AFGHANISTAN The Taliban is creating a “grand army” for Afghanistan that will include officers and troops who served the old regime, says the official tasked with overseeing the military’s transformation. Latifullah Hakimi, head of the Taliban’s Ranks Clearance Commission, also told a news conference on Monday that they had repaired half the 81 helicopters and planes […]
Tag: Indonesia
from: Al Jazeera, Asia Times, Corriere della Sera, East Asia Forum, Euractiv, Global Times, Reuters, RFE RL, RUSI, TASS, The Interpreter, The Strategist AFGHANISTAN The United Nations children’s agency says it will pay Afghan teachers a monthly stipend for at least two months. Salaries have been unpaid for months as the country plunged into economic crisis due […]
AFRICA Strategies for financing Africa’s health sector. Vera Songwe, Brookings: Never before in the last half century has Africa’s health care landscape seen so many changes and attracted so much interest. In fact, Africa’s health care sector would be worth an estimated $259 billion by 2030. While these trends reveal a lucrative opportunity for the private […]
Tensions with China over the South China Sea have prompted Indonesia to invite maritime security officials from five ASEAN member states – Brunei, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam – to meet in February to discuss a possible joint response to Beijing’s growing assertiveness. Jakarta’s bold move is worth consideration as Indonesia is a non-claimant state in […]
Food security is an important goal for Indonesia, and since the introduction of the Food Law of 2012, the country has made good progress in staple food production. However, a World Bank report pointed out that overall food security performance—i.e., the availability, affordability, and (nutritional) quality of food—is mixed. To date, food security policies have aimed at improving […]
Ahead of the Rome G20 Summit in October 2021, the G20 looked like it was in danger of losing the plot. What a relief, then, to see Indonesia bring the G20 back to its bread-and-butter global policy challenges as it takes over as its chair for 2022. Jokowi begins the fight against lame duck status in Indonesia’s […]
It takes a serious crisis to reveal a country’s fundamental strengths and vulnerabilities. As in all countries, the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 and 2021 has severely tested all aspects of Indonesia: its governance, institutions, polity, economic resilience, health system, societal cohesion, its vulnerable communities and international relationships. Indonesia’s year of living hopefully | East Asia […]
In December 2021, I had the chance to talk with a bright 14-year-old girl named Maria Tunbonat, a fifth-grader in a state school in Tarakan, North Kalimantan. Her father, Ayub, also joined the video call as we spoke about her school and her hobbies. Discrimination holds back religious minority children | Human Rights Watch (hrw.org)
2021 has been another challenging year for Indonesia as it struggles to balance the economy and public health amid the COVID-19 pandemic. While the economy seems to have passed the worst of the crisis, its future trajectory remains unclear. Uncertainty continues to plague Indonesia’s economy (eastasiaforum.org)
Indonesia has banned coal exports in January due to concerns that low supplies at domestic power plants could lead to widespread blackouts, a senior official at the energy ministry said on Saturday. Indonesia bans coal exports in January on domestic power worries | Reuters
A standoff involving a boat carrying Rohingya refugees and the Indonesian navy has ended with a dramatic rescue that took 18 hours to complete due to heavy rains and high seas. The refugees – mostly women and children – were brought ashore at Lhokseumawe in Indonesia’s northwestern province of Aceh in the early hours of […]
Former foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang is slated to be the next Chinese ambassador to Indonesia. Amid US-China tensions, a post in Indonesia presents opportunities and challenges both in terms of bilateral relations and in engaging ASEAN. Known to be a steady hand, if Lu can chalk up notable achievements during his tenure, he may […]