Jakarta – The total damage and economic loss from forest fires in Indonesia this year amounted to at least $5.2 billion, equal to 0.5% of gross domestic product, the World Bank said in a report on Wednesday.

Jakarta – For three years, dozens of women, activists and survivors of sexual violence have fought relentlessly to make Indonesia a safer place. They have campaigned and lobbied lawmakers to pass the bill on the elimination of sexual violence.

Antara, Jakarta – The Customs Office says it is collecting evidence to build a criminal case against I Gusti Ngurah Askhara Danadiputra, or Ari Askhara, the former chief executive of flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, who was allegedly involved in smuggling a vintage Harley Davidson motorcycle and Brompton bicycles on board an Airbus plane being delivered to Jakarta from its factory in

Diana Mariska, Jakarta – The Indonesian Child Protection Commission, or KPAI, says children continue to have their rights violated while the country is under President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's much-praised leadership.

KPAI commissioner Retno Listyarti said in Jakarta on Wednesday that children's rights abuses can be divided into three categories.

Telly Nathalia, Jakarta – The Religious Affairs Ministry published its 2019 religious tolerance index on Wednesday, showing an improvement in the score from 70.9 last year to 73.83 today on a scale of 0 to 100.

"The number has improved since last year but it's still lower than the 75.36 in 2015," Religious Affairs Minister Fachrul Razi said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Arya Dipa, Bandung – Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD has acknowledged that human rights violations are still prevalent in Indonesia but has said there is almost no systematic state violence in the current administration.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's son-in-law Bobby Afif Nasution, who is running in the 2020 Medan mayoral race in North Sumatra, has rebuffed assumptions suggesting that the First Family is on its way toward establishing yet another political dynasty in the country.

Arya Dipa, Bandung – A geological and geophysical survey has discovered that the planned location of Indonesia's new capital in East Kalimantan has a risk of flooding, with an official pointing to the local topography as contributing to the potential hazard.

Norman Harsono, Jakarta – State-owned electricity company PLN has established three solar power plants in Alor regency, East Nusa Tenggara, as part of the company's commitment to boosting renewable energy in the country while providing basic infrastructure for frontier, outermost and least developed regions.

Bogor, West Java – While several foreign automakers have decided to leave Indonesia, Germany's Mercedes-Benz plans to continue operating its Indonesian assembly and sales subsidiaries, its local distribution arm has said.

Karina M. Tehusijarana, Jakarta – While Indonesia's budding democracy has faced a number of problems over the past year, there are still many reasons to be optimistic about the country's democratic trajectory, observers have said.

Jakarta – When President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo first entered office in 2014, activists and families of victims of past rights abuses pinned their hopes on him finally bringing closure to the victims of past cases of human rights violations, as he had promised in his presidential campaign.

Ghina Ghaliya, Jakarta – Former corruption convicts are allowed to run in regional elections five years after their release from prison, the Constitutional Court has ruled.

The nine-justice bench handed down the decision on a judicial review petition challenging the 2016 Regional Election Law on Wednesday.

Rizal Harahap, Pekanbaru – Personnel of the Riau Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) have discovered hundreds of traps allegedly set up by poachers around several conservation areas in the province.

As of Wednesday, teams from the agency had managed to dismantle 170 traps since the operation started on Nov. 25.

Diana Mariska, Jakarta – Representatives of the victims of human rights violations in Indonesia have called on the National Human Rights Commission, or Komnas HAM, to continue its investigation into the cases and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Dyna Rochmyaningsih – How much did Indonesia burn this year? An international research organization has taken down an online report that suggested fires burnt more than 1.6 million hectares of land in the country during 2019, 40% more than the government's own calculations for the same period.

Maikel Jefriando, Jakarta – Indonesia's central bank is working to further relax lending rules and may further trim interest rates after this year's four rate cuts, as it continues to focus its policy on keeping economic growth momentum, a deputy governor said on Tuesday.

University students and human rights activists staged a rally on Sunday in West Papua demanding Indonesia's President Joko Widodo fulfil his vow to settle a human rights violation case.

Five people, including four high school students, were allegedly shot and killed by Indonesian soldiers on 8 December 2014, during a protest in Paniai.

A public caning carried out today in Banda Aceh, the capital city of Aceh province, became the first in the city to feature a woman handling the cane.

Dubbed algojo, which means "executioner" in Indonesian, the unidentified woman was, like her male counterparts before her, shrouded from head to toe in dark cloth, safe for a small slit that leaves her eyes exposed.

Dili – This morning judge Eusebio Xavier Vitor decided that an ex-priest R.D.is sent to Dili main prison in Becora for preventive detention. R.D., who originally is from the United States, has been accused of sexually abusing children in the shelter Topu Honis in Oecusse which he set up in the early nineties.

Putu Ayu Palupi – Scores of students in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta held a protest action at the Pal Putih Monument on December 10 to commemorate International Human Rights Day.

Jakarta – The Secretary General of the Nusantara Traditional Community Alliance (AMAN) Rukka Sombolinggi says that traditional communities are desperately waiting for the ratification of the Draft Law on Traditional Communities in order to bring down the level of criminalisation.

Ahmad Bil Wahid, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has issued a report on the handling of human rights (HAM) issues in 2019 in Indonesia. Kontras concluded that there has been a retreat on human rights issues this year.

Farih Maulana Sidik, Jakarta – Students from a number of different campuses held a demonstration in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta to commemorate International Human Rights Day on Tuesday December 10.

The students, who marched from the nearby Horse Statue, were joined by workers, the majority of which wore red clothing.

Jakarta – Financial technology (fintech) users need to step up their game in ensuring they own safety to protect their data while the government has yet to finalize the much-awaited personal data protection bill.

Jakarta – A series of new digital infrastructure projects are strengthening Indonesia's information and communications technology (ICT) sector as the country prioritizes the digital economy as an area of growth.

In late September, Japanese telecom giant NTT announced it would invest US$500 million in a new data center in Indonesia, the company's third in the country.

Karina M. Tehusijarana, Jakarta – Arguments from government and political party officials against direct elections – both at the regional and national level – fail to pass muster as public enthusiasm for them remains high, researchers from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said in a political review of 2019 on Sunday.

Karina M. Tehusijarana, Jakarta – Weekly magazine Warta Minggu published by the Tomang Roman Catholic parish in West Jakarta reported that at least 56 people were subjected to sexual abuse in Catholic churches across Indonesia.

Yustinus Paat, Jakarta – Johnny G. Plate, the new communication and information technology minister, says data privacy, talent and infrastructure development, and reviving his ministry's old role as the government's main spokesperson, would be his main priorities in the next five years.

Jakarta – Indonesia remains in the group of countries with high human development index despite no gain in ranking, according to a report by the United Nations Development Programme, or UNDP, released on Monday.

In the 2019 Human Development Report, Indonesia was ranked 111, unchanged from the previous year.

Jakarta – Occasionally you may overhear people gossiping about someone else and they use the term julid, or you come across the word ambyar when you are scrolling through your Twitter timeline and you wonder what the slang terms mean.

Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has instructed National Police chief Gen. Idham Azis to immediately reveal the perpetrator behind the acid attack on Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) top investigator Novel Baswedan.

Friski Riana, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo assured that new findings in Novel Baswedan's acid attack investigation will be announced by the Indonesian National Police (Polri) technical team in the near future.

Fajar Pebrianto, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs and Investments Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, appears to be taking side with Pertamina Chief Commissioner Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama. Luhut even criticized those who dislike the former Jakarta governor.

Ade Ridwan Yandwiputra, Jakarta – A number of university students members of the Indonesian Students Executive Boards' Alliance (BEM SI) planned to stage a demonstration in front of Merdeka State Palace, Jakarta, today afternoon, December 10.

The mass coordinator Bagas Maropindra said the rally is held to commemorate International Anti-corruption Day and Human Rights Day.

Friski Riana, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo revealed his reasons for not setting a deadline for National Police Chief Gen. Idham Azis to solve the Novel Baswedan case.

Fikri Arigi, Jakarta – A legal expert at Trisakti University, Abdul Fickar Hadjar, considered the death penalty for graft convicts inappropriate. Besides the lack of a deterrent effect, it opposed the constitution, albeit it had been ruled in the regulations.

Sausan Atika, Jakarta – Dozens of people wearing black clothes from rights group Amnesty International Indonesia marched to the State Secretary office in Central Jakarta on Tuesday to deliver thousands of letters and postcards from the public concerning their hopes on human rights.

Marchio Irfan Gorbiano, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has said that he wants the government's microcredit program (KUR) to be channeled to more productive sectors so that the loans would have more impact on the economy.

Fadli, Batam – Rian Ernest, a rising politician and former staffer for Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, announced his candidacy for the Batam mayoral election in 2020.

He and his running mate, local activist Yusiani Gurusinga, will run as independent candidates.

Nur Yasmin, Jakarta – Indonesia's human development index has moved up to high category for the first time ever after being stuck on the medium category for the last twenty years.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Education plays a pivotal role in creating a more inclusive society for Indonesian women aiming to ensure gender equality, which is often associated with human rights and sustainable development.

Unfortunately, this may be a long way ahead with Indonesia ranking 116th out of 189 countries in terms of Gender Inequality Index (GII).

Adi Briantika – The sole judge at the South Jakarta District Court, Agus Widodo, has rejected a pretrial suit by six Papuan political prisoners who have been charged with alleged treason.

Jakarta – Agus Widodo, the sole judge in a pretrial suit submitted by six Papua activists charged with treason, has rejected all of the points in the appeal saying that the plaintiff's appeal was flawed in formal and material terms.

Taufiq Siddiq, Jakarta – Commission A of the Jakarta city legislative council and the office of National and Political Unity (Kesbangpol) agreed to increase the budget for political parties clinching seats in the legislative by almost 100 percent.

Jakarta – Indonesia is aiming to start making lithium batteries for use in electric vehicles in 2023, alongside plants that are already slated to produce chemicals used in the batteries, according to the minister who oversees the energy and mining ministry.

Indonesian government officials have alleged that permits underpinning a multi-billion dollar plantation project in Papua province were falsified, leading to the criminal clear-cutting of a vast area of rainforest.

Lani Diana Wijaya, Jakarta – A number of people staged a demonstration in front of the South Jakarta District Court building on Tuesday afternoon, December 10, 2019. They demanded the release of the six Papuan activists who are suspected of treason.

Norman Harsono, Jakarta – The Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister estimates that US$137 billion worth of investment are in the pipeline for infrastructure projects across Indonesia.

Nur Yasmin, Jakarta – A rift seems to have formed between President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and the Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, indicated by the president's absence during an International Anti-Corruption Day commemoration at the anti-graft agency's headquarters in Jakarta on Monday.