Indonesia’s best-known prisoner, the Australian drug-smuggler Schapelle Corby, could be paroled next month after receiving a six-month cut to her sentence on Friday to mark Independence Day.

 Ceremony: Renae Lawrence (front and centre) of the Bali Nine drug-smugglers salutes during Independence Day celebrations at Kerobokan Prison on Friday. Fellow Australian drug-smuggler Schapelle Corby stayed in her cell throughout the festivities. Photograph by Juliyusman Sine/The Bali Times.

Flagging Customers: The nationwide annual Indonesian flag sale is currently underway, as the country prepares for its 67th celebration of independence from Dutch rule on August 17. Here, a man sets out his red-and-whites in Kerobokan. Photograph by Juliyusman Sine/The Bali Times.

DENPASAR A major Indonesian broadcaster has been forced to cancel one of its prime Ramadan TV shows after angry protests from Balinese Hindus. The Indosiar historical drama series Sembilan Wali was commissioned to run throughout the Muslim fasting month, and features fictionalised adventures of the so-called “Wali Songo,” the “Nine Saints” said to have brought [...]

KEROBOKAN Australian drug-smuggler Schapelle Corby looks set to receive another reduction on her prison term as part of Independence Day celebrations on August 17. Corby, who was jailed for 20 years after trying to smuggle 4.2 kilos of marijuana into Bali in 2004, recently received presidential clemency, which saw her already reduced sentence cut by [...]

TUBAN An Iranian man forced open a cabin door and leapt from a plane moments after it touched down at Ngurah Rai International Airport on Sunday. The man, named as Foroughin Monteza Baratali, was aboard a Qatar Airways flight from Doha via Singapore. He leapt from the plane before it had reached the terminal and [...]

SINGARAJA A 41-year-old New Zealand man is believed to have committed suicide in Buleleng on Sunday. Scott Ramsay was found in the early hours of the morning in a bathroom at the Taman Selini Hotel in Pemuteran by his brother-in-law, Douglas Stuart Barlett. He had reportedly hung himself from a showerhead. Buleleng Police spokesman Putu [...]

SINGARAJA The head of the Buleleng tax and revenue office has been named by prosecutors as a suspect in an ongoing graft investigation targeting various former and current senior officials in the north Bali regency. The Prosecutor’s Office this week announced that tax chief Nyoman Pastika was under investigation as part of the probe into [...]