Indonesia’s recurring wildfires have once again spiraled into a crisis that reaches far beyond its forests and peatlands. As dense haze shuts down schools, endangers public health, and chokes local economies at home, smoke from fires across Sumatra and Kalimantan has drifted across national borders, blanketing parts of Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines. What has long been treated as an unfortunate, seasonal environmental headache is morphing into a thorny test of governance, and an escalating diplomatic liability for Jakarta.

The corruption investigation into the Banjarmasin Medium Tax Office (KPP Madya) has taken an unexpected turn, with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) examining senior tax officials linked to Adaro, one of Indonesia’s largest business groups. The development has brought renewed attention to Adaro’s long and complicated ownership history, including a past dispute involving businessman Hashim Djojohadikusumo, the younger brother of President Prabowo Subianto.

The death of Bambang Setiawan, a 60-year-old mirror seller from Pejompongan in Central Jakarta, should have been a straightforward homicide case. He left his house at 10 p.m. to switch off the lights in his shop 500 meters away, during unrest following the Aug. 27 demonstrations near the Senayan Legislative Complex in Central Jakarta. He was found unconscious, removed by police and pronounced dead at Mintohardjo Hospital. Ten days later, the case has become a mirror for everything wrong with how Indonesia polices protest.

The government’s latest changes to the import regime have expanded the range of food and agricultural products subject to tighter import controls, creating bottlenecks that are raising input costs and constraining supply. At the same time, weaker-than-expected demand from the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme has left producers facing pressure from both sides: higher production costs and limited demand for their output.

The Indonesia Stock Exchange’s (IDX) plan to lower the minimum share price from Rp 50 (less than 1 US cent) to Rp 1 could finally allow the market to discover the true value of stocks long trapped at the price floor. But greater price flexibility comes with greater risk. As distressed “zombie companies” are exposed to market forces and stocks worth only a few rupiah become tradable, the reform could improve liquidity and price discovery while also opening the door to greater volatility and speculation.

A bank account can be frozen in minutes, but the damage to trust in the financial system can last much longer. The controversial freezing of an account belonging to the coordinator of a planned demonstration in Jakarta raises a question that goes well beyond the Rp 80.9 million (US$4,500) involved: How should banks balance law-enforcement requests against due process and customer protection, particularly when the legal basis for restricting access to a customer’s money is contested?

The search for independence for Nahdlatul Ulama (NU),Indonesia’s largest Islamic social organization, has always been fought at its congress (Muktamar). The 35th Muktamar at Bahrul Ulum Tambakberas, Jombang, East Java, which closed on Aug. 26, was no exception.