Jakarta – Paper giant APRIL Group recently kicked off the self-funded Covid-19 vaccination program for all its employees at Pangkalan Kerinci, Riau, through its local operating arm Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper, or RAPP.

IndonesiaLeaks – Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Chairperson Firli Bahuri used the pretext of the 'Taliban' and the nationalism test (TWK) to remove 75 KPK employees from their routine duties of fighting corruption. Out of the 75 employees, Bahuri weeded out 24 he felt could be promoted to state civil servants (ASN) providing they took part in a "guidance" program.

Peter Baker – If you are looking for a good read that will give you, the happy reader, a no-small glow of pride in how Australia, the country of the "fair go", applies itself on the international scene in general, or perhaps more locally – say in that area just north of us, East Timor – then you are in for a crashing disappointment.

Emma Connors, Singapore/Jakarta – Two well-known global institutional investors have backed Indonesia's new infrastructure-focused sovereign wealth fund, in what could be seen as an early win for President Joko Widodo's efforts to break with the country's protectionist past.

Antara, Jakarta – Indonesian and US marine soldiers took part in a joint training exercise on conducting military operations on urban terrain (urban warfare) in Situbondo district, East Java on Saturday.

Jakarta (Xinhua) – Timor-Leste on Saturday received a batch of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines and syringes donated by China.

Alarmed by the mountains of plastic waste leaching into Indonesia's waters, two best friends are taking on the environmental menace by turning crisp bags and shampoo packets into paving bricks.

Ovy Sabrina and Novita Tan launched Rebricks after their country drew headlines as the second-biggest producer of marine waste in the world, behind China.

Yudha Baskoro, Jakarta – Environmental activists have staged a demonstration at the Arjuna Wijaya Statue area in Central Jakarta on June 4, demanding President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to issue policies to save the environment and people from the impact of the climate crisis.

Genta TM, Rahmad Nasution, Jakarta – The XVIII/Kasuari Regional Military Command is striving to improve the welfare of soldiers stationed in West Papua by providing flats to them.

The flats, built on a total area of 780 square meters inside the military command compound's complex in Manokwari, the capital of West Papua Province, was inaugurated on June 2.

A lot of us joked that the showrunners of a controversial sinetron (Indonesian soap opera) would use a trite storytelling device to replace a teen actress. Imagine our amusement when they actually did.

Jakarta's odd-even traffic rule may soon return to ease the capital's increasingly busy roads after it was suspended for months due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Chris Barrett and Karuni Rompies, Singapore – Indonesian troops on a manhunt for rebels in the strife-torn region of West Papua have been given carte blanche to shoot anyone, a local priest warns, after the government labelled armed separatists "terrorists".

Using a snorkel and protective gloves, Pariama Hutasoit dives down into the clear waters off the Indonesian island of Bali to pull away plastic from a "reef star" installed by her conservation group to encourage new coral growth.

Jakarta – That Indonesia, among the largest archipelagic states in the world with a huge population and rich in natural resources, needs strong armed forces is beyond question.

Adhi Priamarizki – The separation of the Indonesian police from the military in the early 2000s was supposed to establish a line between internal security and external defence. Two decades later, the distinction between these roles is still blurred.

Vincent Fabian Thomas, Jakarta – Discounts on electricity bills for people living in small homes will end within weeks as the government terminates the financial aid on the grounds that the economic recovery from the pandemic has begun.

Fajar Pebrianto, Jakarta – The Civil Society Coalition for Security Sector Reform criticized the government's plan to modernize the primary weapons defense system or Alutsista with a budget of more than Rp1,700 trillion through a debt scheme. The budget was considered excessive and inappropriate at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Budiarti Utami Putri, Jakarta – The head of the Socio-politics Department of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Arya Fernandes, said Friday the country lacked any significant military figure that would become an alternative presidential candidate for the 2024 presidential election.

Pulau Idaman, Aceh – A boat filled with dozens of Rohingya, mostly women and children, landed on an island off Aceh coast early Friday, according to an AFP reporter and the UN refugee agency.

Jakarta (Reuters) – Indonesia has cancelled the haj pilgrimage for people in the world's largest Muslim-majority nation for a second year in a row due to concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic, the religious affairs minister said on Thursday (June 3).

Could this be the scheme that finally brings order to Indonesia's chaotic roads? We're not holding our breath, but the traffic police certainly think a demerit points system is the way forward.

The National Police has issued new regulations on driver's licenses (SIM), which would see the imminent enforcement of a demerit points system.

Konradus Epa, Jakarta – An Indonesian archbishop in Christian-majority Papua says he was twice targeted this year by Islamic terrorists who planned to meet with him and blow themselves up.

Sacred Heart Archbishop Petrus Canisius Mandagi said the terrorists planned to kill him at his residence and at the cathedral in Merauke, the country's easternmost city.

Love it or loathe it, a trip to Bali is a rite of passage for many Australians. And now, it's among a handful of Indonesian destinations slated to reopen to international tourists within weeks.

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Palm oil licenses covering concessions twice the size of Los Angeles have been rescinded by the local government in Indonesia's West Papua province due to violations by the license holders.

The China-backed project has been designed so recklessly that it would condemn local villages to a catastrophic fate if approved, engineers say.

A few hundred meters from the village of Sopokomil in northern Sumatra, Indonesia, work is set to begin on a tailings dam for a zinc mine that experts say is a recipe for disaster.

Tim Lindsey and Max Walden – No one really knows the true state of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, and that means it is unpredictable. But there are good reasons to worry about what will happen next.

Jakarta – Indonesian prosecutors on Thursday recommended a sentence of six years' imprisonment for controversial cleric Rizieq Syihab for allegedly lying about his Covid-19 test.

The case was part of a series of criminal trials he has been facing since returning from Saudi Arabia last November.

Andita Rahma, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leaders refused to revoke the commission's decree (SK) No. 652 of 2021 concerning the results of the civic knowledge test or known as TWK.

The commission's Deputy Chairman Alexander Marwata revealed reasons for rejecting the objection letter submitted by seven of the 75 employees who failed the test.

Jacob Phelps – In a court in rural Indonesia, an environmental group recently filed a lawsuit of global importance. Their case is against a zoo in North Sumatra that it's alleged illegally exhibited threatened species, including Komodo dragons and critically endangered Sumatran orangutans.

Dewi Nurita, Jakarta – A number of survey institutions have commenced observing potential candidates for the 2024 Presidential Election (Pilpres).

Lim Min Zhang, Singapore – Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen and his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto spoke on the phone on Thursday (June 3), reaffirming the close and longstanding bilateral defence relationship between the two countries, said the Ministry of Defence (Mindef).

Friski Riana, Jakarta – LGBT rights group Suara Kita Head Hartoyo said transgenders had so far found difficulties in accessing public services because they did not own identity cards or E-KTP. Thus, he appreciated the Directorate General of Population and Civil Registration for issuing a policy on identity cards for transgenders.

Konradus Epa, Jakarta – Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo of Jakarta has called on Indonesians to commit to the country's secular ideology to build unity and respect differences as the world's most populous Muslim marked the anniversary of its inception on June 1.

Indonesians are calling for severe sanctions toward a TV network after it aired some extremely disturbing content in a soap opera pertaining to the sexualization of a child.

Continuing telecommunications outages in Indonesia's Papua region have created a media blind spot by blocking the flow of information about ongoing conflict in its central highlands.

Twelve people have been arrested over an alleged terrorist plot to attack an archbishop and police stations in the Indonesian province of Papua, local police officials said.

Bec Strating – Recent media reports suggest that different perspectives on maritime boundaries are creating tensions between Australia and Indonesia. An Indonesian border negotiator told The Australian Financial Review last month that talks between Australia and Indonesia on maritime boundaries had restarted in December 2019 but stalled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Indonesia's navy has officially ended its efforts to salvage the KRI Nanggala-402 submarine, which sank in April in waters off Bali island, leading to the deaths of all 53 on board, a navy spokesman said on Wednesday.

Dzulfiqar Fathur Rahman, Jakarta – Indonesia's inflation rate picked up in May both on an annual and monthly basis as prices of food commodities and transportation services rose during the country's peak spending period of Ramadan and Idul Fitri.

Aprianus Doni Tolok, Jakarta – Today, a new political party will be declared in Indonesia. The new party is called the People's Justice and Prosperity Party or Prima.

Jet Damazo-Santos – In Jakarta today, almost 1,300 employees of Indonesia's anticorruption agency are being inaugurated as official members of the civil service. But some of the agency's most senior investigators and officials won't be part of them, after failing to pass a highly controversial exam that supposedly tests their nationalism or loyalty to the nation.

Hellena Souisa – Tensions have been rising in the past month, between pro-independence campaigners and the military in Indonesia's eastern most provinces of West Papua and Papua that share a border with Papua New Guinea.

During that time they have been frequent internet blackouts, making it hard to get up to date information out of the contested region.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – An Indonesian priest has issued an apology after remarks he made on same-sex marriage sparked protests from within the Catholic community, including church leaders and fellow priests.

Jakarta – Indonesia welcomed another shipment of 8 million Covid-19 vaccines in bulk from the Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac on Monday.

M Rosseno Aji, Jakarta – The Chief of Corruption Eradication Commission or KPK, Firli Bahuri, has inaugurated its 1,271 employees as State Civil Apparatur (ASN) on Tuesday, June 1, at KPK office building.

Egi Adyatama, Jakarta – President Joko Widodo or Jokowi attended the commemoration ceremony of state ideology Pancasila Day on June 1, that held virtually, from Bogor Palace, West Java. During his speech, Widodo reminded the existence of transnational ideology in Indonesia.

Fana Suparman & Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, on Tuesday gathered 1,271 employees to take an oath of allegiance as civil servants to follow a new law which has met resistance from an element of its investigators.

Deti Mega Purnamasari, Jakarta – The People's Justice and Prosperity Party (Prima) was officially declared as a new party on the evening of Tuesday June 1.

The party was declared by several ex-central leaders of the People's Democratic Party (PRD) at the Usmar Ismail Film Centre in Jakarta.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Indonesia will have the largest green industrial area in the world, according to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

The head of state showed off the ambitious plan at the Partnering for Green Growth and Global Goals 2030 (P4G) summit on Monday. Located in North Kalimantan, the industrial estate will provide an impetus for green growth.

Jakarta – A draft list of the "red" indicators used for employee assessment for transforming Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) employees into state civil servants has been circulating.