Tri Indah Oktavianti, Jakarta – Last week, Indonesia's handling of insurgencies in Papua took a new turn, eliciting a strong response from rights watchdogs and experts.

Len Garae – The Executive Committee of the United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) has welcomed the Melanesian Spearhead Group Virtual Meeting with Port Vila MSG Secretariat and remind them of their sacred responsibility to make West Papua a full member of MSG.

Human rights defenders have exposed updated information on the situation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the regencies Nduga and Intan Jaya.

London – TAPOL strongly denounces the proposal put forward by the Indonesian National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT/Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Terorisme) to categorise the Free Papua Organisation (OPM/Organisasi Papua Merdeka) as a terrorist organisation. Such a move will lead to more serious human rights abuses in West Papua.

Adam Prireza, Jakarta – The Jakarta Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) collected Rp686.75 million from the payment of fines of the Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) in 2021 alone, or precisely from January 2021 to date. If calculated from June 5, 2020, the total amount is Rp6.425 billion.

M Julnis Firmansyah, Jakarta – Two suspected terrorists who were arrested in Condet and Bekasi had been seen coming to the East Jakarta District Court, to attend the trial of former FPI leader Rizieq Shihab. The police said that they have photographs of the suspects in court.

Achmad Nasrudin Yahya, Jakarta – The Munir Human Rights Museum and the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) have archived 1,864 documents on the struggle of the late human rights defender Munir Said Thalib.

The thousands of documents have been digitally archived and given the name the Human Rights Archive and Documentation Index (Indah).

Jakarta – A thick plume of black smoke rose into the sky as a massive fire at one of Indonesia's biggest oil refineries raged for a second day on Tuesday, as efforts continued to extinguish a blaze that has left six people severely injured.

Bayu Marhaenjati & Farouk Arnaz, Jakarta – A number of suspects arrested in an anti-terror crackdown following the Sunday's church bombing in Makassar have suspected links to the now-defunct Islamic Defenders Front or FPI, police said on Tuesday.

At least seven suspects have been arrested in the South Sulawesi capital since the attack.

Arjuna Pademme, Jayapura – The people who choose to fight for the freedom of Papua Land, or internationally known as West Papua, with guns have been called criminals by the Indonesian government. Recently, it wanted to call the people "terrorists". But who are they?

Bernadette Christina, Jakarta – At least 950 people were being evacuated from a nearby village after a massive fire broke out at the Pertamina Balongan Refinery in Indonesia's West Java province.

Pertamina said that five people had been injured and it was trying to control the fire.

A bomb believed to have been detonated by two suicide attackers in Indonesia exploded outside a Catholic cathedral in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Sunday morning, wounding at least 20 and killing the assailants.

Kiki Siregar, Jakarta – The two suspected suicide bombers who attacked a Catholic church in Makassar, Indonesia were husband and wife who received online training on bomb making, authorities said on Monday (Mar 29).

Jakarta – A Tempo journalist in the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya, Nurhadi, was abused and threatened when investigating a case of alleged tax bribery involving the former director of investigations at the Directorate General of Taxes at the Finance Ministry, Angin Prayitno Aji.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Shopping center Lippo Plaza Ekalokasari in Bogor is hosting a Covid-19 vaccination site for retail workers.

Dion Bisara, Faisal Maliki Baskoro, Jakarta – At least people were injured, and hundreds of others had to leave their homes after Pertamina's Balangan refinery, the energy company's fourth-largest crude oil processor in Indramayu, 200 kilometers the east of Jakarta, went aflame and exploded Monday morning.

Jakarta – Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin urges people who have gotten the Covid-19 vaccination to continue complying with strict health protocols, warning that vaccination alone would not be enough to quell a possible second wave of the pandemic in Indonesia.

Antara, Bogor – The forest area in Java Island continues to shrink and is reported at only about 24 percent, which is around 128,297 square kilometers, said the research head of biodiversity conservation at the Environment and Forestry Ministry (KLHK), Hendra Gunawan, in a web forum commemorating the International Forest Day 2021 organized by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LI

Antara, Denpasar – Some 750 taxi drivers on the resort island of Bali joined drive-through COVID-19 vaccination service launched by the Bali provincial police and health office.

"The drive-thru vaccination this time targets 750 taxi drivers," Chief of the Bali Provincial Police Inspector General Putu Jayan Danu Putra said in a press statement released on Saturday night.

Mass vaccination would be the only way to bring economic recovery to Indonesia, which has been pounded by the slowdown induced by the social distancing measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior University of Indonesia (UI) economist said Sunday.

Tokyo, Japan – The defense ministers of Japan and Indonesia on Sunday agreed to send messages to the rest of the world that the two countries will strongly oppose any action by China that could escalate tensions in regional waters.

Egi Adyatama, Jakarta – Chief Editor of Tempo Magazine, Wahyu Dhyatmika, strongly criticizes the persecution of one of its journalist named Nurhadi, which took place in Surabaya, on Saturday, March 27, 2021. Wahyu said this was an attack on press freedom and violated the Criminal Code and the Press Law No.

Agencies, Jakarta – An explosion occurred outside a Catholic church in the Indonesian city of Makassar on Sunday, police said.

News footage showed police had set up a cordon around the church and cars parked nearby were damaged.

Makassar – A bomb exploded near a church in the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar on Sunday morning with police suspecting involvement by a suicide bomber.

Three or four people were rushed to hospital for injuries, but it remains unclear how many people were killed in the incident.

Jakarta – The government is mulling a plan to vaccinate most of the Bali residents in the next two months and to open the islands for foreign tourists by July to reinvigorate its economy, a senior minister said last week.

Kiki Siregar, Jakarta – "Daasshh!" Mr Zakaria, a 90-year-old Indonesian pencak silat master exclaimed as he kicked his right leg high into the air, showing off his martial art skills.

Mr Zakaria, who goes by one name, is the oldest pencak silat fighter in the archipelago, as declared by Indonesia's World Records Museum last August.

Jakarta – The investigation into the shooting of six FPI members must not stop at the perpetrators on the ground. This nation still has a deficit in the upholding of human rights.

Jakarta – The Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises has inaugurated Indonesia Battery Corporation or IBC, an electric battery holding company, paving the way for up to $22 billion partnership in the lucrative industry that would make the most out of the country's enormous nickel reserves.

Tokyo, Japan – Japanese and Indonesian foreign and defense ministers will hold talks next week in Tokyo, the Japanese government said Friday, as Tokyo hopes to forge closer ties with Southeast Asian nations to counter China's clout in the region.

Jakarta – The government has decided to extend the ban on 2021 Idul Fitri homecoming, one of the world's largest annual migrations, to Indonesia's entire population in its latest effort to suppress the Covid-19 virus transmission among its population.

Jakarta – Indonesia's weather agency has predicted a delayed arrival of the dry season this year with La Nina weather conditions seen lasting until May in most parts of the country, with a risk of extreme wet weather in some regions.

Antara, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Friday called on all regents in the country to provide exceptional services for exports and investments as he said both were key to the national economic growth.

Jokowi mentioned this in the national meeting with the Association of all Indonesia Regency Governments (APKASI) today.

Jakarta – The government removed the ash resulting from burning coal in power plants from the category of hazardous and toxic waste. The industry sector is not yet ready to exploit it.

Jakarta – The ruling, or fatwa, from the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) that concludes the AstraZeneca vaccine haram – forbidden – should not be a consideration in the Covid-19 vaccination program. Matters of health need medical and scientific considerations, not fatwas.

Cheta Nilawaty P., Jakarta – The Indonesian Health Ministry announced that the cases involving shackling people with disabilities in the country have increased by 20 percent throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. The government currently registers 5,200 people with disabilities who are being shackled (or commonly known in local term as 'pasung').

Kristianto Galuwo, Jayapura – The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has responded to comments by the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, who recently condemned violence by the military junta against pro-democracy protesters in Myanmar.

Indonesia's Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin says young people may soon be able to get their vaccines way ahead of schedule if they bring two senior citizens along with them, in a bid to encourage the elderly to get inoculated against COVID-19 in the Southeast Asian country.

Dewi Nurita, Jakarta – President Joko Widodo or Jokowi asserted the government would not import rice until June 2021 and called for a halt to lingering arguments on rice imports.

Jakarta – Muslim majority Indonesia on Friday (Mar 26) banned an annual exodus that sees millions travel across the vast nation to mark the end of Ramadan over fears of a surge in COVID-19 infections.

Kiki Siregar, Jakarta – Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said on Friday (Mar 26) that Singapore and Indonesia should ideally have the "same level of control" over COVID-19 transmissions before travel arrangements can begin to resume.

Arjuna Pademme, Jayapura – Escalating tensions between the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the West Papua National Liberation Army, which have caused the deaths of civilians, have led many to question: how many security personnel are there in West Papua?

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Key bilateral agreements, including expropriation protection and double-taxation prevention set to enter into force this year, would spur foreign direct investment from Singapore to Indonesia to a higher level, Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said.

Benny Mawel, Jayapura – National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) is mulling over a plan to put West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) into a terrorist group category, a plan that has drawn controversies and comments.

Arjuna Pademme, Jayapura – The government appears to be at a loss as to how to quell the struggle by the Free Papua Organisation or OPM with its plan to designate Papua independence organisations as terrorist groups.

Yudha Baskoro, Jakarta – Muslim protesters stage a rally to protest against China's alleged oppression of Uighur Muslims in front of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China building on Jalan Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Thursday.

Indonesia's handling of the COVID-19 crisis may be remembered for its numerous missteps, but the same arguably can't be said about its mass vaccination program, with the government now patting themselves in the back for their role in thrusting Indonesia to be among the world's leading nations in terms of vax numbers.

Gayatri Suroyo, Jakarta – Indonesia aims to kickstart President Joko Widodo's ambitious plan to relocate the capital city to the island of Borneo by offering property contracts to investors this year and starting construction work on a state palace, a minister told Reuters.

Fred Pearce – Deep in rain-swept forests on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, an environmental and human disaster is looming, at a zinc mine ready for digging in mountains considered the most seismically dangerous on Earth.

A Bali hotel owner has acknowledged that beaches are public property and that his staff shouldn't have kicked out a local who was sitting on the sand in front of the hotel.

Ida Bagus Gede Sidartha Putra, who owns Puri Santrian in Sanur, Denpasar, said he has notified his staff that all beaches, including the one that runs parallel to the hotel, are open for everybody.

Heru Andriyanto, Maria Fatima Bona, Jakarta – A senior Indonesian health official claimed on Thursday that the number of active Covid-19 cases has plummeted after 9 million doses of vaccine were administered.

The remarks came after another delivery of millions of vaccine from China's Sinovac Biotech arrived at Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Tangerang, Banten on Thursday.