Jakarta - Indonesia's parliament on Tuesday ratified a regional charter committing South-East Asian nations to the principles of democracy and human rights, and envisaging a single free-trade area by 2015.
The ratification bill was approved by all 10 factions in the House of Representatives. It will take effect after it is signed by the president.
Indonesia was the last member of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to ratify the charter after the Philippines signed up earlier this month, clearing the way for its formal adoption at a summit in Bangkok in December.
The charter commits the group to promote human rights and democracy, sets out rules for members and transforms ASEAN into a legal entity.
Jakarta - Indonesian police detained one man believed to be linked to terrorist activities Tuesday and seized bomb-making materials at a house in suburban Jakarta, the country's police chief said.
General Bambang Hendarso Danuri said counterterrorism police conducted the raid at a rented house in the northern suburb of Plumpang, the state-run Antara news agency reported.
The officers seized dozens of bullets, 3 kilograms of explosive material believed to be TNT, bomb-making manuals, pipes and cables.
Jakarta - An undersea earthquake registering 6.5 on the Richter scale struck off Indonesia's central Sulawesi province on Monday, but there were no immediate reports of injury or damage, the Indonesian seismologist agency said.
The quake struck at 12:54 pm (0454 GMT) and its epicentre was about 196 kilometres south-west of Tolitoli, Indonesia's National Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said, adding that the quake occurred at about 33 kilometres below sea level.
Jakarta - An international environmentalist group on Friday called on the Indonesian government to urgently declare a moratorium on deforestation to save the rainforest in Papua province from destruction.
Rainforests in Papua on New Guinea island have been under a mounting threat from expansion of palm oil production and logging, said Greenpeace, revealing new findings regarding deforestation activities in Indonesia's easternmost province.
"During our helicopter flyovers, in the past week we have seen the magnificent beauty of Indonesia's last frontier of intact forest and also witnessed illegal and increasing deforestation activities," Bustar Maitar of Greenpeace said in a statement.
Jakarta - Indonesia's pending pornography bill is likely to turn a blind eye to tourists wearing bikinis at popular beach resorts such as Bali, media reports said Friday.
The House of Representatives' special committee vetting the legislation, which aims to regulate pornographic material and loose public behaviour, raised the bikini issue at a meeting Thursday, the Jakarta Post newspaper said.
Jakarta - Government prosecutors demanded a two-year prison term Monday for an Indonesian Muslim hardliner on trial for his alleged role in a violent attack against an interfaith rally in early June that left dozens of people injured.
Prosecutors said Habib Rizieq Shihab had been proven guilty for ordering his followers to commit violence against the demonstrators, the state-run Antara news agency reported.
The prosecutors charged Shihab, chairman of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), with violating the criminal code articles on ambush, inciting violence and spreading hatred, which could bring a maximum sentence of nine years in prison.
Jakarta - Indonesian police detained one man believed to be linked to terrorist activities Tuesday and seized bomb-making materials at a house in suburban Jakarta, the country's police chief said.
Jakarta - An undersea earthquake registering 6.5 on the Richter scale struck off Indonesia's central Sulawesi province on Monday, but there were no immediate reports of injury or damage, the Indonesian seismologist agency said.
