West Papuan Revolution Army raised morning star flag before shoot-out ahead of legislative elections, say reports West Papuan independence fighters did a "war dance", raised the banned morning star flag and shot at Indonesian security personnel near the border with Papua New Guinea on Saturday, according to a local journalist, in a provocative action ahead of Wednesday's legislative elections...
Report into six breaches of Indonesian waters by navy and customs vessels released after FOI request, but key sections are blacked-out The opposition and Greens are demanding a full government account of the circumstances surrounding Australian border protection vessels' six breaches of Indonesian territory, following the release of a heavily redacted report. Customs and the defence force conducted...
31 March - 4 April: Read up on the week's winners, losers, controversies and reports Satinah , an Indonesian maid who has been spared from execution in Saudi Arabia after being convicted of murdering her employer. Satinah said she hit her employer, Nura al-Garib, in self-defence . Multimedia Global development reading list It's World Health Day on Monday, and this year's theme is vector-borne diseases....
Threatening the established order in the parliamentary and presidential votes, relative outsiders such as Joko Widodo have done well in the polls After grilling fish on the bed of hot coals fixed to his wooden cart, Aris Ginanjar pauses to contemplate his side job running for Indonesia's parliament. The 33-year-old earns about £6 a day, so rather than opting for flashy pre-election stunts, he...
In terms of sheer numbers, April will be the most democratic month the world has ever seen as national elections take place in half a dozen countries with total electorates of more than one billion people in India, Afghanistan, Hungary, Indonesia, Algeria and Iraq ...
WHO certifies 11 countries polio free after three years without reporting single new case India and 10 other Asian countries have been declared free of polio, meaning the disease has been eradicated in 80% of the world. The World Health Organisation (WHO) certified the south-east Asian region which includes India but excludes Afghanistan and Pakistan polio free after the countries went three years...
World Trade Organisation has now allowed five countries to appeal against cigarette labelling legislation The World Trade Organisation has granted Indonesia the right to challenge Australias plain packaging laws in front of a panel of trade and legal experts, trade sources say. Indonesia and a number of other countries before it are seeking to challenge the legislation which has required all cigarettes...
Senators critical of 'blanket public interest immunity claims' used to avoid giving details about Operation Sovereign Borders It may be impossible for the government to safely pursue its policy of turning back boats carrying asylum seekers without crossing into Indonesias territorial waters, a Senate inquiry into six Australian naval incursions has found. On Thursday the foreign affairs, defence and...
Without watertight laws demanding they report, technology companies may not even know the environmental impact they have Smartphones are fantastic, world-changing products. But their components and materials, collected from all corners of the Earth, can contribute to damaging people's lives and the planet. Friends of the Earth's investigation with the Guardian into tin mining on and around Indonesia's...
A Greenpeace campaign forced Asia Pulp and Paper to change direction, but unless it acts too many will remain sceptical When Ken dumped his long-term girlfriend Barbie via giant Greenpeace poster on the Mattel toy company HQ in Los Angeles in 2011, he said: "Barbie: It's over. I don't date girls that are into deforestation." Mattel was one of over 130 global companies that bought paper packaging...
The edict on wildlife trafficking is leading secular organisations to recognise that environmentalism is embedded in most scripture In January, a holy voice rang out across Indonesia's archipelago of lush, tropical forests and teeming mangroves. It came in the form of a fatwa, an Islamic edict, which instructed Muslims to stop the illegal trafficking of wildlife . Believed to be the first fatwa broadly...
Mining firm’s ‘high-potential’ Sumatran holding borders on Sumatra’s important Leuser ecosystem, home to many endangered species Oliver Milman ...
An acrid blanket of haze is hanging over the cities of south-east Asia, where 700,000 people a year die prematurely from the effects of air pollution. Industry and climate change are being blamed, but governments are slow to act High above the vast Indonesian island of Sumatra, satellites identify hundreds of plumes of smoke drifting over the oil palm plantations and rainforests. They look harmless...
Richard Wike: The numbers are in, and the people want their internet freedom – no matter what Putin and Erdogan say Richard Wike ...
Operation Sovereign Borders officials make admission during Senate inquiry into controversial incursions by Australian navy Oliver Laughland ...
Federal court rules that captain was not committing offence when officials boarded his boat in April 2008 ...
Family members issue threat in attempt to get more information as China deploys 21 satellites in search for missing plane • Follow the latest updates in our live blog Relatives of some of the Chinese passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have threatened to go on hunger strike in an effort to force more information from the Malaysian authorities. "Now we have no news, and everyone...
Small timber businesses in Java are provided with the training to calculate a sustainable harvest and achieve their just rewards Traceable and responsible supply chains for timber retailers; better practices that respect the environment and local people; increased revenues for smallholder farmers. It sounds like a pipedream, but for one community in Java, it's a reality. Dipantara is a small Indonesian...
Iranian says group were first detained on a research vessel for a week, locked in a dark cabin and told to ‘shut up’ Michael Safi ...
In early March 2014, forest and peat fires in Indonesia's Riau province, on the island of Sumatra, spiked to levels not seen since the previous south-east Asian haze crisis of June 2013 In early March 2014, forest and peat fires in Indonesia's Riau province, on the island of Sumatra, spiked to levels not seen since the previous Southeast Asian haze crisis of June 2013. Nearly 50,000 Indonesians are...