Hendartyo Hanggi, Jakarta – The Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Ministry's Mineral and Coal Director-General Ridwan Djamaluddin said Indonesia still has large coal reserves of 38.84 billion tons.

"We still have about 60 to 65 years to go of our [coal] reserves," said Ridwan in the ministry's virtual discussion on Monday, July 26, 2021.

Fajar Pebrianto, Jakarta – Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the hospital bed occupancy rate (BOR) for Covid-19 patients has declined. Indonesia has thus far had 430,000 beds in hospitals throughout the archipelago.

Sebastian Strangio – On July 15, Indonesia's parliament voted to revise and extend for 20 years the Special Autonomy Law for the provinces of Papua and West Papua. The move was greeted by protests in the easternmost region of the archipelago, where a separatist insurgency has rumbled since the 1960s. Dr.

Antara, Jakarta – A number of restaurant owners have questioned the 20-minute dine-in time limit imposed in the public activity restrictions (PPKM) level 4, which is effective from July 26 and slated to end on August 2.

Robert Campion – Despite a surge in death rates, amid an uncontrolled outbreak of the Delta variant of COVID-19, the Indonesian government of President Joko Widodo is moving to loosen localised restrictions.

The Wisma Atlet COVID-19 facility now has half of its rooms vacant for the first time since the latest wave of the coronavirus outbreak began ravaging Indonesia in June, offering hope that the worst could be behind the capital Jakarta.

A group of villagers in Toba regency, North Sumatra assaulted a COVID-19 patient in what appeared to be an egregious violation of the victim's rights, only for local authorities to say that he may have brought it on himself.

Indonesia's government has said small businesses and some shopping malls can reopen despite warnings that loosening curbs could spark another Covid wave.

President Joko Widodo said measures imposed in early July would continue until 2 August as the Delta variant spreads across the country, which has been overtaking India and Brazil as the world's virus epicentre.

Syafiq Hasyim – Although the mainstream Muslim organisations had supported closing mosques during Indonesia's current round of emergency Covid-19 restrictions, the government subsequently compromised. This is another indication of the growing influence of conservative Muslim voices on Muslim issues.

Before the pandemic, Mamik Nariati's five grandchildren were given free immunisations for diseases like polio, mumps and Hepatitis B at their school in the city of Surabaya in East Java.

"But since the online school started last year, there is no more immunisation programme," she told Al Jazeera.

Jakarta (New York Times) – Hundreds of children in Indonesia have died from the coronavirus in recent weeks, many of them younger than five, a mortality rate greater than that of any other country and one that challenges the idea that children face minimal risk from Covid-19, doctors say.

Dzulfiqar Fathur Rahman, Jakarta – The government has delayed plans to establish a travel corridor with Singapore after Indonesia extended its multi-tiered public mobility restrictions (PPKM) amid rising COVID-19 cases.

Jakarta (Agencies) – Indonesia is expecting to receive 45 million more doses of COVID-19 vaccines in August, health minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin told a virtual news conference on Monday.

They will include vaccines from Sinovac, Moderna and Pfizer, he said, quoted by Reuters.

Adi Kurniawan and Heru Asprihanto, Jakarta – Muhammad Ihsan gratefully lugs an oxygen cylinder into a small office in Jakarta's outskirts, lining the breathing equipment up with scores of others against a wall.

Sudibyo Wiradji, Jakarta – Indonesia is scrambling to restore its sizeable mangrove forest loss, with the national Peatland and Mangrove Restoration Agency (BRGM) tasked with accelerating the process over the next four years, as the consequences of mangrove deforestation have been increasingly alarming.

Jakarta – Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian has issued three instructions on the Covid-19 curbs, as Indonesia extends its strict social restrictions.

Antara, Jakarta – The popular Tanah Abang Market in Central Jakarta has been reopened by its market management as of Monday, July 26, following the slackened public activity restrictions or PPKM Level 4 today. The market had been closed since the enforcement of the Emergency PPKM on July 3.

Lani Diana Wijaya, Jakarta – The Jakarta Government on Monday said the bed occupancy rates of COVID-19 isolation and ICU facilities at hospitals in Jakarta had shown signs of reduction as of July 25.

M Rosseno Aji, Jakarta – Indonesian Ombudsman member Robert Na Endi Jaweng said his side found alleged manipulation of a meeting document on the discussion of regulations related to the National Insight Test (TWK) for employees of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Pope Francis hopes to visit Timor-Leste next year, according to a senior official at the Catholic-majority country's apostolic nunciature.

The visit will take place if the Covid-19 situation improves, Monsignor Marco Sprizzi, the nunciature's charge d'affaires, told reporters after meeting Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak on July 23.

Jakarta – Indonesia is preparing more intensive care units after logging several days of record-high Covid-19 deaths last week, while the country waits to see whether the government will extend or loosen tough restrictions due to expire on Sunday (July 25).

A'an Suryana, Singapore – The latest tragedy in Indonesia's fight against COVID-19 is the extraordinary rise of fatalities among Indonesian doctors.

The culprit has been identified as the more contagious coronavirus Delta variant, which triggered a chain reaction in Indonesia's health system.

Lenny Tristia Tambun, Jakarta – A number of private companies are joining forces to build a 500-bed isolation facility for Covid-19 patients in East Jakarta, expected to become operational next week.

Named "Rumah Oksigen" (oxygen house), the facility is designed to provide direct acces to oxygen supplies and medications for patients with moderate symptoms of Covid-19.

Putu Savitri, Fadhli Ruhman, Jakarta – The Penal Code (KUHP) does not yet provide adequate protection to women victims of sexual violence, Commissioner of the National Commission on Women (Komnas Perempuan) Maria Ulfah Anshor stated.

Denpasar, Bali (Agencies) – Bali province is running out of oxygen for its COVID-19 patients as infections surge, the chief of its health agency said, as Indonesia struggles with the region's worst COVID epidemic.

Yudha Baskoro, Jakarta – The daily number of Covid-19 burials at Rorotan Public Cemetery in Cilincing, North Jakarta has dropped to below 100 in recent days. The grim view of ambulances waiting in queue for the funeral is no longer seen.

Heru Andriyanto, Yustinus Paat, Jakarta – Indonesia has recorded 38,679 Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours as four-week lockdown entered the last day on Sunday, government figures show. Southeast Asia's biggest country now has accumulated a total of 3.17 million cases since the pandemic began.

Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, Jakarta – A partial lockdown has been extended in Indonesia as plans are being finalised to ramp up contact tracing and reinforce quarantine facilities in the country to deal with the highly infectious Delta variant, which has seen it turn into the epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic in Asia.

Jakarta – Social restrictions continue until next week with several modifications, including permit for sit-down meals and drinks at outdoor restaurants, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo announced on Sunday evening.

Indonesia has reimposed restrictions since July 3 amid a dramatic rise in Covid-19 cases and deaths blamed on the highly transmissible Delta strain.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Timor-Leste's top churchman has called on priests and religious to respect the Vatican's decision to dismiss a priest for sexual abuse and asked them to support his alleged victims in a case currently on trial.

Yerica Lai, Jakarta – Police set out barbed wire and concrete barricades around the Presidential Palace in Central Jakarta on Saturday in an effort to tighten security after calls for an antigovernment march spread among the public.

Certain roads in the Harmoni area and those leading to the palace were also closed.

Nivell Rayda, Jakarta – Dian Anggraeni has been trying to get herself vaccinated against COVID-19 for the past two months. But so far, her attempts have been unsuccessful.

Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, Jakarta – Indonesia's accelerated vaccination drive has hit a speed bump as its stock of Covid-19 vaccines ready for use is almost fully utilised, preventing it from meeting the target of one million jabs a day in the past week.

Caesar Akbar, Jakarta – The Food and Drugs Monitoring Agency (BPOM) cautioned stakeholders, including pharmaceutical firms that produce Ivermectin, to stop promoting the medicine as a therapeutic drug for Covid-19 as the agency has not yet authorized the use of the drug.

Chris Barrett and Karuni Rompies, Singapore – When Martin, a 63-year-old resident of west Jakarta, lost his mother-in-law to COVID-19 last week, he set about organising her cremation.

But when he and his family approached funeral operators and agents, they were astounded as they were quoted prices as high as 65 million rupiah ($6000), many times the usual cost.

Max Lane – In Indonesia, a paid vaccination programme bombed out in a span of days. Putting economics above health priorities had added to the negative political climate for the government.

Katharina R. Lestari and Konradus Epa – Indonesia has stopped foreign visitors and workers from entering the country as part of measures to tighten emergency restrictions on public activities to suppress the spread of Covid-19.

The ban, issued by Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Hamonangan Laoly, took effect on July 23.

Jakarta – In her annual statement in January, Foreign Minister Retno L P Marsudi said Indonesia would focus on "health security diplomacy".

"Our focus is to realise the commitments on vaccines through bilateral and multilateral partnerships," she said, and that the policy guideline was a continuation of the government's 2020 strategy.

The speed and scale of the coronavirus outbreak in Indonesia has created a perfect breeding ground for a potential new super-strain that could be even more contagious and deadly than the Delta variant, infectious disease experts from around the world are warning.

Gemma Holliani Cahya in Jakarta and Rebecca Ratcliffe – Scenes that have for months haunted hospitals across Indonesia's Java island are appearing across the country, as the Delta variant spreads to new provinces, causing shortages of beds and oxygen.

Tasha Wibawa – A COVID-19 crisis has unfolded as the highly transmissible Delta variant tears through Indonesia, where health facilities have buckled under the pressure.

Jakarta (Antara) – Indonesia is temporarily pulling its diplomats out of North Korea in response to the latter's coronavirus lockdown, the Foreign Affairs Ministry announced.

Mega Safitri, Rosseno Aji, Jakarta – Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) urged Firli Bahuri to immediately step down as the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Chairman.

Andita Rahma, Jakarta – The National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) on Thursday extended the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United States Ambassador Sung Yong Kim regarding the two country's partnership on counterterrorism.

The meeting was held with minimal attendance between BNPT chairperson Boy Rafli and Kim on July 22.

Caesar Akbar, Budiarti Utami, Aji Nugroho, Jakarta – Ivermectin continues to be a hot topic of discussion after the antiparasitic drug – which has been excluded by India from its list of coronavirus treatment – was promoted by some notable individuals in Indonesia as a drug to treat Covid-19 patients.

Antara, Jakarta – The head of the work committee (Panja) on the sexual violence eradication bill (RUU PKS), Willy Aditya, said that the bill will cover sexual violence in the digital realm.

The story of a third grader from East Kalimantan who became an orphan after his parents succumbed to COVID-19 has tugged at the hearts of Indonesians across the country.

Kate Lamb – Indonesia is suffering a devastating wave of coronavirus infections, driven by the Delta variant, but the government is already talking about relaxing social curbs enacted earlier this month – a move analysts say is largely led by economic considerations.

Joe Lo – The Indonesian government has released an updated 2030 climate plan and long term strategy that indicate the country's reliance on coal will continue well into the 2050's.

In a 156-page long term strategy document submitted to the UN, it outlines three pathways including a "low carbon scenario compatible with the Paris Agreement".

Ronna Nirmala, Jakarta – Indonesian police arrested a Papuan separatist leader who was on the run after he escaped from a prison in Papua with several others in 2016, while serving a life sentence for the killings of three police officers, officials said Friday.