Antara, Jakarta – As many as 78,540,519 Indonesian citizens have received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose as of 12 p.m. local time on Saturday (September 18, 2021), the COVID-19 Handling Task Force has reported.

An additional 1,123,031 people received the first dose of vaccination on Saturday, it said.

Eko Listiyorini – Indonesia's moratorium on new oil palm plantation permits is set to expire this week as the industry awaits clarity on whether the government will extend the policy.

Christopher Knaus – In the pre-dawn light, beneath a water tower on the West Papuan island of Biak, Yudha Korwa lay bleeding in the dirt.

Four days earlier, the young high school student, full of hope in post-Suharto, Reformasi Indonesia, had joined hundreds of other independence activists to fly the Morning Star, the banned West Papuan flag, near Biak's harbour.

Penulis Irfan Kamil, Jakarta – As many as 38 academics from Australia sent a letter to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Thursday September 16 requesting that he give amnesty to jailed university lecturer Saiful Mahdi.

Irfan Kamil, Jakarta – Parameter Politic Indonesia Executive Director Adi Prayitno says that summoning poultry farmer Suroto to the Palace to meet with President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is a democratic paradox.

Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Indonesia recorded 2,234 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, the lowest daily count since last August, according to Health Ministry data.

The last time the country reported fewer daily numbers than that of Sunday was on August 24 of last year, when 1,877 Covid-19 cases were recorded in the 24-hour period.

Jauh Hari Wawan S, Yogyakarta – The Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) office in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta was the target of a terror attack early on the morning of Saturday September 18. The Yogyakarta LBH is currently handling several structural cases.

Jakarta – Indonesia may allow foreign tourists to start returning to the popular resort island of Bali and other parts of the country by October after a sharp slide in COVID-19 cases, senior minister Luhut Pandjaitan said on Friday (Sep 17).

Antara, Jakarta – The Garut prosecutor's office arrested Tohidi, a corruptor who had been on the run for 12 years. Tohidi was involved in a case of misusing the budget for the construction of a fish auction site in Cilauteureun, Garut Regency, West Java. He was arrested in Subang Regency.

The moon shone bright in the East Java city of Sidoarjo yesterday evening, and we're not talking about Earth's natural satellite. We're talking about some dude's ass.

The man, who's yet to be identified, reportedly drove his Honda Vario scooter recklessly sans clothing, helmet, and face mask on Tanggulangin street from the direction of Porong district to downtown Sidoarjo.

Chris Barrett, Singapore – Australia's plan to arm itself with a fleet of nuclear-propelled submarines to combat the rising threat of China has been met with alarm by near neighbour Indonesia.

Konradus Epa, Jakarta – The Indonesian police have issued a new set of guidelines on how protests should be handled following criticism that officers use excessive force against demonstrators.

The announcement by National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit on Sept. 16 instructed officers to show more restraint, was welcomed by Church and rights groups.

Aisyah Llewellyn, Medan, Indonesia – "I am happy and it was unexpected that we won," Elisa Sutanudjaja told Al Jazeera, after an Indonesian court ruled against President Joko Widodo and other top officials for failing to protect Jakarta residents from debilitating air pollution.

Jakarta – Indonesia's central bank is expected to keep its key interest rate steady next week as the economy gradually reopens after a recent devastating COVID-19 wave, while a record high trade surplus should provide underlying support to the local currency.

Jakarta – A recent string of cybersecurity threats only shows that Indonesia's data security system remains vulnerable to attacks and intrusions that endanger not only people's privacy rights but also the security of the state.

Gayatri Suroyo, Jakarta – Indonesia has reinstated a temporary luxury-tax break on sales of smaller cars as the concession helped boost demand for vehicles, the Finance Ministry said on Friday.

The tax break, which had expired in August, will now be available till the end of the year, the ministry said in a statement.

Jakarta – Green groups on Thursday urged Indonesia to extend a moratorium on new palm oil permits and improve its implementation, warning of a risk of losing millions of acres of forest to plantation expansion.

Grace N. Chandra, Yustinus Paat, Jakarta – Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said the capital would abide by the Central Jakarta District Court's landmark decision that finds him and the country's top officials guilty of negligence for air pollution in Jakarta.

Jamal A Nashr, Semarang – The Central Java Police have named two persons suspected of polluting Bengawan Solo River. They are identified as H, 36 years old, and J, 40 years old, residents of Polokarto District, Sukoharjo Regency, Central Java.

They were caught red-handed disposing of waste at 3 p.m. Friday, September 10.

Antara, Jakarta – The spokesperson of the Transportation Ministry Adita Irawati on Thursday issued a public apology following a physical aggression acted by the Transportation Minister's security personnel towards a journalist who was attempting to conduct a doorstop interview.

Jakarta – Street artists have loudly condemned a mural contest festival to be organised by the Indonesian police (Polri) saying that it is a waste of time and absolutely does not show that the government is open to criticism.

Jakarta – Following the announcement by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) that it will honorably discharge 57 of its employees on September 30, a number of different parties have urged President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to take a firm stand on the issue.

Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – State-run shipbuilder PAL Indonesia will manufacture two frigates for the Navy under license from UK-based defense company Babcock, following a recent London trip by Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto.

Huge crowds amid the COVID-19 pandemic are not to be taken lightly, and the Jakarta Metro Police has now charged the manager of Holywings Tavern in Kemang, South Jakarta for breaching health protocols in the aftermath of a hangout raid earlier this month.

Moh Khory Alfarizi, Jakarta – The National Research Agency (BRIN) main researcher Eddy Hermawan on Thursday said there are 115 Indonesian islands facing the threat of sinking. The Jakarta area and areas in Java Island's northern coast (Pantura) are not the only regions that face this bleak future.

Andita Rahma, Maudey K. Setyakusuma, Jakarta – The National Police Headquarters have prepared anticipatory steps to secure the National Sports event or PON in Papua to prevent possible terror threats from armed groups or KKB, as listed by the authorities.

"We cannot be too euphoric, and we must remain cautious as we consider COVID-19 developments, [the outbreak is] still very dangerous especially with the new Mu variant th

Bayu Marhaenjati, Jakarta – Former South Sumatra governor Alex Noerdin was named a suspect on Thursday in a corruption case related to a gas purchase deal that according to prosecutors has cost the state more than $30 million.

Nivell Rayda, Jakarta – The Central Jakarta district court on Thursday (Sep 16) ordered President Joko Widodo and his administration to tighten regulations and impose greater supervision and enforcement regarding poor air quality in the capital city.

Chris Barrett and Karuni Rompies, Singapore – An Indonesian court has ruled President Joko Widodo and six other government leaders failed to tackle Jakarta's chronic air pollution, in a victory for a group of citizens who brought a landmark lawsuit.

Adam Leong Kok Wey – On August 31, Malaysia celebrated its 64th Hari Merdeka (Independence Day), albeit in muted form due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.

Official data in Indonesia shows a Delta-driven second wave of COVID-19 that saw the Southeast Asian nation become the global epicentre of the pandemic in July and August has run its course.

Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo announced on Wednesday that he had ordered the infrastructure projects for the new capital city in East Kalimatan to proceed, and that he expected some basic facilities could be operational in 2024.

Jakarta – A group of gunmen has attacked a remote district in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua targeting a clinic and other public facilities, leaving at least a medical worker dead, authorities said on Thursday.

Jakarta – Indonesian organizations faced cyberattacks 746 percent more often than the global average in the past six months, cyber security solution provider Check Point Software Technologies revealed in its recent threat intelligence report.

Check Point named the government/military, manufacturing and banking as the three most impacted industries.

Fana Suparman, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, is set to honorably dismiss 56 employees, some of whom are senior and renowned investigators such as Novel Baswedan.

Those employees will be dismissed en masse in the end of this month for failing to pass the nationalism test, KPK Commissioner Alexander Marwata said on Wednesday.

Friski Riana, Jakarta – Setara Institute director of research Halili Hasan in a statement on Wednesday strongly condemned the actions of Sintang acting-Regent Sudiyanto who ordered the dismantling of the house of worship belonging to the Ahmadiyah minority congregations.

"This is outrages from the acting regent and unconstitutional," Halili wrote on September 15.

Aqshal Raihan, Jakarta – The Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet) Head of online security division Abdul Hasan Banimal laments the use of personal data in the Covid-19 tracing app PeduliLindungi, which he argues asks for personal data for uses that are still questionable.

The Ministry of Law and Human Rights has relaxed restrictions on foreign arrivals in Indonesia, allowing for the resumption of offshore visa applications and access into the country for existing permit holders.

Dzulfiqar Fathur Rahman, Jakarta – British investors in Indonesia say running businesses in the country has become easier in some ways following the enactment of the Job Creation Law, but bureaucratic inefficiencies can still pose a challenge.

Jakarta – The criminalisation of activists in 2019 and 2020 has been cited as one of the factors for the decline in the quality of democracy in Indonesia.

Based on a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), democracy in Indonesia scored its worst figure ever with a score of 6.3 and was in 64th place out of 167 countries.

London – Peaceful demonstrators, student activists, West Papuan and Indonesian political activist groups, human rights lawyers and defenders and individual civilians experienced extreme repression for their involvement in peaceful demonstrations and meetings which occurred in 2020 in West Papua and outside West Papua.

Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Indonesian citizens returning from overseas trips are required to show their vaccination status using government application called Peduli Lindungi (to care and protect), the National Covid-19 Task Force said on Thursday.

Jakarta – Indonesia welcomed another shipment of Covid-19 vaccines on Wednesday while also seeking to boost the lagging vaccination rate for elderly and teens aged between 12-17.

The new shipment includes 274,950 finished doses of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine.

Francisca Christy Rosana, Jakarta – The Bali Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (Kadin) deputy of accommodation and tourism development I Made Ramia Adnyana said the slackened public activity restriction (PPKM) from level 4 to level 3 saw an increase in tourist visits, said to be 10-times more than the previous PPKM period.

A crass and overtly sexual music video with an apparent intent to demean the LGBT community found its way as an ad for kids' content on YouTube, a viral video in Indonesia has shown, triggering huge outrage in the country.

Herlambang P Wiratraman – Saiful Mahdi, a lecturer from Syiah Kuala University (Unsyiah) in Banda Aceh, is the latest casualty of the Law on Electronic Information and Transactions (the so-called ITE Law).

Quinton Temby – The Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan has been welcomed in Indonesia's militant Islamist circles and even among some mainstream figures.

The rapid return to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the collapsing scenery of the U.S. withdrawal have energised militant Islamists in Indonesia, like a deus ex machina breaking through the pandemic.

Jakarta – Indonesia's exports hit a record high of US$21.42 billion in August, boosted by surging commodity shipments, helping Southeast Asia's biggest economy post its largest ever monthly trade surplus, official data showed.

Aisyah Llewellyn, Medan, Indonesia – The plaintiffs in a landmark air pollution case brought against the authorities in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta hope they may finally hear a decision in their case, after months of delays, when the court sits again on Thursday.