Tri Indah Oktavianti, Jakarta – A coalition of human rights groups have called on the government to reveal detailed information on the suspected killers of Pastor Yeremia Zanambani in Intan Jaya regency, Papua, after a state-formed fact-finding (TGPF) reportedly found indications of security forces' involvement.

Jakarta – Indonesia has seen a significant decrease in active COVID-19 cases, the National COVID-19 task force stated on Thursday.

Active cases are the number of confirmed cases minus the number of recovered cases and deaths. The statistic represents the number of cases still considered to be infectious.

Nina Loasana, Jakarta – Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and his French counterpart Florence Parly are aiming to sign a defense cooperation agreement (DCA) before the end of this year to celebrate the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Jakarta – The Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency (Bapeten) has said that the radiation level in part of the Batan Indah housing complex in South Tangerang has returned to normal after radioactive material was discovered in an empty plot of land in the complex in February.

Jakarta – Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has claimed that he was the initiator of the Job Creation Law, saying that he believed the law was necessary to disentangle overlapping bureaucratic regulations.

Novan Iman Santosa, Jakarta – Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic country with some 17,000 islands and a vast maritime territory.

Heru Andriyanto & Maria Fatima Bona, Jakarta – The Indonesian government must not be in hurry to authorize the use of a vaccine against coronavirus until there is one with proven efficacy and safety, an epidemiologist has said.

Moch. Fiqih Prawira Adjie, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is looking to recruit 100 investigation personnel to improve the antigraft body's law-enforcement resources.

M Rosseno Aji, Jakarta – The Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) announced that it had sent a letter to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Friday, October 23, asking the President to discharge Attorney General Sanitiar Burhanuddin.

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Activists have slammed one of the world's biggest pulp and paper companies for clearing peatland in Indonesia despite its zero-deforestation pledge. They say Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Limited (APRIL) should have restored the previously burned area instead of cultivating it.

Budi Sutrisno, Jakarta – The Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) has expressed its readiness to follow up on a request for witness protection following the shooting of Pastor Yeremia Zanambani in Intan Jaya, Papua, in September.

Friski Riana, Jakarta – Fadli Zon, the House of Representatives (DPR) member from the Gerindra Party faction, opined that public criticism against the Omnibus Law on Job Creation should be directed at President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

Antara, Jakarta – President Joko Widodo or Jokowi asked his cabinet ministers to accelerate the development of the coal derivative industry in order to increase the added value of coal commodities, curb imports of industrial raw materials, and create job opportunities.

Jakarta – As criticism mounts against the first year of President "Jokowi" Widodo and Vice President Ma'ruf Amin's administration, Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko has come to the administration's defense, claiming that despite obstacles stemming from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the government has recorded several achievements.

Adrian Wail Akhlas, Jakarta – Indonesia needs broad-based tax reform to boost its revenue in the long run so that the country can minimize the impact of spending adjustments and fund its development projects, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said.

Sausan Atika, Jakarta – Jakarta has become the second region in the country to issue a COVID-19-related bylaw after the City Council and the administration agreed to endorse a set of provisions on Monday to penalize stigma-related noncompliance with COVID-19 policies.

Jakarta – Research and Technology Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro, who also heads the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), has stated a target for a state-owned company to produce 2 million polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test kits for COVID-19 per month.

Moch. Fiqih Prawira Adjie, Jakarta – Coordinating Political, Legal and Human Rights Minister Mahfud MD has suggested that the solution to the ongoing violence in Papua is to send more security forces to the region and that Papuans in fact do not want the Indonesian Military (TNI) and National Police withdrawn from the province.

Fadli, Batam – The Batam District Court in Riau Islands has sentenced PT Prima Makmur director Zazli bin Kamel to five years and six months' imprisonment, in addition to a Rp 1 billion (US$68,000) fine, for clearing 6 hectares of mangrove forest for the construction of residential areas.

Ghina Ghaliya, Jakarta – Labor unions have called on the House of Representatives to conduct a legislative review on the recently passed omnibus law on job creation, challenging the Democratic Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) to initiate it.

Yulia Savitri, Palembang – An illegal coal mine in Tanjung Lalang village, Tanjung Agung district, Muaraenim regency, South Sumatra collapsed on Wednesday afternoon, killing 11 miners in the landslide.

Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has conveyed his disappointment over the bad press surrounding the Job Creation Law, blaming his Cabinet members for poor public relations regarding the controversial legislation product.

Jakarta – Workers and students are expected to stage another rally in front of Merdeka Palace, Central Jakarta, on Thursday as protests against the omnibus law on job creation enter their third week in Jakarta and other major cities across the nation.

Jakarta – The Banten administration has extended large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) in the province until Nov. 19, according to a recently issued gubernatorial decree.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Indigenous Entrepreneurs Association (HIPPI) has predicted that the provincial minimum wage (UMP) for Jakarta will see no increase in 2021 following economic slowdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jakarta – The junior prosecutor for general crimes at the Attorney General's Office (AGO), Fadil Zumhana, says there is no indication of arson behind the fire that ravaged the main building of the AGO complex in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, in August.

Stanley Widianto, Jakarta – Indonesian activists called on Thursday for deeper investigation into the killing of a Papuan pastor, a day after a top security official said a government fact-finding mission had found signs of possible involvement by state forces.

A peaceful call to action in Bali protesting Indonesia's controversial new jobs creation law appears to have been hijacked by unknown parties calling for widespread violence, with police now getting involved to investigate further.

Singapore (Reuters) – Forested areas greater than the size of the Netherlands have been burned in Indonesia in the past five years, with 30 per cent of the fires occurring on pulpwood and palm oil concessions, environmental group Greenpeace said on Thursday (Oct 22).

The Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) is pretty much all of us right now, as it has urged the government to observe all due process for any COVID-19 vaccine candidate so it doesn't appear to be recklessly rushing to vaccinate the country.

Adrian Wail Akhlas, Jakarta – The government has allocated Rp 2.6 trillion (US$177 million) to support pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) as part of the government's broader efforts to revive an economy battered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Jakarta – Two women in Langsa city of Aceh were publicly whipped 23 times each after having been charged for violating the conservative region's gambling law on Wednesday.

The Langsa Sharia Court previously found the defendants – identified as AN and SS – guilty of online gambling on Oct. 10. Online gambling is haram according to Aceh's Qanun Jinayat (Criminal Code Bylaw).

Jakarta – A lecturer at IPB University, the state-run agricultural university based in Bogor, West Java, has suggested an idea for building regional food security amid the coronavirus restrictions, which could disrupt supply and distribution.

Adrian Wail Akhlas, Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised concern over environmental protection – or the lack thereof – in the Job Creation Law, calling on the government to ensure sustainable growth.

Ardila Syakriah, Jakarta – Indonesia's low testing rate has persisted seven months into the COVID-19 pandemic, as laboratories throughout the archipelago face problems ranging from limited testing kits to delays in reported results.

Jakarta – The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) has said that gender inequality remains a major issue in the policies of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Vice President Ma'ruf Amin in the first year of their administration.

Ghina Ghaliya and Marchio Irfan Gorbiano, Jakarta – Yet another draft version of the Job Creation Law has emerged, even after the House of Representatives handed over the supposed final 812-page draft to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Oct. 14.

Marchio Irfan Gorbiano, Jakarta – The pandemic and its economic consequences have prompted many countries to scale up their social assistance programs through a strong, digitized government-to-person payment system, a World Bank official has said.

Jakarta – Ahead of the upcoming long weekend, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi has reminded travelers to ensure they have negative COVID-19 test results, especially for those who plan to use trains or airplanes.

Yulia Savitri, Palembang – South Sumatra has extended the alert status for forest fires until the end of November despite the high intensity rainfall that the region has experienced since the start of the rainy season.

Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – The total number of cured or discharged Covid-19 patients in Indonesia passed the 300,000 mark on Thursday, but the peak of new infections remains nowhere to be seen.

Achmad Nasrudin Yahya, Jakarta – Amnesty International Indonesia investigator Ari Pramuditya has criticised a recommendation by Coordinating Minister for Security, Politics and Legal Affairs Mahfud MD to deploy more troops in Papua.

Mahfud's recommendation was to add more troops to areas in Papua which do not yet have pockets of military troops.

Dewi Nurita, Jakarta – Muhammadiyah Secretary-General, Abdul Mu'ti, said that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo would not issue a government regulation in lieu of law that would revoke the newly-enacted Job Creation Law.

Egi Adyatama, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) has urged the government to take the shooting of Papuan pastor Yeremias Zanambani to civilian court trial if members of the National Armed Forces (TNI) are proven guilty in the pastor's death.

Friski Riana, Jakarta – The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) maintains that the issue of gender equality remains to be a problem in the first year of the Jokowi-Ma'ruf Amin administration.

M Yusuf Manurung, Jakarta – The spokesperson of the Congress Alliance of Indonesian Labor Unions (KASBI), Nining Elitos, said members of the labor unions refuse to meet representatives from the Presidential Palace if the government does not change its views towards the omnibus law on job creation.

Friski Riana, Jakarta – The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) opined that the Job Creation Law potentially lowers the rights of women workers both in the country and abroad.

Tri Indah Oktavianti, Jakarta – The Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) and the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) have called on the government to further investigate the killing of Papuan pastor Yeremia Zanambani following the publication of a government-sanctioned joint fact-finding team report.

Jakarta – An upcoming long weekend is the next test for the country's COVID-19 mitigation efforts as mobility will be hard to control, warns an epidemiologist.

"Remember that the pandemic will persist for a relatively long period of time," an epidemiologist from Griffith University, Dicky Budiman, said Tuesday as quoted by kompas.com.

Tri Indah Oktavianti, Jakarta – A coalition of medical associations is planning to file a judicial review and issue a subpoena to Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto over a recently issued ministerial regulation on clinical radiology, which the group has deemed "an abuse of power".