Chief Justice Suhartoyo (center) reads out the nine-member bench’s ruling on a petition challenging Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka’s eligibility for contesting the 2024 presidential election on Oct. 6, 2026, at the Constitutional Court in Central Jakarta.

Constitutional Court’s decision: Rule of law or rule of court?

By airing doubts about Gibran’s credentials while throwing out the case on standing, the Constitutional Court has committed the ultimate judicial sin: letting its rhetoric intervene where its decree dared not tread.

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International students face Australia’s migration churn

Abolishing the temporary graduate visa would deliver a large additional blow to international education in Australia. ...

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AI regulation is becoming a question of national security

Amid calls from AI executives to pace advancement to accommodate regulatory development, the debate could eventually arrive at an intersection between the technology’s capability and governance capacity. ...

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A bus carrying Myanmar nationals being repatriated from Malaysia to their homeland, is seen heading toward to navel base in Lumut, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur on Sept. 29, 2026. Malaysia began sending back around 1,500 Myanmar nationals on Sept. 29, AFP journalists saw, launching a scheme rights groups say may endanger migrants by returning them to the war-torn country.

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Can Myanmar’s war be contained without ending it?

Myanmar risks entering a phase in which the conflict is contained without being resolved.

10 hours ago

United States President Donald Trump (center) speaks during a meeting with technology executives about artificial intelligence, at the White House in Washington, on Sept. 29, 2026.

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Super Intelligence, anarchy, and the next Cold War

As Washington and Beijing race for AI supremacy across rival blocs and autonomous digital frontiers, the world isn't heading toward peace, it’s drifting into a perilous, uncontainable new Cold War.

1 day ago

A customer scans a QRIS code to pay for a bowl of bakso (meatball soup) on Oct. 17, 2024, in Tangerang, Banten.

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Does inclusive finance really need stablecoins?

Some 1.3 billion adults — more than half of them women — remain excluded from the formal financial system, and lower-income consumers still struggle to find and access the financial products and services they need.

1 day ago

President Prabowo Subianto (right) inaugurates members of the Presidential Advisory Board (Wantimpres) on Oct. 2, 2026, at the State Palace in Central Jakarta.

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Wantimpres and its million-dollar question

Prabowo’s supersize, 26-strong advisory council offers plenty of room for political accommodation.

1 day ago

United States President Donald Trump (center left) and US First Lady Melania Trump (left) greet on Sept. 23, 2026, Chinese President Xi Jinping (center right) and China’s First Lady Peng Liyuan (right) upon their arrival at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, the US.

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The Trump-Xi thaw offers breathing room for the world

The high-stakes summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping served as a vital de-escalation momentum desperately needed for the stability of our world.

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Buildings in the Central Business District loom beyond the Singapore Flyer amid a shroud of haze Sept. 15, 2026, along the island-state’s Marina Bay prime waterfront area.

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The haze makes us angry, but our anger needs to be directed

The negative energy from anger over haze must be turned into positive action for supporting the people on the front lines battling forest fires and for bringing to account the companies found responsible for starting them.

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Motorcyclists commute on Oct. 2, 2026, as haze from forest and land fires shroud the road, in Palembang, South Sumatra. Wildfires in Indonesia have been blamed in large part on slash-and-burn land-clearing practices that result in the destruction of fire-resistant forest cover and the draining of peatlands.

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Smoke in the air, noise online: Public response to forest fires

While thick haze chokes the skies, an online disconnect between citizens and the state reveals that Indonesia’s greatest firefighting challenge may be digital, not just environmental.

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Foreign Minister Sugiono delivers his speech on Sept. 26 at the United Nations General Assembly high-level debate in New York City, the United States.

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Why Indonesia's fifth Security Council bid needs public buy-in

Indonesia is ready to claim a fifth seat on the UN Security Council, but unless President Prabowo can convince ordinary citizens why it matters, the bid risks looking like little more than expensive diplomatic tourism.

2 days ago

Visitors watch green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) hatchlings crawl to the sea on May 2, 2026, during a release event at Pasir Jambak Beach in Padang, West Sumatra.

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Conserving a connected ocean

Marine conservation is a fundamental component of national development among many WIO countries, but international cooperation and common financing instruments are essential because the ocean, as well as the species in it, knows no man-made bounds.

2 days ago

Container vessels are moored at the Jakarta International Container Terminal on Nov. 6, 2018.

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The foreign exchange Indonesia leaves at sea: Flag carrier is needed

Indonesia fuels the global economy with its coal, palm oil, and nickel, yet loses billions every year by paying foreign fleets to carry its own wealth away.

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Smoke rises from Saudi Aramco’s oil refinery in Riyadh on Oct. 3, 2026, after reported Houthi attacks.

Academia

Oil's new problem is logistics

A lot more crude is getting through the Strait of Hormuz. So why is Brent still trading above $100 per barrel?

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United States President Donald Trump (center right) salutes after a B1 bomber flyby on Sept. 23, 2026, while welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping (center left) at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

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A Trump-Xi AI hotline is not governance. ASEAN must build its own

A bilateral AI hotline between Washington and Beijing will manage the superpower crises, but it won’t save Southeast Asia from the collateral damage of frontier tech.

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Indonesia exercises its right of reply on Sept. 28, 2026, in response to statements by representatives of the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu on the situation in Papua during the general debate of the 81st United Nations General Assembly at the UN Headquarters in New York, the United States.

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UNGA High-level Week: Calling for a resilient multilateral system

Beyond the theatrical spotlight of global superpowers, Indonesia faces the vital diplomatic challenge of ensuring that its voice delivers lasting substance on the world stage.

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Family members wait outside the Myanmar Navy base in Thanlyin on Oct. 4, 2026 to welcome their loved ones returning from Malaysia. Nearly 1,500 Myanmar migrants from Malaysia arrived in their war-torn home country on Oct. 4, a Myanmar official said, returned under an opaque repatriation scheme that rights monitors say cannot assure their safety.

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Ignoring Myanmar normalizes tyranny upon us

As Myanmar’s people bleed under a brutal junta and regional indifference, Jakarta’s complacency serves as a chilling warning: ignoring the normalization of tyranny abroad only paves the way for creeping militarism at home.

3 days ago

Langkat Regent Syah Afandin is escorted to a detention vehicle after questioning at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) headquarters in Jakarta, on July 4, 2026. The KPK detained Afandin after naming him as a suspect in a bribery case related to public works projects in Langkat regency from 2025- 2026.

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Beyond bribery: Rethinking how Indonesia understands corruption

By reducing corruption to mere bribery, Indonesia risks letting modern abuses of power escape justice, a blind spot laid bare by the controversial trial of Nadiem Makarim.

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Members of the all-women The Power of Mama (TPoM) volunteer firefighting team spray water onto smoldering peatland on Sept. 26 in Mensubuk Lama, Tanjungpura village, Ketapang, West Kalimantan.

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Climate resilience starts with care

Estimates of funding needs and proposed investment pipelines overlook a critical piece of infrastructure: an ecosystem of climate-adapted care services that helps families prepare for, cope with and recover from climate-induced hazards.

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India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) shakes hands on Sept. 12, 2026, with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Bharat Mandapam, BRICS Summit venue, in New Delhi.

Academia

India-China thaw faces major economic tests

India is working to emerge from China’s shadow while improving diplomatic relations, but the more the world’s most populous country pushes, the more apparent its dependence on its wealthier neighbor becomes.

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A firefighter from the Regional Disaster Management Agency douses a forest fire at Sungai Rambutan village in Ogan Ilir, South Sumatra on Sept. 11, 2026. Toxic haze has shrouded parts of Indonesia and Malaysia for weeks as Jakarta struggles to contain fires that have scorched large tracts of Borneo and Sumatra, with the smoke drifting into neighboring Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

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Beyond disaster response: Building a state architecture of resilience

Natural hazards are inevitable, but disaster risk is manufactured, and Indonesia cannot engineer true resilience until it stops spending like a firefighter and starts budgeting like an architect.

3 days ago

President Prabowo Subianto arrives on Sept. 12 before the start of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi.

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Prabowonomics: From diagnosis to delivery

Nations escape the middle-income trap by building factories, not funding handouts - and Prabowonomics risks mistaking consumption for a cure.

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President Prabowo Subianto greets Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir following Nasir's inauguration at the State Palace in Jakarta on Oct. 1, 2026

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Three agendas for Minister Arrmanatha

Many see and expect that the new Foreign Minister could inject a new energy into the performance of Indonesia’s foreign policy in the years to come.

4 days ago

Leaders of participating countries gather for a family photograph during the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on Sept. 13, 2026.

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Without ideas or proposal, Prabowo stands on BRICS periphery

Indonesia may have secured a place at the BRICS table. But a seat at the table is not the same thing as having something distinctive to say at it.

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Protesters react after Indonesian military personnel blocked a road during a student protest in Jakarta, on June 12, 2026.

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Unblurring the boundary of civil-military relations

Clear legal limits, accountability and safeguards are needed to ensure exceptional assistance does not become an administrative norm.

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A man uses a manual pump to draw well water for bathing on Jan. 28, 2026, in Kemanggisan, Bekasi, West Jakarta.

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Groundwater recovery can help sinking cities

When groundwater reservoirs are replenished, the ground above rises, but the uplift is patchy because earthquake faults act like underground dams, channeling water.

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Children read books at Warna-Warni Reading Park in Tambora, West Jakarta, on May 21, 2024.

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Ensuring the human right to adequate housing in Indonesia

From the sun-starved alleys of Tambora to the sinking shores of Java, Indonesia’s urban future hinges on a vital shift: treating housing not just as four walls, but as a resilient, community-led ecosystem where dignity comes first.

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Bright futures: A health worker from the Ulee Kareng community health center (Puskesmas) gives vitamin A supplements to a toddler on Feb. 4, 2026, at an integrated health services post (Posyandu) in Lambhuk village, Banda Aceh.

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The 45 percent Indonesia keeps missing

The government pours billions into shaping adult conduct and schooling, but human character and critical reasoning are overwhelmingly forged between the womb and age seven, where state policy rarely looks.

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Pupils attend a class on Sept. 23 beside a collapsed wall at SD 3 Sukajadi state
elementary school in Sukakarya, Bekasi regency, West Java. According to the
school, three classrooms have been damaged for the past three years because of
the aging building, disrupting lessons and posing safety risks to students.

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Indonesia is pulling away the poor’s only ladder: Education

With Indonesian youth recording the world’s lowest faith in social mobility, misallocated public funds and crumbling classrooms threaten to turn the constitutional promise of education into an inescapable poverty trap.

6 days ago

Ground visit: Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka (third from right), accompanied by National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) head Suharyanto (right) and Solok Regent John Pandu (second right), inspects public facilities and infrastructure affected by flash floods in Arosuka, Solok, West Sumatra, on Sept. 25, 2026.

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Gibran’s fall, Prabowo’s power reconfiguration?

The court battle over Gibran isn't about a missing diploma: It’s an opening shot in the cutthroat struggle to reshape Indonesia’s oligarchic power under Prabowo.

6 days ago

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