RI Receives Foreign Assistance to Deal With Forest Fires by Fardah

    Jakarta, July 30, 2009 (ANTARA) - Indonesia has received United States assistance  to conduct a fire-fighting  exercise and  Malaysian aid  to organize a course on tackling  forest and plantation fires happening in  Riau Province in particular.

          Forest fires in Indonesia have become an international concern as they release carbon emissions, which could worsen  global warming, and haze, which could cross the border to neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.    

Two Candidate Pairs Refer Complaints to Constitutional Court by Fardah

    Jakarta, July 29, 2009 (ANTARA News) - The Megawati-Prabowo and Jusuf Kalla-Wiranto presidential election camps have formally reported numerous irregularities that allegedly happened in the July 8 poll to the Constitutional Court (MK) in what appears to be a move to challenge the legitimacy of the election`s official outcome.
      A lawyers` team representing the Jusuf Kalla-Wiranto (JK-Win) pair reported 55 irregularities to MK on Monday (July 27), and the next day, the Megawati-Prabowo`s advocacy team submitted evidence on over 50 flaws.

Shootings Target PT Freeport in Papua by Fardah

    Jakarta, July 21, 2009 (ANTARA) - Two executives of PT Freeport, Dave Potter and Adrianto Machribi, were injured in the bomb blast last Friday (July 17, 2009) at JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta - very far away from Papua where shooting and torching incidents recently happened in the US gold and copper mining company's concession area.

         The bomb blast in Jakarta, and the shootings in Papua, Indonesia's eastern-most province, might have no linkage at all, but executives and employees of the Indonesian subsidiary of the US-based mining firm have become victims in the two separate incidents.

Number of Indonesia's H1N1 Patients Increasing by Fardah

     Jakarta, July 11, 2009 - (ANTARA News) - While Indonesia is considered to have been `rather late` in reporting Influenza A (H1N1) cases, the number of H1N1 or swine flu patients in the country has steadily risen to 52.
     The number of influenza A (H1N1) or swine flu cases in Indonesia increased by 24 recently bringing the total number of sufferers in the country to 52, Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said in Jakarta, on Thursday (July 9).
       Of the 24 new cases, three involve foreigners, and the rest Indonesian nationals, who mostly had made overseas trips recently, namely to Malaysia, Australia, the United States, Thailand, Singapore and China, she said.

News Focus: POLL BLINDS GOVT TO HAZE PROBLEM IN SUMATRA By Fardah

      Jakarta, July 9, 2009 (ANTARA) - The ongoing presidential election process, from campaigning to ballot counting, has made Indonesian officials too busy to notice the current haze problem caused by forest and plantation fires in Sumatra. Haze has forced the closure of airports in Pekanbaru and Dumai, Riau Province, several times over the past two months. 

       But it seems the haze problem remains unnoticed particularly by central government officials who hardly make any comment on it. Indonesia held its second direct presidential election on July 8, 2009.