Indigenous people hold hands during a protest calling for climate justice and territorial protection on Nov. 17, during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belem, Brazil.

Why climate action needs inequality focus

Reducing inequality should be a guiding principle to decisions on climate change.

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Climate justice needs power, not just ideas

Without political leverage and democracy, civil society’s struggle will keep turning in the mud. ...

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When a queen returns: Finance, inclusion and the colonial echoes of advice

Beneath the politeness of a visit, there is a layered history, highlighting how global finance continues to be intertwined with colonial histories and ongoing inequalities. ...

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A woman and her child walk past subsidized housing for media industry workers on June 5, 2025 at Gran Harmoni Cibitung residential complex, Bekasi regency, West Java. The government has prepared 1,000 subsidized homes in the first phase for media industry workers across Indonesia under the Mortgage Financing Liquidity Facility (FLPP) scheme.

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The economics of home: When housing stands on precarious footing

Nearly four in every 10 Indonesian families now live on the edge of housing precarity, revealing a social architecture whose stability is far more fragile than our macroeconomic headlines suggest.

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Daylight express: A Whoosh high-speed train passes through the Ngamprah tunnel in West Bandung regency, West Java, on July 31, 2025.

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Whoosh and the missing ingredients of development-led infrastructure

There is a policy vacuum in the land use and zoning of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project, as most developments along the route focus on real estate rather than multimodal access or job creation.

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Brides and grooms take part in a mass officiating event on Aug. 27, 2025 organized by the Surabaya city administration for dozens of couples who previously wedded under local traditions, which are not legally recognized.

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Sakinah Clap and internalized submission in marriage

Tepuk Sakinah lacks explicit reference to justice and equality. Its key concepts emphasize mutuality rather than equality.

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Old friends: President Prabowo Subianto (center) and Jordan’s King Abdullah II inspect an honor guard on Nov. 14, 2025 at the presidential palace in Jakarta.

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Indonesia–Jordan ties: Strategic partners for peace, stability and resilient Indo-Pacific

Indonesia and Jordan strengthen relationships as they bid to maintain regional stability amid intensifying major-power competition, safeguard sovereignty and promote peace and justice.

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A palm oil plantation (right) and a peatland forest are seen on June 10, 2025 in Bangsal village, Ogan Komering Ilir regency, South Sumatra.

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Redefining protection: Investing in a community-led forest economy

Despite millions of dollars poured into climate action, only a small fraction reaches the communities that have kept their forests standing for generations.

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Blooms of hope: Workers plant flowers on Nov. 4 next to a sign for the 2025 G20 Johannesburg summit outside the NASREC Expo Centre, the venue of this year’s summit under South Africa’s Group of 20 presidency.

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A 70-year spirit of growth: From Bandung to Johannesburg

Ahead of the G20 presidency's impending handover to the United States, followed by other Global North economies over the next three years, the Johannesburg summit marks a turning point in sustaining the multilateral order.

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The Indonesian Busines Council (IBC) chief operating officer William Sabandar (left ) talks about carbon market on July 24, while Fairatmos founder and chief executive officer Natalia Rialucky Marsudi (left) and the Indonesia Center for Renewable Energy Studies (ICRES) executive director Paul Butarbutar look on in Jakarta. The IBC launched the Indonesian Carbon Market Academy to tap opportunities in carbon trade.

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Regulation on carbon value: Another season of red tape?

Indonesia, with its potential to generate up to 13.4 billion tonnes of tradable carbon credits by 2050, is not yet the center of the carbon trade.

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Indonesia's Central Bank Governor Perry Warjiyo gestures to media members during a press conference on Jan. 15 at Bank Indonesia headquarters in Jakarta.

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Liquidity trap, confidence crisis amid monetary abundance

Japan’s Lost Decade offers a sobering lesson. The country suffered not from a lack of money, but from a collapse in growth expectations.

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Boys play an online game together on their smartphones on Jan. 21 as a scooter passes by in an alley in Jakarta.

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What teenagers want adults to know about their digital lives

Contrary to what adults might expect, young people want adults to know and care about their online lives.

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A man holds a poster in front of the court demanding the capital punishment on Monday ahead of a verdict on charges of crimes against humanity against ousted Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina for a deadly 2024 crackdown on student-led protests in Dhaka.

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Hasina’s conviction comes as lesson for all authoritarian rulers

Ultimately, the coercive power of the state could not withstand the power of the people.

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This aerial handout picture taken on December 22, 2024, and released on January 31, 2025, by Auriga Nusantara shows a general view of deforestation at an area on Gag Island in Raja Ampat, Southwest Papua.

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Green democracy is the path forward

When democracy can’t protect the people most affected, it stops being democracy.

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Soeharto announces his resignation as president of Indonesia at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on May 21, 1998.

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Sukarno, Soeharto and authoritarian failures in Indonesia

Centralization, which is prone to authoritarianism, may serve as an emergency structure in moments of collapse, but it cannot drive innovation, productivity or global competitiveness.

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Two people take a selfie in front of a sign in Kuala Lumpur for the 47th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits on Oct. 24, 2025, two days before the opening of the three-day event, hosted by the bloc’s Malaysian chairmanship.

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ASEAN’s 2045 Vision, powered by technology transformation

The regional bloc is applying its inclusive, collaborative and people-centered approach to harness the growing power and reach of AI to ensure that the technology is wielded as an equalizing, unifying force for better lives across Southeast Asia.

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Members of the Jakarta Police Mobile Brigade’s bomb squad prepare on Oct. 7, 2025, to sweep for explosive materials at Mentari Intercultural School in South Tangerang, Banten. The bomb threat the school received earlier that day was determined to be a hoax after a three-hour inspection that yielded no explosives.

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Child bomb maker: A wake-up call for protection, not punishment

Around the world, minors have been pulled into extremist violence through a combination of online influence, emotional turbulence, and unmet social needs.

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Activists hold a banner that reads “Our future is not for sale” during the Great People's March rally in Belém on Nov. 15, 2025, held alongside the 30th UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Brazil.

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Innovation, not mandates, will shape our climate future

World leaders need to focus on technological innovations that will help pull developing countries out of the massive amount of carbon they emit, away from costly investments prioritizing carbon reductions by rich countries, which contribute just 13 percent of global emissions.

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Security personnel stand guard on Nov. 17 as demonstrators attempt to demolish the residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh's first president and father of the country's fugitive prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, in Dhaka.

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How India and Bangladesh are reinforcing each other’s extremes

South Asia needs an honest reckoning with the dangerous symmetry that has emerged across its borders.

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A Malaysian rescuer provides food to Rohingya migrant Iman Shorif (right), days after his boat carrying migrants from Myanmar capsized on Nov. 10 near the Malaysia-Thailand border, at a jetty in Langkawi, Malaysia.

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Insurgency, control dynamics reshape Rohingya crisis

As the Bay of Bengal monsoon season ends, increasing numbers of Rohingya boat journeys are imminent.

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An activist holds a poster rejecting the proposal to name former president Soeharto a national hero during the Kamisan rally on Oct. 23, 2025, in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta.

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The national hero title for Soeharto: A monument to impunity

The granting of the hero title to Soeharto represents a denial, if not an outright betrayal, of the Reform movement, which was initiated in 1998 to end his corrupt dictatorship.

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Demonstrators attack a police barricade in Jakarta during a protest to criticize government policies, including the free nutritious meal program, held to coincide with the first anniversary of Prabowo Subianto's presidency on Oct. 20, 2025.

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‘Turn back cops’: Reform guided by generals of the past

Prabowo's direction will determine whether the reform team proves or disproves policing scholarship, which indicates that true reform depends on an external approach.

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Thousands of people take part in the Great People's March in Belém on Nov. 15, 2025, to deliver a rallying call for climate action and justice as world leaders attend the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Brazil.

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Climate and development finance must be integrated

Climate action and development is a false dichotomy, as investing in one necessarily contributes to outcomes in the other, and the global financial architecture needs to reflect this reality through an integrated mechanism that delivers, especially for developing countries.

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A resident of Gebangarum Village in Demak Regency, Central Java, pedals his bicycle on May 21 through floodwaters.

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Urgent call to turn the tide on coastal displacement

It is time for Indonesia to turn the table at the COP30 climate talks and take leadership in global discussion on displacement of coastal communities.

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Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (from left), Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, Chile's President Gabriel Boric, China's President Xi Jinping, South Korea's President Lee Jae-myung, Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto, Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Philippines' President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Hong Kong's Chief Executive John Lee, Papua New Guinea's Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister for International Affairs Alexei Overchuk, Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Vietnam's President Luong Cuong, United States' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Peru's Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism Teresa Mera, Mexico's Minister of Economy Marcelo Ebrard, and Taiwan's Senior Advisor Lin Hsin-i pose for a group photo during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, Nov. 1, 2025.

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Leveraging ASEAN, APEC 2025 outcomes to accelerate economic growth

Despite Indonesia’s strong regional position, this growth framework is shared by all economies in the region and each pursuing it for their own prosperity. Indonesia must act now to seize opportunities.

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China’s commerce minister Wang Wentao and Malaysia’s investment, trade and industry minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz sign Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade Protocol during the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur on Oct. 28, 2025.

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China and ASEAN usher in FTA 3.0 era — Anchoring shared prosperity amid turbulence

CAFTA 3.0 enables enterprises and our people across China and ASEAN to benefit more from the sound growth of regional development.

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Hilly terrain forms a backdrop on Nov. 9, 2023, against the Cirata Floating Solar Power Plant at Cirata Reservoir in Purwakarta, West Java, the largest energy facility of its kind in Southeast Asia.

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Indonesia’s clean energy future can power its economic growth

The country is rich in untapped potential for solar and hydro power and is already the world’s second-largest producer of geothermal power.

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Philippines' President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers remarks during the ASEAN chairmanship handing over ceremony as part of the closing ceremony of the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur on Oct. 28, 2025.

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Marcos Jr.’s battle for political survival

Many who fought the Marcos dictatorship with fierce resolve – people who once swore to resist every Marcos who came to power – are not joining those who want Marcos Jr. removed.

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President Prabowo Subianto attends the 28th ASEAN Plus Three (APT) Summit on Oct. 27, 2025, during the 47th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in Kuala Lumpur.

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Prabowo doesn’t need to be another Soeharto

The irony of declaring Soeharto a national hero is that Prabowo doesn't actually need the strongman's ghost to cement his legitimacy: He already has it in spades, and all he need do to carve out his legacy is to break with the past and forge ahead.

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