Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Coronavirus has killed 1,204 people in Indonesia in the first five days of the month, despite early indications that related death toll and new infections have reached a downturn.
A total of 31,202 people have died of coronavirus in Indonesia since the outbreak started, with January becoming the deadliest month with 7,860 deaths.
Lenny Tristia Tambun, Jakarta – World's largest palm oil producers Indonesia and Malaysia reiterated their commitment to fighting off negative campaign and discriminatory policy against their palm oil-based products, when the leaders of both countries met in Jakarta on Friday.
Victor Mambor, Jayapura – Papuan Humanity Team on Case of Violence against Religious Figures in Intan Jaya regency, or Humanity Team, has completed the documentation of alleged extrajudicial killings against Protestant pastor Yeremia Zanambani on Sept. 19, 2020. This report documents facts surrounding the killing of Pastor Yeremia.
Jakarta, Jubi – Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Stef Blok told the Dutch parliament recently that the country considered a visit by United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights to Papua "important".
Online marketplace giant Shopee apologized after coming under fire over a controversial paid post that made fun of sexual harassment victims, which prompted netizens to trend #UninstallShopee on Twitter.
Dili (SPS) – The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Timor Leste, Mrs. Adaljiza Albertina Xavier Reis Magno, has reaffirmed Thursday the support of her country to the struggle of the Saharawi people, voicing their constant willingness to defend their right to freedom and independence during a meeting with SADR's ambassador to East Timor, Mr. Mohamed Islam Badi.
Fransiska Nangoy, Fathin Ungku, Jakarta – Indonesia will no longer permit mining waste to be disposed in the ocean to allay concerns about the environmental impact of processing nickel used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries, a government official and a corporate mining source said.
Friski Riana, Jakarta – The Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA) Secretary-General Dewi Karika argued that the validation process of electronic land certificates has the potential to worsen agrarian conflicts.
Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has issued a decree banning state schools from interfering in the religious beliefs of students and teachers in a move that is being hailed as part of increased efforts to ensure the Muslim-majority country remains inclusive.
As seriously ill COVID-19 patients are starting to fill up hospital beds in Bali, health officials in the province are bracing for even more patients to come while stressing the importance of health protocols as a precaution.
Those at the very front of Indonesia's fight against COVID-19 may see a reduction in their incentives, as the Finance Ministry seeks to make cuts to financial stimulus for health workers.
The Indonesian government has issued a decree banning regional governments and public schools from mandating religious elements on student uniforms, following a public outcry over an implementation of the discriminatory rule just last month.
Jakarta's traffic cameras will undergo a technological upgrade, police say, so that they will have the ability to catch a larger array of traffic violations in the capital.
The Jakarta Metro Police's Traffic Directorate said the traffic cameras, which are part of the Electronic Traffic Law Enforcement (ETLE) system, will get the technological boost this year.
Jakarta – The government's decision to go ahead with the appointment of a problematic university rector sends the wrong message to the public. The quality of research is at stake.
It was only a matter of time before somebody sniffed an opportunity to make a quick buck out of Indonesia's latest COVID-19 screening tech.
The head of the Papuan People's Assembly says it has rejected Indonesia's plans on special autonomy for his region.
Indonesia's government is seeking to extend the Papuan provinces' Special Autonomy Law which expires this year after two decades.
Jeff Armstrong – The Indonesian-occupied nation of West Papua has called for urgent international intervention against Indonesia's intensification of what a 2016 report called "slow motion genocide."
Melanie Chalil, Kuala Lumpur – Indonesian actress Nikita Mirzani has plans to give out free condoms to communities across her country to prevent unwanted pregnancies during Covid-19.
Detik.com reported that the 34-year-old celebrity was concerned about early prevention as Indonesia recently entered the Large-Scale Social Restriction (PSBB) phase.
Dion Bisara, Yustinus Paat, Jakarta – A United States citizen has run for a district head election in Sabu Raijua, a region in one of Indonesia's poorest provinces East Nusa Tenggara, and managed to win the election with a wide margin in the strangest election mishap the country might ever see.
Francisca Christy Rosana, Jakarta – The Minister of Research and Technology Bambang Brodjonegoro on Wednesday claims that the Covid-19 screening device dubbed the GeNose C19 – which was developed by Gadjah Mada University – has underwent stringent testing on 2,000 samples assisted by artificial intelligence (AI) technology with flying colors.
Benny Mawel, Jayapura – Human rights activist Ambrosius Mulait plans to report five powerful politicians to the police for alleged racism in their statements.
Bimandra Djaafara, Fahrin Ramadan Andiwijaya, Fiona Verisqa, Ihsan Fadilah, Kartika Saraswati and Rizka Maulida – The Indonesian government policy to exclude the elderly (aged 60 years and above) in the first phase of the free COVID-19 vaccination program could hinder the vaccine's impact in lowering mortality rates.
An elderly woman in West Jakarta was caught on video admitting her intention to cook several cats for asthma medication, believing that consuming felines is a potent cure for the respiratory disease.
Konradus Epa, Jakarta – The Indonesian government says it aims to purge the country's civil service of people who support or have links to Islamic hardline groups after revealing that hundreds of thousands of government employees have been influenced by radical ideology.
Lhokseumawe – Scores of Rohingya women missing from a refugee camp in Indonesia have been trafficked into Malaysia to reunite with their husbands, several sources have told AFP.
Just over 100 refugees remain at the camp in Lhokseumawe on Indonesia's northern coast, well down from the almost 400 who arrived in separate boat landings between June and September last year.
Lenny Tristia Tambun, Carlos K.Y. Paath, Jakarta – A close aide of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo delivered a strong rebuke to Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono on Monday after the latter claimed that government officials had meddled in his party's internal affairs aiming to topple him from chairmanship.
Hipolitus Wangge – The Pacific region has been rising on the Indonesian diplomatic horizon for twenty years, yet it has rarely been a priority. Like other previous official comments, the statement issued by the Indonesian foreign minister on January 6 shows that the Pacific island countries will still be largely overlooked by Jakarta.
Indonesia is intensifying its COVID-19 mass vaccination efforts with plans to accelerate shipment of the CoronaVac vaccine into the country.
Bisnis, Jakarta – Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf Amin on Monday went on Youtube calling people to strictly adhere to the Java-Bali PPKM social restriction that the government has implemented for the past couple of weeks in hopes of suppressing the number of Covid-19 cases.
Nabiha Shahab – Indonesia's easternmost region of Papua arguably has the richest biodiversity in the country, offering potential for sustainable eco-tourism, eco-education and conservation opportunities.
Medan – Scores of students from the Papuan Student Association (IMP) in Medan, North Sumatra, held a protest action in front of the North Sumatra University (USU) Rectorate Bureau Building on Tuesday February 2 protesting racism allegedly committed by USU Professor Yusuf Leonard Henuk.
Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – The fourth batch of Covid-19 vaccine from Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech arrived in Indonesia on Tuesday.
Meleva Thorn, Jakarta – Indonesia has taken the path to electric vehicles since President Joko Widodo in late 2019 issued a decree detailing the timeline to achieve a certain amount of EVs as public transport means and private uses.
Jakarta – Indonesia has detained a British woman named in a list of global terror suspects and plans to deport her for visa violations, authorities told AFP.
Tazneen Miriam Sailar – a Manchester-born convert to Islam once married to a now-deceased Indonesian jihadist – is not charged with terror offences.
Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Illegal loggers in Indonesia's remote Papua region have largely evaded any meaningful kind of punishment and continue to operate unimpeded, in what a new report calls a failure by the country's legal system to crack down on the problem.
Mongabay editor Philip Jacobson has been awarded the 2020 Oktovianus Pogau Award for Courage in Journalism. The award, announced Jan. 31, recognizes Jacobson's dedication to environmental reporting in Indonesia, work he has continued even after being imprisoned and deported by Indonesian authorities.
Natasia Christy Wahyuni, Jakarta – Indonesia urges fellow Asean member state Myanmar to follow democratic principles, as defined in the bloc's charter, amid the ongoing military coup over election fraud claims.
Indonesia's House of Representatives (DPR) will review a number of policies including the collective leave days for Chinese New Year and Eid, after President Joko Widodo admitted that the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions in Java and Bali aren't working.
Chinese New Year falls on Friday, Feb. 12, whereas Eid will fall sometime in mid-May.
Anwar Siswadi, Bandung – Statistician from Padjadjaran University (Unpad) Yuyun Hidayat predicted that the number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia would continue to increase until mid-February 2021.
Presently, Indonesia's number of cases ranked fourth in Asia, under India, Turkey, and Iran.
Elena Couper, Jakarta – The Indonesian palm oil industry, the biggest in the world, has suffered disruption during Covid-19. Although lockdown measures in export destinations have restricted the market, the demand for palm oil has increased domestically.
Herman, Arnoldus Kristianus, Jakarta – Inflation in Indonesia has slowed down to the lowest level in three months in January. Most of the inflationary pressures stemmed from the rising costs, instead of recovering demand from consumers, who remain wary of spending amid the worsening Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
The central government's Enforcement of Restrictions on Public Activities (PPKM) partial lockdown protocol has not produced the desired outcomes, President Joko Widodo said, as he mulls the fate of the policy.
Mob justice is sadly common in Indonesia, but a recent incident saw one of the most frail members of society being roughed up by a group of men after she was accused of stealing money.
Muhsidin, Rahmad Nasution, Jayapura, Papua – Population in the Indonesian province of Papua currently reached 4.30 million, or rose by some 1.47 million, from that in 2010, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS).
Kiki Siregar, Jakarta – Heavy rain suddenly poured down when Ahmad Marzuki, an office boy in Jakarta, was on his way home from a late shift in April 2018.
He immediately ran to seek refuge and chanced upon a family of scavengers lying on the pavement, as a little baby cried. It was about 9pm.
Vidi Legowo-Zipperer – In Germany, a 101-year-old nursing home resident was the first person to receive a COVID vaccine. In the UK, it was a 90-year-old pensioner, and Canada's first recipient was 89.
In Indonesia, however, my 92-year-old grandmother will probably be last in line.
Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – January has become the deadliest month in the Indonesian coronavirus outbreak with 7,860 deaths, 51 percent higher than the previous monthly high recorded in December. The total death toll stands at 29,998 as of January 31.
Rebecca Ratcliffe, Bangkok – An Indonesian family whose relatives died onboard the Sriwijaya Air flight that crashed into the Java Sea have filed legal action against Boeing, alleging that the aircraft was "defective and unreasonably dangerous".
Pacific Media Watch – The Timorese Episcopal Conference has called on the entire Catholic community in Timor-Leste to accept and respect Pope Francis' decision to expel an American accused of child sexual abuse in the country from the priesthood, reports LUSA news agency.
Jakarta – The government is insisting that the flooding in South Kalimantan was caused by extreme natural events. This ignores the massive change of function of upstream forests.