Aisyah Llewellyn – How does someone come to sell a kidney? In Indonesia, the answer to that question can be complex.

Jayapura, Jubi – Namantus Gwijangge, a Papuan lawmaker, has called upon the West Papua National Liberation Army Group (TPNPB), led by Egianus Kogoya, to adhere to humanitarian principles and respect the right to life of civilians residing in conflict zones.

Antara, Jakarta – Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian on Tuesday officially appointed nine acting governors who will serve until the upcoming comprehensive elections next year, where all regional leaders will be elected.

Sella Rizky, Jakarta – Muhaimin Iskandar, chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB), failed to comply with a summons from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Tuesday for questioning related to a corruption investigation during his tenure as the manpower minister.

Moh. Khory Alfarizi,, Antara, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo met the Managing Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva at Merdeka Palace on Monday, September 4, 2023. The meeting discusses several agendas including the global economic situation and its sluggish movement.

Antara, Jakarta – The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Forecaster Yasir Prayuna said that 609 hotspots were detected in Sumatra on Monday, September 4, 2023. The number of hotspots has declined from the previous day which recorded 717 hotspots in the area.

Christian leaders in Indonesia have joined other faith groups to criticize a proposed government plan to control activities in religious worship places for the sake of tackling radicalism, saying it infringes on the constitutional right to freedom of religion.

Len Garae – The population of West Papua represented by United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) have an Interim President to succeed Mr. Benny Wenda.

He is Mr. Manase Tabuni, 45, who risked finding his way to attend the recent ULMWP Summit here in Port Vila.

Muhammad Maulana, Semarang – Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo and his deputy, Taj Yasin Maemoen, bid farewell on Tuesday in front of thousands of local government employees and invited guests who gathered at a soccer stadium in Semarang to see the governor off.

Arnoldus Kristianus, Jakarta – Indonesia on Tuesday unveiled the National Task Force for Local Currency Transactions, a strategic initiative aimed at reducing the country's reliance on the US dollar in international transactions while promoting the use of its local currency.

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has recognized the rights of 15 Indigenous Dayak communities to forests on Borneo covering a combined area larger than Jakarta.

The nearly 70,000 hectares (173,000 acres) is the largest cluster of customary forests ever recognized by the state.

Yustinus Paat, Jakarta – The coalition of political parties supporting Ganjar Pranowo's presidential nomination reached an agreement on Monday to appoint Arsjad Rasjid, chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), as the leader of the campaign team.

Investor Daily, Jakarta – Indonesia has received a nod from the Cambodian government for the supply of 250,000 tons of rice a year, President Joko Widodo said on Monday.

This development follows India's decision to cease rice exports to Indonesia as part of its national food security policy.

Police in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province have detained a man accused of raping minor girls under the guise of healing them amid a surge in sexual violence in the Christian-majority region.

Thomas Barus, a Catholic from Lembor subdistrict in West Manggarai Regency, was arrested on Sept. 2 after angry residents beat him and paraded him half-naked.

Jakarta – In his celebrated novel, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, the late Czech author Milan Kundera contends that "struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting". This, we imagine, is what the hundreds of thousands of 1965 communist purge survivors and their descendants have gone through over the years.

Riani Sanusi Putri, Jakarta – Investment Minister and the Head of Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia along with the Financing and Investment Deputy Board of the IKN Authority attended the ASEAN Investment Forum 2023 with the theme of "Investment for Sustainable Development".

Advist Khoirunikmah, Jakarta – The head of Marunda Apartment Community Forum, Didi Suwandi, said that coal dust pollution has lessened since the government temporarily suspended two stockpile companies.

Wamena, Jubi – Human Rights Lawyers Association (PAHAM) Papua demands a thorough and impartial investigation into the death of Michelle Kurisi, a civilian who was tragically killed on August 28, 2023, in Kolawa District, Lanny Jaya Regency, Mountainous Papua Province.

Jayapura, Jubi – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has called on the police to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the murder of Michelle Kurisi Ndoga in Lanny Jaya Regency, Mountainous Papua Province.

Jakarta – When Indonesia agreed last year to clean up its energy system with an estimated US$20 billion (S$27 billion) of help from a coalition of wealthy countries and large financial institutions, world leaders hailed the deal as "extraordinary," "realistic," and "historically large."

Theresia Sufa, Bogor, West Java – Researchers at IPB University in Bogor, West Java, are looking into turning empty palm fruit bunch waste into threads with economic value for the fashion and creative industries.

Siti Nikatin, one of the researchers, said the biomass could be turned into valuable biomaterial for use in shoes, bags and hats, among other products.

Tenggara Strategics, Jakarta – Indonesia made the point of attending the summit of the club of emerging economies known as BRICS in South Africa last week, but it politely turned down an invitation to join the group, which is expanding its membership to strengthen its hand in managing global economic affairs.

Yvette Tanamal, Jakarta – With Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto's vision of a more military-capable Indonesia seemingly dovetailing with the United States' eagerness to forge strong alliances across the Indo-Pacific, analysts are pointing to the inevitability of cozier defense relations, albeit not without some political costs.

Ruth Dea Juwita, Jakarta – The operator of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway (HSR) said it has yet to acquire an operating permit from the government despite President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's intention of inaugurating the flagship project in less than a week.

Aditya Hadi, Jakarta – Buy now, pay later (BNPL) schemes, which are an increasingly popular way to complete payments for purchases after the transaction date, have led to a rise in nonperforming loans (NPLs), as many customers fail to complete their payments on time.

Radhiyya Indra, Bangkok – Indonesia is battling an increased number of wildfires, and the haze they bring, as the dry season, which is expected to peak this month, intensifies across the country.

BTV, Jakarta – Democratic Party Chairman Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono gathered regional chapter leaders on Monday, urging them to embark on a new journey only days after he failed to secure the vice-presidential nomination alongside presidential candidate Anies Baswedan, despite a months-long partnership.

Adi Warsono, Jakarta – The drought in Bekasi Regency is worsening. The Bekasi Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) reported that as of Sunday, September 3, the drought has spread to 10 sub-districts and 32 villages from previously 9 sub-districts and 23 villages.

Wijayanti Putri, Karanganyar, Central Java – Ganjar Pranowo delivered a farewell speech in front of thousands of supporters on Sunday as he is retiring from the position of Central Java governor, with five months remaining to prepare for the presidential election.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – The state of Western Australia says that it wants to help make Indonesia – its close neighbor that is also abundant in nickel – one of the key players in electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing, particularly its components such as batteries.

Antara, Jakarta – The Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology projected that Indonesia would experience a dearth in teachers, reaching 1.3 million, in 2024 in tandem with several teachers retiring.

Amy Heppy, Jakarta – Director General of Immigration at the Law and Human Rights Ministry, Silmy Karim, revealed the reasons behind the golden visa regulation stipulated by the Indonesian government.

Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – The sense of deja vu is overwhelming inside the Democratic Party after chairman Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono again lost the opportunity to appear on the ballot as a running mate in the upcoming presidential election.

Vanuatu Daily Post civil society correspondents have written in unison condemning the failure of the Melanesian Spearhead Group to admit West Papua as full members of the organisation at last month's leaders' summit in Port Vila.

Jakarta – Indonesia is hosting its largest annual joint military drills with the United States, Australia and other countries as tension escalates in Southeast Asia following China's latest map of the South China Sea.

Karawang, Indonesia – Some rice plants with empty husks stand among the crop on Indonesian farmer Akma Rangga's fields in West Java, which has received barely any rain since April, and must rely on irrigation channels that have nearly dried out.

Muhammed Patel, Pretoria, South Africa – At a time of mounting global pressure toward a carbon-free energy system, Indonesia remains committed to coal.

Jakarta – The long-delayed Greater Jakarta light rail transit (LRT) project has finally come into operation, four years off its original target of 2018. It will connect the capital city and suburbs such as Bekasi and Depok in West Java, which later will be extended southward to Bogor and eastward to Karawang, also in West Java.

Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Muhaimin Iskandar was all smiles on Saturday as he delivered his acceptance speech after being officially named as the running mate for presidential candidate Anies Baswedan, marking the biggest development yet in the lead-up to the 2024 election.

Press freedom in Indonesia's predominantly Christian Papua province is now the worst in the Muslim-majority Southeast Asian nation, according to a recent survey.

Arnoldus Kristianus, Jakarta – The number of international arrivals has soared by 196.85 percent to reach 6.31 million in the first seven months of the year compared to the same period last year, according to government data released on Friday.

Duncan Graham – An Australian academic is risking an eruption of diplomatic fury by publicly criticising Indonesia's brutal response to the Papuan independence movement, a hypersensitive topic for the governments of both countries.

Jayapura, Jubi – Spokesperson of the XVII Cenderawasih Military Command Lt. Col. Inf Johanis Parinussa refuted the statement of Sebby Sambom, the spokesperson for the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), which claimed that the TPNPB Ndugama group had murdered an Indigenous Papuan named Michelle Kurisi Ndoga in Kimbim, Jayawijaya Regency.

Abdil Mughis Mudhoffir and Rafiqa Qurrata A'yun – Seizing on the revolutionary fervour of Indonesian Independence Day, workers from public and private universities in Indonesia declared the establishment of the Campus Workers Union (SPK) on 17 August 2023.

Deni Ghifari, Jakarta – The annual consumer price index (CPI) rose markedly in August, after declining for five months in a row, due to higher inflation in the transportation category, as well as food, beverages and tobacco.

Jakarta – Chairman of the NasDem Party Surya Paloh said on Thursday that it was very likely the party's presidential candidate Anies Baswedan could have National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman Muhaimin Iskandar as his running mate and that the decision would be formalized very soon.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – The Medan District Court on Thursday sentenced Aditya Hasibuan, the son of a recently dishonorably discharged police officer, to 18 months in prison on charges of assaulting a university student.

Jakarta – A 6.1-magnitude earthquake hit Timor island on Thursday, the meteorology and geophysics agency (BMKG) said on social media platform X, adding there was no potential for a tsunami.

The agency said the epicentre of the quake was on land at a depth of 75 kilometres (46.6 miles), and it was felt in Kupang, in East Nusa Tenggara.

Fana Suparman, Jakarta – The Democratic Party on Friday released a letter from presidential candidate Anies Baswedan requesting party chairman Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono to become his running mate for the 2024 election.

The release on social media came a day after the party slammed Anies for "betrayal" after he picked another running mate without prior consultation.

Yustinus Paat, Jakarta – The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) said on Thursday it will remain within the coalition that supports the candidacy of former Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan for the 2024 presidential election.

This decision comes despite the Democratic Party's threats to withdraw due to a disagreement over the choice of a running mate.