Sevianto Pakiding, Nduga, Papua – The West Papua Liberation Army, a faction of the Free Papua Movement (TPNPB-OPM), has confirmed plans to release Susi Air pilot Philip Mark Mehrtens.

Ichsan Ali, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has appointed Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian as the Acting Chief Security Minister, replacing Mohammad Mahfud MD, who resigned on Thursday.

The Coordinator of the President's Special Staff, Ari Dwipayana, said Tito's appointment is outlined in Presidential Decree Number 20 of 2024, signed by Jokowi on Friday.

Aep, Bandung – The Rector of Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Reini D Wirahadikusuma, has issued an apology for the controversy related to the utilization of online loans from a private company for tuition payments. This issue arose after hundreds of students recently protested against the single tuition payment (UKT) scheme.

Sella Rizky Deviani, Jakarta – Education expert from Multimedia Nusantara University (UMN), Doni Koesoema, highlights the significance of presidential candidates addressing the issue of teacher welfare in the upcoming fifth and final debate of the 2024 Presidential Election.

Alfida Rizky Febrianna, Jakarta – Indonesian entrepreneurs have a creative approach to reducing abstention rates and encouraging citizens to exercise their voting rights in the 2024 elections. They are offering discounts to shoppers who can provide evidence of participating in the February 14 elections.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Indonesia recently announced that they would relax the golden visa requirements for investors who are investing in the new capital project Nusantara.

Antara, Makassar – Indonesian Communication and Information (Kominfo) Minister Budi Arie Setiadi targeted the country's internet speed to reach 765 megabits per second (Mbps), or 30 times faster than today, by Indonesia's 100th year of independence in 2045.

Jakarta – The Ministry of Health on Friday emphasized the importance of early pregnancy planning by couples, citing high maternal and infant mortality rates in Indonesia.

Jakarta – Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly known as Ahok, confirmed his resignation from the position of chief commissioner at the state-run oil company Pertamina on Friday. The decision is in pursuit of his commitment to join the campaign team of presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo.

Tria Dianti and Arie Firdaus, Jakarta – Indonesia's Ganjar Pranowo readily accepts the hospitality of his constituents, Anies Baswedan charms with his eloquence in town halls across the archipelago, and Prabowo Subianto highlights his achievements as the nation's defense minister.

Alfida Rizky Febrianna, Jakarta – In the upcoming fifth and final presidential debate scheduled for Sunday, the Chairwoman of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), Shinta W Kamdani, calls on presidential candidates to prioritize addressing labor issues – from unemployment to minimum wage – to lead Indonesia towards advanced nation status by 2045.

Sharisya Kusuma Rahmanda, Jakarta – At least eleven regional heads submitted a judicial review with the Constitutional Court (MK) regarding Article 201 Paragraphs 7, 8, and 9 of Regional Head Election (Pilkada) Law.

Jakarta – The Trade Minister issues new regulations that ease restrictions on importing batik fabric products. This endangers the future of the traditional batik industry in Indonesia.

Andika Dwi, Raden Putri, Tim Tempo, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud Md officially stepped down from his post after presenting his resignation letter to President Joko Widodo or Jokowi at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Thursday afternoon, February 1.

Michelle Gabriela, Eka Yudha Saputra, Jakarta – Masses from the Indonesia Village Administration Association (Apdesi) held another protest in front of the House of Representatives (DPR) on January 31. Hundreds of village heads and other village officials called for the revision of Law No.

Daniel A. Fajri, Jakarta – President Joko Widodo or Jokowi denied allegations that he politicized social assistance that could benefit presidential candidate pair number 3 Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka. He stressed that the budget for the aid had been approved by the House of Representatives (DPR), not just the executive government.

Annisa Febiola, Jakarta – Bhima Yudhistira, executive director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies (Celios), criticizes presidential candidates' economic growth targets that he deemed too high. Met on February 1, he said that the high growth targets set by the candidates were unrealistic as they were too optimistic.

Daniel A. Fajri, Jakarta – Coordinator for Presidential Special Staff Ari Dwipayana said the current stream of criticism from academic institutions against President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and his administration is a deliberate orchestration for electoral interest.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – An American diplomat recently said that the US was ready to implement the cooperation under the recently announced "comprehensive strategic partnership" with whoever wins the Indonesian presidential election.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Joko Widodo is facing mounting public criticism over his perceived political interference and lack of neutrality as he campaigns for the leading candidate in this month's presidential election.

Indonesia's General Election Commission (KPU) has revealed that a majority of voters in the upcoming presidential election will be young people. In fact, millennials and Generation Z will constitute 60 percent of the total electorate in 2024.

Ankur Banerjee, Singapore – Indonesian markets, after a period of relative calm, are showing signs of concern about the prospect of a drawn out national election and the possibility of the country's highly regarded finance minister, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, departing.

Donny Iqbal, Bogor, Indonesia – At the age of 60, Siti Salamah started making changes at her family home in the city of Bogor, just south of Jakarta, Indonesia's capital.

"We always put the kitchen waste there," Siti told Mongabay Indonesia at her home. "I collect the plastic waste separately."

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Indonesia recently announced it would import three sets of Chinese trains worth totaling Rp 783 billion or approximately $49.7 million.

Nur Janti, Jakarta – Indonesia's efforts to eradicate corruption seem to have been hampered by various causes, from attacks against law enforcers to vote-buying, as suggested by the country's unimproved score in the global graft index.

Radhiyya Indra, Jakarta – Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD has announced his resignation from the cabinet to allow him to focus on running for vice president and avoid any potential misuse of power ahead of the election next month.

Faisal Maliki Baskoro, Jakarta – The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported that foreign tourist visits from January to December 2023 reached 11.68 million, a surge of 98.3 percent compared to the same period in 2022.

However, this achievement still falls below the level of visits in 2019 (pre-Covid-19 pandemic), which reached 16.11 million visits.

Yosef Riadi and Leo Galuh, Jakarta – At 53, Mak Luke, a transgender woman, will go to the polls for the first time when Indonesia holds an election on Feb. 14 after finally obtaining a government identity card.

Jakarta – Over 130 Rohingya landed on the shores of Aceh province on Thursday, an official at the UN refugee agency said, the latest in a series of such arrivals that have drawn controversy in the Southeast Asian country.

"I have great respect for farmers, breeders, fishermen, farm workers. You are true patriots. You are the unsung heroes.

Jakarta – Presidential candidate Anies Baswedan has said that if he is elected president, he will uphold the bans on hardline groups the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), but would be cautious about banning more mass organizations.

Jayapura, Jubi – The Papua Police and the XVII/Cenderawasih Regional Military Command (Kodam XVII/Cenderawasih) have not yet endorsed civil aviation activities to Bilogai Airport in Sugapa, Intan Jaya Regency, Central Papua Province. Civil flights to Intan Jaya have been suspended since the escalation of armed conflict in the region on January 19, 2024.

Jayapura, Jubi – The Bishop of Jayapura, Mgr. Yanuarius Theofilus Matopai You, has expressed concerns over the deployment of Indonesian Military (TNI) and Police personnel from outside Papua to the region, stating that it instills fear and discomfort among the local residents.

Sholto Byrnes – The world's third-largest democracy goes to the polls on February 14. Indonesians will be voting for their president, vice president, House of Representatives, Senate and local legislative bodies; but most of the focus has been on the presidency.

Bengaluru – Indonesia's economy grew 5.0 per cent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, supported by resilient domestic consumption, despite exports shrinking and commodity prices falling, a Reuters poll of 23 economists found.

Kuala Lumpur/Surabaya – Aeshnina Azzahra Aqilani is too young to vote in Indonesia's elections in February, but that has not stopped her from demanding the three presidential candidates adopt greener policies to combat the climate crisis.

Muhammad Aulia, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said on Thursday that it will continue its graft investigation against former Vice Justice Minister Edward Omar Sharief Hiariej, known as Eddy Hiariej, despite a recent court ruling instructing the commission to drop the case.

Agnes Valentina Christa, Jakarta – The Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) has deployed 446,291 personnel to safeguard the 2024 elections.

TNI personnel, together with the General Election Commission (KPU), the Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu), and the community will assist in securing the 820,000 polling stations (TPS) across Indonesia.

Monique Handa Shafira, Jakarta – The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported a year-on-year inflation rate of 2.57 percent and a month-to-month rate of 0.04% for January 2024, in line with the government's target of 2.5 percent.

Johannes Nugroho – Indonesia's ambitious goal to become a digital nation has prompted scepticism over the purported benefits of technology and Jakarta's capacity to implement initiatives ranging from QR code-based payments to its new capital city anchored by artificial intelligence.

Aryo Putranto Saptohutomo, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's policy of handing out a flood of various types of social aid (bansos) is seen as being a form of transactional politics and linked to his electoral agenda.

Jakarta – Academic communities and students from a number of Indonesian campuses have banded together to issue statements criticising Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo ahead of the 2024 presidential elections.

Dani Prabowo, Jakarta – Amnesty International Indonesia has recorded that 268 human rights defenders were victims of attacks throughout 2023, and that they came from a variety of backgrounds including women rights, environmental and indigenous community activists.

Jakarta – A Kamisan (Thursday) action today touched on the presidential and vice presidential ticket number 2 of Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka in the 2024 presidential election.

The Civil Society Coalition believes that Prabowo and Rakabuming Raka are not fit to be elected.

Muhammad Aulia, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has launched an investigation into Sigma Cipta Caraka (SCC), a subsidiary of the state-run telecommunication company Telkom, regarding an alleged graft scandal involving "hundreds of billions of rupiah."

Matt Brann – Northern Australia's live export trade to Indonesia is in limbo as the cattle industry waits for its biggest market to issue import permits for 2024.

The Darwin Port says after a record-breaking December where 55,159 head of cattle were exported, there have been zero cattle shipped so far in 2024.

Elodie Jakes, Jakarta – Digital research firm Populix discovered that Generation Z voters, who are predominantly first-time voters, hold high hopes for the presidential candidates, while Millennials tend to be more pragmatic and skeptical going into the 2024 election in February.

Jakarta – Prabowo Subianto used to crack heads; now he busts moves. The favourite to win Indonesia's presidential election on February 14th stands accused of many past abuses. As a special-forces commander under Suharto, a dictator, he allegedly permitted atrocities in Timor-Leste in the 1980s.

Adi Warsono, Bekasi – Dozens of Commuter Line or KRL users laid flowers on the broken escalator at Bekasi Station on Wednesday evening, Jan. 31. They took this action as a protest against the rail operator PT KAI Commuter that the moving stairway has been out of service for 100 days and has not been repaired yet to date.

Annisa Febiola, Jakarta – Jakarta Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) chairperson, Diana Dewi, criticized the recent policy of the provincial government to increase the vehicle fuel tax by 10 percent. She believed that the policy was issued at an inappropriate time and requested the city administration to review and postpone it.