The Christian governor of Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, lost a bitterly contested race on Wednesday that was widely seen as a test of religious and ethnic tolerance in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. – New York Times
Indonesian prosecutors on Thursday recommended a one-year suspended jail sentence for Jakarta's Christian governor in his blasphemy trial, which has been seen as a test of the Muslim-majority nation's religious tolerance. - Reuters
Russian navy vessels arrived in the Philippines on Thursday for joint exercises as part of a drive for new security ties under President Rodrigo Duterte's revamped foreign policy of courting the traditional foes of Manila's top ally, Washington. - Reuters
Editorial: Indonesians can’t afford to be complacent because Jakarta often sets the direction for national politics. The Islamist groups that threaten minorities and burn Christian churches have now proved they can be political kingmakers. As the election for governor shows, the danger is that moderate politicians like Mr. Baswedan who seek to exploit communal tensions for short-term gain will end up setting back the country’s development. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Pavin Chachavalpongpun writes: As an academic, I treat the monarchy as a subject of study and am therefore obliged to give an honest assessment of how the institution has had an impact on politics and inevitably on the people’s everyday life. Yet this has made me a target of the Thai state. Not content with declaring me an unperson in my own country, the government is now trying to do the same in cyberspace. – Washington Post
Indonesian prosecutors on Thursday recommended a one-year suspended jail sentence for Jakarta's Christian governor in his blasphemy trial, which has been seen as a test of the Muslim-majority nation's religious tolerance. - Reuters
Russian navy vessels arrived in the Philippines on Thursday for joint exercises as part of a drive for new security ties under President Rodrigo Duterte's revamped foreign policy of courting the traditional foes of Manila's top ally, Washington. - Reuters
Editorial: Indonesians can’t afford to be complacent because Jakarta often sets the direction for national politics. The Islamist groups that threaten minorities and burn Christian churches have now proved they can be political kingmakers. As the election for governor shows, the danger is that moderate politicians like Mr. Baswedan who seek to exploit communal tensions for short-term gain will end up setting back the country’s development. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Pavin Chachavalpongpun writes: As an academic, I treat the monarchy as a subject of study and am therefore obliged to give an honest assessment of how the institution has had an impact on politics and inevitably on the people’s everyday life. Yet this has made me a target of the Thai state. Not content with declaring me an unperson in my own country, the government is now trying to do the same in cyberspace. – Washington Post
RSS Feed