Benny Mawel, Wamena, Jubi – The Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) has called on the central government and the House of Representatives to not force their will to divide Papua Province into several regions. Instead, the government and the House should listen to the people and not follow the wishes and interests of certain political elites.

Hengky Yeimo, Jayapura, Jubi – The Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) on Saturday, March 12, 2022, visited the Office of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) in Jakarta.

Jakarta – Indonesia's export growth likely accelerated in February due to high commodity prices, as the conflict between Ukraine and Russia fueled fears of supply squeezes and as authorities in Jakarta lifted a ban on coal exports, a Reuters poll showed.

Katharina R. Lestari, Jakarta – Indonesia's anti-terror squad Densus 88 has been accused of employing excessive use of force over the recent death of a doctor suspected of having links to a terrorist organization who was shot by officers while trying to evade arrest.

The incident has prompted the country's human rights commission to launch an investigation.

Arie Firdaus (BenarNews) – A petroleum shortage linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine is driving up prices for commodities, but analysts say those could bring a windfall to Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy and a major producer of coal, palm oil and nickel.

Jakarta – The latest Digital Competitiveness Index (DCI) report paints a rosy picture of digitalization in Indonesia, mainly thanks to the development of infrastructure, particularly telecommunications infrastructure like base transceiver stations (BTS).

Tempo.Co, Jakarta – Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas in a webinar on Monday is urging campus managements to establish multifaith houses of worship within campus premises. He mentioned this in his acceptance speech in the virtual event held by University of Indonesia Alumni on March 5.

Arrijal Rachman, Jakarta – Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) deputy chair Anwar Abbas criticized the new halal certification mark introduced by the Religious Affairs Ministry's Halal Certification Agency (BPJPH) to replace the current logo from the MUI.

He said the shape of the label is not in accordance with the initial discussion and did not represent national wisdom.

Sometimes it takes a little bit of creativity by authorities to monitor legal violations, and the mayor of East Java's Malang has come up with a new instruction for city officials: go incognito on MiChat to take a deep dive into online prostitution.

mikael Niman, Jakarta – Jakarta prosecutors on Monday recommended a sentence of eight years in prison for Munarman, the former secretary-general of now-defunct Islamic Defenders Front, or FPI, for allegedly recruiting followers for the global militant network Islamic State.

Prosecutors also asked the judges to keep the defendant in detention while awaiting the verdict.

Jakarta – Indonesia's leading business groups have lobbied a consortium of Spanish investors to invest in the development project of the former's new capital, Nusantara.

Jakarta – The government has released a new halal certification label with a minister underlining on Saturday that the current logo from the Indonesian Ulema Council, or MUI, will eventually be declared void by the state-appointed regulatory body.

Kiki Siregar, Jakarta – Indonesian civil servant Dwi (not her real name) has been thinking about her career and future lately.

President Joko Widodo signed the Bill on capital relocation into law on Feb 15 and it has become evident that civil servants would need to relocate from Jakarta to the new capital named Nusantara.

Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo swore in technocrat Bambang Susantono and businessman Dhony Rahajoe as the respective head and deputy head of the Nusantara Capital City (IKN) Authority for a five-year term on Thursday. The duo will lead the development of the nation's new capital, a process that is projected to last up to 20 years.

Jakarta – The claim that a postponement of the 2024 elections is supported by some 110 million people on social media, which was made by Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, has been dismissed as impossible unless there was a mark up or inflation of the data.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said Thursday that the lawsuit launched by the European Union, or EU, would not stop Indonesia from banning ore exports.

Li-Li Chen – Next week, Timor-Leste will hold the seventh presidential election that the country has conducted on its own since gaining its independence two decades ago.

Katharina R. Lestari, Jakarta – Indonesian police have charged a 32-year-old music teacher with raping and sexually assaulting at least seven students at a school in Central Java province, prompting calls for him to be chemically castrated.

Konradus Epa, Jakarta – Indigenous people have stepped up their opposition to an Indonesian government proposal to break up the country's predominantly Christian easternmost Papua region into six provinces.

Devianti Faridz, Jakarta, Indonesia – Thousands of refugees in Indonesia are finding themselves shut out of public services including travel and shopping because of a bureaucratic glitch that prevents them from proving they have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil, Jakarta – Since taking office, Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas has pledged to foster religious inclusivity in the Muslim majority nation, but analysts say that poor political communication has hindered some of his progressive policies.

Antara, Beritasatu, Jakarta – A doctor sought by police for alleged terrorism was killed after a pursuit by counterterrorism unit Detachment 88 in the Central Java town of Sukoharjo, police said on Thursday.

The suspect is identified by his initials SU, 54, who police said ran a medical practice at his home in the town.

Antara, Jakarta – The latest survey conducted by pollster Y-Publica revealed that most of the respondents disagree with the recent social discourse trying to encourage the postponement of the 2024 general elections. The majority of respondents also want the elections to be held as scheduled.

Antara, Jakarta – President Joko Widodo, or Jokowi, in leading a limited meeting at the Merdeka Palace on Thursday made it clear that Jakarta will not be abandoned after the central government is relocated to the new capital of Nusantara in Kalimantan.

Jakarta – Police arrested a total of 90 Papuan students during a protest action which ended in chaos near the Presidential Palace complex in Central Jakarta on Friday March 11. As has been reported, the demonstration by the Papuan students was to oppose the creation of new provinces in Papua.

Hamdan Cholifudin Ismail, Jakarta – The student demonstration against the expansion of the Papua province staged in front of the Home Affairs Ministry's building this afternoon was marred by chaos. One police officer was injured.

Tokyo – SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) will not invest in Indonesia's project to relocate its capital city to Borneo island, a company spokesperson said on Friday.

"SoftBank is passing on the project but continues to invest in Indonesia through the Vision Fund's portfolio companies," the spokesperson told Reuters.

Jaya Suprana – In the midst of the euphoria and optimism thanks to Coordinating Minister for Security, Politics and Legal Affairs Mahfud MD guarantee that the presidential and legislative elections would go ahead on 2024, Paramadina Pubic Policy Institute Managing Director Dr Ahmad Khoirul Umam politely raised concerns about a new strategy being used to legitimise any and all means

Roel Frakking and Anne van Mourik – The Dutch continue to widely underestimate their colonial violence of the past. The publication of the hard-hitting conclusions of the Independence, Decolonization, Violence and War in Indonesia 1945-1950-program revealed the Dutch state actively condoning systematic and structural violence during Indonesia's War for Independence.

Jakarta – How soon should Indonesia declare the transition of COVID-19 from being pandemic to endemic? Not a moment too soon, we believe. Many countries in the region, most recently Malaysia and Thailand, are already moving in that direction. Indonesia should have the confidence to take a similar step.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Catholic-majority Timor-Leste is to provide humanitarian assistance "in a show of solidarity with Ukrainians" following the Russian invasion of the Eastern European country.

The government announced on March 9 that US$1.5 million in aid would be provided through the UN's World Food Program.

Jubi TV – Executive Director of the Manokwari Institute for Research, Assessment, and Development of Legal Aid (LP3BH) Yan Cristian Warinussy has called for an investigation of the alleged persecution of seven children in Sinak District, Puncak Regency, Papua Province.

Konradus Epa, Jakarta – A man was hacked to death and three others injured in two separate attacks by a rebel group in Indonesia's restive Papua province, police said on March 10.

Rieka Rahadiana and Yudith Ho – President Joko Widodo has picked Bambang Susantono, a senior official at the Asian Development Bank, to spearhead his $34 billion ambition to turn an undeveloped piece of land in Borneo into Indonesia's new capital.

Aditya Laksmana Yudha, Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo officially appoints Bambang Susantono – former deputy transport minister and Asia Development Bank sustainable development vice president – as the head of the newly-established National Capital Authority of Nusantara, Indonesia's yet-to-be-built capital located in East Kalimantan.

Basten Gokkon, Jakarta – Indonesia's former fisheries minister has had his jail sentence for corruption slashed by nearly half after an appeals court ruled that he had "done good work" while in office – specifically pointing to a policy that he abused to collect nearly $2 million in kickbacks.

M Rosseno Aji, Jakarta – The Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) said it will keep monitoring young people who love to flaunt their wealth on social media. They are often called crazy rich people.

Jakarta – Indonesia, the largest producer of crude palm oil, has decided to stifle its palm oil export over the next six months in a move designed for taming the cooking oil scarcity within its border, sending the commodity price to a new all-time high.

Yogyakarta – Mount Merapi unleashed a torrent of hot clouds, turning the sky a fiery red, as molten lava flowed down its slopes on Thursday with the eruption forcing over 250 people to flee their homes, authorities said.

Radityo Dharmaputra – Almost two weeks in, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been condemned by most countries around the world, including Indonesia.

Asep Firmansyah, Nabil Ihsan, Jakarta – Interfaith marriages could not be recognised and registered in local religious affairs offices, Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Zainut Tauhid Sa'adi stated regarding the recent viral video documenting interfaith marriages widely circulating on social media.

Katharina R. Lestari, Jakarta – Violence against women in Indonesia rose sharply by nearly 50 percent last year, according to the National Commission on Violence against Women.

Sebastian Strangio – This morning on my Twitter feed, amid the flow of depressing news from Ukraine, I came across two fascinating articles on how the nation's war with Russia is being viewed by the public in Indonesia.

Jakarta – Harsh words and phrases like "unprofessional, ill-intentioned and one-sided" chosen by the Indonesian Mission at the United Nations in Geneva recently in response to the report of UN human rights rapporteurs on Papua have reminded us of the repeated denials from the same mission during Indonesia's 24-year occupation of East Timor, now Timor Leste.

Vitorio Mantalean, Jakarta – National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) Chairperson Ahmad Taufan Damanik hopes that peace talks between Papua and Jakarta can begin to be held this year.

Fana Suparman, Jakarta – A panel of three justices has reinstated a sentence of five years' imprisonment for former maritime affairs and fisheries minister Edhy Prabowo, a Supreme Court spokesman said on Wednesday.

Thresa Sandra Desfika & Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – A number of airlines have removed the antigen or polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, test requirement for fully-vaccinated domestic flight passengers, following the government's recent decision to ease domestic air travel rules.

Kornelius Purba, Jakarta – My conversations several years ago with three former foreign ministers on East Timor (now Timor Leste) suddenly came to mind when I read an article in this paper entitled "Indonesia to protest 'ill-intentioned, click-bait' UN Papua report" on Tuesday.

Jakarta (Reuters) – Indonesia will expand its mandatory domestic sales of palm oil to 30 per cent of planned exports by companies from 20 per cent currently starting from Thursday (March 10) as part of efforts by authorities to contain cooking oil prices, Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi said.

Moh. Khory Alfarizi, Jakarta – Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) researcher Kurnia Ramadhana deemed the Supreme Court's reasons for reducing the sentence of graft convict Edhy Prabowo to five years in prison were absurd. The former Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries was originally sentenced to nine years imprisonment.