When pedicab drivers are labeled wealthy while a millionaire lawmaker qualifies for state aid, Indonesia’s high-stakes welfare registry proves that confusing data shortcuts with genuine reform costs real lives.

The question now is whether Seoul will send military forces to support the US-Israeli war with Iran. But even limited participation could carry serious risks.

Faced with an existential budget crisis and a fractured world order, the WHO needs an executive turnaround more than another doctor - and Indonesia’s Budi Gunadi Sadikin may be the outsider built for the job.

As the IMF undertakes the first major evaluation of its guidelines for program design since 2019, it should focus on three features of its lending toward reform, given widespread debt distress in developing countries.

Without clear standards, it will be difficult for users to distinguish between serious environmental commitments and superficial green promotion.

But a law that responds to cyber-attacks without addressing the governance conditions that made it so damaging will leave the country just as exposed.

The government must urgently start turning its authority into results to fulfill the promises made to the people in 1945.

The government’s latest changes to the import regime have expanded the range of food and agricultural products subject to tighter import controls, creating bottlenecks that are raising input costs and constraining supply. At the same time, weaker-than-expected demand from the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme has left producers facing pressure from both sides: higher production costs and limited demand for their output.

We cannot always stop disasters from occurring, but we can prevent them from becoming disastrous for millions of Indonesians by preparing better.

A government institution has no feelings to hurt, and the Constitutional Court just reminded power that its reputation is protected by performance, not prison.

Unlike seasonal smoke, the next cross-border hazard won't announce itself in the sky—it will quietly arrive on the workplace floor.

Prabowo’s londo ireng remark directed at civil society groups does not reflect the actual policy work civil society is providing, including the promotion of democratic values, good governance and human rights perspectives.

SBY tenure marked a phase of both consolidation and a renaissance for Indonesia’s foreign policy.

The Indonesia Stock Exchange’s (IDX) plan to lower the minimum share price from Rp 50 (less than 1 US cent) to Rp 1 could finally allow the market to discover the true value of stocks long trapped at the price floor. But greater price flexibility comes with greater risk. As distressed “zombie companies” are exposed to market forces and stocks worth only a few rupiah become tradable, the reform could improve liquidity and price discovery while also opening the door to greater volatility and speculation.

The collision of an aging population, escalating climate damages and massive remilitarization is set to present an unprecedented, compounding threat to the future well-being of Europeans.  

Despite decades of media obituaries and rescheduled catastrophes, the Great Barrier Reef just delivered the best five years of coral cover in its 40-year recorded history.

Jakarta’s plan to bypass "unilateral" regional budget cuts with municipal bonds isn't just an urban infrastructure fix. It is an open challenge to the government's centralist agenda.

Global growth is running hot into the second half of the year, forcing asset managers to find firebreaks while staying invested.

The next chapter of Japan-ASEAN relations will test whether the bond can endure amidst increasingly self-seeking and divisive geopolitical tendencies.

As peatlands burn and flagship carbon projects go up in smoke, our market-driven climate pledges are failing. Only recognizing the legal rights of nature, as constitutionally mandated, can pull us back from the brink.

In order to ensure the viability and merit of the bill, it is imperative for all of us to get clarity on ultimate purpose, intended impacts and legal soundness during the legislative process.

We cannot claim our war on terror as a success if it breeds new generations of anger, alienation and hatred.

Building on the 2002 agreement, ASEAN has since declared the right to a clean and healthy environment and is now working on an action plan that may finally provide access to legal recourse for the region’s citizens harmed by transboundary haze pollution.

A bank account can be frozen in minutes, but the damage to trust in the financial system can last much longer. The controversial freezing of an account belonging to the coordinator of a planned demonstration in Jakarta raises a question that goes well beyond the Rp 80.9 million (US$4,500) involved: How should banks balance law-enforcement requests against due process and customer protection, particularly when the legal basis for restricting access to a customer’s money is contested?

When the volcano exploded on Aug. 27, 1883, it destroyed the island on which it stood, killed almost 40,000 people in the surrounding area of Java and Sumatra, sent rafts of pumice to Africa, covered the Red Sea in ash and made barometers as far away as Washington, DC go haywire.

China's aluminum producers are increasingly turning to developing smelters abroad against a capacity cap of 45 million tonnes at home, extending the country's industry dominance further afield.

Southeast Asia’s recurring haze is rooted in fires burning in Indonesia, but its regional impact calls for stronger ASEAN cooperation, accountability and prevention.