Jakarta – As of the third quarter of this year, domestic consumption contributes more than half of Indonesia's economic growth. Although all appears well, this figure reflects a fragile economy: the long-established middle class is spending money to relieve the pressures of life.

Hendrik Yaputra, Jakarta – The Minister of Culture, Fadli Zon, launched the book series Sejarah Indonesia: Dinamika Kebangsaan dalam Arus Global (History of Indonesia: National Dynamics in the Global Flow) at Plaza Insan Berprestasi in Jakarta, on Sunday, December 14, 2025.

Hendrik Yaputra, Jakarta – Indonesia's Ministry of Culture has designated December 14 as National History Day. The History Day launch took place at the Plaza Insan Berprestasi in Jakarta today.

Muawwan Daelami, Jakarta – Sovereign wealth fund Danantara Indonesia announced on Sunday that it has acquired hotel and real estate assets in Thakher City, an integrated development located about 2.5 kilometers from the Grand Mosque in Makkah.

Naomi Lyandra, Jakarta – Three weeks after the hydrometeorological disasters in Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra, the Civil Society Coalition believes the government's response has been suboptimal because it has failed to declare a national disaster.

Jakarta – Indonesia is continuing large-scale reconstruction efforts across Sumatra after devastating flash floods and landslides killed more than 1,000 people and displaced tens of thousands over the past two weeks, authorities said on Sunday.

Dinda Shabrina, Jakarta – The disaster situation in several regions in Indonesia has once again highlighted the high risk of sexual violence against women in evacuation centers. Women, children, and the elderly are considered the most vulnerable in emergency conditions, while non-physical risks such as sexual violence often go unnoticed in disaster response priorities.

Adil Al Hasan, Jakarta – Senior Director of Business Performance and Asset Optimization of the Investment Management Agency Danantara Indonesia Bhimo Aryanto speaks out about the state-owned enterprises (BUMN) business merger process. He ensures that there will be no layoffs during the merger process of these state-owned companies.

Dinda Shabrina, Jakarta – The National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) has evacuated the body of someone believed to be a female foreign national victim of the flood in Tibubeneng, Badung Regency, Denpasar, Bali.

Aditya Aji, Aceh Tamiang, Aceh – Almost two weeks on from devastating floods, Muslim worshippers in disaster-hit northern Sumatra who gathered at their local mosque on Friday for prayers were blocked from entering by a huge pile of thousands of uprooted trees.

M. Faiz Zaki, Jakarta – Russian investment in Indonesia totaled US$147.2 million, or approximately Rp2.46 trillion, from January to September 2025, according to records from the Ministry of Industry. This follows a full-year investment value of US$262.7 million recorded in 2024.

Hendrik Yaputra, Jakarta – President Prabowo Subianto has vowed a stringent crackdown on all illegal logging activities following the devastating disaster in Sumatra.

Ali MC, Dili, East Timor – On the 50th anniversary of Indonesia's invasion of East Timor, longtime independence advocate and now the country's President Jose Ramos-Horta reflected on the last half-century of politics and diplomacy in his country.

Hendrik Yaputra, Jakarta – Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said the situation in North Sumatra has improved since the severe floods and landslides at the end of November, while emphasizing that the government will continue to monitor affected communities.

Dian Rahma Fika, Jakarta – President Prabowo Subianto on Friday visited three districts in Aceh province affected by severe floods and landslides: Aceh Tamiang, Aceh Tengah, and Bener Meriah.

The visit marked Prabowo's third inspection of disaster-hit areas in recent weeks, following earlier trips to flood-affected regions in North Sumatra and West Sumatra.

Bucharest – Romania said it had found two masseuses with leprosy at a spa in the northwestern city of Cluj, the European Union state's first confirmed cases of the disease in more than 40 years.

Two more people were being tested and the two confirmed cases, both Indonesian nationals aged 21 and 25, were being treated, the Romanian Health Ministry added.

Dede Leni Mardianti, Jakarta – The Indonesian Ombudsman stated that communication issues were the main problem in the government's handling of the disaster that struck the island of Sumatra at the end of last November.

Anastasya Lavenia Yudi, Jakarta – The Financial Services Authority (OJK) reported that outstanding debt in the Indonesian online loan industry reached Rp92.92 trillion in October 2025. This figure represents a robust growth of 23.86 percent year-on-year (YoY), a higher rate than the 22.16 percent YoY recorded in the preceding month.

Antara, Jakarta – Indonesian immigration authorities have deported British adult film actress and OnlyFans personality Tia Emma Billinger, widely known as Bonnie Blue, for violating immigration rules and traffic laws during her stay in Bali.

Adil Al Hasan, Jakarta – The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) has released the examination results of the capital injection by PT Wijaya Karya (WIKA) into PT Pilar Sinergi BUMN Indonesia in the investment for Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Train through the formation of PT KCIC (Kereta Cepat Indonesia Cina).

Andi F – Tanrigau, Indonesia's economy is becoming more deeply embedded in global supply chains, and with that integration comes a new reality: sustainability reporting is no longer optional. It cannot be treated as a document prepared only when time and resources allow.

Jakarta – President Prabowo Subianto has once again raised the idea of scrapping direct regional head elections to cut costs, ahead of a planned revision to election rules at the legislature and despite persistent opposition from pro-democracy activists who have warned of a possible rollback of democratic safeguards.

Adinda Jasmine, Jakarta – Xanana Gusmao, the Prime Minister of Timor Leste, delivered his inaugural policy speech at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta on Thursday, December 11, 2025. Xanana made his first visit as Timor Leste was accepted as the 11th member of the regional bloc in Malaysia last October.

On 3 December 2025, at around 4:00 pm, 20-year-old indigenous Papuan, Mr Yanuarius Pekei, was shot dead while joining a protest on the connecting road from Paniai to Dogiyai in the Deiyai Regency, Central Papua Province.

In commemoration of the International Human Rights Day on December 10, the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS) has once again published its Human Rights Day Report. This report summarizes the situation of human rights respect, protection, and fulfillment over the past year.

Andi Adam Faturahman, Jakarta – The Chair of House Commission I (DPR), Utut Adianto, proposed that the government should establish a ministry dedicated to integrated disaster management.

Irna Nurlina – Tragedies like the collapse of an Islamic boarding school in mid-September in West Java require nuanced solutions and hard soul-searching. Hope and inspiration may come from within the country, indeed, within the same province.

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – A Tapanuli orangutan, the world's rarest great ape, has been discovered dead in mud and log debris in a village in northern Sumatra – a grim sign of how severely recent floods and landslides may have devastated the species' fragile habitat.

A group of scientists has described the catastrophe as an "extinction-level disturbance" for the apes.

Yuni Rohmawati, Jakarta – Entering the peak of the rainy season, which is projected to occur from December 2025 to March 2026 according to the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of South Sumatra has declared a flood and landslide alert in five regencies/cities.

Maretha Uli, Jakarta – Authorities are struggling to restore power in northern Sumatra, particularly in Aceh, after widespread floods and landslides last month, triggered by a rare cyclone and exacerbated by environmental destruction, with felled trees sweeping away villages, causing massive damage and hampering recovery.

Alfitria Nefi Pratiwi, Jakarta – The Ministry of Agriculture has reported that at least 11,000 hectares of paddy fields have suffered severe damage or total crop failure following the recent Sumatra floods.

Maretha Uli, Jakarta – A photo that might seem harmless can turn a woman into a target of sexual harassment overnight.

Fachri Hamzah, Jakarta – West Sumatra residents, through the Ecological Justice Advocacy Team, are preparing to file a citizen lawsuit against 12 state officials for alleged negligence in preventing and handling ecological disasters that have struck the region since late November 2025.

Adinda Jasmine, Jakarta – Timor Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao kicked off his official visit to the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta on Thursday, December 11, 2025. This marks his first visit after Timor Leste was designated as the 11th full member of ASEAN in Malaysia last October.

Eka Yudha Saputra, Jakarta – President Prabowo Subianto has asked the victims of the Sumatra floods to be patient. The central government will help those affected by the disaster.

Grace Gandhi, Jakarta – The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) remains committed to importing crude oil and fuel from the United States, as agreed upon in the trade tariff negotiations between Indonesia and the U.S.

Jakarta – Indonesia's Islamic banking sector is on track for its strongest year ever, with total assets surpassing Rp 1,028 trillion ($65 billion) as of October 2025 – the highest level since the industry was established, according to the country's Financial Services Authority (OJK).

Fachri Hamzah, Jakarta – The Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) in West Sumatra considers the flash floods that have struck several areas in the province not just a natural disaster, but an ecological crisis that has accumulated over decades, during which time the government has never taken restorative measures.

Doubts that the Government and the House of Representatives (DPR) genuinely support Komnas HAM's pro justitia investigation into the Munir case, which has remained stagnant for more than 21 years.

Amid natural disasters, floods and landslides in Sumatra, caused by environmental destruction that the state failed to anticipate, communities in other regions are instead facing violence in the form of land grabbing and unilateral claims by the Indonesian Military (TNI).

Sara Hussein, Bangkok – Sumatra's deadly flooding was an "extinction-level disturbance" for the world's rarest great ape, the tapanuli orangutan, causing catastrophic damage to its habitat and survival prospects, scientists warned on Friday.

Jakarta – President Prabowo Subianto has once again intervened in the law enforcement process of a corruption case. This time, he did so by rehabilitating three defendants in the corruption case involving Angkutan Sungai, Danau, dan Penyeberangan Indonesia Ferry, or ASDP.

Novali Panji Nugroho, Jakarta – The YouTube channel owned by Tempo has been accessible to the public again on Thursday, December 11, 2025. The YouTube account Tempodotco disappeared on December 9, around 7 in the morning.

Irsyan Hasyim, Jakarta – A study by the Research Center for Environmental Studies (PPLH) at IPB University's International Research Institute for Climate Change has shown that most of Jakarta's rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and groundwater are heavily contaminated.

Duncan Graham – As Indonesia prepares to release a new official national history, an Australian historian's account of the 1965-66 mass killings threatens to reopen a long-suppressed debate about power, violence, and memory.

Jakarta – At least 20 students and one teacher were wounded after a vehicle suddenly crashed into a school gathering at SDN Kalibaru 01 Pagi state elementary school in Cilincing, North Jakarta, on Thursday morning.

Apriadi Gunawan and Theresia Sufa, Medan – The Environment Ministry has temporarily halted the operations of four companies working in the upstream Batang Toru river basin area following the devastating floods and landslides in North Sumatra.

Maretha Uli, Jakarta – The National Police had been accused of using excessive force against protesters during nationwide rallies in late August, according to an investigation by human rights group Amnesty International on multiple cases of violence around the demonstrations.

Jakarta – Human Rights Day which falls today should remind nations of the promises they make to their citizens: dignity, safety and justice. This year, however, Indonesia faces the commemorative day with the uneasy recognition that its human rights foundations are steadily weakening.

Jakarta – Security in Intan Jaya regency, Central Papua, has improved significantly in the past few months following a series of security operations against the Free Papua Organization (OPM) I nsurgent movement, the Indonesian Military (TNI) claimed recently.