Johnny Blades – Church leaders warn the presence of Indonesian soldiers in classrooms in West Papua is proving traumatic for children in a region mired in conflict.

Stania Puspawardhani – Street art has been much discussed across Indonesia's airwaves in the last couple of months.

Ihsanuddin, Jakarta – The police forcibly broke up a protest action marking the 1962 Rome Agreement in front of the United States Embassy in Central Jakarta on the afternoon of Thursday September 30 and arrested 17 Papuan activists.

Tatang Guritno, Jakarta – Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director Usman Hamid says that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo cannot just wash his hands of the polemic over the dismissal of 57 Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) employees.

Agencies, Jakarta – Dozens of employees controversially removed from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) will appeal their dismissal, staff members said on Thursday, fighting what they regard as a move to weaken a body that prosecuted hundreds of politicians and businessmen, Reuters reports.

Lila Sari – In this in-depth analysis, published in two parts this week, Lila Sari looks at vaccine distribution in Indonesia, and the surprising entrance of political parties into the roll-out.

Part 2: Party approaches

A Jakarta City Council (DPRD) member accused of several violations is retaliating against her political party with a mammoth lawsuit following her dismissal.

A video of elementary school boys crossing the river using styrofoam boxes in South Sumatra has been making its social media rounds in Indonesia this week, only to be met with local authorities undermining what is rightly a public concern.

Lila Sari – What role exactly do the political parties play in vaccine distribution? How do they access the vaccines, how do their approaches differ and what motivates them? I'll be looking at these questions across two articles this week.

Jakarta (Bloomberg) – Indonesia is finalising a plan to offer free Covid-19 vaccine boosters to more than 114 million people in anticipation of an "inevitable" third wave of coronavirus outbreak.

Police general/corruption convict Napoleon Bonaparte may be looking at an additional 5-year sentence for assaulting a fellow inmate with his own poo.

Egi Adyatama, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) hoped that President Joko Jokowi Widodo would give an explanation regarding the National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo's decision to recruit 56 Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) employees as the state apparatus (ASN) of the National Police.

Antara, Jakarta – The Indonesian Association of Epidemiologists head of profession development Masdalina Pane on Tuesday warned about a potential surge in Covid-19 cases from the 20th National Games (PON) in Papua despite the quadrennial sporting event being held under strict health protocols.

Antara, Jakarta – The World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, and developed countries have praised Indonesia for its success in curbing COVID-19 cases, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung has said.

The COVID-19 curve in Indonesia is currently flattening, he noted while inaugurating and swearing-in 85 administrators and supervisory officials of the Cabinet Secretariat.

While Indonesians are rightly concerned about a 10-month-old baby being sprayed with silver metallic paint and used as a sympathy magnet for begging, the National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas PA) says the practice is actually quite common in the capital.

Public representatives supporting the Corruption Eradication Emergency Office have delivered 1,505 letters to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo through the State Secretariat. The letters were received by the emergency office since it was opened on September 15.

Hilaire Bule – The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has saluted Vanuatu's declaration on human rights violation by Indonesia in West Papuan soil, at the 76th United Nations General Assembly.

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – For decades, illegal logging and timber trafficking have destroyed forests across Indonesia, and with them the source of livelihoods of millions of Indigenous peoples.

Now, Indigenous peoples and local communities are fighting back by monitoring illegal logging activities across the country in a bid to protect their forests.

Fana Suparman & Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, confirmed on Wednesday they have received complaint of alleged corruption in state-owned steelmaker Krakatau Steel first made public by a government minister.

Jakarta – Presidential spokesperson Fadjroel Rachman says that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo will not intervene in the dismissal of 56 Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) employees because it is an internal matter for the anti-graft agency.

He also claimed that Widodo is obeying the law and holds the KPK's methods in the highest regard.

Jakarta – The Presidential Staff Office (KSP) has criticised the United Nations over a report on intimidation and violence against human rights activists in Papua.

Bisnis.Com, Jakarta – The Indonesian government is preparing a plan to export electricity of up to 300 megawatts (MW) through the 400 kilovolts (kV) underwater transmission to the Southeast Asia regions. The electricity to be exported would reportedly be generated from new and renewable energy (EBT).

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – A new study strengthens the case for redirecting a planned mining road around the largest surviving tract of lowland tropical rainforest on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, but the company behind the project appears to be staying the course.

Essential features in the government's PeduliLindungi app will soon be available within other major Indonesian apps, as the government seeks to expand digital screening and tracing coverage amid increasing public mobility during the pandemic.

Elena Williams – Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Australian study abroad to Indonesia was booming. In 2019 alone, 2,061 Australian university students travelled to Indonesia to complete study programs, internships and mentorships, the highest number of Australian students ever to study in Indonesia.

Jakarta – Indonesia's parliamentary budget committee on Tuesday (Sep 28) approved President Joko Widodo's 2022 budget with total spending of about 2,714 trillion rupiah (US$190.40 billion), representing a fiscal deficit equal to 4.85 per cent of gross domestic product.

Tatang Guritno, Jakarta – Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) says that there are three factors which have caused a decline in public trust in the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

ICW researcher Kurnia Ramadhana explained the first factor is the KPK leadership's poor level of integrity because of numerous ethics violations.

Jakarta (Antara News) – Indonesia, home to one of the world's largest mangrove forests, has set a target of rehabilitating 150,000ha of its area under mangroves this year.

Based on data recorded in 2011, about three million ha of mangrove forests can be found along 95,000km of Indonesia's coastal areas, constituting 23 per cent of the world's mangrove ecosystem.

Dian Septiari and Nur Janti, Jakarta – The government faced more international scrutiny of its activities in Papua as the United Nations capped a whirlwind of multilateral diplomatic activities, even as violence continued to simmer in Indonesia's easternmost provinces.

Dewi Nurita, Jakarta – The Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim on Monday said the government is not necessarily worried about the potential Covid-19 transmission as it reopens classrooms for physical attendance schooling (PTM) as it has prepared surveillance strategies to evaluate this decision.

Yustinus Paat, Jakarta – The Jakarta Legislative Council on Tuesday failed to initiate a motion against the city government's plan to host a Formula E race next year as not enough councilors were present.

Jakarta – Indonesia is ramping up its efforts to get its senior citizens vaccinated against Covid-19 to prevent a surge in cases that are now taking place in neighboring countries.

There have been a number of armed clashes between the Free Papua Movement (TPNPB-OPM) and the Indonesian security forces in the past month with casualties on both sides.

Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan says that freedom of expression is indeed allowed but he warned that it should not create problems for other people.

Silver buskers are a common sight in Indonesia, but the discovery of an infant being sprayed with metallic paint for the purpose of making it a prop for begging has spurred authorities to act in South Tangerang.

Vanuatu's Prime Minister has told the United Nations about a lack of progress on human rights in West Papua.

Bob Loughman told the UN General Assembly that the indigenous people of West Papua continue to suffer human rights violations under Indonesian rule.

Katharina R. Lestari, Jakarta – Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has arrested the deputy speaker of the country's House of Representatives for allegedly trying to bribe one of its officials.

A demonstration commemorating two years since the death of La Randi and Muhammad Yusuf Qardawi, students from the Kendari Halu Oleo University in Southeast Sulawesi, who were killed in 2016, has ended in a clash.

M Rosseno Aji, Jakarta – The National Association of University Student Executive Bodies (BEM SI) has gathered in front of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) headquarters located in Kuningan, South Jakarta, to protest against the controversial termination of 57 KPK employees.

M.A Murtadho, Jakarta – The Strategic Policy Institute Foundation (LEKAS) on Sunday warned that the annual growth of HIV/AIDS cases in the West Javan city of Bogor can potentially become a time bomb if left without proper mitigation.

Junaidi Hanafiah, Banda Aceh, Indonesia – Law enforcers are working to disrupt a wildlife trafficking ring connected to a man arrested last month with the skins and bones of three Sumatran tigers, a critically endangered species of which only a few hundred remain in the wild, the nation's forestry ministry announced last week.

Jakarta – A demonstration organised by the All-Indonesia Student Executive Council (BEM SI) in the vicinity of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) building in South Jakarta on Monday September 27 was marred by scuffles between police and protesters after police prohibited students from approaching the KPK building.

Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Indonesia recorded the lowest daily Covid-19 death toll in half a year and the smallest daily tally of new cases in more than a year on Sunday.

There have been 86 coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, the lowest daily fatality toll since March 27, bringing the total death toll to 141,467, government figures show.

Chris Barrett and Karuni Rompies, Singapore – Located within a rundown building in Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia's westernmost province, the SAKA Anti-Corruption School of Aceh is nothing much to look at.

It has a single classroom and the university-age students studying here sit in a circle on the floor as they take their tuition.

Jakarta (Bloomberg) – A shortage of healthcare workers and logistical flaws are hampering Indonesia's efforts to inoculate its people against Covid-19, leaving the world's largest archipelago trailing its neighbours despite being among the first in South-east Asia to start the programme.

Antara, Jakarta – Police officials on Saturday escorted Gerald Sokoy – a health worker who had been reported missing after an attack launched by separatist terrorists in Kiwirok sub-district, Pegunungan Bintang district – to Sentani sub-district, Jayapura district.

Chairul Fikri, Jakarta – A court in Tangerang, Banten has found seven Indian nationals guilty of resisting Covid-19 quarantine requirement in Indonesia and handed them a five-month suspended sentence, a prosecutor confirmed on Sunday.

The same sentence was handed to seven Indonesians for becoming accessories to the crime.

Lavinda – The national survey pollster Indonesia Political Indicator (IPI) has reported that the public's dissatisfaction with the state of democracy in Indonesia has grown in September compared with earlier in the year.

Asni Ovier, Jakarta – Indonesia will not follow China's footsteps in banning all cryptocurrencies transactions outright but looking into ways to make them less prone to be used in illegal financial activities, a top official said late on Friday.

Kiki Siregar, Jakarta – It was 6am and the sun had just risen in Pasirhuni village, West Java, but Rudiat was already busy sorting out many books.

The tofu seller placed dozens of books in two boxes at the back of his motorbike, along with another box containing bundles of tofu. He then headed off to several villages in the rural Cimaung district.