OPINION

Attacks by the US Navy and UK against the Houthis of Yemen have raised concerns about the expansion and prolonging of the Middle East conflict, as well as its ramifications, principally a drastic escalation of crude oil and other commodity prices. 

With the release of Presidential Regulation Number 59 of 2017, concerning the Implementation of Achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Indonesia has emerged as a leader in the goal of mainstreaming SDGs. The national medium-term development strategy and the long-term agenda, namely the Indonesia Vision 2045, both include an SDG agenda as a strategic component. The Government of Indonesia (GOI) intends to hasten the accomplishment of the nation’s objectives – as outlined in the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution – by 2045, when Indonesia will have been independent for precisely 100 years. 

Almost a year ago, I wrote a critique in this medium about the current outline of development of contemporary mosque architecture in Indonesia. To quickly recall, in this article I framed the latest narratives about mosque design, which have a very political nuance, including the presence of two large mosques in Java, namely, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Solo and the Al Jabbar Grand Mosque in Bandung. 

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has conveyed promising news, revealing that by the end of 2023, global tourism will have recovered by almost 90 percent, compared to the pre-pandemic era.

Transportation infrastructure development has not only spread across the island of Java but has also expanded throughout the Indonesian archipelago, including through underdeveloped, outermost, frontier and border areas (3TP). The development in 3TP areas is expected to upgrade the economy as it provides access to regions historically isolated. 

Indonesia is facing a daunting rice economy in 2024, potentially equivalent to the economic and political crisis in 1998 that led to the fall of President Soeharto. An extreme drought, the result of El Niño, has affected nearly all of Indonesia’s production centers and severely impacted rice production. Several crucial aspects of economics are interconnected, so when one encounters issues, the other elements are simultaneously caught in a gridlock. 

It is good to recollect the contribution of those personalities hailing from Indonesian society, along with students, who lived and studied in Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) regions, precisely in Tunisia and Libya, under the coordination of Brother Muhammad Fawwaz Yasser, whose creative idea it was to empower and provide service to the Deaf and the Mute Community by introducing an Electronic Masdar (EM), released in a digital platform.

It looks that President Biden may abort his decision to run for re-election, as a result of recent developments. Congress just passed a bill to formalize his impeachment. The voting was along Party lines, and the majority is in the hands of the GOP. 

Indonesia’s performance of the palm oil-based economy in 2023 was rife with drama, even though it was not as catastrophic as the export bans of crude palm oil (CPO) and its derivatives previously imposed in 2022. It only feels like yesterday when the ban on CPO exports around the Ramadan (fasting) month in 2022 caused the price of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) to plummet to under IDR 1,000/kg. The extreme drought of El Niño in 2023 would not greatly impact CPO production performance. CPO production in 2023 is estimated to be 48.6 million tons, and palm kernel oil (PKO) production is predicted to be 4.6 million tons. So, the total palm oil production is 53.2 million tons, an increase of 3.81% over total production of 51.2 million tons in 2022. 

The Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) recommends eight criminal justice and human rights issues be proposed for the campaign of three pairs of presidential and vice-presidential candidates who will compete in the 2024 election. 

In a strong rebuke to Israel for its on-going war in Gaza, the United Nations General Assembly in a special emergency session voted overwhelmingly in favor of an immediate ceasefire. The vote also served as a stern reminder to the United States, which vetoed a similar motion inside the UN’s Security Council, that the world stands united in calls fir peace and adhemently denounces Israel’s disproportionate use of force which has so far caused 18, 000 casualties amongst Palestinians and a wide-spread humanitarian crisis that threatens to cause yet more unnecessary deaths due to starvation, disease and lack of access to medical care.