Landslides have killed at least three people at a Chinese-backed power plant on North Sumatra, the disaster agency said Friday, with fears that the toll would rise.

Heavy rains pounded the area in North Sumatra on Thursday evening, triggering the deadly torrent.

At least 10 people were killed in a gun battle between police and rebels in Indonesia's restive Papua region, authorities said, in an apparent retaliation for the execution of a top intelligence chief.

The hours-long shootout Tuesday in remote Puncak district ended with nine guerrillas and a police officer dead, while two more officers were wounded, police said.

Jamie Tahana – Human rights groups in Papua fear civilians will bear the brunt of any retaliation for the killing of a top Indonesian intelligence official.

AWPA condemns the continuing statements from Indonesian officials concerning the Free Papua movement in West Papua.

The Indonesian government has declared the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) as "terrorists".

Rieka Rahadiana, Eko Listiyorini and Claire Jiao – Indonesia is offering made-to-measure incentives and, potentially, carbon offsets as it competes for investment.

Abdil Mughis Mudhoffir – New BRIN chief Laksana Tri Handoko said that, according to a yet-to-be-published presidential regulation, the chair of the state ideology body, the Agency for Pancasila Ideology Education (BPIP), will head the BRIN supervisory council.

Foreign travelers headed for Bali were able to skirt around Indonesia's COVID-19 restrictions upon arrival, a number of social media posts showed this week, triggering a fresh wave of criticism against the government's commitment to tackle the pandemic.

UCA News reporter, Jakarta – Human rights activists and churchmen have voiced concerns over the impact of the Indonesian government's move to label Papuan pro-independence groups as terrorists, saying it will make peace even more difficult to achieve in the restive region.

Firdia Lisnawati, Denpasar, Indonesia – A U.S.-based YouTuber and a Russian influencer were ordered off Indonesia's resort island of Bali on Friday after recording themselves defying mandatory mask-wearing with some imaginative makeup.

A month after being hit with devastating floods, Timor-Leste is struggling to cope amid a Covid-19 outbreak.

Last month's floods left more than 45 people dead including a dozen children and tens of thousands homeless.

Konradus Epa, Jakarta – Indonesian police have arrested the former general secretary of a now-banned hardline group, the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), for suspected involvement in terrorism

Munarman, who only goes by one name, was arrested at his home in Jakarta on April 27 by members of Indonesia's anti-terror squad Densus 88 and was still in custody on April 30.

Police estimate that at least 9,000 people have been swabbed with reused antigen rapid test kits at North Sumatra's Kualanamu Airport, in the latest development to the arrest of five lab workers for their involvement in the disturbing case earlier this week.

Jakarta – There is no longer any need for the government to be responsible for research into the Nusantara vaccine being promoted by former Minister of Health Terawan Agus Putranto. None of the claims about it have been tested clinically.

David Robie – Branding armed Papuan resistance groups as "terrorists" has sparked strong condemnation from human rights groups across Indonesia and in West Papua, some describing the move as desperation and the "worst ever" action by President Joko Widodo's administration.

Egi Adyatama, Jakarta – Spokesperson for the West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Movement (TPNPB-OPM), Sebby Sambon, on Friday condemned Indonesia's decision to declare the groups as terrorist organizations. He viewed that the Indonesian government was mistaken and in a state of panic.

Angela Flassy, Alexander Loen, Jayapura – The government of Indonesia has declared The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) a terrorist group but Papua Governor Lukas Enembe was quick to respond, calling for Jakarta to reconsider.

The whole babi ngepet saga in Depok, West Java was fertile ground for a number of viral videos, including one featuring Wati, a self-proclaimed clairvoyant who may have started the whole farce by publicly airing her suspicion that her neighbor was a shapeshifting boar demon thief – – all because they seemed to be well-off despite rarely leaving the house to work.

Hendartyo Hanggi, Jakarta – The Indonesian Government through the Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD on Thursday announced that armed criminal groups (KKB) in Papua and organizations or people affiliated in it are deemed as terrorists.

This means that the Free Papua Movement (OPM) will fall into the same category.

Egi Adyatama, Jakarta – The Deputy V for Politics, Law, and Security Affairs at the Executive Office of the President, Jaleswari Pramodhawardani, said the government's decision to label armed criminal groups (KKB) in Papua as terrorists was made after thorough considerations.

Siktus HarsonSiktus Harson, Jakarta – The arrest of a pastor in Papua by security forces for allegedly supplying weapons to a separatist group could intensify scrutiny on churches in the restive Indonesian region, according to some, but others believe it was a betrayal of his church and Christians.

Maria Fatima Bona, Jakarta – Indonesia has received the equivalent of more than 10 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine in the last four days, including the first ever arrival of vaccine developed by China's Sinopharm.

Imam Hamdi, Jakarta – Jakarta Deputy Governor Ahmad Riza Patria said the city government had not received negative reports in the first phase of the back-to-school trial (PTM). The trial of face-to-face learning in a number of schools across the capital ended on Thursday, April 29, 2021.

Elisa Sekenyap, Jayapura – Australian Green Party Senator Janet Rice has expressed her concerns about the situation faced by the people in the land of Papua.

Dewi Nurita, Jakarta – Indonesia received the tenth batch delivery of COVID-19 vaccines at the Soekarno-Hatta Airport at 13:00 local time today, April 30. They are Sinovac's bulk vaccine and ready-to-use Sinopharm vaccine.

Jakarta – Lawyer and human rights activist Veronica Koman has commented on the Indonesian government's move to label the Free Papua Organisation (OPM) a terrorist group.

Through her private Twitter account @VeronicaKoman, she said that the decision would sever attempts to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Papua.

Farouk Arnaz, Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – The Indonesian government officially labeled an armed separatist group in the easternmost province of Papua as terrorist organization on Thursday without citing a name.

The decision, which immediately drew objection from the Papua governor, came after a series of attacks on security officials that killed two people since Sunday.

A high-ranking official has been dismissed from his position at the Jakarta Provincial Government after he was found guilty of workplace sexual harassment during his time in City Hall.

Authorities have shuttered a RedDoorz budget hotel in Tebet, South Jakarta following a recent underage prostitution bust.

Police raided the hotel on April 21, finding pimps and 15 sex workers, the majority of whom were underage. The girls were promoted online via dating apps.

Armed violence has escalated in Puncak Regency in the "land of Papua" – known internationally as West Papua – following President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's order to crack down on the rebels seeking independence, reports the Papuan newspaper Jubi.

Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, Jakarta – Indonesia has urged people to avoid the annual exodus to home villages ahead of Hari Raya next month, fearing a surge in coronavirus cases in the nation which already has the highest number of infections in South-east Asia.

Jakarta – Vice President Ma'ruf Amin has urged students and graduates of the Institute of Quran Studies (IIQ) to play a bigger role in national development.

Jakarta – The government has declared that armed criminal groups (KKB) in Papua are terrorists, following a string of clashes with security forces that saw the region's intelligence chief, one police officer and at least nine guerrilla fighters killed.

Rahel Narda Chaterine, Jakarta – Amnesty International Indonesia says that labeling armed groups in Papua as terrorist has the potential to add to the long list of human rights violations in the region.

Amnesty International Executive Director Usman Hamid believes that labeling armed groups terrorist will not end the problems or human rights violations in Papua.

Syaiful Hakim/Suharto, Jakarta – Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Coordinating Minister Mahfud MD urged the Indonesian police, military, and state intelligence body to take swift, firm, and measured actions against Papua's armed criminal groups following their categorization as terrorists.

Imam B, Rahmad Nasution, Jakarta – All separatist terrorist groups must be rooted out from the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua as they pose a serious security threat, a legislator has said.

Budiarti Utami Putri and Andita Rahma, Jakarta – Human rights group Setara Institute deputy chair Bonar Tigor Naipospos deemed that the government was emotional and in a hurry to label the armed criminal group (KKB) in Papua as terrorists. He believed that this decision would not help resolve issues in the country's easternmost province peacefully.

Rahel Narda Chaterine, Jakarta – National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) Deputy Commissioner Amiruddin Al-Rahab said he is disappointed with the government's decision to pin the terrorist label on armed criminal groups (KKB) in Papua.

Yunita Amalia – Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy Chairperson Hendardi has criticised the government's move to label armed criminal groups (KKB) in Papua as terrorists. The move is seen as a short-cut and an expression of the government's desperation in dealing with the conflict in Papua.

Budiarti Utami Putri, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) assessed that labeling the armed criminal groups in Papua terrorists is an attempt to silence voices that demand justice.

Jakarta – The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has criticised the Indonesian government's decision to label the Free Papua Movement (OPM) or armed criminal groups (KKB) in Papua as terrorists.

Yudha Baskoro, Jakarta – A group of refugees and asylum seekers has been back to live in front of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) offices in Central Jakarta for about a month now and had to observe Ramadan on the sidewalks in a protest against the international agency.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – The European Union, or EU, has extended its support for higher education in the Asean region until the end of 2022, helping keep running a program that allows students to get scholarships in or transfer between universities across the region.

Antara, Jakarta – Indonesia's biggest airline Lion Air has resumed flight between Jakarta and the Chinese city of Wuhan, the first known epicenter of coronavirus outbreak before it became a global pandemic.

According to Antara news agency on Wednesday, a Boeing 737-900 serves the route every Monday.

Andita Rahma, Jakarta – The Indonesian Police have named Munarman, former general secretary of the now-disbanded Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), a terrorist suspect.

Imam Hamdi, Jakarta – The Jakarta Legislative Council (DPRD Jakarta) Speaker Mujiyono called for the city's inspectorate to remain objective and professional upon investigating the sexual harassment allegedly committed by former Goods and Services Procurement Agency (BPPBJ) Head, Blessmiyanda.

Imam Hamdi, Jakarta – Head of the Jakarta Labor, Transmigration, and Energy Agency, Andri Yansah, on Wednesday said that the agency has taken steps that are hoped to curb the surge of Covid-19 cases coming from office clusters.

"We have reasserted again to all of the company associations to strengthen their internal Covid-19 task forces," said Andri on Wednesday, May 28.

M Julnis Firmansyah, Jakarta – The Metro Jaya Police traffic unit announced it had arrested dozens of illegal Eid 'mudik' transportation services ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Dewi Nurita, Jakarta – The Indonesian Covid-19 task force announced on April 25 updated the risk zone map and recorded an increase in areas considered red zones (high risk) and yellow zones of coronavirus transmission.

Li-Li Chen – On 8th of April, in the aftermath of devastating floods, Timor-Leste's government declared that Timor-Leste entered the state of emergency for thirty days, when the government appealed to international assistance for its post-disaster rebuilding and recovery.

Budiarti Utami Putri, Jakarta – Human rights group Setara Institute criticized a public statement made by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Bambang Soesatyo who urge authorities to mobilize a full-on operation to eradicate armed criminal groups (KKB) in Papua and put aside issues about human rights.