Jakarta – The government's inattentiveness to the price of soybeans, which are a core staple commodity for the majority of Indonesians, is astounding. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, like his predecessors, has talked big about food security for both economic and political stability, but his delivery has left much to be desired.

Jakarta – The Tangerang city government is gearing up to build a waste-to-energy plant, as the project saw positive responses from various stakeholders.

The Tangerang city government recently conducted an online public outreach to solicit inputs on the project from stakeholders such as the central government, activists, academics, among others, with nearly 300 attendees.

Tempo.Co, Jakarta – TNI Commander General Andika Perkasa missed the Armed Forces and National Police leaders meeting held today at the TNI Headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta. President Joko Widodo said that Andika had tested positive for Covid-19.

Shocking abuses against indigenous Papuans have been taking place in Indonesia, UN-appointed rights experts said on Tuesday, citing child killings, disappearances, torture and enforced mass displacement.

Fitria Chusna Farisa, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is being urged to again declare his position in public on the discourse about extending the president's term in office.

Denpasar – Plans by Ukrainian nationals in Bali to hold a solidarity action against the Russian invasion at the Renon Square in the Balinese provincial capital of Denpasar on the afternoon of Monday March 1 were dashed by police.

This followed a firm position taken by the Denpasar municipal police and the East Denpasar (Dentim) sectoral police towards the demonstrators.

Denpasar – The head of the Balinese Justice and Human Rights Ministry, Jamaruli Manihuruk, has stated that they will deport foreign nationals involved in protest actions against the Russian-Ukraine war.

"[We] will take firm action in the form of sanctions in accordance with Law Number 6/2011 on Immigration", said Manihuruk in a written release on March 1, 2022.

Fajar Pebrianto, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has officially added Sinopharm to the list of authorized COVID-19 booster regimens. Thus, there are now booster shots from six brands, viz. Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, Janssen (J&J), and Sinopharm.

Eka Yudha Saputra, Jakarta – The Jakarta Employment Agency (BKD Jakarta) head Maria Qibtya said requests for a transfer to be Jakarta's civil servants (ASN) are rising as the government planned to bring them to the new capital in Kalimantan.

Pribadi Wicaksono (Contributor), Yogyakarta – Dozens of train passengers at Yogyakarta station were forced to refund their tickets as they did not pass COVID-19 rapid antigen tests. State-owned railway operator KAI operational region (Daop) 6 recorded that from Thursday to Sunday, Feb. 24-27, as many as 81 would-be passengers tested positive for COVID-19.

Antara, Jakarta – The Regional Representatives Council (DPD) Deputy Speaker Sultan Bachtiar Najamudin asked President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to immediately make a firm response to issues regarding the postponement of the 2024 general elections.

Sultan opined that the president's voice is necessary to end the issue which is troubling the people.

M Julnis Firmansyah, Jakarta – President Joko Widodo or Jokowi has instructed to stop the export of bauxite in raw forms. The president said that from an economic point of view, exporting raw materials would not add value.

Rescuers on Indonesia's Sumatra island have retrieved more bodies after a strong earthquake two days ago, raising the death toll to 11 while another 400 were injured and thousands displaced.

Konradus Epa, Jakarta – Rights groups have accused Indonesian soldiers of killing one child and severely beating six others after accusing them of stealing a weapon from a soldier in Indonesia's Papua region.

Antara, Jakarta – The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) detected 16 hotspots indicating forest fires in five districts in East Kalimantan Province.

Antara, Jakarta – Most COVID-19 patients who died were unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated against the virus, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin stated.

"We remind you all once again that most people who died were those who have not been vaccinated or have not been fully vaccinated," Sadikin noted during an online press conference accessed on Sunday.

Jakarta – The government will drop the quarantine requirement for foreign travelers coming to Bali starting on March 14 in a trial designed to attract visitors to Indonesia's main tourist attraction, a senior minister said on Sunday.

Antara, Jakarta – A flood triggered by incessant heavy rains over the last two days displaced hundreds of residents of Alue Ie Mirah Village, Indra Makmur Sub-district, East Aceh District, Aceh Province.

Johannes NugrohoSouth – Indonesians have a saying that a name is akin to a prayer. So when parents give their child a name, it goes without saying that a certain wish for his or her future is inherent within. This belief has produced some distinctive name-giving traditions rooted in the country's history and diverse cultures.

Nivell Rayda, Karawang, Indonesia – Mdm Ami was only five years old at the time, but she remembered the day her father died on Dec 9, 1947.

That day, hundreds of heavily armed Dutch troops surrounded the tiny village of Rawagede, some 50km east of the Indonesian capital Jakarta, in search for an Indonesian freedom fighter by the name of Lukas Kustaryo.

Jakarta – Civil society groups and the opposition suspect that the idea of postponing the 2024 legislative and presidential elections, which will impact on extending the president's term in office, has originated from a certain figure, not directly from any of the political parties.

Jakarta – The frequently raised doubts about the country's fight against corruption were reinforced again after the Jakarta Corruption Court recently handed down a light sentence to former deputy House of Representatives speaker Azis Syamsuddin.

Norman Harsono, Jakarta – The Transportation Ministry is sticking with its plan to end the use of oversized and overloaded (ODOL) trucks despite industry protests, but it plans to take a sterner stance only by January 2023.

Padang, West Sumatra – Rescue teams in West Sumatra were searching Saturday for six people still missing after a strong earthquake rocked the island a day earlier, killing at least eight people and injuring dozens, an official said.

Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, Denpasar (Bali) – Indonesia is considering allowing quarantine-free travel earlier than expected as Covid-19 cases trend downwards around the vast archipelago.

The government had previously indicated that the country would open to quarantine free travel on April 1.

M Julnis Firmansyah, Jakarta – A constitutional law expert, Margarito Khamis, on Friday argued that extending a presidential term or postponing the 2024 general election (Pemilu) would be a daunting task as the 1945 Constitution (UUD) must first be amended.

Nathan Wall – When the issue of modern-day military occupations is brought up, most people immediately think of Israel and Palestine. The Republic of Indonesia is likely far from their minds. When Americans think about Indonesia, they probably picture the beautiful beach resorts of Bali, the jungles of Sumatra, or the populous province of Java.

Leonard A.L. Cahyoputra, Feriawan Hidayat, Jakarta – Sharp Electronics Indonesia, the local subsidiary of the Japanese electronics giant, has started constructing an air conditioner factory in Karawang, West Java, on Thursday, setting up a new export base for the Southeast Asia region.

Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi' Widodo has launched a new tunnel boring machine, or TBM, for deployment on Jakarta's mass rapid transit phase 2A project on Thursday, marking a key milestone for a track that will connect the downtown with the capital's old area in the north.

Jakarta – A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck inland near the western coast of Sumatra on Friday, killing at least two people and causing tremors that were felt in neighboring Singapore and Malaysia, officials and witnesses said.

Joniansyah Hardjono, Jakarta – The Soekarno-Hatta Airport Resort Police are exploring cases of fake COVID-19 test results that were connected to the COVID-19 app PeduliLindungi.

The airport police chief, Sr. Comr. Sigit Dany Setiyono, said an officer of one of the health clinics at the airport was involved in this illegal activity.

Made Supriatma – The Indonesian military has proposed a 'softer' and more 'humanistic' approach in dealing with the restive security situation in Papua. But this could be ill-advised and premature.

Antara, Jakarta – The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry (ESDM) on Thursday said Russia's special military operation against Ukraine can significantly affect the world's commodities, one of which is Indonesia's crude oil.

Moh Khory Alfarizi, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) commissioner Beka Ulung Hapsara in an online press conference on Thursday highlighted the underlying issue regarding long term solutions for residents of Wadas, Central Java who oppose the construction of a major dam project.

Indonesia's Ministry of Health said that COVID-19 patients can now undergo self-isolation for just seven days as infections involving the Omicron variant – the most dominant in Indonesia in its current outbreak – are relatively shorter than previous variants.

Owen Howell – A new record was set for daily COVID-19 infections in Indonesia, with 64,718 confirmed cases Wednesday last week. The Omicron variant, now the dominant strain in the archipelago nation, has fuelled a precipitous rise in infection rates over the past five weeks, rapidly surpassing the peak of last year's catastrophic Delta wave.

Vitorio Mantalean, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo inaugurated the Poso Energy hydroelectric power plant (PLTA) in Central Sulawesi on Friday February 25.

Widodo said that he hoped there would be more PLTAs constructed in order to reduce carbon emissions in the long-term.

Tatang Guritno, Jakarta – Scores of Wadas Village residents in the Bener sub-district of Purworejo regency, Central Java, were arrested and detained by police.

The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) condemned the hacking and disinformation attacks against AJI Chairperson Sasmito Madrim. AJI believes that such tactics should be regarded as an assault against AJI as an organization and its activists in their fight for freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

Tatang Guritno, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) is asking Coordinating Minister for Security, Politics and Legal Affairs Mahfud MD to apologise for his statements earlier this month on the conflict at Wadas Village in the Bener sub-district of Purworejo regency, Central Java.

Vitorio Mantalean, Jakarta – The Indonesian Independent Journalist Alliance (AJI) has condemned the hacking and disinformation attacks against AJI General Chairperson Sasmito Madrim.

In a written release, the AJI stated that the incident is a "serious threat to press freedom and the freedom of expression".

Lenny Tristia Tambun, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Friday inaugurated the Danowudu-Bitung section of the Manado-Bitung toll road in North Sulawesi, thus bringing the construction of the 39.8 kilometer toll road to completion.

Jubi TV – The European Union (EU) Commission has called on Indonesia to allow the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Papua, internationally known as West Papua, as well as urging Indonesia to extend the permanent invitation to all Special Rapporteurs and Mandate holders.

Jakarta – The World Health Organization has appointed Indonesia as one of the beneficiaries of mRNA-based vaccine technology transfer, signaling the organization's confidence in the country to become a hub for Covid-19 vaccine production in the Southeast Asia region, a minister said on Thursday.

Jakarta (Antara) – The Indonesian government recently issued a statement on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, urging all sides to prioritize negotiation and peaceful settlement.

Jakarta – The total number of active Covid-19 cases reached a new high on Thursday and surpassed the previous record when the Delta was the dominant variant in the mid of last year.

Indonesia currently has 586,113 active coronavirus cases, beating the previous record high of 574,135 cases on July 25, government figures show.

Bisnis, Jakarta – Head of the Indonesian Pension Fund Association (ADPI) Suheri on Wednesday said Indonesia's pension fund participation rate is still underwhelming and fears 45 million elderly people in 2035 will potentially experience financial difficulties due to this issue.

Moh Khory Alfarizi, Jakarta – A representative of the Religious Affairs Ministry has responded to the public backlash after Religious Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas issued a statement that many perceived to be blasphemous. This has resulted in someone planning to report the Minister to the police.

Lani Diana Wijaya, Jakarta – Protesters calling themselves the Civil Coalition against Eviction demand Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan revoke Gubernatorial Regulation or Pergub No. 207 of 2016 issued in the era of Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama alias Ahok which stipulates evictions.

It has been quite a rollercoaster ride for the Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan). Established in 2014, the agency's mandate is to provide adequate health care for all Indonesians. This is a herculean task given the poor state of the country's health system, as even basic care and doctors remain limited in many parts of the country.