Emma Connors, Singapore/Jakarta – Indonesia's sovereign wealth fund is finally open for business and the government of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has made some important concessions in a bid to attract foreign capital.

A Papuan leader who has been sought by Indonesian police over the 2019 Papua "Spring" uprising, Victor Yeimo, has been arrested and charged with makar (treason, subversion, rebellion), reports CNN Indonesia.

Nemangkawi Task Force head Senior Commissioner Iqbal Alqudusy confirmed the arrest, saying it took place at 7.15 pm on Sunday.

A 22-year-old Jakarta resident died within hours of receiving a shot of the COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca, officials said, as an investigation is underway to establish whether or not his death was linked to the vaccine.

On Sunday May 9, the Indonesian colonial police arrested Victor Yeimo, one of our most prominent leaders inside West Papua. This is a sign to the world that the Indonesian government wants to use its 'terrorist' designation as a smoke-screen to repress the people of West Papua.

Imam Hamdi, Jakarta – Urban transport expert and Indonesian Transportation Society (MTI) Head, Djoko Setijowarno on Monday argues that the government shows inconsistency upon restricting people's Eid Homecoming or 'mudik' mobility ahead of the Eid celebration.

10 May 2021

Hon Nanaia Mahuta,
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Parliament Buildings
Wellington.

Tena koe Nanaia Mahuta,

Kate Lamb and Agustinus Beo Da Costa, Jakarta – Indonesian authorities have arrested Papuan separatist leader Victor Yeimo over accusations that he orchestrated some of the most serious civil unrest in decades that broke out in 2019, the National Police said on Monday.

Antara, Jayapura, Papua – The Indonesian government has officially labelled members of armed Papuan groups as terrorists owing to their acts of terror and crimes against innocent civilians, a high police official said.

Jakarta – A fugitive from the law who has been sought by police over the 2019 riots in Papua, Victor Yeimo, was arrested in Jayapura, Papua, on Sunday May 9.

Jakarta – The police's Nemangkawi task force in Papua has just arrested a man in Mimika Regency for allegedly talking about "genocide" against Papuans in his Facebook account. The police accused him of spreading hate speech.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Indonesia on Saturday welcomed a fresh shipment of around 1.3 million doses of Astrazeneca's Covid-19 vaccine, acquired via the global procurement scheme Covax Facility.

Ayat S. Karokaro, South Tapanuli, Indonesia – The death toll from a landslide at the site of a hydropower plant being built in Indonesia's Batang Toru forest has risen to 10, with three people still missing and feared dead, authorities said.

Resty Woro Yuniar – Travel bans in Indonesia and Malaysia aimed at stemming the traditional exodus ahead of the Eid ul-Fitr religious festival may do little to prevent a rise in Covid-19 infections, health experts have said, with one warning an India-style flare-up is possible.

Linda Yulisman, Banyuwangi, East Java – As Hari Raya Aidilfitri approaches next Thursday (May 13), Banyuwangi resident Fitri Koreasari is looking forward to cooking up a feast for her family – a spread that will include festive favourites chicken opor and beef rendang.

A former Indonesian military commander has condemned the formal labelling of the West Papuan resistance TPN/OPN as "terrorists", saying that the Papuan problem was complex and could not be solved by armed force alone.

Among other critics of the tagging are the Papua provincial Governor, Lukas Enembe and a Papuan legal researcher.

Linda Yulisman, Jakarta – Indonesian street food vendor Ahmad Dedi and his family arrived at Jakarta's Pasar Senen train station from the neighbouring city of Bekasi more than six hours before their departure to Kebumen, Central Java, on Tuesday (May 4) evening.

Maharani, Jakarta – Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) Director Asfinawati says that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is responsible for efforts to weaken the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) which have become apparent recently.

According to Asfinawati, aside from other actors such as the House of Representatives (DPR), the President also played a part.

Jakarta – The government will impose sanctions on those who defy the 2021 Idul Fitri homecoming ban as a drastic measure to contain coronavirus transmission.

The enforcement of the mudik ban in the Greater Jakarta Area will be monitored by local neighborhood or community units, an official has said, as Indonesia enters day two of banning the annual Eid homecoming tradition.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Timor-Leste has ordered all its citizens to comply and be tested on demand for Covid-19 or be forced into quarantine if they refuse.

The order was passed by the country's Council of Ministers on May 5.

Egi Adyatama, Jakarta – Former commissioner of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Yoseph Stanley Adi Prasetyo in a Friday virtual discussion gave his opinion about the government's recently labelling armed separatists in Papua as terrorists.

Dozens of dogs escaped getting slaughtered for their meat as they were being smuggled across provincial borders, though some sadly died during the inhumane transportation conditions.

Yesterday, two men, one from Jakarta and another from Central Java, drove a pickup truck carrying 78 dogs – which were shoved inside burlap sacks – and were headed for Solo, Central Java.

A "tantric full body orgasm" event scheduled for this weekend in Ubud has caused some online hubbub as news about the retreat makes national headlines, prompting an official investigation by immigration authorities today.

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Indonesia could lose an area of tropical rainforest bigger than Belgium to oil palm plantations over the next three years without existing measures to slow this loss, activists warn. This would negate the government's own commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.

Jakarta – A new analysis from the University of Washington's Institute of Health Metric and Evaluations, or IHME, has suggested that the total number of Covid-19 deaths in Indonesia, as well as in the world, could be more than twice the reported figure, changing the picture about the scale and risk of the pandemic.

Vatican News staff reporter – The Church in the province of Papua in Indonesia is calling on military leaders and rebel groups to declare a truce to avoid the risk of escalation of violence in the region.

Budiarti Utami Putri, Jakarta – The Gerakan Indonesia Kita (GITA) or Our Indonesia Movement has blasted the decision of Garut Regent Rudy Gunawan, whom they said had hindered the freedom to worship of Ahmadiyah followers, after the regent issued a circular that effectively banned religious activities of the Ahmadiyah Indonesia congregation and halted the construction of their house

Human Rights Watch is urging the Indonesian government to rethink its classification of rebels in West Papua as terrorists.

Indonesia has formally designated Papuan independence fighters as "terrorists", in a move expected to expand the military's role in civillian policing in Papua.

Ronna Nirmala and Tria Dianti, Jakarta – Indonesia's military and national police chiefs visited the rebellious Papua region Friday, in a rare joint trip to discuss security there with field commanders after insurgents dealt government forces setbacks, including assassinating an army general last month.

Iman Rahman Cahyadi, Jakarta – More than 8.4 million Indonesian citizens have received two doses of Covid-19 vaccine as of Friday, government figures show, but the number represents a tiny percentage of the country's 270 million population.

Vidhyandika Djati Perkasa and Alif Satria – On April 29, the Coordinating Minister for Politics, Legal, and Security Affairs formally labelled Papua's armed criminal organization (KKB), also known as the West Papua National Army-Free Papua Organization (TNPB-OPM), a terrorist organization.

Lani Diana Wijaya, Jakarta – The Jakarta provincial government is still recording new cases of Covid-19. As of Thursday, May 6, it logged 905 confirmed cases over the last 24 hours.

The city's Health Agency Head of Disease Prevention and Control Unit, Dwi Oktavia, said the additional cases were obtained from the results of PCR swab tests carried out on 15,307 specimens.

Achmad Nasrudin Yahya, Jakarta – The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) has called in a commitment by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo who once pledged to resolve the human rights violations in Paniai, Papua.

Antara, Jakarta – Gerindra Party secretary Ahmad Muzani said on Thursday, May 6, 2021, that the party members are hoping that the party's chairperson and current Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto is willing to run for the presidency in the 2024 presidential election.

Indonesia's Culture, Education, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim is insisting on resuming face-to-face learning in schools in July, despite great concerns that reopening schools would lead to a surge in COVID-19 cases.

Senator the Hon Marise Payne
Minister for Foreign Affairs
PO Box 6100
Senate
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

7 May November 2021

Dear Foreign Minister,

I am writing to you concerning the seriously deteriorating situation in West Papua.

Tsarina Maharani, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) says that the virtual police unit initiated by Indonesian police chief (Kapolri) General Lusty Sight Prabowo has become a new tool of repression in the digital world.

M Julnis Firmansyah, Jakarta – Hundreds of factory workers from West Karawang staged a demonstration in KM 31 of Cikarang toll road as they could not enter Bekasi because of the toll road closure.

Jakarta has begun administering COVID-19 shots to people aged 18 and above, becoming one of the first provinces in the country to target the general public in its mass vaccination drive.

As stated in a press release by the Jakarta Provincial Government, starting May 5, health authorities in the capital have begun administering the AstraZeneca vaccine to the general public.

Indonesia has deployed 400 more soldiers in the easternmost region of Papua, an army spokesman said on Thursday, as an exiled separatist leader warned that the military looked set to launch its biggest security operation in the area in decades.

Antara, Jakarta – State-owned toll road operator Jasa Marga recorded 414,774 vehicles leaving the Greater Jakarta area just one day before the ban on mass exodus or 'mudik ban' was imposed on May 6, 2021.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – A popular Islamic cleric in Indonesia has come under fire for claiming that Catholics only go to church on Sundays to pray to St. Dominic.

Health authorities in Banten province say they have detected two dangerous mutations of the coronavirus in three patients from the Greater Tangerang Area so far, raising alarm for a possible spread to the capital Jakarta and beyond.

Shotaro Tani, Jakarta – Indonesia's economy shrank for the fourth straight quarter, as the coronavirus pandemic remains a drag on Southeast Asia's largest economy.

Sebastian Strangio – Indonesia is bolstering its military presence in disputed Papua province, following the assassination of a senior military officer on April 26.

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, thousands of Jakartans are racing to beat the mudik ban before it comes into effect tomorrow, inundating the capital's travel hubs.

Jakarta – The West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Movement (TPNPB-OPM) has requested military intervention from the United Nations (UN) Security Forces. It also seeks support from the European Union, African-Caribbean-Pacific States, and all UN members as advocated in UN Resolution 2625 (XXV) on the right to independence and self-determination for colonized nations.

By Izzy Brown, as told to Zelda Grimshaw

"They make great trucks. That's what my father says whenever I ask him: "What do they make? Who do they sell them to?" "Only to the good guys," is his standard answer, and the topic changes quickly. But what he calls "trucks", most people call "tanks". And I am always led to wonder, "What kind of 'good guy' drives a tank?"

Dzulfiqar Fathur Rahman – The Indonesian economy saw the latest in a series of diminishing contractions in the first quarter of 2021, staying on course for an economic recovery as the government kept up its fiscal support and ramped up the COVID-19 vaccination drive to allow people and businesses to bounce back from the pandemic.

Ebed de Rosary, Kupang, Indonesia – In Indonesia's arid, southern East Nusa Tenggara province, clean water is hard to come by.

The issue made national headlines last year when an "extreme drought" triggered clean water shortages in different parts of the archipelagic province, from Rote in the south to Flores in the north.