Jakarta – The recent controversy surrounding the Jakarta administration's construction of catchment tanks across the city, except North Jakarta, only shows the complexity of flood prevention in such a densely populated city, where concrete has replaced rice fields, wetlands, forests and even the sea to accommodate the growing economy.

Switzy Sabandar, Jakarta – The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) is disappointed that the Draft Law on Sexual Violence Crimes (RUU TPKS, formally the RUU PKS) will not be taken to the final House of Representatives (DPR) plenary meeting for 2021, after which the House will go into recess until next year.

Theo Kelen, Jayapura, Jubi – At least 366 elementary school students in Jayapura Regency, Papua cannot read, a recent survey by Wahana Visi Indonesia (WVI) says.

Education Team Leader of WVI for Sentani Marthen Sambo said the results were obtained from a survey conducted in 78 elementary schools across 15 districts in Jayapura Regency from October 11 to 29, 2021.

West Java's Bogor regency is set to ban kawin kontrak (contractual marriage) – a legal and religious loophole used to justify prostitution involving tourists as clients in the hilly resort town of Puncak.

The United Nations says Indonesia must immediately drop charges and look into threats, intimidation and reprisals against human rights defender Veronica Koman and her family.

Katharina R. Lestari, Jakarta – Religious authorities in Indonesia's South Sulawesi province have come under fire for going back on a decision to allow signs to be put up in public places offering people Christmas greetings.

Things may be looking up in other parts of the world amid the pandemic, but Bali is still struggling to recover its tourism industry as data shows it only saw 45 foreign visitors in the first 10 months this year.

Nithin Coca – When it comes to sustainability, "palm oil is simply the superior crop for its effective land utilization," according to the Malaysian Palm Oil Council. It argues that oil palm produces far more oil on far less land than other major global oil seed crops such as sunflower, rapeseed and soybean.

Bayu Marhaenjati, Jakarta – Counterterrorism squad Detachment 88 has arrested 13 suspected members of shadowy militant network Jemaah Islamiyah, or JI, during separate operations across Sumatra, the National Police said on Friday.

Yance Agapa, Jayapura – Responding to the United Nation's 2021 annual report, Indonesia has launched a criticism of the UN in relation to cases of human rights violations in Papua.

Jakarta – The Patimban seaport in the West Java town of Subang reached a new milestone on Friday by delivering its first major export shipment comprising 1,209 cars to the Philippines.

A'an Suryana – Indonesia President Joko Widodo has called on police officers to stop visits to patrons of vigilante groups. The problem, however, is that there is a double-standard here in how different groups are treated.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Catholic-majority Timor-Leste is paying a special tribute to the late journalist Max Stahl in recognition of his exemplary work and contribution to the independence of the nation.

Lenny Tristia Tambun, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said on Thursday the arrival of the Omicron variant is inevitable due to its highly transmissible nature.

Jakarta – Indonesia's central bank left interest rates at a record low on Thursday to support the economy's recovery from COVID-19 and said it sees no need to change its policy outlook after the Federal Reserve announced plans for a quicker bond tapering.

Jakarta – The government has announced on Thursday that the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus had been detected in Indonesia, being the latest country to detect the most transmissible Covid-19 variant.

Antara, Jakarta – Indonesia has become one of the countries with a low risk of COVID-19 transmission, stated the spokesperson for COVID-19 vaccinations for the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi.

Egi Adyatama, Jakarta – Deputy Chair for Academic and Research at the Indonesia Jentera School of Law (STH), Bivitri Susanti, criticized the House of Representatives (DPR) for not including the draft of the sexual violence eradication bill (RUU TPKS) in the agenda of today's plenary session, December 16.

Antara, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo asked state officials to refrain from traveling abroad as COVID-19 Omicron has been detected in Indonesia today, Dec. 16.

"I ask all citizens and state officials to refrain from traveling abroad," said the President on Thursday, Dec. 16.

M Rosseno Aji, Jakarta – Human rights activist Veronica Koman has joined Amnesty International Australia to lead the watchdog's strategic campaigns. Confirming this news, Koman sent a text to Tempo "Hope I can uphold the trust," on Wednesday, December 15, 2021.

Jane Ho and Naazneen Karmali – Following a 2% contraction in 2020, Indonesia's economy is expected to grow nearly 4% this year, fueled partly by rising commodity exports.

Mirza, Jakarta – Researcher at Gadjah Mada University's Center for Anti-Corruption Studies (Pukat UGM), Zaenur Rohman, said the establishment of the Corruption Eradication Corps by the National Police was worth waiting for. He opined that this corps is the Police's effort to improve performance in tackling corruption.

Caesar Akbar, Jakarta – The House of Representatives (DPR) member from the PKS faction, Suryadi Jaya Purnama, said the draft bill on the new capital city (RUU IKN) has entered the discussion stage.

Jakarta – For more than five years, Herry Wirawan, the principal of a girls-only Islamic boarding school in Bandung, West Java, has allegedly raped students in his charge. Of the 12 known victims, nine have given birth as a result of the assaults, and two others are in the advanced stages of pregnancy.

Yessar Rosendar – Indonesia's growing appetite for nibbles over the past year dished up profits at Garudafood Putra Putri Jaya, one of the country's biggest snack-food makers by sales. Shares have roughly doubled since January to lift the fortune of Garudafood head Sudhamek Agoeng Waspodo Soenjoto to $995 million.

Sebastian Strangio – Yesterday, Indonesia's government announced that it had started administering COVID-19 vaccinations to children aged between 6 and 11, Reuters reported, joining a small group of Asian nations that have started to immunize the very young.

Basten Gokkon, Jakarta – Restoring Indonesia's tropical peatlands is a cost-effective strategy to reduce the impacts of fires tearing through the carbon-rich soil, a new study says.

Konradus Epa, Jakarta – Indonesian police charged a Christian man with blasphemy on Dec. 15 for allegedly insulting Islam by comparing the Prophet Muhammad with an alleged child rapist in a social media post.

Evan A. Laksmana – Raising the retirement age for Indonesian Defence Force officers could worsen logjams for mid- and high-ranking officers, and as well as undermine Indonesia's broader interests in the Indo-Pacific.

The Jakarta Metro Police has arrested a Quran teacher in Beji, Depok on suspicion of molesting 10 young girls – all of whom are his students.

Police said the suspect, identified as 52-year-old MMS, molested girls aged 10-15 between October and December 2021.

Proponents of freedom of speech celebrated a rare victory against the tool of oppression that is the Information and Electronic Transactions Act (UU ITE), after the Surabaya District Court sided with the defendant in a slander case over her online complaint against a beauty clinic.

Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara – A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Indonesia on Tuesday triggering a tsunami warning, the meteorological department said, but there was no immediate word on any casualties or damage

Jakarta – The media did not pay much attention to the deliberations and public debates at the House of Representatives on the bill on fiscal relations between the central government and regional administrations that was passed into law on Dec. 7.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Indonesia and the US agreed on Tuesday to extend maritime cooperation during a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The updated agrement will be in effect until 2026.

Theo Kelen, Jayapura, Jubi – In the past ten years, 700,000 hectares of Papua's forests have been damaged, Forest and Plantation Campaign Manager of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI) Uli Arta Siagian said.

Edward Aspinall, Sharyn Davies and Vedi Hadiz – Back in the 1990s, when Indonesia was the subject of former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating's "magnificent obsession", courses on its language and culture were booming in Australia's universities.

Jakarta (Reuters) – Private pharmaceutical companies in Indonesia will be permitted to directly import Covid-19 vaccines to "balance the market", the country's health minister told Parliament on Tuesday (Dec 14).

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin made the announcement during an update on the country's vaccine programme.

Jakarta – The Government has urged Indonesians to skip traveling abroad during this Christmas and New Year holiday season, following the increase in the Covid-19 cases worldwide due to the new Omicron variant.

Konradus Epa, Jakarta – A sharp rise in rights violations targeting human rights defenders, journalists, indigenous people and students was recorded in 2021 with many of the perpetrators being police and soldiers, Amnesty International Indonesia says.

Jakarta (Reuters) – Indonesia started vaccinating elementary school children aged 6 to 11 against Covid-19 on Tuesday (Dec 14), becoming one of the few countries in Asia to start mass inoculations for young children.

At least eight sea turtles were stuck on land in Bali's Badung regency after getting stranded in the area, one of which reportedly died because of all the floating trash.

Local officials referred to the recent discovery as "alarming," saying the mounting trash at sea could pose dangers for ocean wildlife.

Johnny Blades – Armed conflict in West Papua continues to claim lives, displace tens of thousands of people and cause resentment at Indonesian rule.

But despite ongoing calls for help, neighbouring countries in the Pacific Islands region remain largely silent and ineffectual in their response.

Jakarta – A magnitude 7.5 earthquake was reported 95 kilometers north of Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara, at 10:13 a.m., the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, or BMKG, said on Tuesday.

Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – The Indonesian government is hoping that the Generalized System of Preferences will remain in place in the bilateral trade with the US for coming years, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said on Tuesday as she hosted a meeting with her American counterpart Antony Blinken.

Yance Agapa, Jayapura – The Papuan people reject the investigation team formed by the state through the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to investigate alleged gross human rights violations in Paniai on December 8, 2004.

Bangun Santoso, Yosea Arga Pramudita – Amnesty International Indonesia has released its 2021 End of Year Report which covers human rights violations that have occurred in Indonesia over the last year. According to the report, human rights defends are one of the groups which are most at risk.

Bengaluru – Bank Indonesia is certain to hold interest rates steady on Thursday as inflation remains benign for now, according to economists in a Reuters poll who have brought forward their expectations for a first hike to the third quarter of 2022.

Singapore – Restoring Indonesia's damaged peat lands could bring economic savings of billions of dollars, an analysis shows, while also cutting greenhouse gas emissions and reducing health risks.

Asmiati A. Malik – In 2024, Indonesians will go to the polls to choose Joko Widodo's successor as president. Despite the election being two-and-a-half years away, the political heat between political parties is already surging and arguably will continue to escalate over the next year.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Indonesia's National Council for Catholic Education has published a book on the prevention and handling of sexual abuse in response to Pope Francis' commitment to tackling an issue that has tarnished the Church's reputation in recent years.