INDONESIA PLAYS DUAL ROLES IN CLIMATE CHANGE ISSUES by Fardah

      Jakarta, May 30, 2014 (Antara) - As an archipelagic country with vast forests and maritime areas, Indonesia is unique as it is most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, but simultaneously offers crucial solutions to curb the climate change problem.

        The impacts of climate change are apparent in Indonesia, such as rising sea levels, change in precipitation patterns, decrease in agriculture and fishery production, drought, flooding, and an increase in occurrence of some vector-borne diseases.  

INDONESIA, PHILIPPINES AGREE TO INTENSIFY BILATERAL COOPERATION by Fardah

     Jakarta, May 29, 2014 (Antara)  - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's two-day state visit to Manila, on May 22-23, 2014, his first since holding office in 2004, coincided with the 65th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Indonesia and the Philippines.

        During the bilateral meeting held in Malacanang Palace, on May 23, Yudhoyono and his host, President Benigno Aquino III agreed to further strengthen and foster relations between both countries not only in the field of political and economic cooperation but also agreed to boost people-to-people contact between the two countries.

RAJA AMPAT GEARS UP TO WELCOME YATCH RALLY PARTICIPANTS By Fardah

  Jakarta, May 27, 2014 (Antara) - Raja Ampat Islands often dubbed "Heaven on Earth" for its alluring marine panoramas, readies itself to welcome sailors and adventurers from 18 countries during its opening ceremony to be inaugurated by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.     
    "Sail Raja Ampat 2014 will officially kick off at Waisai Torang Cinta (WTC) Beach, Kota Waisai, Raja Ampat, West Papua, on June 21, 2014," Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sharif C. Sutardjo remarked while recently inspecting the final preparations for the international maritime event in Raja Ampat District, West Papua.

INDONESIA HOPES THAI POLITICAL SITUATION TO NORMALIZE by Fardah

   Jakarta, May 26, 2014 (Antara) - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members have consistently adhered to its non-interference principle, but as neighbors and friends, they can still advice or show concern during troubled times, such as Thailand's military coup.  
   "It is true that it is an internal affair of Thailand, but ASEAN is a caring and sharing community," Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono informed the press in Manila, the Philippines, on May 24, while expressing his views on the military coup in Thailand.

INDONESIA WARNS AGAINST SETTING FOREST FIRES AS EL NINO DEVELOPS by Fardah

     Jakarta, May 24, 2014 (Antara) - Forest, plantation and peatland fires have hit Indonesia annually over the last couple of decades, causing a great deal of damage to the environment, businesses and local people's health.

         In Sumatra's Riau Province alone, forest and land fires occurring only between February and April 2014 caused economic losses worth more than Rp20 trillion (almost US$2 billion), according to data from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB). 
    The BNPB has spent around Rp164 billion, or one-third of its budget, to deal with the forest, peatland and plantation fires nationally.

HUBUNGAN INDONESIA-YORDANIA SALING MELENGKAPI: DUBES

Oleh Fardah    Jakarta, 22/5/2014 (Antara) - Hubungan bilateral antara Indonesia dan Yordania terjalin dengan sangat baik dan saling melengkapi terutama di bidang perdagangan, Duta Besar Yordania untuk Indonesia Walid Al-Hadid mengatakan.          "Hubungan kedua negara sangat baik dan unik. Di bidang perdagangan, kita saling melengkapi. Misalnya, kami mempunyai kalium (potash) dan fosfat, sementara Indonesia memiliki kayu dan minyak kelapa sawit," Dubes Walid mengatakan kepada Antara, Kamis, pada kesempatan peringatan ke-68 Hari Kemerdekaan Yordania.

INDONESIA, JORDAN COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER: AMBASSADOR

 by Fardah
   Jakarta, May 22, 2014 (Antara) - The bilateral relations between Indonesia and Jordan are very sound and complement each other, stated Jordanian Ambassador to Indonesia Walid Al-Hadid.  
    "The bilateral relations are unique. In trade relations, we complement each other. For instance, we have potash and phosphate, and Indonesia has wood and palm oil," Ambassador Walid noted here on Thursday, while speaking on the occasion of the 68th anniversary of Jordan's Independence.        

Indonesia Gears Up For Presidential Election by Fardah

Jakarta, May 19, 2014 (Antara) - The General Election Commission (KPU) has started the process of the implementation of the July 9 presidential election, after announcing the results of the parliamentary elections held on April 9, 2014.

"We have sent circular letters to political parties so that they can prepare documents needed for the nomination of presidential and vice presidential pairs," said the KPU chairman, Husni Kamil Manik recently.

AMBASSADOR INVITES INDONESIAN CHRISTIANS TO JORDAN DURING POPE'S VISIT

by Fardah
    Jakarta, May 19, 2014 (Antara) - Jordanian Ambassador to Indonesia Walid Al-Hadid has invited Indonesian Christians to visit his country, particularly during the pilgrimage of Pope Francis on May 24-25, 2014.

         "I encourage Indonesian Christians to visit Jordan, particularly during the visit of Pope Francis. There will be no problem regarding visa application. Indonesians can obtain visa on arrival at the airport in Amman, or apply for visa that will be issued in one day at the Jordanian embassy," Ambassador Walid Al-Hadid told Antara here on Monday.  
    Around 50 thousand Indonesians visited Jordan last year, according to the ambassador. Historic home to many great civilizations as well as the heartland of Islamic, Christianity and Judaism religions, Jordan has many sacred places for Muslims and Christians.

DUBES YORDANIA HARAPKAN UMAT KRISTEN INDONESIA ZIARAH SAAT KUNJUNGAN PAUS

    Jakarta, 19/5/2014 (Antara) - Duta  Besar Yordania untuk Indonesia Walid Al-Hadid mengharapkan umat Kristen Indonesia melakukan ziarah ke negaranya bersamaan dengan lawatan Pemimpin Takhta Suci Vatikan Paus Fransiskus I ke Amman pada 24 Mei 2014.

         "Yordania yang menjunjung tinggi toleransi dan hubungan yang harmonis antar umat Islam, Kristen dan Yahudi, mempunyai sejumlah tempat wisata religi yang sangat penting bagi peziarah Muslim maupun Kristiani," ujar Dubes Walid kepada Antara di Jakarta, Senin.

INDONESIA GEARS UP FOR RESEARCH IN UNEXPLORED DEEP SEA by Fardah

     Jakarta, May 19, 2014 (Antara) - Indonesia is the biggest archipelagic country in the world, with around 70 percent of its territory is waters and it has around 17,480 islands.
         Indonesia's future basically lies in oceans expected to help sustain food security. A lot of researches and economic-related activities have been carried out in shallow seas, while deep sea is mostly still unexplored and hides mysteries waiting for being revealed.
          The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) recently announced that it would intensify deep sea research in eastern Indonesian waters.

INDONESIA LIKELY TO HAVE FEWER WOMEN IN PARLIAMENT by Fardah

   Jakarta, May 18, 2014 (Antara) - Despite the increase in the number of female candidates in the parliamentary elections held throughout Indonesia on April 9, 2014, the country would likely fail to meet its target of increasing women's representation in the 560-seat Parliament for the 2014-2019 period.

         Of 6,607 legislative candidates racing for the House of Representatives (DPR) seats in the elections, some 37 percent or 2,467 were women, up from 30 percent in the legislative elections in 2009.  

CTI CENTER EXPECTED TO MAKE MANADO WORLD'S CORAL REEF CAPITAL by Fardah

    Jakarta, May 17, 2014 (Antara) -  The Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF), a partnership of six countries formed in 2007, finally has a permanent secretariat in Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.

         The permanent secretariat, called the CTI Center, was the creation of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's commitment to the preservation of coral reefs in the region, Indonesian Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sharief Cicip Sutardjo said when accompanying Vice President Boediono on a tour of the CTI Center compound.

Wibisono to report objectively on human rights situation in Palestine by Fardah

Jakarta, May 16, 2014  (ANTARA News) - Working on human rights issues is not new for Indonesian senior diplomat Dr Makarim Wibisono recently elected by UN Human Rights Council as special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel since 1967.

Makarim Wibisono served as the president of the U.N. Human Rights Commission in its last year of operation in 2005. As the UN rapporteur general, he will assume his responsibility for a six-year term starting the first week of June 2014.

"I was elected to replace Richard Falk, a United States academic whose mandate ended on May 1," Makarim Wibisono said recently.

INDONESIA CONSIDERS CHEMICAL CASTRATION TO DETER PEDOPHILES by Fardah

     Jakarta, May 15, 2014 (Antara) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono again chaired a limited cabinet meeting to discuss effective measures to protect children from pedophiles, following reports of an increasing number of children becoming victims of sexual predators in several provinces.

        The government had outlined 40 planned measures for a national movement against child abuse and violence to be implemented by the authorities and every element of the community, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Agung Laksono told the press after the meeting on May 14, 2014.      

WORLD OCEAN BUSINESS FORUM MARKS START OF WCRC by Fardah

    Jakarta, May 14, 2014 (Antara) - More than 400 participants from 24 countries attended the World Ocean Business Forum (WOBF) held in Manado, North Sulawesi, on May 14, to mark the start of the World Coral Reef Conference (WCRC) taking place until May 17, 2014.

        The forum's participants consisted of 186 Indonesians and around 250 foreigners hailing from Argentina, the United States, Australia, Brazil, the Netherlands, China, Finland, Gambia, Britain, Iraq, Germany, South Korea, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, France, the Philippines, the Seychelles, Thailand, Uganda, and Vietnam.

         They comprised diplomats, members of the international seaweed associations, the Coral Triangle Initiatives (CTI), the international ornamental fish associations, and chambers of commerce and industry, tour operators, NGO activists, academicians, researchers, scientists, as well as government officials.

INDONESIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT STARTS HANDLING ELECTION DISPUTES by Fardah

   Jakarta, May 13, 2014 (Antara) - After working hard until the last minutes before the May 9 deadline, Indonesia's General Elections Commission (KPU) announced the official results of the April 9 legislative elections at 11.40 pm local times.

         Some political observers, at first, had doubted that KPU would be able to meet the deadline because there were many complaints and protests particularly about alleged fraud during the vote count and recapitulation processes at a number of local poll stations or in the provincial-level KPU offices.  

INDONESIA'S ISLAMIC ORGANIZATIONS STRONGLY CONDEMN ABDUCTION OF NIGERIAN SCHOOLGIRLS by Fardah

    Jakarta, May 13, 2014 (Antara) - A number of leaders of Indonesian Islamic organizations gathered in the headquarters of the Indonesian Ulema (Islamic Scholars) Council (MUI) in Jakarta on May 12, 2014 to express condemnation against the abduction of hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls by Boko Haram gang.

         "We strongly condemned the action," Abdullah Zaidi, the chairman of Al-Irsyad Al-Islamiyah, told the press on behalf of the other leaders.

         They stated the kidnappings were against the Islamic principles that forbid all kinds of violence against women and those who are innocent.

ELECTION COMMISSION RACING AGAINST TIME TO MEET VOTE RECAPITULATION DEADLINE by Fardah

     Jakarta, May 8, 2014 (Antara)-  The General Elections Commission (KPU) has been working extra hard lately to meet the deadline of vote count and recapitulation  of the results of the legislative elections which was held in the country's 33 provinces on April 9, 2014.

        The KPU earlier decided to delay  the deadline of the vote recapitulation from May 6 to May 9, 2014, following a number of protests and debates involving political parties' election witnesses and the election executors at local levels in a number of regions.

        Based on the Law No. 8/2012 on General Elections of Members of the House of Representatives (DPR), the Regional Representative Council (DPD) and Regional Legislative Council (DPRD), the results of the elections should be known nationally 30 days after the election day at the latest.

CHILD PROTECTION CRUCIAL FOR INDONESIA'S FUTURE by Fardah

    Jakarta, May 8, 2014 (Antara) - The revelation of a sexual assault of a five-year-old boy at the Jakarta International School (JIS) was like "opening Pandora's box" as child abuses cases have "flown" from several parts of the country since then.

         "The silent" crimes against innocent children have come out to the surface almost at the same time from regions, such as Sukabumi in West Java, Aceh, North Sumatra and Riau provinces lately.

        In Sukabumi, West Java, at least 114 small boys in the Citamiang Subdistrict had reportedly become victims of sexual assaults committed by a 24-year-old man identified by his first name as Emon.

INDONESIAN MPs, NGOs URGE EGYPT TO REVOKE MASS DEATH PENALTY By Fardah

     Jakarta, May 7, 2014 (Antara) - A number of Indonesian legislators and mass organizations have denounced Egypt's death penalty against hundreds of the Islamic Brotherhood's leaders and members, and urged the Egyptian government to revoke the ruling.  
    The Indonesian Ulema (Cleric) Council (MUI) urged the Indonesian government to approach the government in Egypt to ask its court to cancel the mass death penalty ruling.

         "The government must help defend the rights of those who are innocent," Saleh Daulay, the chairman of the MUI's Fatwa (religious edict) Commission said recently.  

INDONESIA, EU ENTER NEW ERA OF CLOSER RELATIONS by Fardah

      Jakarta, May 6, 2014 (Antara) - After a long process, the European Union (EU) and Indonesian Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) finally came into effect on May 1, 2014.

         Negotiations with Indonesia on the PCA, the first agreement of its kind to come into effect with one of EU's South East Asian partners, began in 2005. 
    The Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation between the European Community and its member states and the Republic of Indonesia was signed in Jakarta on November 9, 2009, Riaz JP Saehu, the counselor of the Indonesian embassy in Brussels, said on April 6, 2014.