Readwrotes Blog

Visitors examine an image at an exhibition of photos on the Lapindo mudflow disaster in Malang , East Java, on Thursday. The exhibition displays 40 works of 10 artists who once lived in areas now covered by mud. (Antara/Ari Bowo Sucipto) The Jakarta Post | Thu, 07/21/2011 3:22 PM

ASEAN and friends: Foreign Ministers from left, Vietnam's Pham Gia Khiem, South Korea's Kim Sung-hwan, Japan's Takeaki Matsumoto, Indonesia's Marty Natalegawa, and China's Yang Jiechi, hold hands during a group photo at the opening session of ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, Thursday. (AP/Dita Alangkara) Associated Press, Nusa Dua | Thu, 07/21/2011 2:19 PM Foreign ministers from 10 Southeast Asian nations are calling for a speedy resumption of talks aimed at convincing North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. China, the US, Japan, South Korea and Russia had been negotiating since 2003 to persuade Pyongyang to dismantle the program in exchange for aid and other concessions. The North pulled out of the talks about two years ago after being censured for launching a long-range rocket. It has indicated a willingness in recent months to return to the table. The 10-member Association of Southeast As...

 Associated Press, Jayapura | Thu, 07/21/2011 6:47 PM An army officer says unidentified gunmen have ambushed Indonesia soldiers and killed one of them in the easternmost province of Papua. The chief army officer in Papua says soldiers are still searching for the gunmen. Maj. Gen. Erfi Triassunu said the ambush Thursday morning happened outside a village in the hilly district of Puncak Jaya. Triassunu said the victim was a first private killed by a shot to his head. No information was available on the other soldiers. The attack occurred one day after a military tribunal indicted three low-ranking soldiers for killing a civilian in Puncak Jaya last year. Papua is a former Dutch colony incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after a U.N.-sponsored ballot. A small, poorly armed separatist movement has battled for independence ever since.

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang | Thu, 07/21/2011 6:42 PM As part of the South Tangerang municipal administration’s campaign for literacy, Mayor Airin Rachmi Diany launched on Thursday an initiative known as Gema to encourage mothers to read to their children. “We hope that with Gema, South Tangerang residents, from kids to the elderly, will love reading,” Airin said. She quoted English historian Thomas Babington Macaulay’s saying: “I choose to be a poor person living in a hut which is full with books rather than being a king who has no desires to read.” According to Airin, reading is a fun activity that is also enlightening and therefore it should be a habit in every family because it helps people broaden their minds and knowledge. “Reading as a habit should be started in each family, starting with mothers who read to their children, because it will be very useful for all of us,” she said. The mayor described various other benefits from reading, such ...

The Jakarta Post | Thu, 07/21/2011 9:47 PM JAKARTA: Wanting to reinvigorate dangdut, Anang Hermansyah has added some color to the genre by forming Tiga Kembang (Three Flowers), a trio of divorced dangdut singers. He wants dangdut to become the music of Indonesia all over again, he said. Cici Paramida, Ikke Nurjanah and Kirstina were Anang’s picks for the dangdut group. But, wanting such huge names, how did he make this dangdut supergroup happen? “I was hanging out with my friend Irvan Nat. Irvan said, ‘this song Goyang Sayang would be great if it was sung by those three, can this be arranged?’ Then Irvan Nat called each of them,” Anang said as reported by kapanlagi.com. But the song was not written for Tiga Kembang but for Krisdayanti and Siti. Because the latter project ended up not happening, the song was given to Tiga Kembang. Anang said Goyang Sayang was filled with nuance, the rhythm of the song upbeat and fresh. “I witnessed the development of dangdut and how it beca...

Activists stage a protest outside Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday. The National Network for Domestic Workers Advocacy (Jala PRT) on Wednesday filed a civil lawsuit against President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his aides and the House of Representatives, for their alleged failure to protect domestic workers in Indonesia and abroad (JP/Ardi Wardhana)

Deputy Minister for Agriculture Bayu Krishnamurthi (right) examines a simple non-toxic device called Hypotan, used to capture pests on a coffee tree at the research center for coffee and cacao in Kaliwining, East Java, on Wednesday. ( Antara/Seno S. )

An Alaskan tourist dances with a traditional Balinese dancer during the island’s annual festival at Denpasar Cultural Center on Wednesday. The festival presents 334 performance arts, under a theme of “Self Adaptation in a Multicultural World”. ( Antara/Nyoman Budhiana )

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 06/15/2011 9:45 PM The Judicial Commission plans to send investigators to question former Corruption Eradication Commission chief Antasari Azhar regarding his belief that the panel of judges made mistakes during his trial. “We want to hear and collect evidence from his side, if there is any, about the judges during his trial,” Suparman Marzuki, the commission’s supervisory division chief, said Wednesday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com. The Judicial Commission is in the middle of gathering evidence in response to an allegation by Antasari’s lawyer that the panel of judges took into consideration the wrong evidence during his trial. The South Jakarta District Court panel found Antasari guilty of murder and he is currently detained at Tangerang Penitentiary.

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 06/15/2011 9:45 PM The Judicial Commission plans to send investigators to question former Corruption Eradication Commission chief Antasari Azhar regarding his belief that the panel of judges made mistakes during his trial. “We want to hear and collect evidence from his side, if there is any, about the judges during his trial,” Suparman Marzuki, the commission’s supervisory division chief, said Wednesday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com. The Judicial Commission is in the middle of gathering evidence in response to an allegation by Antasari’s lawyer that the panel of judges took into consideration the wrong evidence during his trial. The South Jakarta District Court panel found Antasari guilty of murder and he is currently detained at Tangerang Penitentiary.

    Walk the talk? Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, left, walks with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono prior to their meeting at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday. AP/Dita Alangkara President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to fly to Yogyakarta later today to meet people displaced by Mt. Merapi multiple eruptions in the past few days. The President is slated to fly to Yogyakarta at about 2 p.m. Tuesday, after meeting with visiting Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Tempointeraktif.com reported Tuesday. Yudhoyono earlier said that he had contacted governors of Yogyakarta and West Java, to make sure that people displaced by the eruption are taken care of. "I ordered (the two governors) to try their best to save the lives of our brothers and sisters around Mt. Merapi," he said. He also called on the people to improve their preparedness in the face of multiple disasters, considering that Indonesia is prone to natural...

    Anticipated: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ( left ) meets refugees of the erupted Mt. Merapi at a shelter in Purwobinangun, Sleman, Yogyakarta, on Wednesday. Yudhoyono asked the refugees to be patient and sensitive with Merapi activities. Antara/Regina Safri President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was welcomed by another eruption at Mount Merapi on Wednesday morning when he was about to visit a shelter site for refugees in Pakem, Sleman, Yogyakarta. An officer at the Mt. Merapi observation post, Agus, said that the eruption occurred at around 8:20 a.m. “It was a single eruption but quite big. The mountain spewed hot clouds which moved about five kilometers to west,” he added as quoted by Kompas.com. Mt. Merapi, where an eruption on last Tuesday has killed 39 people so far, is still on top alert status as it still continues to erupt and spew hot clouds of ashes.

    On fire: Mount Merapi spews volcanic smoke as seen from Deles early Monday. AP/Irwin Fedriansyah Indonesia's most dangerous volcano showed no sign of tiring Tuesday, belching clouds of black smoke as fiery lava lit up its cauldron. Scientists warned that the slow but deadly eruption could continue for weeks, like a "marathon, not a sprint." The activity was accompanied by rumbling at 21 other active volcanos in Indonesia, twice the number usually on the government's "watch" list, which raised questions about what's causing the uptick along some of the world's most volatile fault lines. No casualties were reported in Mount Merapi's latest blast, which came as Indonesia struggled to respond to an earthquake-generated tsunami that devastated a remote chain of islands. The two disasters unfolding in separate parts of the country have killed nearly 470 people and strained the government's emergency response network. In bo...

Mount Merapi forced international airlines to cancel flights to nearby airports for the first time Tuesday, as fiery lava lit the rumbling mountain's cauldron and plumes of smoke blackened the sky. Scientists warned, meanwhile, that the slow but deadly eruption could continue for weeks, like a "marathon, not a sprint." No casualties were reported in Mount Merapi's latest blasts, which came as Indonesia struggled to respond to an earthquake-generated tsunami that devastated a remote chain of islands. The two disasters unfolding in separate parts of the country have killed nearly 470 people and strained the government's emergency response network. Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 235 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanos because it sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a horseshoe-shaped string of faults that lines the western and eastern Pacific. Merapi - one of 22 active earthquakes now on alert - has killed 38 people since springing ...

   Massive Pendet: Around 1,650 dancers of Balinese Pendet from kindergartens to senior high schools perform during an opening ceremony of the 23rd National Science Week for University Students at Ngurah Rai stadium in Denpasar on Wednesday. About 113 universities nationwide take part in the event, which will last until Saturday. The massive Pendet dancing managed to break a national record (MURI). JP/Stanny Angga

Tifatul Sembiring Information and Communications Minister Tifatul Sembiring said in Jakarta on Thursday that his ministry would block all local and foreign porn sites and the target for the completion of the blockage will before Ramadhan fasting month (next month). “Insya Allah [God willing] we will finish the job before Ramadhan so as not to affect [Muslims] from executing their religious obligation,” Tifatul told reporters before attending a plenary Cabinet meeting at the Presidential office in Jakarta. The minister further said that one of the mandates of the pornography law said that the state was obliged to protect its people from any negative impacts of pornography. The former president of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) also reminded of the prison sentences that range from 6 to 12 years for those found guilty of distributing pornographic material. “Be careful, because there are legal implementations. Also be mindful in the distribution of pornographic se...

The United States announced Thursday it will resume cooperation with Indonesia's special forces after ties were severed more than a decade ago over human rights abuses allegedly committed by the commando unit. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates made the announcement after meeting with Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday in the capital Jakarta. Indonesia had said it wanted the United States to reconsider resuming joint training. The decision will be seen as a victory for the Indonesian military, which has said it made great strides in improving its human rights record. Indonesia's special forces were accused of major abuses in the former Indonesian province of East Timor in the late 1990s. East Timor has since become independent. "I was pleased to be able to tell the president that as a result of Indonesian military reform over the past decade ... and recent actions taken by the Ministry of Defense to address human rights issu...

Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Djoko Santoso has promoted 35 generals, consisting of 16 army generals, 11 navy admirals and 8 air force marshals. “It is expected that this time promotion will further enhance and improve the military performance so that we could give out the best output,” he said on Friday. Among those generals who receive the promotion is Rear Adm. Gunadi who is now posted as inspector general at the Defense Ministry, Maj. Gen. Langgeng Sulistyono, who is now posted as Diponegoro Military Commander and Rear Marshal Agus Dwi Putranto, who is installed as Abdulrahman Saleh Air Force Base Commander.

A magnitude-6 earthquake jolted North Sumatra on Saturday morning, but there were no damage or injuries reported. The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency recorded the quake hit at 9:11 a.m. The agency located the quake's epicenter at 18 kilomters northeast of Panyabungan, North Sumatra, at 10 kilometers beneath the surface. News portal kompas.com reported that the quake was also felt in a number of areas in the neighboring province of Riau.

     Let us stay: A boy and dozens of residents of Guji Baru village, West Jakarta, stage a protest Wednesday in front of the local city hall to request the West Jakarta mayor revoke an eviction order for their neighborhood. The protesters also urged the administration to issue residents who had been living in Guji Baru for many years with land certificates. Antara/Yudhi Mahatma Antara, Jakarta | Wed, 05/19/2010 6:54 PM | Jakarta