Arrijal Rachman, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence's (KontraS) data showed that 52 people died in unlawful killing cases, or extrajudicial killing, done by the police institution in the period of December 2020 to December 2021.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – A serological survey, taken from November to December 2021, suggested that 86.6 percent of people aged over 1 year old in Indonesia have developed antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 or the virus that causes Covid-19.

Fajar Pebrianto, Jakarta – Amnesty International Indonesia has responded to a protest action held by the Jakarta Red-and-White Militia (Laskar Merah Putih, LMP) in front of its offices. The protest was held in relation to recent problems which are occurring in Papua.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Timor-Leste's Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak has called on voters to ensure a successful and peaceful presidential election and exercise their right to vote in what promises to be the most competitive poll in the Catholic-majority country's history.

Jakarta (Reuters) – Indonesia's weather agency said on Friday (March 18) rainfall in the resource-rich country will normalise this year after a wet 2021, but the dry season will start later than usual in most areas due to the lingering effects of the La Nina weather pattern.

Hengky Yeimo, Jayapura, Jubi – Chairman of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) Agus Kosay denied the Papua Police's accusation that the KNPB was involved in a protest rejecting the expansion of Papua Province which took place in Dekai, Yahukimo Regency, on Tuesday, March 15, 2022.

Vincent Fabian Thomas, Jakarta – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Friday it would help Indonesia develop the new capital city project in East Kalimantan, following the appointment of a former ADB vice president as an overseer of the project.

Jakarta – In the wake of a protest on Thursday by members of a militia who surrounded the Central Jakarta headquarters of Amnesty International Indonesia (AII), the human rights group continued its efforts in lobbying the government to conduct a full investigation into human rights abuses in Papua.

Dili, Timor Leste – The frontrunner in Timor Leste's presidential election, independence figure and Nobel laureate Jose Ramos-Horta, has said he hopes to restore political stability to Asia's youngest democracy, as the nation prepares to head to the polls.

Eka Yudha Saputra, Jakarta – The South Jakarta District Court on Friday, March 18 acquitted two police officers Fikri Ramadhan and M Yusmin Ohorella, who were indicted of shooting four members of the now-disbanded organization FPI.

Tempo.Co, Suci Sekarwati, Jakarta – The 1996 Nobel Peace Prize co-recipient Manuel Ramos-Horta said in a discussion held by the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI) on Thursday, March 17, 2022, that Timor Leste is hoping to join ASEAN. Jose acknowledges that the process would take some time.

Mutia Yuantisya, Jakarta – During an official meeting with members of the House of Representatives on Thursday, March 17, 2022, Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi accuses "mafias" to be responsible for the country's cooking oil scarcity and skyrocketing prices.

Fajar Pebrianto, Jakarta – Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian on Friday made it clear that the 2024 general elections, commonly abbreviated to Pemilu, will proceed as planned as agreed by the government and the House of Representatives (DPR).

"The results of our meeting at Commission II have named the date," he said when asked at his office on March 18.

M Julnis Firmansyah, Jakarta – New capital authority head Bambang Susantono on Friday said the government is currently looking for potential investors for the construction of the new capital city in East Kalimantan, which is needed to replace SoftBank following the Japanese firm's withdrawal.

Elisa Sekenyap, Jayapura – Papua Human Rights Solidarity Concern has reported the shooting of 10 Papuan civilians in Yahukimo regency – which occurred during a rally opposing the creation of new autonomous regions (DOB) in Papua – to the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM).

Yuliana Lantipo, Jayapura, Jubi – Two participants of the protest rejecting Papua Province's expansion in Yahukimo Regency's capital of Dekai, Yakob Meklok and Esron Weispa, became victims of alleged police brutality and died on Tuesday, March 15, 2022.

Hengky Yeimo, Jayapura, Jubi – Tensions that occurred after the shooting that killed eight telecommunication workers of PT Palapa Timur Telematika on March 2, 2022, has made the residents of Tinggilibet Village and Dambet Village in Beoga District, Puncak Regency, flee their villages. Most of them fled to YPPGI Elementary School in Milawak Village, the capital of Beoga.

Burhanuddin Muhtadi – Once again, key Indonesian politicians are floating trial balloons on the merits of postponing the 2024 Indonesian presidential election, citing mounting public support for it. But the data suggests otherwise.

Joao da Cruz Cardoso – Timor-Leste will hold its fifth presidential election on 19 March with an unprecedented 16 candidates competing to become the next head of state.

Avatar Fernando da Costa – Thousands of people in East Timor have flocked to presidential campaign rallies days before an election that will test the young country's stability amid a protracted political crisis and economic uncertainty.

Jakarta – Indonesia will remove export restrictions on palm oil products and raise its export levy instead, its trade minister said on Thursday (Mar 17), only a week after the world's biggest exporter of the edible oil shocked markets by further tightening its curbs.

Stanley Widianto, Jakarta – Two years ago in Indonesia, sexual harassment victim Baiq Nuril Maknun received a presidential amnesty, and she is now hoping parliament passes a new law on sexual violence, a decade after activists first proposed legislation.

"Hopefully it can happen," Nuril told Reuters from the island of Lombok.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Indonesia needs to tackle several roadblocks to further boost the adoption of electric vehicles, or EVs, according to the top brass at Vektr Mobiliti Indonesia, a subsidiary of the business group Bakrie & Brothers.

Antara, Jakarta – The Indonesian Police's special counterterrorism squad, Densus 88, arrested 12 suspected terrorists. They were arrested in four different cities during a crime and terror prevention operation in the Jakarta, Banten, Bogor, and Batam areas.

Eka Yudha Saputra, Jakarta – Jakarta Deputy Governor Ahmad Riza Patria was tight-lipped about herd immunity albeit the city's primary vaccination coverage has exceeded the target. Riza handed over the matter to the Health Ministry.

According to him, the first-dose vaccination coverage was recorded at 123.3 percent, while the second dose reached 103.9 percent.

Sam Lawson – In November 2018, Earthsight published an in-depth investigation in collaboration with Mongabay into the Tanah Merah oil palm project in Papua, on the Indonesian half of the island of New Guinea.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Indonesian police shot dead two Papuans and injured four others during a protest against a proposal to break up the province that turned violent in the easternmost region.

An eyewitness said victims Yakob Meklok and Erson Weipa suffered fatal gunshot wounds when police were chasing away the crowds.

Antara, Jakarta – Sixty-six judges candidates underwent medical and psychiatric examinations at the Gatot Soebroto Army Hospital. The 66 people comprise 55 candidates for Supreme Court (MA) justices, and 11 candidates of MA ad hoc judges for criminal acts of corruption.

Elizabeth Byrne – Evidence so secret that Canberra lawyer Bernard Collaery himself cannot know what it is will be permitted to be used by Commonwealth prosecutors in a trial against him.

Mr Collaery is accused of conspiring to reveal classified information about an alleged Australian spying operation in East Timor, during sensitive oil and gas treaty negotiations.

Yance Wenda, Jayapura, Jubi – The Papuan People's Council (MRP) and the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) on Tuesday, March 15, 2022, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation to advocate for cases of violence against Papuan women.

Antara, Jakarta – Indonesia's Presidential Palace continues to implement strict health protocols even though the number of Covid-19 cases in Indonesia is declining. Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Heru Budi Hartono, said that the decision was made after coordinating with related institutions and organizations.

The Australia West Papua Association condemns the killing of two West Papuan demonstrators in the Yahukimo regency on Tuesday the 15 March 2022.

Paris, France – Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto held a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace on Wednesday, more than a month after Indonesia sealed a deal to order 42 Rafale fighter jets and signed an exploratory agreement for the possible purchase of two submarines.

Jakarta – Indonesia hosts its first motorcycle grand prix in 25 years on Sunday, confident that concerns surrounding the new track will be forgotten once racing begins in front of a sell-out crowd.

Jakarta – Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi's concerted efforts over the past three months to keep the retail price ceiling of cooking oil to between Rp 11,500 (80 US cents) and Rp 14,000 per kilogram have been ineffective.

Eva Safitri, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has spoken out about the big data which he claims shows that 110 million social media users want the 2024 elections postponed.

Antara, Jakarta – The Indonesian Government, the House of Representatives (DPR), and the General Elections Commission (KPU) have reached an agreement on the voting date for the 2024 general elections, House Speaker Puan Maharani informed.

M Rosseno Aji, Jakarta – The National Police's Special Anti-Terror Detachment 88 (Densus 88) arrested a terrorist suspect who is identified as TO in Tangerang, Banten. TO is suspected to be a member of the Jamaah Islamiyah terror group.

Antara, Jakarta – The Indonesian central statistics agency, Statistics Indonesia or BPS, said that Indonesia's trade with Russia and Ukraine has been negligible.

According to BPS chief Margo Yuwono, the contributions of imports and exports with the two currently warring nations in the last year were less than one percent.

M Julnis Firmansyah, Jakarta – The official of the Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam) of East Kalimantan chapter, Pradarma Rupang, said the construction project of the new capital or IKN Nusantara in East Kalimantan has the potential for the eviction of 20,000 local and indigenous people.

Annisa R. Beta (The Conversation), Jakarta – With the world's largest Muslim population, Indonesia is a huge market for Islamic fashion, valued at around US$12.69 billion. Many female designers and businesswomen have been touted as the locomotive behind the growth of the local Islamic fashion industry.

Radhiyya Indra, Jakarta – Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno clarified that the government did not finance the local brands who claimed to participate in Paris Fashion Week 2022.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Joko Widodo took a camping trip to the country's future capital, he said on social media Tuesday (March 15), posing for photographs in a forest at the site of the new city.

Konradus Epa, Jakarta – Indonesia's top Islamic clerical body has come under fire from rights activists for declaring an interfaith marriage between a Catholic man and a Muslim woman invalid.

The couple, who were not named, were married in a Catholic church in Semarang, Central Java, this month.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Timor-Leste is mourning the death of a Portuguese Jesuit priest who served in the country for more than four decades and was credited with helping people in need during the struggle for independence during the Indonesian occupation.

Father Jose Alves Martins died on March 14 at a hospital in Portugal aged 80. The cause of his death was not revealed.

Nuevaterra, Jubi TV – Chairman of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) Benny Wenda said the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) did not have the capacity to be a mediator in a dialogue between the Papuan people and the Indonesian government. Komnas HAM, according to Wenda, is part of the State.

Kukuh S. Wibowo, Jakarta – The Health Ministry recorded that the number of daily confirmed COVID-19 cases continued to decline to 9,629 on Monday, March 14. The figure is lower than that on January 28 at 9,905.

Marena Mane – Indigenous students from West Papua studying at universities across Aotearoa are defying an order from the Indonesian government to return home.

In January more than 40 students were told that Indonesia will no longer be funding autonomous West Papuan scholarships so they have to pack up and leave.

Jakarta – Several demonstrators opposing regional decentralisation or new autonomous regions (DOB) in Yahukimo regency, Papua, have died after being shot by police.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and his governors' recent "Kendi Nusantara" ritual at the "kilometer zero-point" of new state capital Nusantara in East Kalimantan has marked a historic milestone for the city's development.