hour earlier, but that did not prevent her from moving nimbly.

Ahmad Naufal Dzulfaroh – A protest action commemorating International Labour Day or May Day took place today, Saturday May 14, in front of the House of Representatives (DPR) building and the Bung Karno Sports Stadium (GBK) in Jakarta.

Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI) President Said Iqbal said that four trade unions took part in the demonstration today.

Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has a certain fascination with tech tycoons. In 2016, on the sidelines of a two-day US-ASEAN Summit, he made a stopover in Silicon Valley, meeting with then CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey and playing zero-gravity ping pong on a virtual-reality Oculus Rift headset with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo together with other Asean leaders on Thursday had dinner with US President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington DC.

Jokowi is currently visiting Washington DC for the Asean-US Special Summit. The forum also marks 45 years of US ties with the Southeast Asian bloc.

It's not that the Indonesian government has ever been a bastion of LGBTQIA+ rights, but the fiasco surrounding Deddy Corbuzier's podcast has become a reminder of just how homophobic some of the people running the country are.

Sahabandi – On Friday May 13, the Greater Jakarta Papua People's Petition Joint Secretariat (PRP Sekber Jabodetabek) and the Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) held a protest action with the theme "Expel the Indonesian occupation through the DOB and Otsus in West Papua", referring to the plan to create new autonomous regions in Papua (DOB) and the revisions the Specia

Tempo Magazine, Tempo.Co, Jakarta – After the discovery of microplastic contamination in water wells and pipe water, followed by traces of it in bottled water, another new study eventually found microscopic plastic debris tainting gallon water jugs.

Jamal A. Nashr, Jakarta – Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo on Thursday announced that the local animal husbandry department detected cases of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in four regions in the province. However, he called for people to avert panicking in response to this news.

Ryan Dagur – Catholic-majority Timor-Leste will be the first country in the world to adopt a papal-endorsed document promoting peace and harmony between Christians and Muslims.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo recently promoted Indonesia's enormous potential in industrial raw materials, green energy, and digital economy to American business leaders in hopes that they would make investment in the country.

Jakarta – Home Minister Tito Karnavian installed five acting governors on Thursday, marking the beginning of the mass replacement of 271 regional heads this year and next year as a consequence of electoral reforms that Indonesia will experiment with in 2024.

Jakarta – Indonesia has impounded at least 81,000 litres of cooking oil bound for Timor Leste, the trade ministry said, as the country seeks to enforce a ban on exports of crude palm oil and its derivatives including cooking oil.

Jakarta – The Directorate General of Immigration, through the Directorate of Immigration Stay Permits (Ditintalkim), held the virtual Immigration Stay Permit Services Publicization event on Tuesday (10/05/2022).

Johannes Nugroho, Surabaya, Indonesia – The global vegetable oils industry was stunned after Indonesia's President Joko Widodo announced late last month that his country, the world's largest producer of palm oil, would impose a ban on exports.

Noor Huda Ismail, Singapore – Early this year, Indonesia's National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT) revealed that 68 Islamic boarding schools, locally known as "pesantren", are affiliated with Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). Will these pro-JI pesantrens advocate a version of Islam that jeopardises Indonesia's security and social cohesion?

Jakarta – Indonesia likely registered a smaller trade surplus in April compared with March, as the value of exports was squeezed by a dip in commodity prices and due to higher imports over the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, a Reuters poll showed.

Jakarta – Signaling the revival of Indonesian tourism, the government has expanded the list of countries whose citizens are eligible for the Visa on Arrival for Tourism (VKSKKW) to 60, up from 43.

Candice Cai – A video making its rounds online showed the terrifying moment people spilled to the ground from a 10-metre height as a water slide at an amusement park in Indonesia collapsed.

The incident happened last Saturday (May 7) at the Kenjeran Park, popularly known as Kenpark, located in Surabaya.

Ryan Dagur – The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) in collaboration with Timor-Leste's Ministry of Health is providing nutritional assistance for hundreds of thousands of malnourished pregnant and lactating women in the Catholic-majority country.

Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Ministry has quashed the notion that President Joko Widodo was disrespected upon his arrival in Washington D.C.

Jokowi arrived in the US capital on May 10, 2022 at 9:40pm local time. The president is set to attend the ASEAN-US Special Summit on May 12-13.