Zacharias Wuragil, Jakarta – Global warming has pushed the rainy season to come earlier in Indonesia this year. Almost 50 percent of the country's total 342 seasonal zones (ZOM) will experience the wet season starting between September-October.

Jakarta – Indonesian drug authority has issued an emergency use authorization for the Russia-made Covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik-V, early this week, as the country seeks to increase supply to accelerate its vaccination drive.

Joao da Cruz Cardoso – On June 18 of this year, Timor-Leste abstained from a resolution in the United Nations General Assembly condemning the military regime in Myanmar.

Johannes Nugroho – On 13 August, Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, better known as Jokowi, granted an audience to Bambang Soesatyo, Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), to discuss how to advance some "limited" constitutional amendments.

Resty Woro Yuniar (South China Morning Post) – Isabella was left perplexed when her appointment for a free dose of the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine was suddenly cancelled last week.

The Argentine national, who has been living in Indonesia for 15 years, was told there was now a charge for foreigners looking to get vaccinated.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Joko Widodo's approval rating has fallen to the lowest level in five years on the back of a devastating second wave of coronavirus infections, a survey released on Wednesday (Aug 25) showed.

Tangguh Chairil – On July 29, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Indonesia's Coordinating Maritime and Investment Minister, made a comment that many would view as stating the obvious: "Now we understand that tracing is important in handling COVID-19," he said to journalists during his visit to a medical oxygen supply facility in East Jakarta.

Those who are unvaccinated make up the majority of COVID-19 deaths in Bali, the province's Health Agency said, as efforts continue to curb coronavirus transmissions on the island.

Jakarta – Indonesia is taking its vaccination drive to the sea as the world's biggest archipelago nation ramps up a bid to innoculate its huge population.

The Indonesian Navy has deployed 60 boats and warships to scour thousands of kilometres of coastline in the hunt for unvaccinated fishermen, from westernmost Sumatra to holiday island Bali and remote Papua.

Jakarta – The government is ramping up the Covid-19 vaccine rollout for students to prepare for limited in-person classes in areas with less restrictive curbs.

Indonesia kicked off its vaccine rollout for adolescents aged between 12 and 17 in July. For this age group, the country seeks to vaccinate 26,705,490 adolescents.

Lenny Tristia Tambun, Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – The total number of beds occupied in hospitals across Indonesia has dropped significantly amid an ease in the Delta variant outbreak, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said on Thursday.

Iris Zeng, Singapore – Prioritizing digital trade is crucial to Indonesia's economic recovery and growth especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to experts from a recent webinar.

Jakarta – The Supreme Court has upheld the convictions and life sentences of two key defendants in a major corruption scandal at state-run insurance company Jiwasraya, the Attorney General's Office confirmed on Wednesday.

Cassie Freund – Fishing is integral to millions of Indonesians' livelihoods and identities, with an estimated 2.5 million households involved in small-scale (non-industrial) fishing and aquaculture.

Andrea Christiani and Haeril Halim, Jakarta – "William" is refusing to take a coronavirus vaccine because he fears Indonesia's military will use the country's inoculation program to poison him and wipe out his fellow Papuans.

Jakarta – A number of murals and graffiti with a critical tone on walls in busy locations have been removed recently. The aggressive removal of the critical murals has largely been done by regional officials and police in their respective areas.

Jakarta – The National Mandate Party, or PAN, has joined the coalition of political parties supporting the Joko "Jokowi" Widodo government, an aide of the president said on Wednesday.

The news came shortly after leaders of political parties met at the State Palace at the invitation of the president, according to Information Technology Minister Johnny G. Plate.

Dewi Nurita, Jakarta – Indonesia's Covid-19 mortality rate was still at 3.2 percent or higher than the global average of 2.09 percent, said the Covid-19 Task Force spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito.

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Officials and activists in Indonesia are calling for the renewal of a ban on issuing new licenses for oil palm plantations, with the moratorium set to expire in September.

Dewi Nurita, Jakarta – Irma Hidayana, founder of independent data initiative LaporCOVID-19, deplores claims by a number of officials saying they have received third doses of Covid-19. According to Irma, the officials violated the regulations by getting vaccine boosters now.

Budiarti Utami Putri, Jakarta – The Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin on Wednesday presented the country's vaccination performance before members of the Commission IX House of Representatives (DPR), saying that it is still far from perfect.

Johnny Blades – The trial of West Papuan political prisoner Victor Yeimo has begun in an Indonesian court in Jayapura.

Yeimo, who is a spokesman for the pro-independence West Papua National Committee (KNPB), is charged with treason and incitement over his alleged role in anti-racism protests that turned into riots in 2019.

PeduliLindungi will be essential at all ports, terminals, and stations starting Aug. 28, as passengers must use the integrated health/mobility tracking app to comply with health and administrative requirements for domestic travel.

Muhammad Z, Suharto, Jakarta – Cases of violence against women have spiked significantly in Indonesia amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Commission on Anti-Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) has said.

Erwida Maulia and Ismi Damayanti, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Tuesday said the government will proceed with its $32 billion plan to relocate Indonesia's capital city from Jakarta to the island of Borneo, while the strongest candidate to succeed him so far assured he supports the move.

A local resident has come forward to offer his side of the story following a viral video showing uniformed military officers assaulting two civilians in Bali's Buleleng regency, claiming that he wasn't resisting when the abuse took place.

Konradus Epa, Jakarta – Indonesian police have arrested a Christian YouTuber after a series of complaints were filed by Muslims accusing him of blasphemy.

Muhammad Kace, a former Muslim who converted to Christianity, is accused of insulting Islam and the Prophet Muhammad by claiming the prophet was "surrounded by devils and liars."

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – The health system in Catholic-majority Timor-Leste is "in danger of collapsing" following a recent spike in Covid-19 cases, while many health workers have also been infected, the government says.

Rifki Nurfajri, Jakarta – The government has pledged to take care of thousands of children orphaned by the COVID-19 pandemic, amid revelations of inadequate data collection preventing this growing social problem from being properly addressed.

Indonesia is reopening restaurants, malls and places of worship in some areas including the capital, Jakarta, after new coronavirus cases fell sharply from their peak and vaccinations rose.

President Joko Widodo said restaurants and places of worship in parts of the country would be able to operate at 25 per cent capacity and shopping malls at 50 per cent from today.

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Jakarta was named among cities with bad urban planning by an architecture publication, prompting an expected, if somewhat defensive, response from the capital's vice governor.

Chris Barrett, Singapore – Afghan refugees in Jakarta defied lockdown restrictions and fought with police as they protested against falling humanitarian intakes by Australia and other countries.

Rome wasn't built in a day, but you can bet your Samarinda yellow rice that all the potholes can be filled up in no time whenever the president comes to town.

President Joko Widodo visited Samarinda today to inspect the mass vaccination program in the East Kalimantan capital.

Egi Adyatama, Jakarta – Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said that so far 90 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been injected into Indonesian citizens. According to Budi, this makes Indonesia ranks 9th in the world for the number of injections.

Francisca Christy Rosana, Jakarta – The government issued a new regulation regarding the enforcement of four-tiered public mobility restrictions (PPKM) on August 24-30, 2021.

The rule is noted in the Instruction of the Home Affairs Ministerial No. 35 of 2021 concerning Level 4, 3, and 2 PPKM in the Java-Bali region.

Victor Mambor, Jayapura, Jubi – The past three years have seen an unending illegal deployment of Indonesian military forces in the central highlands of Papua, internationally known as West Papua, which has triggered an escalated armed conflict between the military and the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), as well as violence against civilians.

Jakarta – Indonesia passed 4 million Covid-19 cases on Tuesday after recording 19,106 new cases in the past 24 hours, government figures show. Southeast Asia's biggest nation now has a total of 4,008,166 cases.

A further 1,038 Covid-19 deaths have been registered in the one-day period, bringing the total death toll to 128,252.

Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Indonesia expects to receive 80.7 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine through government purchase and multilateral donations next month, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Tuesday.

Jakarta – Indonesia recorded fewer than 1,000 Covid-19 deaths for the first time in over two months on Monday while the daily count of newly cases also fell to below 10,000 as the lengthy community restrictions appear to deliver positive impacts.

Jakarta (Agencies) – Indonesia will from Tuesday start to allow the partial reopening of restaurants, shopping malls and places of worship in some areas, including in the capital Jakarta and the holiday island of Bali, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said on Monday.

Theo Kelen, Jayapura – Director of the Indonesian Women's Legal Aid Institute for Justice (LBH APIK) Jayapura Nur Aida Duwila said reports of sexual violence against children in Papua continued to increase from 2019 to 2021.

Donald Greenlees – A persistent question lurking in the background of Australia's alliance with the US has always been whether our powerful ally would come to our aid in a time of military crisis.

Maidina Rahmawati and Erasmus AT Napitupulu – Over the past few weeks, police and local governments have painted over at least three murals voicing public criticism about the government's management of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Fana Suparman, Jakarta – Former social affairs minister Juliari Peter Batubara was found guilty on Monday of accepting bribes in government's social assistance project for families affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Catherine Delahunty, Jayapura – When I first met West Papuan activist Paula Makabory, she told me she came from the land of the "Morning Star", home to the bird of paradise. In the same breath, she said her people were living in an occupied country – and they were bleeding.

I had no idea at the time where West Papua was, but meeting Paula changed the world map in my head.

While it's no secret that tourism plays a huge role in Bali's economy, an expert from the Udayana University says the pandemic is a lesson for the hugely popular holiday destination to grow out of its dependence on foreign tourists.

Liam Gammon – Two genres of viral video encapsulate Indonesia's devastating wave of COVID-19 infections over the past six weeks.

Jakarta – Indonesia has moved its Afghanistan diplomatic mission from Kabul to Pakistan, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said on Saturday, after its air force evacuated dozens in the wake of the Taliban's seizure of power.

Jakarta – Indonesia recorded the lowest daily tally of Covid-19 cases in more than two months on Sunday, with figures returning to the level before the highly contagious Delta variant began to dominate new infections.

The country has added 12,408 new cases in the past 24 hours, the lowest daily count since June 16, to take its total to 3,979,456, government figures show.

Victor Mambor, Jayapura – Ferianus Asso, the victim of a police shooting during a peaceful demonstration in Dekai, Yahukimo regency on Monday August 16, which was demanding the release of Papua activist Victor Yeimo, has reportedly died in hospital in Jayapura.