Jakarta – At least 200 supporters of Rizieq Syihab were arrested on Thursday, hours before the controversial cleric was found guilty of spreading false claims related his medical condition and of inciting unrest and sentenced to four years' imprisonment.

Achmad Nasrudin Yahya, Jakarta – Navy Chief of Staff (KSAL) Admiral Yudo Margono has explicitly stated that the Navy will dismiss any personnel from the service if it is proven that they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT).

Lani Diana Wijaya, Jakarta – The Jakarta Financial Management Agency (BPKD) Head, Edi Sumantri, confirmed that the city's Parks and Forest Agency had to bury 146 bodies of COVID-19 patients yesterday, June 22. However, the officers were overwhelmed so some of the bodies were stored in the community health centers (Puskesmas).

Jakarta – More than simply sidelining 51 employees through a dubious civic knowledge test, Firli Bahuri also wrecked the working system of the Corruption Eradication Commission. The meeting point of those who wish to destroy the KPK.

Those who have traveled to Bali, whether for a short getaway or to work from the island, are behind the recent spike of COVID-19 cases in Bali, the provincial task force said this week.

The heinous case of a police officer who allegedly raped a 16-year-old girl while she was at a police station in North Maluku has led to renewed calls to pass the sexual violence eradication bill (RUU PKS) in Indonesia.

Tangguh Chairil – The Indonesian Defence Ministry's plan to seek up to US$125 billion in loans to modernise the country's military was leaked to the public earlier this month.

Mike Head – A former senior Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) officer, known publicly only as "Witness K," was sentenced to a suspended jail term last Friday. His "crime" was to blow the whistle on the Howard Liberal-National government's use of ASIS to plant a listening device in East Timor's cabinet room in 2004 during crucial oil and gas negotiations.

Fana Suparman, Jakarta – A group of Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) employees who have failed to qualify as civil servants dropped their legal motion at the Constitutional Court seeking a ruling to reinstate their status, one of the plaintiffs said on Tuesday.

Pribadi Wicaksono (Contributor), Yogyakarta – The Yogyakarta Provincial Government has scrapped its plan to enforce regional lockdown. The regional government will instead tighten the micro-scale public activity restriction or known as Micro PPKM which is being enforced.

A group of motorcyclists reportedly attacked a swab test facility in Surabaya, East Java this morning following widespread refusal against testing from travelers coming from neighboring Madura Island.

While it would be great if more people were vaccinated against COVID-19, Indonesia, in theory, isn't forcing anyone to get the jab.

Remember the popular children's cartoon Nussa, which drew some controversy earlier this year due to allegations of promoting Islamic radicalism? It feels a bit like we hopped on a time machine with a similar narrative brewing recently, that we can't help but feel bad toward the characters and the people behind this show.

Febriana Firdaus and agencies – Indonesian health authorities are battling a new surge in coronavirus infections, as the National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB) reported the highest one-day total, with 14,535 cases confirmed in the 24 hours to Monday.

Daily case totals are reaching levels last seen in January, the peak of Indonesia's fight against the virus.

Konradus Epa, Jakarta – The mayor of a town in Indonesia's Central Java province has vowed to shut down an Islamic school after a group of its students was accused of desecrating Christian graves in a cemetery.

Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the mayor of Solo, made the vow after inspecting the damage at the cemetery in the Kenteng area of the city on June 21.

Adam Prireza, Jakarta – Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said the capital city has 140 Covid-19 referral hospitals as of June 17, 2021. The city administration set up more referral hospitals to counteract the high number of new cases.

Dewi Nurita, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has officially ratified the Presidential Regulation No. 53/2021 on the National Human Rights Action Plan (RANHAM) 2021-2025 on June 8 and was legislated into law on the same day.

The body of a man who died after getting infected with the coronavirus was left lying for 14 hours in front of his house in North Jakarta's Sunter Agung area, illustrating the grim situation of the health crisis in the capital as stories about long waits to bury COVID-19 patients became more frequently reported in the past week.

Bernadette Christina, Jakarta – Indonesia's decision to change the levy structure for palm oil exports is expected to improve profit margin for exporters, Indonesia Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) said, though other groups felt the frequent changes in rules are hurting demand.

Jakarta (Bloomberg) – Indonesia is left with few easy options to bolster its economy as a virus resurgence threatens its recovery at a time when it is seeking to rein in debt and the United States Federal Reserve is turning hawkish.

Jakarta – Indonesia was recently elected as a member of the Food and Agriculture Organization Council for the 2021-2024 term.

Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, Jakarta – A weak zonal lockdown system and a lack of whole-genome-sequencing equipment to detect more transmissible new Covid-19 variants are the two main challenges Indonesia is facing, experts say.

Faisal Maliki Baskoro, Jakarta – The affordable antiparasitic drug Ivermectin is not a cure for Covid-19, according to State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir.

"Once again, [Ivermectin] is for therapies, not a cure for Covid-19," the minister said in a video published on his Instagram on Monday.

Yerica Lai, Jakarta – A second round of arrests netting suspected Islamist militants in the easternmost province of Papua, security and intelligence analysts say, indicates that religious extremist groups were seeking to set up camp outside of their usual bases on Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi.

Benny Mawel, Jayapura – The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has held national mourning ceremonies at the weekend for the death of Vanuatu independence campaigner Father Allen Nafuki and prayed for the Papuan people to be accepted as full members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG).

Christopher Knaus – Jose Ramos-Horta will formally request that Timor-Leste award Witness K the nation's highest honour, praising him for exposing "Australian government perfidy, bad faith and dishonesty" in a bugging operation conducted for the sole purpose of "robbing the poorest country in the world".

Resty Woro Yuniar (South China Morning Post) – In a bid to boost government coffers decimated by the coronavirus pandemic, Indonesia is considering a sweeping tax overhaul that would add value-added tax (VAT) to foodstuffs, education and health care, hike rates for high-net-worth individuals and put major carbon emitters in the firing line.

Kiki Siregar, Jakarta – Indonesia reported on Monday (Jun 21) a record-breaking 14,536 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections nationally past the 2 million mark. Cumulative total of cases now stands at 2,004,445.

Indonesia has passed another grim milestone in its struggle against COVID-19, having topped the 2 million cases mark with the addition of 14,536 new cases today (which itself is a new daily record).

Of course, this is never a reason to celebrate, but a constant reminder that we can all do better, individually and collectively, to get this country through the pandemic.

A rise in religious conservatism in Indonesia is drawing talent away from what some view as "un-Islamic" jobs in banking, industry professionals say, creating hiring woes for conventional banks but a boon for the country's fledgeling Islamic finance sector.

Jakarta – The government and the House of Representatives have resumed deliberation on a Bill that would revise the Criminal Code and they appear to be determined to pass what would be the historic piece of legislation.

It would replace, for the first time, the penal code inherited from the Dutch colonial government, even though Indonesia has been independent since 1945.

When Reyas Alam fled Myanmar 12 years ago, he was barely even an adult. Now the 31-year-old ethnic Rohingya waits in Makassar, Indonesia 's South Sulawesi province, to be resettled by the UNHCR. He has been there for some eight years.

Susan Connelly – Witness K's three months suspended sentence for conspiring to reveal classified information about an alleged spying operation arose from his guilty plea, which required some form of consequence.

A non-custodial sentence is welcome, indicating the general realisation that he is no criminal, but this outcome raises many questions.

The initiative is part of the TNI Manunggal Membangun Desa (TMMD) program by the Indonesian Military (TNI) – in collaboration with the regional government – which seeks to spur development in remote villages.

Lenny Tristia Tambun, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has told the police and regional leaders to tighten public restrictions from June 22 to July 5, following an extreme spike in the number of Covid-19 cases in the past week.

Dewi Nurita, Jakarta – Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the government had reached its target to administer 700,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine as instructed by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

Dewi Nurita, Jakarta – A number of Cabinet members took to social media to extend their birthday wishes as President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Monday, June 21, celebrates his 60th birthday.

Antara, Jakarta – Lambung Mangkurat University expert member on the handling of Covid-19 professor Syamsul Arifin warned that the increasing amount of coronavirus cases among children must be handled more seriously as there are no vaccines available yet for this demographic.

Emma Connors, Singapore/Jakarta – President Joko Widodo's government has again resisted calls for a national lockdown despite police warning that people are ignoring limits on crowds in restaurants and elsewhere as new cases hit record levels.

Australia is giving its security agencies ever more powers to fight terrorism, foreign influence and international crime but the case of Witness K, which concluded on Friday, has raised again the need for careful supervision of how these powers are used.

Ng Hong Siang, Singapore – An Indonesian fugitive on Interpol's red notice list was repatriated from Singapore to his home country on Saturday (Jun 19).

Adelin Lis has been wanted in Indonesia since 2008 over corruption and illegal logging, reported the Antara news agency.

Jakarta – The government has appointed the country's property companies association Real Estate Indonesia, or REI, to participate in developing Indonesia's new capital city in East Kalimantan, aiming to smooth cooperation between the public and private sector in the $32-billion project.

Canberra, Australia – Australia's suppression of information seen as pivotal to a free and open media is at the center of accusations that the country has become one of the world's most secretive democracies.

Tsarina Maharani, Jakarta – The initiator of the citizen based reporting coalition Lapor Covid-19 (Report Covid-19), Ahmad Arif, says that the public is facing the Covid-19 pandemic without any clear direction.

Jakarta – Most of the 308 health workers vaccinated with Sinovac's Coronavac vaccine in Kudus, Central Java, a district recently hit hard by the novel coronavirus Delta variant, recovered from the disease last week, an encouraging indication of how the Chinese-made vaccine fare against the more infectious variant.

Antara, Jakarta – Expert team coordinator and spokesperson for the COVID-19 Response Task Force, Wiku Adisasmito, confirmed he has tested positive for the virus after traveling to regions where cases have spiked in the past couple of weeks.

Wamena (KT) – The Jayawijaya district police arrested 32 people alleged to be members of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) in Ilekma District, Napua, this afternoon, Friday June 18. The 32 were taken in for questioning in relation to a meeting to plan a conference.

Chris Barrett and Amilia Rosa, Singapore – Bali has not given up hope of welcoming back arrivals from Australia before the end of the year as it seeks to reopen to foreign tourists next month.

Ronna Nirmala and Tria Dianti (BenarNews) – Ties are growing between Indonesia and China on the back of increasing investment and trade, but analysts say these will not develop further at the expense of Jakarta's relations with other powers or its sovereign interests in the South China Sea.