Asylum seekers look at the media from behind a fence at the Manus Island detention centre, Papua New Guinea in this picture taken March 21, 2014. This is image is supplied from source with faces digitally blurred. AAP/Eoin Blackwell/via REUTERS Australia and P... More »
JAKARTA Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Monday urged citizens to take part in the country’s new tax amnesty and pledged his government will “go all out” to keep the law behind it from potentially getting blocked in court. In line with low payment rates in ... More »
NUSA DUA, Indonesia The Federal Reserve should be cautious on interest rate increases due to lingering risks to the U.S. economy, one of its most influential policymakers said on Monday, appearing to signal the chance of a hike by the end of the year was fadin... More »
VIENTIANE Southeast Asian nations overcame days of deadlock on Monday when the Philippines dropped a request for their joint statement to mention a landmark legal ruling on the South China Sea, officials said, after objections from Cambodia. Beijing publicly t... More »
JAKARTA The Indonesian government will start the implementation of its tax amnesty program on Monday, more than two weeks after parliament passed the law in an effort to bring home funds stashed abroad, a tax official said. The country’s finance minister will ... More »
BEIJING/MANILA China vowed to take all necessary measures to protect its sovereignty over the South China Sea and said it had the right to set up an air defence zone, after rejecting an international tribunal’s ruling denying its claims to the energy-rich wate... More »
BEIJING European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Wednesday that the European Union does not take a stance on sovereignty in South China Sea. Speaking in Beijing, Mogherini said the EU called on all parties to respect legal decisions and u... More »
BEIJING The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) stressed its independence from China at its first annual meeting on Saturday, saying it plans to cooperate with other development banks and add new members, including Hong Kong. Chinese President Xi Jinpi... More »
WASHINGTON Fossils unearthed on the Indonesian island of Flores may resolve one of the most intriguing mysteries in anthropology: the ancestry of the extraordinary diminutive human species dubbed the “Hobbit.”Scientists on Wednesday described bone fragments an... More »
SINGAPORE China rebuffed U.S. pressure to curb its activity in the South China Sea on Sunday, restating its sovereignty over most of the disputed territory and saying it “has no fear of trouble”. On the last day of Asia’s biggest security summit in Singapore, ... More »
KUNMING, China/VIENTIANE For the southwestern city of Kunming, China’s plan to extend a high-speed rail link 3,000 km (1,875 miles) south to Singapore is already a boon: pristine expressways, a gleaming station and something of a real estate boom, as young buy... More »
SINGAPORE The United States stepped up pressure on China on Saturday to rein in its actions in the South China Sea, with top defense officials underlining Washington’s military superiority and vowing to remain the main guarantor of Asian security for decades t... More »
BARCELONA Dutch teenager Max Verstappen made Formula One history as the youngest race winner on Sunday in a sensational Spanish Grand Prix that saw dominant Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg collide and crash out on the opening lap. Verstappen, ... More »
DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil giant Aramco is seeking to expand globally via joint ventures overseas as it prepares for a partial privatization pushed by a government intent on diversifying the economy. The company is looking at opportun... More »
JAKARTA Indonesia wants former Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho to train its beleaguered national soccer team, the country’s sports minister said on Tuesday. Minister Imam Nahrawi said he had discussed the idea with President Joko Widodo, who is trying to revive In... More »
DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia State oil company Saudi Aramco wants to expand globally and is looking at potential joint ventures in several countries, including Indonesia, India, the United States, Vietnam and China, chief executive Amin Nasser said on Tuesday. “We ar... More »
JAKARTA A tax amnesty program planned by Indonesia’s government could potentially attract home 560 trillion rupiah ($42.38 billion) of assets stashed offshore, the central bank governor told a parliamentary commission on Monday. The amnesty program could also ... More »
DOHA A deal to freeze oil output by OPEC and non-OPEC producers fell apart on Sunday after Saudi Arabia demanded that Iran join in despite calls on Riyadh to save the agreement and help prop up crude prices. The development will revive oil industry fears that ... More »
WASHINGTON The extinct human species dubbed the “Hobbit” vanished from its home on the Indonesian island of Flores far earlier than previously thought, according to scientists who suspect our species may have had a hand in these diminutive people’s demise. Res... More »
JAKARTA Indonesia on Thursday urged Chinese ships not to enter its territorial waters, days after it protested against what it called a breach of its sovereignty by a Chinese coastguard ship. Indonesia is not embroiled in rival claims with China over the South... More »
JAKARTA Ride-hailing apps Grab and Uber must partner with a transport business and register their cars by the end of May if they want to continue to operate in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, a minister said on Thursday. “Uber, Grab are app companies. If the... More »
JAKARTA A consortium made up of Indonesia’s state energy firm PT Pertamina and Japan’s Marubeni Corp (8002.T) has signed a deal with General Electric (GE.N) for the U.S. firm to provide gas turbines for a $2 billion power plant in Java, Pertamina said. The con... More »
PALEMBANG, Indonesia A solar eclipse enthralled Indonesia on Wednesday but clouds over some parts of archipelago spoiled the view for many of the skywatchers who had the opportunity to see it in totality. In Palembang city on the western island of Sumatra wher... More »
JAKARTA Global Internet-based firms could have their services blocked in Indonesia if they do not obtain “permanent establishment” status in the country and pay Indonesian tax, government officials said on Monday. Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro told rep... More »
SHANGHAI Investors hoping for a grand plan from the world’s top financial officials to stabilize shaky markets are set for disappointment, insiders say, when finance ministers and central bankers gather this week in Shanghai to discuss the troubled global econ... More »
The following timeline charts the origin and spread of the Zika virus from its discovery nearly 70 years ago: 1947 – Scientists researching yellow fever in Uganda’s Zika Forest identify the virus in a rhesus monkey 1948 – Virus recovered from Aedes africanus m... More »
JAKARTA So stiff is competition between Indonesia’s motorcycle taxis app companies that new entrants are going to extreme lengths to stand out. Aris Wahyudi, the founder of the newest motorcycle-sharing company, reckons he has found a unique way to win busines... More »
NEW YORK A rare crested macaque that took a now internationally famous “selfie” cannot own the copyright to the photograph because he is not human, a U.S. judge ruled in a suit brought by animal rights group PETA on behalf of the monkey. People for the Ethical... More »
TOKYO Japan’s Toshiba Corp (6502.T) said on Monday it will cut nearly 7,000 consumer electronics jobs after a $1.3 billion accounting scandal, in an overhaul that will streamline the sprawling conglomerate into a company focused on chips and nuclear energy. To... More »
CLARK FIELD, Philippines Philippine President Benigno Aquino vowed on Monday to leave behind a stronger and a more capable armed forces to face maritime challenges in the South China Sea when he leaves office next year. Aquino, ineligible to run for re-electio... More »
SINGAPORE When “Bathing in the Shower” by the late Indonesian artist Hendra Gunawan went under the hammer at Sotheby’s autumn auction in Hong Kong in October this year, the oil painting of three female bathers was sold for HK$9.7 million ($1.3 million). That p... More »
JAKARTA When Indonesia’s anti-drugs czar announced plans to guard a death-row prison island with crocodiles, the government rushed to explain that it was just a joke, but on Friday Budi Waseso said he was now thinking of using tigers and piranha fish too. Medi... More »
SYDNEY Australia’s hardline immigration policies overshadowed the launch of its bid to join the U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday, with the government and rights lawyers arguing bitterly over a pregnant Somali asylum-seeker who claims she was raped. Immigrat... More »
PARIS/SINGAPORE Uber Inc’s aggressive global expansion is looking costlier and riskier than ever as the company struggles with regulatory and competitive obstacles in major markets. Just last week, the company faced a police raid on its European headquarters i... More »
JAKARTA Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] denied on Monday that authorities in Jakarta had arrested some of its drivers after police in the city said they were cracking down on the car-hailing service because it was operating illegally. Police spokesman Mohammad... More »
(This version of the story corrects number of troops in paragraph 1 to 1,000 from 10,000- headline altered to reflect change) PADAMARAN, Indonesia (Reuters) – Indonesia said on Friday it will send more than 1,000 troops to fight fires in southern Sumatra, as s... More »
JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. Central bankers from around the world are telling their American counterparts that they are ready for a U.S. interest rate hike and would prefer that the Federal Reserve make the move without further ado. In private and in public at last wee... More »
FIFA have dismissed claims by Indonesia that they will visit Jakarta in October with a view to overturning the soccer ban on the Southeast Asian nation for government interference. Indonesian Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi said on Friday FIFA would sen... More »
JAKARTA Indonesian President Joko Widodo put two experienced technocrats into economic management posts on Wednesday in a cabinet reshuffle designed to reassure investors worried about a policy drift that has allowed growth to slip to a six-year low. Widodo’s ... More »
JAKARTA Indonesia’s chief economic minister, Sofyan Djalil, said on Wednesday he will leave that post and take over the national planning ministry. “I have been moved to the national planning ministry,” the 61-year old told reporters at the presidential palace... More »
TORONTO BlackBerry Ltd (BB.TO), which has been coy about its ambitions to make a mainstream Android smartphone, fueled more speculation about its plans this week when it scooped up two Android-related domain names. Several blog posts in the last two days have ... More »
KUALA LUMPUR Malaysian police raided the office of troubled state investment fund 1MDB on Wednesday, following a report that claimed investigators looking into the firm found nearly $700 million had been transferred to Prime Minister Najib Razak’s bank account... More »
