Joko Widodo

Indonesia minister stabbed by IS-linked pair

Two members of an Islamic State group-linked terror network stabbed Indonesia's chief security minister Wiranto on Thursday, the intelligence head said, sending the powerful politician to emergency surgery for his wounds.Television images showed security officers wrestling a man and woman to the ground in Pandeglang on Java island after the attack on Wiranto, who goes by one name, as he was exiting a vehicle.The suspects were identified as 31-year-old Syahril Alamsyah and Fitri Andriana,

11 October 2019
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Indonesian student dies in law-change protests

An Indonesian student died yesterday as thousands hit the streets nationwide in a wave of opposition to a major overhaul of the country's criminal code and a bid to weaken its anti-corruption agency, police said.The death appeared to mark the first fatality in days of street battles across the Southeast Asian country, which have left hundreds injured and sparked a call from Amnesty International to probe what it described as "massive police violence" against protesters.The 21-y

27 September 2019
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Five things about unrest-hit Papua

Papua has plunged into chaos with deadly riots and mass demonstrations breaking out across Indonesia's easternmost territory, fanned by racial tensions and fresh calls for independence.Here are five things to know about the unrest:What started the riots?The riots appear to have been sparked by the arrest this month of dozens of Papuan students in Indonesia's second-biggest city Surabaya.Police in riot gear stormed a dormitory to force out students accused of destroying an Indonesian

1 September 2019
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New “Jakarta” may cause environment crisis

Abandoning Jakarta for a new capital in Borneo won't save the fast-sinking Indonesian megacity from disaster and could even spark a fresh environmental crisis in a region home to rainforests and endangered orangutans, critics have warned.President Joko Widodo announced this week that the Southeast Asian nation's political heart would be moved nearly 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) east to a yet-to-be-built model city as a way of easing pressure on densely populated Java.Sprawling Jak

31 August 2019
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Indonesia to move capital to Borneo

Indonesia will move its capital to the eastern edge of jungle-clad Borneo island, President Joko Widodo said Monday, as the country shifts its political heart away from congested and sinking megalopolis Jakarta.The proposed location – near the regional cities of Balikpapan and Samarinda – is an area at "minimal" risk of natural disasters, where the government already owns some 180,000 hectares (445,000 acres) of land, he added."The location is very strategic – it's in the

27 August 2019
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Indonesia threatens sackings over forest fires

Indonesian leader Joko Widodo warned Tuesday that officials would be sacked if they failed to stamp out rampant forest fires that are belching out toxic smog over Malaysia and Singapore.The threat came as Indonesia faced pressure from its neighbours to douse the blazes, which are blamed for sending air quality plummeting in parts of Southeast Asia."I've told the military and police chiefs to sack people who don't tackle forest fires," Widodo told a ministers meeting on the

7 August 2019
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Jokowi and Prabowo want peace

The winner and runner-up in Indonesia's presidential election which sparked deadly riots in the capital called for reconciliation on Saturday, in their first meeting since the vote.It comes two weeks after defeated Prabowo Subianto lost a court challenge to overturn President Joko Widodo's victory in the April election. On Saturday, the former general and the country's re-elected leader rode the newly-inaugurated mass rapid transit (MRT) system together in Jakarta.&quo

14 July 2019
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Protecting Indonesia’s workers

The ASEAN Post recently published an article regarding human rights abuses that Indonesia is said to have allegedly committed against Papuans. It is, however, equally important to remember that human rights abuses are also allegedly being committed against their own people as well.

2 July 2019
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Game over for Subianto

Indonesia's constitutional court Thursday rejected a bid to overturn President Joko Widodo's re-election victory and dismissed his defeated challenger's claims of widespread voter fraud as groundless.The court threw out the case lodged by ex-general Prabowo Subianto, saying he did not prove he lost the April vote because of widespread cheating and voter fraud – allegations that sparked deadly rioting in the capital of the world's third-biggest democracy."The plaintiff

29 June 2019
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Now what, Jokowi?

Indonesia’s president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has done it again. Not only has he managed to hold on to his position for a second term, he beat his old rival Prabowo Subianto with an even bigger margin than he managed in 2014.

23 May 2019
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Riots rock Indonesia's capital

At least six people were killed as Indonesia's capital erupted in violence when police clashed with protesters opposed to the re-election of President Joko Widodo.Police sirens blared as fresh skirmishes broke out Wednesday evening with thousands of protesters chanting and waving Indonesian flags in the heart of the capital.Some hurled stones and fireworks at riot police who lined up behind a razor wire barricade near the election supervisory agency building. Police pushed back

23 May 2019
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Confirmed: Indonesia's Jokowi wins second term

Indonesia's Joko Widodo won another term as president of the world's third-biggest democracy, official results showed Tuesday, after his rival Prabowo Subianto, a retired general, alleged widespread cheating.The elections commission was expected to announce the final tally of the 17 April poll on Wednesday in the Southeast Asian nation of 260 million.But amid fears about unrest and street demonstrations in response to the final count, the official result was released early with litt

21 May 2019
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