The benefit of the RCEP is that even though it doesn’t call for liberalization at the same level, scope or depth of commitment as the CTPP, its impacts on the economies of member countries, and indeed on the world economy, will be massive.

A third World War seems in danger of starting in Ukraine, as even a small incident could become a pretext for wider conflict.

The Wadas incident is a throwback to the controversial land conflict of the 1980s when president Soeharto used the full force of the military to terrorize and evict thousands of villagers. 

With no easy way to identify Omicron and Delta patients, the decision to send people to hospital should be based on whether they develop severe symptoms, a distinction that could involve the difference between life and death.

A deeper look into the composition of the state revenues last year revealed the risk of too heavy dependence on commodities, notably minerals, oil and gas and palm oil.

Indonesia and Malaysia are slated to sign a new agreement this week on migrant worker protection, nearly six years after the previous deal expired, and it can only be hoped that the new deal will offer legal certainty for both Indonesian workers and their Malaysian employers.

We certainly don’t want control over what these platforms should publish or not, but there ought to be a commitment from these tech giants to prioritize good journalism.

Financial watchdogs and law enforcement must close ranks and up their ante against money laundering, lest Indonesia be placed back on the OECD's "increased monitoring" list.

Civil society, religious leaders and other prominent figures in Papua have repeatedly asserted that the militaristic approach will not be able to end the decades-long conflict in the natural resource-rich territory, but they say dialogue would.

We join the calls made by epidemiologists for the government to impose new mobility curbs to slow down the rate of infection. 

The rise of regional leaders like Anies, Ganjar and Ridwan on the national political stage comes as fresh air amid the predominance of political elites in Jakarta.

The major stumbling block to ASEAN’s efforts to end the suffering of Myanmar's people is a lack of unity. 

Problems arose after palm oil prices reached historical highs over the last two years, hovering above US$1,000 per ton due to the combination of demand increase and supply disruption in several major producing countries.

The treaty on extradition, for instance, is not a silver bullet that will immediately lead to the repatriation of Indonesian fugitives who are hiding in the island state.

Our elections are far from perfect, with oligarchic constraints and vote-buying still depriving us of truly fair and open elections, but a peaceful and periodic election is still the backbone of our democracy. 

Jokowi insisted that the ASEAN road map “shall not be linked” with the Tatmadaw’s own five-point road map, as it could be misconstrued as a move to legitimize the junta.

The accelerated vaccine rollout, which now includes booster doses, should not leave anyone behind, particularly those who have yet to receive their first or second shot.

The fiasco could have been avoided had the Defense Ministry proposed an emergency funding to the House of Representatives to finance both the satellite lease and purchase. 

The government’s plan to establish a public service agency called the Crude Palm Oil Support Fund (BPDKS) to raise funds to subsidize the difference between the coal export price and the DMO price not only will be ineffective but is also irrelevant.

Moving the capital from Jakarta to East Kalimantan may begin not only political and administrative transformations, but also cultural ones. 

Vaccination against COVID-19 is voluntary in Australia, but Victoria State, where the Australian Open is being held, has made it mandatory for all professional athletes. 

The uptick of cases should come as no surprise, given the relative laxity of travel restrictions.

Catholics, a minority in predominantly Muslim Indonesia, recall Rahmat for his bravery in resisting pressures and even physical threats from Islamic hard-line groups to defend Santa Klara Church in North Bekasi.

We hear reports of desperate refuge seekers, many who have been in Indonesia for more than 10 years, protesting and camping outside the UNHCR office demanding speedier resettlement in third countries.

President Jokowi has elected to establish the office of deputy home minister just as the principal home minister prepares to select 101 high-ranking officials to serve as acting governors, regents and mayors to replace those whose terms will end this year, followed by another batch of 171 next year.

Jokowi phoned Hun Sen to tell him the Myanmar junta had no choice but to fully implement the “five-point consensus”. 

The combination of inadequate institutional capacity, greed and corruption resulted in the issuance of thousands of overlapping mining concessions.

The House's failure to ratify the RCEP is a slap in the face of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, the chief promoter of the free trade agreement.

Transjakarta president director Mochammad Yana Aditya said the company would overhaul its system in accordance with the KNKT’s recommendations to prevent further accidents in the future. 

Indonesian companies will benefit from the RCEP through lower tariff rates for their exports, better access to cheaper or better-quality imports for making their products and a more open and more transparent business environment for trade in goods, services, investment, and movement of people.