Jakarta – When launched in January, the free nutritious meals (MBG) program was celebrated as a bold response to chronic malnutrition, a lifeline for the nation's poorest children and a cornerstone of the "Golden Indonesia Vision 2045."

Yogyakarta – A student at the Yogyakarta State University (UNY) named Perdana Arie was reportedly arrested by the Yogyakarta Regional Police (Polda DIY) on suspicion of involvement in a demonstration at the end of August.

Ni Komang Erviani, Denpasar – Bali health authorities have stepped up vigilance against rabies outbreak following reports that 15 climbers were bitten by a rabid dog along the Mt. Batukaru hiking trails in Pujungan village, Tabanan regency.

Jakarta – The Civil Society Coalition held a protest action on Tuesday September 30 to commemorate one month since the death of Affan Kurniawan, who was run over by a Metro Jaya Regional Police (Polda) paramilitary Mobile Brigade (Brimob) tactical vehicle

Dede Leni Mardianti, Jakarta – The National Nutrition Body (BGN) will provide incentives to teachers who assist in distributing the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program, a policy outlined in Circular Letter Number 5 of 2025 issued on Monday, September 28, 2025.

Syahriza Alkohir Anggoro – In 2022, the United Nations Environment Assembly adopted a new resolution laying the first groundwork toward a new legally binding international agreement to end plastic pollution.

Timor-Leste's economy will slow down and grow by an average of 3.7% in 2025, 2026 and 2027, compared to 4.1% in 2024, according to the World Bank's (WB) biannual economic report.

"That growth will be driven mainly by public investment in infrastructure, the expansion of the service sector and improvements in digital connectivity and transport," the WB said in the report.

Akmalal Hamdhi, Jakarta – Indonesia's slow state budget absorption is raising concerns over its potential drag on economic growth, with economists warning that the government may miss its 5 percent growth target this year.

Daniel Ahmad Fajri, Jakarta – A billboard featuring a photo of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto alongside several heads of state has gone viral on social media. One of the posts, shared by the account @AbrahamShield25 on Sunday, September 29, 2025, gained widespread attention.

Hendrik Yaputra, Jakarta – The Indonesian Ministry of Culture has encouraged the public to fly the national flag at half-mast on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, as part of the commemoration of Pancasila Sanctity Day on Wednesday, October 1, 2025.

On the morning of 16 September 2025, a racist slur allegedly directed at an Indigenous Papuan student at SMA Negeri 1 Yalimo in the town of Elelim, Yalimo Regency, Highlands Papua Province, triggered a schoolyard altercation.

Perdian Tumanan (The Conversation) – The death of 21-year-old online transportation service (ojol) driver Affan Kurniawan, who was crushed by a Barracuda armored police vehicle during a protest last month, invites comparison with George Floyd. The African American was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis in 2020, sparking global Black Lives Matter protests.

On the night of 3 September 2025, in the alley behind the Sagita Store in Entrop, Jayapura City, Papua Province, a shooting incident occurred involving Private (Pratu) Terian Barusa, 25, a member of the Military Police of Kodam XVII/Cenderawasih, and a civilian identified as Mr Obed Manaku.

Maretha Uli, Jakarta – A new report has once again highlighted the heavy toll of Indonesia's nickel industry, where decades of poorly regulated extraction have scarred landscapes, choked coral reefs and eroded local livelihoods, while companies face little accountability.

Theressia Sunday Silalahi, Jakarta – The Hajj and Umrah Ministry confirmed Tuesday that Indonesia's Hajj quota for 2026 will remain at 221,000 pilgrims, with 92 percent allocated for the regular Hajj and 8 percent for special fast-track Hajj programs.

Erfan Maruf, Jakarta – The Public Works Ministry has set aside Rp 1.2 trillion ($71.6 million) for labor-intensive programs focused on small-scale road and bridge works across 1,059 sites nationwide.

Vedro Imanuel Girsang, Jakarta – Delpedro Marhaen and several fellow Indonesian activists have been held at the Jakarta Metro Police detention center for nearly a month after being named suspects in connection with alleged incitement during a series of demonstrations at the end of August 2025.

Hanin Marwah, Jakarta – The National Police Chief, General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, mentioned that a series of protests that led to riots at the end of August until early September 2025 resulted in significant losses. These losses include material and immaterial damages.

Radhiyya Indra, Jakarta – A recent wave of book confiscations during police crackdowns on alleged "provocateurs" behind nationwide protests has been met with sharp criticism from rights groups, who say the practice undermines freedom of expression.

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Indonesia is seeking to redraw the boundaries of a UNESCO World Heritage rainforest to pave the way for geothermal projects – part of its renewable energy push but a move environmentalists warn could devastate biodiversity and tarnish the country's green reputation.

Jakarta – President Prabowo Subianto's promise to establish a fact-finding team to investigate the demonstrations in a number of regions has faded away to nothing. This cancellation will make it more difficult to investigate the involvement of those responsible for the mass violence at the end of August 2025.

Jakarta – When President Prabowo Subianto and the House of Representatives rushed the revision of the existing State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Law to provide a legal basis for the establishment of the state asset fund Danantara in February, it raised many eyebrows.

Michael G. Vann – Behind a low wall on a traffic-choked stretch of Denpasar's east side, a small courtyard insists that Bali's famous "paradise" has a history. And that history is troubled.

Andreas Harsono – Tari Lang in her new memoir recalls the morning of October 1, 1965, when as a 14-year-old, she had watched Indonesian tanks and soldiers sweep into the elite neighborhood in Jakarta where she lived with her Indonesian father and British mother. When she ran to tell her parents, "[t]hey fell silent," she writes, "just looking at each other."

Ilona Estherina, Jakarta – The Indonesian Economist Alliance (AEI) has called on the government to temporarily pause the free nutritious meal program (MBG) following recent mass poisoning incidents.

Despite these concerns, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto reaffirmed that the program will continue as planned.

M. Faiz Zaki, Jakarta – The Jakarta Environmental Office revealed that the domestic sector contributes as the biggest source of river pollution in the region. This mapping was carried out in collaboration with the Institute of Technology at the University of Indonesia (Universitas Indonesia, UI).

Jayapura – The Rome Agreement signed in Rome, the capital of Italy on 30 September, 1962 following the New York Agreement on August 15, 1962, was carried out without the involvement of a single representative of the Papuan people, even though the two agreements were related to the future of the people of West Papua.

Ichsan Ali, Jakarta – President Prabowo Subianto on Tuesday conferred Indonesia's highest civilian award, the Order of Distinguished Stars, on American billionaire and Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio at the State Palace in Jakarta.

Chesa Andini Saputra, Jakarta – A growing number of Indonesia's Gen Z are reluctant to buy houses, citing financial unpreparedness, according to a survey by online platform Jakpat in January 2025. Out of 587 respondents, 36 percent said they preferred not to purchase property for now, underscoring the affordability gap for younger buyers.

Hans Makabori, Jayapura – The Jayapura City Municipal Police (Polresta) in Papua broke up a student demonstration at the gates of the Cenderawasih University (Uncen) Jayapura campus near the Waena 3 State Housing Company (Perumnas) in Heram district, Jayapura, on Tuesday September 30.

Gita Putri Damayana – Since the large-scale anti-government protests of August 2025, indications of Indonesia's pivot toward a more autocratic regime have become more apparent.

Daniel Ahmad Fajri, Jakarta – Two T-50i Golden Eagle fighter trainer aircraft, destined for the Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU), are scheduled to arrive in Indonesia in November 2025.

Achmad Supriyadi, Sidoarjo, E – Java. Rescuers in East Java on Tuesday are racing to free dozens of students still trapped under the rubble of a collapsed prayer hall at Al Khoziny Islamic boarding school, where 38 people remain missing after the structure gave way during afternoon prayers.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Indonesian sovereign fund Danantara has put its waste-to-energy plan into motion, a project that can have a price tag of around $180 million just to turn a thousand tons of garbage into electricity.

Gatra Priyandita – In the morning of 1 October 1965, 37-year-old Eneng (not her real name) woke up in Bandung, about 200km from Jakarta, to an unexpected news broadcast via Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI): a group of people had taken measures to protect President Sukarno from a coup mounted by a "Council of Generals". Although unanticipated, the news relieved her.

Dede Leni Mardianti, Jakarta – Indonesia's Ombudsman has uncovered irregularities in the procurement of raw materials for the government's free nutritious meal program (MBG), including the alleged falsification of premium rice quality by a food supplier.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Yvonne Mengkawang recently denied that Indonesia was unconditionally warming up to Israel after President Prabowo Subianto appeared in Tel Aviv's electronic billboards.

Salman Mardira, Jakarta – President Prabowo Subianto on Monday declared that he holds no grudge against former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan, his rival in last year's presidential election. Prabowo said the heated debates and confrontations during the campaign were simply part of the democratic process.

Agencies, Jakarta – President Prabowo Subianto on Monday defended his ambitious plan to provide free meals for children after some 6,000 cases of food poisoning, saying the percentage of those affected was small and the programme was still finding its footing.

Dian Rahma Fika, Jakarta – President Prabowo Subianto admitted there were flaws in the implementation of the government's free nutritious meal program (MBG) after more than 6,000 students reportedly suffered food poisoning from the meals provided.

Vedro Imanuel Girsang, Jakarta – The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) has exposed the recurrence of violent practices carried out by law enforcement officers during the handling of legal processes related to riots from late August to early September.

Dinda Shabrina, Jakarta – The number of children affected by food poisoning linked to the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program has continued to soar. As of September 27, 2025, monitoring by the Indonesian Education Monitoring Network (JPPI) recorded a total of 8,649 child victims, an alarming increase of 3,289 in just the past two weeks.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Indonesia is currently preparing a system that aims to make it as easy as possible for its companies to benefit from the preferential tariffs. The move came after Jakarta noticed that the tariff-cutting trade pacts that it had spent years negotiating remained underused.

Hammam Izzuddin, Jakarta – The East Java Regional Police arrested an activist from the Kamisan movement, Muhammad Fakhrurrozi, also known as Paul, in Yogyakarta. The Surabaya Legal Aid Institute (LBH) reported that police also confiscated numerous books and electronic devices during the arrest.

Jakarta – Hoping for reforms in the Police is like waiting for the cows to come home. Systemic damage within the Indonesian National Police (Polri) means that it is difficult to hope for real change.

Hendrik Yaputra, Jakarta – President Prabowo Subianto stated he sees indications of major power involvement in causing unrest amid the riots and demonstrations at the end of August.

The Head of State assesses that these parties are disturbed because the Indonesian government has begun to implement reforms and crack down on systemic corruption, such as illegal mining.

Antara, Jakarta – Shell Indonesia has denied reports that it laid off employees due to fuel shortages at its gas stations.

"Shell Indonesia clarifies that the information being circulated is not true," the company said in a statement on Sunday, as quoted by state news agency Antara.

East Timor's recalibration of its stance on Myanmar's military regime has drawn both scrutiny and intrigue across Southeast Asia, as Dili seeks to smooth its path into Asean ahead of next month's summit.

Suji Kang, Ollie Wilson and Mutya Yustika, Jakarta – Across Southeast Asia, multinational firms are expanding their footprint, setting up new factories, building data centers and strengthening supply chains. Indonesia, with its large economy and strategic location, should be leading the region in attracting that investment.

Hendrik Yaputra, Jakarta – Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto stated that a portion of the population still lives in poverty. The country has abundant wealth, yet many people still struggle.