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President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono calls for a cabinet meeting here on Wednesday to remind ministers to continue their work until the end of their service time next October 2014, presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said.
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A senior politician from the Golkar Party, Fahmi Idris, is predicting that 60 percent of the party cadres will support Jusuf Kalla in the presidential election on July 9.
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The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said on Sunday Mount Slamet which straddles the five districts of Banyumas, Purbalingga, Pemalang, Tegal, and Brebes in Central Java, Indonesia remains on the third highest alert status.
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At least seven persons died after a ship that carried hundreds of passengers for the Good Friday Sea Ceremony in Indonesia's Flores waters sank when hit by strong waves on Friday afternoon.
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President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met with fire fighters in Riau here on Saturday in a bid to boost morale as they continue fighting forest and land fires that have caused haze to spread throughout the region.
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Two residents were reported killed while police dispersed two groups of battling residents in Djayanti-Mayon, Timika, Papua, on Tuesday evening (March 11). Papua Police Spokesman Snr Comnr Sulistyo Pudjo Hartono identified the two dead victims as Joen Wandegau and Ekpinus Togime, when contacted Tuesday night.
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The general chairman of National Democrat Party (NasDem), Surya Paloh, expressed concern over corruption in the country that still continued despite reform and has even spread to almost all sectors.
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Indonesias Air Force (TNI AU) has been strengthened by new fighter jets T 50i Golden Eagle made in South Korea.
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Two mountain climbers from the Students Nature Lover (Mahapala) School of Economics Indonesia (STIESIA) Surabaya was found dead in Mount Kembar (3,052 meters) in the Arjuno-Welirang Mountain, Batu, East Java, on Monday.
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Four motorists died after being hit by a train at a railroad crossing in Gamping village, Sleman district, Yogyakarta on Thursday. According to an eyewitness Priyo Priyono, the accident took place at 6 a.m. local time, when the railroad crossing gate closed to make way for "Prameks" train that was heading for Solo.
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The northern coastal road from Jakarta to Surabaya, popularly known as Pantura, has been completely blocked by floodwaters in Pamanukan in the district of Subang. The fly-over in the heart of Pamanukan has been flooded on both sides and is submerged in about one meter of water. This main road is economically very important for transport over land.
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A number of villages in Namanteran Subdistrict, Karo District, North Sumatra, are now isolated as vehicles are hampered to reach the areas due to volcanic ash from Mount Sinabung eruption that blocks access roads.
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Mount Sinabung in Karo district of North Sumatra, erupted three times on Wednesday morning, hurling volcanic ash into the sky. Head of Data Center of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a short text message that the first eruption took place at 2:40 am belching volcanic ash some 2,000 meters into the air.
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Mount Marapi, which is located in the Tanahdatar and Agam districts in the West Sumatra Province, erupted again on Wednesday morning.
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Mount Sinabung in Karo District, North Sumatra, erupted again at 4.15 p.m on Sunday, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said. Head of BNPBs Information Data Center Sutopo Purwo Nugroho through his short text message to Antara here said he had received the information on eruption again of Mount Sinabung.
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Jakarta police conducted a sweep operation in the national capital on Tuesday to identify and take action against under-age motorists. The head of the East Jakarta traffic police unit, Adjunct Senior Commissioner Supoyo, stated that the police had seized 35 motorcycles so far, which were being used by school students who were underage and did not have a license.
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Haze from land-clearance fires in Riau Province, Sumatra Island, might affect Malaysia, with the wind blowing toward the neighboring country, said a weather analyst.
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Two speed boats carrying dozens of passengers collided in Musi river here on Wednesday, leaving four of them dead while two others had gone missing and several others injured, security personnel said.
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The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said deep and shallow volcanic tremors still continued to take place in Mount Dieng, in Sumberejo village, Banjarnegara disrtrict, Central Java, on Tuesday.
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House Speaker Marzuki Alie said he disagreed with the dissolution of the Densus 88 anti-terror squad, saying its presence is able to minimize terror acts in Indonesia. "If Densus 88 has weaknesses, it is the weaknesses that should be improved, its institution should not be disbanded," the House Speaker said here on Friday.
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The Jakarta-Merak toll road at the Km 57-59 was reopened for traffic on Friday after it has been closed since Wednesday because of flood.
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The hot weather which Bali has experienced over the past few months is expected to end in November, according to the Bali branch of the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).
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Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo has stated that people must pay taxes, as regulated by the law, for the benefit of the state.
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Mount Gamalama in North Maluku province erupted at 01.22 p.m. and 02.15 p.m. on Sunday, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said.
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President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to make an official visit to Mongolia from September 5 to 7, an official said on Tuesday.
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State enterprises minister Dahlan Iskan said here on Thursday he would continue with Adhi Karya`s plan to build a 13-km long monorail network in Jakarta although governor Fauzi Bowo has said it is already outdated.
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A bus carrying 25 elementary school students and teachers overturned on trans Sumatra highway on Wednesday, injuring dozens of them. The bus hit a tree and slid into a ditch after it overturned, eyewitnesses said.
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Mount Marapi in Tanahdatar and Agam regencies in West Sumatra has volcanic ash flowing out of the volcano 200 meters high on Friday morning. The volcanic flow took place at 7.30 am local time as far as 2 km in the direction north of the mountain in parts of Jorong Limo Suku, Nagari Sungaipuar in Agam regency.
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The earthquake that shook the Banda Aceh region on Wednesday morning at 02:07 am Indonesian Western time measured 5.3 on the Richter scale.
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The Acehnese government has said that the tsunami early warning system, which has been installed in a coastal area, needs special attention for improvements in the future.
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Vice President Boediono asked the Indonesian Council of Mosques here on Friday to start discussing a possible regulation about the use of loudspeakers at mosques.
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Mount Marapi in West Sumatra at 9.15 am on Friday spewed volcanic ash into the air that eventually drifted over a distance of one kilometer in nothern direction, a meteorology official said.
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The Indonesian parliament on Tuesday ratified a treaty which will ban all nuclear explosions in all environments and for all purposes, officials said, making it the 156th country to do so.
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An Australian national died from accidental electrocution at Jalan Legian in Kuta on Saturday morning, police said. "The victim`s name is Jake Mitchell Flannery. He was electrocuted during a stroll on a sidewalk at Jalan Legian ," Chief of the Kuta Police Precinct Adjunct Commissioner Gede Ganefo said here on Saturday.
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Police say that a number of findings indicate that the suicide bomber in Surakarta, Central Java, did not act alone. "The perpetrator needed communication. Although he was alone in the field, don’t assume that he committed suicide all by himself," police spokesman Brig. Gen. I Ketut Untung Yoga Ana said.
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A heavy traffic accident between a bus belonging to Sumber Kencono and an Elf minibus has claimed the lives of at least 19 passengers. The accident happened at the by-pass road near the city of Mojokerto. The minibus violently crashed and a bench with passengers was ejected from the vehicle with force.
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It was a normal Wednesday last week and still it seemed that something was completely wrong with Lion Air. After they had received a stern warning from the Department of Transport, the came with so-called 'own' improvements, but the airline does not seem capable of letting their many flights depart on schedule.
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At least 9 people were killed in Indonesia's Java island after a small passenger bus crashed with a truck on Sunday evening, officials said Monday.
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An Indonesian militant on Wednesday was sentenced to ten years in prison for his involvement in an Aceh terror group and training camp, the Jakarta Globe reported.
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Earlier I wrote about the TransJakarta busway as a bad example of how things should be taken care of if implementing public transport. But this system does not only have negative sides of course, so TransJakarta also deserves a more positive piece of writing if you ask me.
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The Mount Bromo volcano in eastern Java has erupted once again earlier today. The volcano presented itself with four thunderous rumbles. Volcanic material was also expelled from inside the volcano. This material reached up to 200 meters above the crater of the volcano.
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Since I lived in Yogyakarta for some two years - yes I do see this as a privilege because most people are not able to do it, thus missing a lot of the real atmosphere of the city, I didn't always keep in mind the fact that Yogyakarta is in fact fairly cheap in several areas of business.
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The height of the ash clouds that are exhausted by the Mount Krakatau volcano in the Sunda Strait now reach heights up to 1200 meters. This is not very unusual for the volcano, but does show that the volcano is still very active. The ash cloud is currently blown into southern direction, towards the Indian Ocean.
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Ash clouds exhausted by the most recent small eruptions of the Mount Bromo volcano still find their way into the direction of the district of Lumajang, East Java province. "The direction of the wind is still northwestern, which brings the ash clouds in that direction," said Mulyono, head of the observation post for the Bromo volcano.
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The Mount Merapi volcano is currently showing signs of cooling down somewhat, especially compared to the deadly eruption it caused one week ago. During that eruption, huge amounts of ash were exhausted and almost 200 people died. The volcano is still very active however, and is also still exhausting hot ash clouds.
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The death toll in Indonesia's Mount Merapi eruptions risen to 191 on Wednesday as international airlines again cancel and postpone routes to and from the region. Disaster management officials confirmed the number of deaths since Merapi began making strong eruptions late last month. In addition, over 340,000 people are currently staying in temporary camps.
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Two days ago, also soon after our breakfast, we got on our motorcycle to make the trip towards Klaten. Since all roads directly north of Yogyakarta were sealed off, and Cangkringan was one of the worst-hit areas, I wanted to go east as far as possible before driving back to the Mount Merapi volcano again. There were relatively little problems in that area, which was also easy to reach.
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Qantas on Thursday said it will suspend all Airbus A380 flights after a Sydney-bound flight made a dramatic emergency landing in Singapore due to an "uncontained engine failure."
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Indonesian officials on Wednesday warned residents of lethal gases following Mount Anak Krakatau's increased volcanic activity.
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The Bandung authority is at loss to uncover cases of covert prostitution involving junior and senior high school students, whose number continues to rise in the West Java capital. Eli, a sex worker advocacy program mentor from the Rumah Cemara Group in Bandung, said it was hard to provide advocacy to teenagers involved in covert prostitution since most were not receptive.
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Pangandaran has become a well-known - and of growing importance - tourist destination. Normally you will find hundreds of buses with thousands of passengers from the area of Bandung here. There are also foreigners though, several hundred of them are present at any time in this large village and some of them do actually live here.
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I have been there before and I have written about it before. It is still a nice and not unimportant easy-to-reach destination for a quick lunch and a Large Bintang before you start the second half of the day. Just relaxing for a couple of hours, coming to terms after the first part of the day.
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The suspect of the rape of a Norwegian woman, Oktaviano Prastiwan, is waiting for his sentence to be handed out. He will most likely get seven years in prison. Prosecutor Ari Dewanto said that the suspect has been charged with having extramarital sex with a defenseless victim.
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The planned bridge between the islands of Sumatra and Java, the Sunda Strait Bridge, will not be just a bridge. The bridge will have three lanes for vehicles in both directions, even outside the separate lanes for motorcycles. The bridge will also house a double track railroad. It seems that everyone forgot to take a look at the cost of such a project, because it is estimated that such a bridge will cost up to eight billion euro.
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It is half past ten in the evening and the DAMRI bus that left the Kampung Rambutan bus terminal around half past seven in the evening has stopped and is on the emergency lane of the toll road between Jakarta and Bandung. Just short of three hours of traveling in the direction of Cilacap and engine problems already forced us to stop. What the exact problem is, is not known. There are bottles of water and the driver and kenek (from the Dutch word 'knecht', helper) are looking for a solution.
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Passengers waiting for their flights to Kupang and Jakarta with Batavia Air have been delayed for many hours. Most of them are still stranded at the international airport of Juanda near Surabaya. The plane in the direction of Kupang in East Nusa Tenggara, should have departed yesterday afternoon, but has not departed as of earlier this afternoon.
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I woke up again early in the morning when we already had made a short stop in Cirebon before departing again. Slowly a new day started and the first people were already working on their rice paddies. The colorful fields range from fresh green young plants to the brown colors of a newly harvested field and the left-overs on the dry fields.
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Rescue teams are moving in the direction of the location where the Dumai Express 10 has reportedly sunk earlier this afternoon. The ferry is said to have sunk in the waters off Tukong Iyu, near the island of Karimun in the Riau Archipelago. There were 213 adults and 15 children on board of the boat, but there is no report on their faith yet.
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Bisnis Indonesia reports that the U.S. Government has invited Garuda Indonesia< to re-open its long-abandoned direct flights between the U.S.A. and Indonesia with assistance from the U.S. Federal Aviation Agency (FAA). Garuda terminated its flights to Los Angeles in mid-1998 that operated on a route that traveled in both directions between Jakarta - Bali - Biak - Honolulu - Los Angeles.
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Eight passengers of a bus died, while 13 others were wounded when their bus collided with a truck in the village of Socorejo, Tuban regency yesterday. All victims were residents of Sumber Mulyo village in the regency of Purbolinggo. They were among 65 people on board of a bus that was heading for a graveyard in the city of Kudus.
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Based on information released by the Center of Volcanology and Disaster Management, the Dieng volcano complex in the regency of Wonosobo is showing slightly increased activity. The last time there was a large eruption in the complex was on February 20, 1979. Then, 149 people died because they came in contact with poisonous gases. Smaller eruptions however are more common.
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It is just several minutes before half past one as Batavia Air flight 7P-577 from Jakarta is preparing to land on Hang Nadim international airport on Batam. After a nice and quiet flight that departed just a few minutes behind schedule from Jakarta, Batam is visible and the last empty cups of water and paper napkins are collected by the stewardesses.
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It is a nice and clear Monday morning with some slight cloud cover along the skies. Nothing special to be seen from the window on the first floor. However, there is something strange actually. In the first place it looks just like a cloud hovering above the earths surface at low altitude, but it originates from a vertical column. Smoke. And where there is smoke, there is fire indeed.
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A number of roads used to transport millions of people for the upcoming Idul Fitri holidays has come to a halt over a distance of 25 kilometers. Based on information gathered from around the main roads, there is one big traffic jam from Rancaekek in the regency of Bandung until the border with neighboring regencies Garut and Tasikmalaya.
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It was a regular Friday night on which my girlfriend and I decided to go clubbing. Not that same night because that would mean we had to hurry to go out, something that is not really beneficial and something I don't want to do at all. So not tonight, but the next night, the malam minggu (the evening before Sunday, so Saturday night) we would go to Jakarta.
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An armored money transport has been the target of a failed robbery last night. The transport was moving money from a branch of Bank Danamon in Muntilan in the regency of Magelang. The three people inside the money transport were cold-bloodedly killed by the robbers, who did not even attempt to steal the money.
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Cleaning the streets in Jakarta is almost impossible, but last night, members of the highway police of the Greater Jakarta Police swept the streets clean. Clean of nails that is. Jalan Gatot Subroto in the direction of Slipi and Kolong in Semanggi were cleaned by a special nail-weeper. The nail-sweeper only roamed the streets for a few hours from 23:30 to 02:00 local time, but during that time it managed to clean the streets of some two kilograms of nails.
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After a day or four, which was a few days back by now, it was time to go back home to the 'civilized world', however that is a wrong choice of words if you ask me. My girlfriend and I decided that four days was enough, above all it was a 'mere' eight hours shaking by bus and 55.000 Rupiah to get here, so it was not something impossible if you want to go.
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At the end of a Sunday afternoon we left from Lippo Cikarang in the direction of Kampung Rambutan, a bus terminal at the edge of Jakarta. From here we would take the bus later today. We would take the one headed for Cilacap at the southern coast of Central Java to bring a visit to the family of my girlfriend. The trip to the bus terminal took about one hour, which was only a small leg in the entire trip.
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Two trains on the electrical train line between Central Jakarta and the city of Bogor have collided between the train stations of Manggarai and Tebet. An economy class train hit an express train from behind with low speed. The express train was waiting for a red light at the time of the collision. Three people were slightly injured
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Smoke from forest fires starts to cause problems for flights from and to the airport of Medan, Polonia. Normally there is a sight of around six kilometers, but this has now dropped to only three. Strong winds from the forest fires in the direction of the airport and rainfall have caused thickening smoke around the airport.
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In broad daylight, a gold shop in Bogor was robbed of six kilo's of gold. Armed robbers stole the gold with a value of some 1.5 billion Rupiah (110.000 euro) and also took some 20 million Rupiah in cash money and two handphones that belonged to the owner of the store, Un Ket Fa. The robbery took place around eight o'clock in the morning, just after the shop opened, and just took a few minutes.
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The alert-status of the Mount Slamet volcano has been raised from 'normal' to 'aware' because of a drastic increase of the water temperature inside the crater. The change came into effect yesterday afternoon. Based on information from the observation post for the volcano in the village of Gambuhan, the volcano produces 203 tremors yesterday. Normally this is somewhere between 40 and 90.
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The Gamalama volcano on the island of Ternate in the province of North Maluku has been put on a higher alert and has now become an 'Aware'. This has been done after the volcano started to exhaust clouds of smoke with heights up to 400 meters into the air. Since last Tuesday the volcano continuously emits thick white smoke. The last eruption of the volcano was in 2003.
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Sitting in a bus is not something that I do with the greatest love. However every once in a while I will still do something that I don't want to do every single day. After the flight from Yogyakarta to Surabaya in the early morning, I didn't reach my final destination for the day - by far. But fortunately I had already taken that into account when I booked the ticket. At that time I decided to use only public transport to find my way to Malang, which was my final destination for the day.
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Several years ago I was there for the last time - at that time it was the first time as well - at the airport of Surabaya. A small building which was far too small for the number of passengers that had to be served from the airport there. A common problem at airports, especially in the western part of Indonesia where the airline industry has grown incredibly in recent years following the startup of a number of new routes flown by several different airlines.
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One of the cars of the presidential convoy of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono crashed on the way from Ponorogo to Pacitan. The car that crashed transported the head of the intelligence service BIN, Syamsir Siregar. The car rolled over because it hit the central divider. The driver of the car got injured and was brought to a local hospital.
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I had to get quite early this time, around four o'clock in the morning. That time is better known here as subuh, about the time at which the first prayer of the day for Muslims is held. However the alarm from my cell phone - no need for a buzzer or watch - was set at exactly four o'clock, I woke up just a few minutes earlier. In the background I could already hear some mosques uttering their first call for prayer at this early time. However that is no reason for me to get up this early, catching a plane is.
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I have to admit, it is somewhere far outside any holiday season in the middle of November, maybe that will help create the almost deserted Kuta around this time of year. It was a short trip of about one hour from the beating cultural and religious heart of Bali, Ubud. With a virtually blue sky I left the spiritual village on a rented Mio (scooter), heading for the hot lowlands and crowds of Southern Bali. That crowd was a relative thing here, but seen from Ubud almost everything in the outside world looks crowded.
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The Islamic Council of Scholars in Indonesia (Majelis Ulama Indonesia, or just MUI) will decide about the fatwa about smoking early next year. They are to decide whether smoking is allowed or has to be banned by the Islamic scholars. They can also decide not to choose a direction however. A high percentage of Indonesians smoke, and however many are Muslem, it is doubtful it will actually change the habit of many.
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It didn't last another five minutes again before I felt the first rain coming down. And it wasn't water thrown up by the tires of trucks and buses but rain. I assumed that I drove too far for the passing rainstorm, but that was an illusion. The real situation was much more wet than those few drops of rain, but it would only be clear later on. Since the rain was intensifying I decided to take a break somewhere along the road - no idea where - to drink a glass of hot jeruk hangat (hot water with a small orange squeezed in it) and a Sampoerna cigarette. Just to get oversight about the situation.
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It is October 8, 2008 in the morning when I prepare myself for a trip to the neighboring city of Solo. I do this because there are still some stamps missing in my albums. I do not collect points here, converted to money they are worth almost nothing and that 50 Rupiah discount on a bottle of iced tea of 3.500 Rupiah is something I am not waiting for as well. Those stamps however, I would like to have, so it occasionally occurs that I have to do some more effort for them than just the short trip to the local main post office downtown, at the other side of 'Malioboro'.
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The road between Yogyakarta and Malang consists mainly of a reasonably maintained two lane road. That is what they call jalan raya ('big road') here, but it's not that big after all. The two most widely used roads for traveling from west to east and the other way around on the island is one road that is virtually on the beach, the Pesisir. The second is a road that runs through the Javanese heartland and brings you to Bandung, Yogyakarta, Surakarta (popularly known as Solo), Madiun and Malang. The road from Yogyakarta to Malang is some 375 kilometers - not in a direct line of course - and has different levels of maintenance in different areas. The road in nice condition in the province of Yogyakarta are in sharp contrast with the bad situation near Madiun.
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Overloaded they are and it is not just only on 'Halte Harmoni' where the situation is not really clear. There are even bigger exchange stops. One of the largest might just be 'Halte Senen', a little more to the north. This stop is situated directly at one of the corners of a busy intersection, directly under a fly-over. This is also the meeting point of a number of routes and transferring here is made difficult by hundreds of people that are finding their way here. That is not the only thing however what makes it a mess here.
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What is the fastest way to get from the north of Jakarta to somewhere in the southern part of the city? That is a question which is hard to answer for a city like Jakarta. With some 15 million residents and several hundreds of square kilometers of city it often is such a big unorganized situation that you will not be able to just go somewhere to buy groceries or to pick someone up.
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Gridcomm Shd. Bhd. and Isyoda Corporation Berhad, two investors from Malaysia have offered to build the toll road between Denpasar and Nusa Dua with a value of some 4.1 trillion Rupiah (286 million euro). Head of a regional government institution said that there was a big need for this toll road, which should be build to ease the traffic congestion in the area, mainly around the international airport of the island.
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A train on the route Rangkas Bitung - Pasar Senen has derailed just before entering the Kampung Bandan trainstation in Central Jakarta earlier this afternoon. Other trains on the track in both directions (Tangerang and Bekasi) were not able to stop at this station anymore. The locomotive with registration number CC 201-77 of the train derailed and closed the track in both directions. Local residents hurried themselves to the location, but only to get some of the diesel that was leaking from the locomotive.
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The activity of the Mount Semeru volcano in eastern Java is fluctuating, but it's status is kept at the second highest level since it was raised from 'average' just yesterday. A number of hot ash clouds has come down from the slopes already, some reached up to 1.500 meters from the crater.
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The Indonesian government is expecting the completion of its longest bridge connecting Java and Madura islands before the start of general elections in April 2009, local press said Monday. The 5.4-km long bridge is under construction between Surabaya in East Java and the town of Bangkalan on the island of Madura.
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In between breakfast and lunch yesterday, Indonesian lawmakers gave their support for a law that is officially named 'Electronic Information and Transaction Law'. This indirect anti-porn legislation will be effective two days from now. Because of the quick pace this new monster against (press-)freedom was pushed ahead, there is little attention for it in mainstream Indonesian media. It almost looks like something that happens every day here, but it is completely absurd that a law that has been approved yesterday will become active in a matter of days, especially a law that has as many implications as this one. In theory that is.
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Two economy class electrical trains with air conditioning (KRL) will be put in service from tomorrow, as was informed by the Jabotabek devision of the Indonesian state-run railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia. Both trains will ply the route between Bogor and Jakarta in both directions.
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The Trans-Sulawesi highway between Poros and Pantura (the northern part of the road) which forms the main connection between the provinces of Gorontalo and Central Sulawesi has been cut of because of landslides at several points. The landslides occurred after heavy rains hit the district of North Gorontalo in the past few days.
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It didn't get better when I carefully lifted the plastic flap and reached outside with my head. A driver on a motorbike which was in some kind of a hurry could hardly avoid me. In front of us a long row of red lights in the streets. Between the vehicles I could mainly see water and more nearby I heard the water gush out of the draining canal onto the pavement and the street. Ooh well, it must be raining heavily somewhere close, because it was quite an amount of water that came rushing towards us. Slowly the three wheels of the bajaj disappeared under water. I was hoping that the water would not reach too high at the end, because after over half an hour in this kind of transport, sitting becomes quite uncomfortable.
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After heavy rain fell down, a number of areas in Jakarta were flooded again. The bad condition of the drainage system caused flooding of some main streets with water as high as half a meter. In Petogogan, Kebayoran Baru in South Jakarta more than one hundred houses in fifteen areas were flooded. The water reached up to 60 centimeters after which it dropped with some 40 centimeters later today. According to local residents, the Petogogan area already is accustomed to flooding from the Kali Krukut river. The people here don't evacuate themselves until there is at least one meter of water in the streets and houses.
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It is half past two in the afternoon on a warm Tuesday afternoon at the start of the wet monsoon. No guarantee for rain however, it has been strange weather for over a week now in Yogyakarta and elsewhere in Java it seems to be more of the same. The wind blows from the wrong direction I was told. Maybe that is just good, because that would mean I could have a dry trip to Bandung. However using the train is less reliable on the weather than flying, it is still prone to various delays.
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First time to have a drink. I looked in the direction of the only warung that I could find here at the moment. I didn't really want to look for another one. Fortunately there was someone to serve, in the form of a Javanese women which sat on a bench in front of the house. Probably waiting for a customer. A bemo passed. That stopped and the driver got out. Hopefully he didn't bring any passengers, otherwise they had to wait. I wasn't the only one there when I walked into that direction. The driver ordered an iced tea and sat down. I just had picked up the nice idea to drink a coffee here. It had been a long time that I drunk a kopi tubruk actually. That is nice for a change. I found a nice spot at the one big table available.
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However it wasn't Saturday for sure, but a Tuesday, still I had the feeling that I had to take my motorbike for a nice day of traveling. Where it would bring me? At least as far as Purworejo. To my amazement and some shame I had never been there before, so that became the primary target. I at least had to go there so I could honestly say that I had been there. Furthermore there were no plans, like usual. It was already late in the morning, so it was not really supposed to become a long trip. Maybe after Purworejo it was time to find my way back. That also depended on what I would find along the way of course. Seen the distance and the road conditions it was to take about one and a half hour to get there. My modest estimation.
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It was a Saturday afternoon as any other, but sometimes I just feel the need to get out for a while. This is not always possible, but when there is a possibility and there are no other appointments in the agenda, then it just might happen that after lunch I decide to grab my stuff for a trip on the motorbike. It's not too far away, within the borders of the province of Yogyakarta, but at least I can get away from the daily life for a while. Helmet, keys and a wallet is enough. To store some of the memories I have I also bring a camera with me and within a matter of minutes I leave the area. Where do I go then? Ooh, I felt like having a drink in Wonosari, so that became my first destination, knowing that most likely it would be something in that direction, but that doesn't really matter.
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It's not really difficult go get up on time, around seven in the morning, so for that matter it's a nice service that it's possible to get a minivan in front of the door within the hour when I'm making a trip to a destination at a bigger distance than just in the city or nearby. That kind of minivan is called a travel here, and plies a fixed route a few times a day, for example from Yogyakarta via Solo, Madiun and Malang to Surabaya. Of course you can also travel the other way around, if you like you can go as far as Jakarta, but from Yogyakarta that is such a big distance that I rather prefer taking the train or a plane. Trains often depart or arrive at the most strange times possible, but that's a matter of looking what you personally most like.
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The main road near Porong, which connects Surabaya and Gempol, is closed for traffic in the direction of Malang to the south and Jember-Banyuwangi to the east. The closure came in effect at 10.00 local time today. The two lanes which originate in Surabaya and run south are closed because of mud flowing on the road since the last nine days.
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