Jakarta – Mining giant Freeport Indonesia recently said that its smelter for copper – a critical component for electric vehicle or EV production – at the Java Integrated Industrial and Port Estate in Gresik would finish construction by the end of this year.

A. Syalaby Ichsan, Jakarta – The sudden emergence of regional governments planning to enact anti-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) regulations (Perda) has drawn scorn from LGBT rights activist Hartoyo.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – South Korea intends to make Indonesia a production base in ASEAN, now that both countries are eliminating most of their tariffs, including on auto parts and steel, according to its government official on Thursday.

Sudirman Wamad, Bandung – The sudden emergence of a discourse on drafting an anti-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) regional regulation (Perda) in the West Java (Jabar) provincial capital of Bandung has attracted support and opposition.

Activists believe that the discourse is an alarm signalling a step backwards for human rights in Bandung.

Goklas Wisely, Medan – Scores of students in Medan city descended upon the North Sumatra (Sumut) Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) on Thursday January 26 to protest the Government Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perppu) that was issued last year to replace the Omnibus Law on Job Creation.

Jayapura, Jubi – Intimidation and terror are still being experienced by journalists in Papua. Most recently, a bomb explosion allegedly targeted the home of Jubi journalist Victor Mambor in Jayapura City on Monday, January 23, 2023.

Malini, Imaji Lasahido (Intern), Jakarta – The Ministry of Health has determined 12 provinces that need to be focused on accelerating the reduction of stunting in Indonesia. The case of stunting has become a problem in the country that needs supervision from various parties, including the government.

Jakarta – Indonesia will take stern action against firms that are found to have caused forest fires in the country, Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar warned on Wednesday (Jan 25).

She was quoted as saying by state news agency Antara that there will be "no mercy" for those who are caught.

Sukegawa Seiya – A resources giant, the vast archipelago of Indonesia produces mineral resources such as copper, nickel, aluminum and zinc. In January 2020, the Indonesian government banned the export of non-smelted nickel ore.

Aisyah Llewellyn, Medan, Indonesia – Indonesia's philanthropy laws are in the spotlight after the head of a Muslim charity was found guilty of misappropriating $7.8m from a fund set up by Boeing for victims of the 2018 Lion Air crash.

Chandra Asmara – Indonesia has reduced its stunted growth prevalence to the lowest in over two decades, boosting President Joko Widodo's chances of hitting the 14% national target by the end of his second and final term next year.

Ade Ridwan Yandwiputra, Jakarta – Secretary General of the Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA) Dewi Kartika assessed that the government of Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has failed to execute the agrarian reform agenda.

Jakarta – Minister of Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Abdul Halim Iskandar rejected a proposal from a coalition of village heads who demanded that they could serve three terms in their position or a total of 27 years in power.

Surakarta, Central Java – Mayor of Surakarta Gibran Rakabuming Raka held a meeting with Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto on Tuesday, during which the two politicians held a discussion on the former's possible move to run in the Central Java gubernatorial race in 2024.

Divya Karyza, Jakarta – Publicly listed mining firm PT Merdeka Copper Gold has allocated capital expenditure (capex) of Rp 2.28 trillion (US$160 million) for the exploration of work in East Java, Maluku and Gorontaro provinces.

Dio Suhenda, Jakarta – Indonesia saw 32 times more measles cases in 2022 than the year before, amid a slump in routine pediatric immunizations blamed on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pudja Lestari, Jakarta – The government plans to spend Rp 476 trillion on social assistance programs as the Covid-19 pandemic is believed to be on course to become endemic, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said on Thursday.

Ayu Cipta, Tangerang – Former governor of Banten Wahidin Halim was terrorized with a sack full of cobras at his house in Pinang, Tangerang City, early Wednesday, January 25, 2023. On the same day, Wahidin was preparing to welcome the visit of former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan.

Antara, Jakarta – The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) in tandem with Pasar Indonesia AG inaugurated the Indonesia Trading House (ITH), which is aimed at increasing the supply of Indonesian products to Switzerland and Europe.

Fajar Pebrianto, Jakarta – Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin on Thursday said the Health Ministry is constantly conducting contact tracing of a Polish national who has been declared Indonesia's first confirmed case of the Omicron XBB subvariant, also touted as the Kraken Covid. This variant, he said in a national meeting, has a high transmission rate.

Antara, Jakarta – Attorney General Sanitiar Burhanuddin vowed to appeal against the recent acquittal of financing cooperative KSP Indosurya in what prosecutors described as the biggest financial fraud in history.

Jayapura, Jubi – The panel of judges of the Surabaya High Military Court III found the defendant in the murder and mutilation of four Nduga residents in Mimika, Maj. Inf Helmanto Fransiskus Dakhi, guilty of premeditated murder. In the verdict read at the Jayapura Military Court III-19 Jayapura on Tuesday, January 24, 2023, Dakhi was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Rosmalis Anuar, Kuala Lumpur – After more than a decade of seeking full membership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Timor Leste was finally, in principle, given approval to join the regional bloc as its 11th member state by ASEAN leaders who gathered in Phnom Penh for the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits and Related Summits in November last year (2022).

Ni Komang Erviani, Denpasar – The Bali Police are investigating into fake information that an Australian man was mugged and bashed while holidaying on the resort island.

Police have discovered that the man suffered a traffic accident while he was riding a motorcycle, allegedly when he was drunk.

Tenggara Strategics, Jakarta – Indonesia's discussion with electric automaker Tesla made headline again last week as Bloomberg reported that the two are closing in on a deal.

Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, Jakarta – With a year to go before Indonesia's general election, a survey conducted by President Joko Widodo's camp has thrown up the strong possibility of pairing its leading presidential aspirant, Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, with West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil as vice-president.

Jayapura, Jubi – The families of victims of the murder and mutilation in Mimika Regency accept the verdict of the panel of judges of the Surabaya High Military Court III, who sentenced Maj. Inf. Helmanto Fransiskus Dakhi to life imprisonment.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – The North Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) has started an investigation following the death of a 15-year-old Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) from severe injuries during treatment in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra.

Rudianto Saragih Napita, the provincial agency chief, said the BKSDA has formed an investigation team.

Fikri Harish, Jakarta – In inaugurating a joint secretariat, the Gerindra Party-National Awakening Party (PKB) electoral alliance has moved one step closer to cementing its bid for the presidency in 2024.

Yerica Lai, Jakarta – After nearly two decades languishing in the legislature, the domestic worker protection bill has been publicly endorsed by President Jokowi "Jokowi" Widodo, putting pressure on the House of Representatives to hasten its passage.

Fadhil Haidar Sulaeman, Jakarta – Indonesia has exceeded its target for realized investment in four consecutive years as the mining sector in conjunction with the development of downstream industries attracted vastly greater funding last year.

Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – The materialized foreign direct investment in Indonesia stood at $45.6 billion last year which the government claimed to be the highest FDI in the country's history.

Jakarta – Chief Security Minister Mohammad Mahfud MD has stirred debate with a claim that there were "underground movements" to influence judges' decisions on the high-profile murder trial against former police general Ferdy Sambo.

M Julnis Firmansyah, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Wednesday ecstatically reacted to reports suggesting that Indonesia's post-marriage pregnancy rate had swelled. He cited the report where the pregnancy rate among 2 million newly-married couples reached 4.8 million.

Mirza Bagaskara, Jakarta – Deputy head of the manpower division at the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) central executive board, Indra, assessed that the deadly clash at the nickel smelter facility of PT Gunbuster Nickel Industri or PT GNI was the real impact of the Job Creation Law. The clash occurred because of many problematic regulations in the law.

M Faiz Zaki, Dicky Kurniawan, Jakarta – The traffic congestion in Jakarta has returned to normal to pre-COVID-19 pandemic baseline, Traffic Director of Metro Jaya Police Sr. Comr. Latif Usman reported. The data was obtained from the capital's traffic congestion index.

M Julnis Firmansyah, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo highlighted a story about a mother giving her seven-month-old baby instant milk coffee in Gowa, South Sulawesi, which has recently gone viral on social media.

This case, he opined, could happen due to a lack of the parents' knowledge about nutrition for children.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – World's largest palm oil producer Indonesia should not fear losing the European Union or EU, as the Southeast Asian country still has a lot of other markets to export its top commodity to, according to the Indonesian Palm Oil Association or Gapki.

Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Japanese automotive giant Toyota set a new record high in export sales from its Indonesian plants last year by delivering close to 297,000 cars to more than 80 countries, the company's local subsidiary announced on Wednesday.

Dio Suhenda and Suherdjoko, Jakarta – Jakarta celebrated its 491st anniversary on June 22. Over the decades, the capital has seen enormous changes with the development of skyscrapers, shopping malls and roads.

Victor Mambor and Dandy Koswaraputra, Jayapura, Indonesia and Jakarta – The Indonesian military said on Wednesday that a tribunal sentenced an army major to life in prison for his involvement in the murder of four Papuan civilians, whose mutilated bodies were found in August in the restive region.

Antara, Jakarta – The Directorate General of Human Settlements of the Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Ministry has prepared a budget of Rp10.38 trillion to support the development of the future capital (IKN), Nusantara, in 2023.

Antara, Jakarta – Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has claimed that the COVID-19 mobile contact tracing app PeduliLindungi has helped prevent more than 626,000 positive patients or close contacts from transmitting the disease during the pandemic.

Tempo.Co, Imaji Lasahido (Intern), Jakarta – The beauty of tourist destinations in Indonesia has once more received world recognition, with Bali obtaining a world-class award from TripAdvisor through its annual Travelers' Choice Award for Destinations.

Muhammad Beni Saputra – Indonesia's upcoming presidential and national legislative elections might be dominating the national media, but another set of smaller scale – and largely overlooked – elections have recently been held across the country.

Len Garae – Benny Wenda is both an International Lobbyist for Independence of West Papua as well as Interim President of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) Provisional Government. But he is much, much more than that. His future was prophesied by his people to go to school in order to carry the message to the world with his "pencil" for West Papua freedom.

Although no one was injured in the blast near Victors home on Monday (around 4.00 am), Victor reports that the low-powered explosion "was so loud that my house shook like there was an earthquake".

Dandy Koswaraputra and Pizaro Gozali Idrus – A veteran journalist known for covering rights abuses in Indonesia's militarised Papua region says a bomb exploded outside his home yesterday and a journalists group has called it an act of "intimidation" threatening press freedom.

Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has said the government has not yet settled on the haj fee for Indonesian pilgrims this year.

"We're still reviewing some of the options, so there is no final figure yet. We're still calculating it," the President said on Tuesday during a visit to a construction site in Ciliwung, East Jakarta.

Denny Gunawan, Jakarta – 2023 begins with some hope that Indonesia is speeding up its transition away from fossil fuels, towards cleaner, renewable energy sources.

For example, the government last year issued a presidential regulation as a legal basis for phasing out the country's entire fleet of coal-fired power stations by 2050.