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Eddie Spence
A decaying Dutch-era colonial house in Teuku Umar Street in Menteng, Jakarta on May 28
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2026
Rotting $16 million mansion exposes Indonesia’s tangled legal system
The Jakarta property is just one of many that lie derelict amid protracted wrangles over ownership which are complicated by poor records keeping and overlapping legal systems.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto (right) delivers a speech on the macroeconomic framework to lawmakers as Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka looks on at the Parliament building in Jakarta on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2026
Prabowo’s biggest crackdown on tycoons shocked his own officials
A surprise move by President Prabowo Subianto to centralize Indonesia’s commodity exports has rattled markets and intensified investor concerns over state intervention.
A worker applies fertilizer to young oil palm trees at the nursery in Kalimantan, Indonesia, on in 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 5, 2026
Indonesia tightens grip on resources with Switzerland-sized land grab
The upheaval could have global consequences, as Indonesia is the world’s top coal and palm-oil exporter, the biggest nickel producer and a leading source of copper and tin.
A Pertamina fuel storage facility at Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta in 2022
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 18, 2025
Indonesia’s ‘gasoline godfather’ targeted in $18 billion graft probe
Mohammad Riza Chalid is the most audacious target to date for the current administration, as it reshuffles its energy procurement and attempts to supercharge growth.
Students learn heavy machinery maintenance using virtual reality at a United Tractors vocational institution in Jakarta on March 6.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2025
Indonesia’s industrial growth goals at risk as education system falls short
Poor teaching and a dearth of basic equipment has led to a pressing shortage of qualified workers and high unemployment among young people.
France's President Emmanuel Macron looks on as he delivers a speech at New Caledonia's High Commissioner residency in Noumea on May 22, during his trip to the Pacific archipelago.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 3, 2024
A Pacific island in flames cuts Macron’s global ambition down to size
The French president’s decision of pushing through a contentious law before New Caledonia’s provincial elections has developed into a lasting problem for the Elysee.
Sodium — found in rock salts and brines around the globe — has the potential to make inroads into energy storage and electric vehicles because it’s cheaper and far more abundant than lithium.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 27, 2023
Salt in batteries: Shift may herald another shakeup
Sodium has the potential to make inroads into energy storage and electric vehicles because it’s cheaper and far more abundant than lithium.
Gold has often been seen as the quintessential "anti-dollar” — a place to turn for those who distrust fiat currency.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 25, 2023
Yields spike and gold shrugs. What’s driving bullion now?
As inflation-adjusted rates soared this year to the highest since the financial crisis, bullion has barely blinked.
Gold prices in Japan are hovering around a record high of ¥10,000 per gram — up around 18% since January.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 12, 2023
Gold bugs in Japan reaping rewards as yen weakness persists
Domestic prices for the precious metal are now hovering around a record high of ¥10,000 per gram — up around 18% since January.

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The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival