Daniel A. Fajri, Jakarta – President Joko Widodo or Jokowi took Indonesian celebrities on his visit to the new capital city of Nusantara or IKN in East Kalimantan. President on Friday, Sept. 22, took them to explore IKN, check the location for the construction of the presidential office, eat durian, and have dinner together.

Jakarta – In her speeches and press statements at the Sept. 19-26 United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi has reasserted President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's confidence that Indonesia has and will always act as a nonconfrontational and moderate champion of developing nations, now popularly known as the Global South.

Wijayanti Putri, Solo, Central Java – Kaesang Pangarep, the youngest son of President Joko Widodo, officially became a member of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) on Saturday, with a clear goal of assisting "the party of the youth" in securing seats in the House of Representatives in next year's general elections.

Faturahman Sophian, Jakarta – The Civil Coalition for Security Reform urged the House of Representatives (DPR) to use its right of inquiry to question President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo over his statement on intelligence data containing the inner workings of political parties.

Jakarta – The Attorney General's team of Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) examined three witnesses in the Palm Oil Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDPKS) corruption case from 2015 to 2022. The witnesses – SS, FYJ and J – were questioned at around 09:00, officials said.

Daniel A. Fajri, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo received the Road Map of Golden Indonesia 2045 from the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) chair Arsyad Rasyid. The road map contains program inputs and initiatives that are more coordinated and focused on achieving the 2045 development target.

Jakarta – State-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina will build a sustainable energy center in Indonesia's new capital Nusantara.

Pertamina on Friday inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on this project with the city's authority body. The signing also took place during President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's on-site visit to Nusantara.

Antara, Jakarta – The Jakarta Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) chairman Isnawa Adji disclosed that 90 percent of the fires in the capital city occurred due to short circuits. From January to September 2023, there were about a thousand cases of blazes throughout the city.

Jakarta – Peer-to-peer lending platform AdaKami questioned media reports and widespread social media posts alleging that one of its customers had committed suicide due to an inability to repay his debt and the extremely high interest rates.

Jakarta – Indonesia has restored one of the biggest coal-fired power plants in Southeast Asia to near full capacity, its operator told AFP on Friday, after it was ordered to slice output to curb pollution in capital Jakarta.

Pia Dannhauer – When Indonesia took over the rotating chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in January 2023, the organisation was in need of strong leadership.

ASEAN was facing three major challenges. First, the region's economy was still recovering from COVID-19 and the repercussions of the war in Ukraine.

Jakarta – Protesters have set fire to a mayor's office in Gorontalo to demand compensation over a mining company's activity in their area, police said, adding that several arrests had been made.

The growing presence of mining companies in Indonesia has caused riots and clashes in recent years over poor working conditions and land encroachment.

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Despite various commitments from global brands and the government to protect Indonesia's Leuser Ecosystem, home to some of the rarest species on Earth, development of new palm oil plantations and drainage of carbon-rich peatlands continue in the ecosystem, a new investigation finds.

Yohanes Maharso Joharsoyo, Jakarta – West Jakarta Prosecutor's Office named the Director of Courier and Logistics of the PT Pos Indonesia Siti Choirina as a corruption case suspect in PT Interdata Teknologi Sukses procurement.

Riani Sanusi Putri, Jakarta – The National Consumer Protection Agency (BPKN) head Rizal Edy Halim said that talk of shutting down social commerce sites such as TikTok Shop in order to protect local MSMEs was unwise because the platform is also widely used by young Indonesian entrepreneurs to sell their products.

Savero Aristia Wienanto, Jakarta – The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) slammed the Jakarta Environment Agency for planning to control air quality measurement and monitoring instruments installed by unlicensed private companies across the capital. Walhi said this was an attempt to monopolize information on air pollution.

Moh. Tamimi, Sumenep, Indonesia – Fisherwomen on Indonesia's Madura Island are at the forefront of a protest against a plan to convert a stretch of their coast into salt farming in their efforts to protect the ecosystem that has provided a key source of income for the community.

Antara, Jakarta – Denpasar Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported that the drought in Bali has spread to 15 districts due to 80 days of no rain.

"Generally, Bali is placed in the category of rainy to extreme drought," said Coordinator for Data and Information BMKG Denpasar I Nyoman Gede Wiryajaya in Bali today, September 22, 2023.

Nivell Rayda, Surabaya, Indonesia – IT engineer Audrey Maximilian Herli was studying at one of Indonesia's top universities in Surabaya in 2015 when he discovered that a close female friend had been struggling silently with a litany of personal problems and traumas.

Kuala Lumpur – Indonesia's elections next year are likely to spur deforestation as politicians seek campaign funds from businesses in return for easier access to rich natural resources, environmentalists say.

The South-east Asian nation, the world's third-largest democracy, will hold a general election on Feb 14, with regional polls planned for later in 2024.

Antara, Jakarta – At least ten domestic investors poured over Rp20 trillion of investment to develop public facilities in Nusantara State Capital (IKN). "The IKN investment from the consortium so far raked up to Rp20 trillion," said IKN Authority head Bambang Susantono in a written statement in Jakarta yesterday.

Jakarta – Failure to clear the 2,000 hectares of land that China's Xinyi Glass needs to develop the US$11.6 billion project on 17,000-ha Rempang Island near Singapore, comprising an eco-city and production facilities for solar photovoltaic panels and glass, could damage the government's credibility in policymaking and law enforcement.

Devi Asmarani (Magdalene), Jakarta – Ten years ago this month, an English-language website named after a revered, albeit arguably misdepicted, biblical female figure, went live with content rarely seen in the Indonesian digital scene at the time.

Adi Purmono, Jakarta – The recovery process for Bromo's ecosystem post the week-long fire from September 6 to 14, 2023, will take up to five years. The head of Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS) Constantius Hendro Widjanarko stated that the recovery would take quite a long time before the decimated trees could grow back optimally.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Bogor – France is putting industrial cooperation at the heart of its economic ties with Indonesia as Paris seeks to boost its business presence in Jakarta.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Indonesia has just inked a global pact in which it pledges to protect marine biodiversity in the international high seas, which makes up almost two-thirds of the ocean, according to Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.

An Indonesian court has jailed a woman for two years after she was found guilty of breaching the country's blasphemy laws in a TikTok food video she posted in March.

The video showed Lina Lutfiawati reciting a Muslim prayer before eating some crispy pork skin and quickly amassing millions of views. Pork is considered 'haram', or not permissible, under Islamic law.

An Indonesian court has sentenced a woman to two years in prison for posting a viral video on TikTok in which she said an Islamic phrase before eating pork.

The court in the Indonesian city of Palembang found Lina Lutfiawati, who has more than 2 million followers on TikTok, guilty of spreading "information that was intended to incite hate".

Yvette Tanamal, Jakarta – With much of its long-term development plan hindered by international trade laws, the current global order has been labeled "unfit" by Indonesian delegates at the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Summit, who also urged for the end of "discriminatory" trade policies.

Yustinus Paat, Jakarta – The General Election Commission (KPU) has announced plans to facilitate early voting for Indonesian citizens residing in foreign countries during the 2024 presidential election. However, the exact date for this early voting has not yet been determined.

Ade Ridwan Yandwiputra, Jakarta – The government has inked an MoU between Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Arifin Tasrif and the Second Minister for Trade and Industry of Singapore Tan See Leng in Jakarta. The MoU concerned the plan for new renewable electrical energy export to Singapore.

Jakarta – There is an excuse that is often invoked to justify the refusal by Western museums to return cultural artifacts looted from their former colonies. They claim that post-colonial countries do not have the commitment or resources to preserve their historical treasures.

Riani Sanusi Putri, Jakarta – The head of the advocacy department at the Palm Oil Farmers Union (SPKS) Marselinus Andy criticized the government's plan of bleaching or pardoning the 3.3 million hectares of illegal plantation. Andy believed that this policy was not transparent.

Jakarta – BP Berau Ltd (bp) and Kilang Pertamina Internasional, the subsidiary of the state-owned oil and gas firm, recently agreed to launch a study to assess the possibility of injecting carbon dioxide in Tangguh.

Antara, Jakarta – Vice Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning and Vice Head of National Agrarian Agency Raja Juli Antoni ensured that no discrimination will take place in the houses of worship certification process.

"Any place of worship of any God will be certified without discrimination in any way," he said in Jakarta today.

Moh. Khory Alfarizi, Jakarta – Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati reported that the inflation rate in Indonesia per August 2023 is on the low compared to the rest of ASEAN or G20 countries.

Deni Ghifari, Jakarta – Indonesia has begun work on a road map to develop the silica industry as a starting point for building a microchip industry in the country, but some ASEAN peers are much farther ahead in the race for semiconductor investment.

Stanley Widianto and Ananda Teresia, Jakarta – An Indonesian court has sentenced a woman to two years in prison for violating the country's blasphemy law after she posted a video on social media site TikTok in which she said a Muslim prayer before eating pork.

Mohamad Said, Nusantara, East Kalimantan – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo confirmed on Thursday that his youngest son, Kaesang Pangarep, has officially become a member of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI).

Anwar Siswadi (Contributor), Bandung – At least 39.4 percent of the West Java area is presently suffering from extreme drought, according to the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG). The West Java Climatology Station recorded more than 60 days without rain. Padalarang and Plumbon in Cirebon have even experienced almost 100 days without rain.

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Critics have questioned the Indonesian government's priorities as it prepares to evict longtime residents of a small island to make way for a $25 billion development that includes a solar panel factory and a tourism resort.

Jakarta – Indonesia's energy minister said on Thursday the government had made improvements in its oil and gas terms that would allow contractors to have equity shares of more than 50 percent in some new blocks to attract investment.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Putting a price on carbon, among others by imposing taxes, can put Indonesia on track toward its 2030 emission reduction goal, according to climate policy researcher Gilang Hardadi.

Mohamad Said, Nusantara, East Kalimantan – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Thursday laid the foundation stone for the first-ever hotel in the future national capital, Nusantara, located in East Kalimantan.

Endy Bayuni, Jakarta – Political parties may call most of the shots in next year's elections. They have the power to nominate the presidential and vice-presidential candidates, as well as the candidates for the national and local legislatures.

Yvette Tanamal, Jakarta – Indonesia advanced its bid for membership of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), holding bilateral talks with a number of its members at the United Nations in New York, the United States, on Tuesday, in the hope of winning over the consensus needed for admission.

Febry Andrean Amoga, Batam – Indonesian authorities, in collaboration with China's law enforcement agencies, on Wednesday deported 153 Chinese nationals using three chartered aircraft from Batam Island. The deportations are related to allegations of involvement in romance scams.

The two year prison sentence handed down against a TikTok influencer who goes by the name Lina Mukherjee, after she was charged with blasphemy over the content of a video in which she ate pork after expressing the phrase "Bismillah" (in the Name of Allah), has triggered a variety of reactions in cyberspace.

Adi Warsono, Jakarta – Directorate General of Human Settlements of the PUPR Ministry recorded that PAM (Water Utility Company) water service only reached 26% of Bekasi residents.

"Quality wise, only 4.18% of the water received by PAM customers in Bekasi is in top quality," said Human Settlements DG Diana Kusumastuti in Bekasi last Monday.

Arnoldus Kristianus, Jakarta – As of August 31, the state budget has achieved a surplus of Rp 147.2 trillion ($9.6 billion), equivalent to 0.7 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati announced on Wednesday.