ONLY two more GP2 auto racing series remain this season, and 22-year-old Rio Haryanto, who hails from Solo, Central Java, needs to set up his Formula 1 team soon to prepare for the next season. Otherwise, he will lose his chance to take part in the world's most famous automobile racing event.

Born in Strasbourg, capital city of Alsace in northern France, Philippe Lacoste, 57, has spent more than 20 years dealing with climate issues. To Lacoste, who grew up in an industrial city, the environment was not a big part of his life. But the holder of a master's degree in environmental science from the National School for Public Infrastructures (ENTPE) decided that he wanted to save the planet. "I saw the damage caused by the waste of industrial revolution," he said.

President Joko Widodo welcomed Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir during his visit to Indonesia on October 20. "Both countries are committed to strengthening our cooperative agreement," said Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, adding that al-Jubeir's visit was a follow-up of Jokowi's visit to Saudi Arabia last September.

The visit last week of Denmark's Queen Margarethe II and her husband Prince Henrik to Indonesia is one indication of improving relations between the two countries. Beyond the usual protocols were serious meetings and discussions between Indonesian government and private sector representatives with a Danish delegation 62 business people, the first of such in the 65 years of relations between the two countries.

Following the 'Sisyphus' performance, several spectators gathered around the heartwood instrument for a close-up look. "We left the 3.5-meter-long instrument made by Wukir at Plesungan Studio in Solo," said Melati Suryodarmo. "This is the replica which was brought to Germany."

Dozens of containers full of illegal animal feed are free to pass through the ports of Tanjung Priok and Tanjung Perak. This worrying state of affairs has continued for a whole year. There are no permits and no income into state coffers. Yet again, the government seems powerless in the face of these growing abuses.

FREEPORT will have been mining in Papua for nearly half a century when its permit ends in 2021. Recently, the government asked the US-based company to increase its investment to US$18 billion, or approximately Rp250.3 trillion.

A Letter for the Director-General of Higher Education

Data from the International Coffee Organization (ICO) ranks Indonesia as the world's fourth-biggest coffee producer. "Three years ago, we were ranked third," said Eris Susandi, Executive Secretary for Training and Business of the Indonesia Association of Coffee Exporters and Industries.

FOR nearly five hours, 19-year-old Bima Satria Putra endured a torrent of queries in the police interrogation room in Salatiga, Central Java. Police grilled the chief editor of the Satya Wacana Christian University (UKSW) campus-based magazine Lentera with questions about an early October article published in the magazine titled 'Salatiga, the Red City'.

STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES
Pertamina Profits Drop

A foul odor filled the warehouse on the Cikande-Rangkasbitung highway in Serang last week. Piles of three-meter-high animal feed made from offal and bones stood in the middle of the 7,200-square-meter building. Dozens of workers were busily packaging them into 20kg sacks.

This year, Indonesia and India mark 75 years of diplomatic relations. However, the ties between the two nations have existed much longer, predating the establishment of the Republic of Indonesia and the Republic of India. These connections span social, cultural, religious, economic, and trade aspects. But do those close ties of the past have any bearing on the present relationship? Why is there no direct flight between the capitals of the two countries?

Indian Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor-Leste, Sandeep Chakravorty, shares his views on this matter at TEMPO TALKS.