Ayat S. Karokaro, South Tapanuli, Indonesia – The death toll from a landslide at the site of a hydropower plant being built in Indonesia's Batang Toru forest has risen to 10, with three people still missing and feared dead, authorities said.

Resty Woro Yuniar – Travel bans in Indonesia and Malaysia aimed at stemming the traditional exodus ahead of the Eid ul-Fitr religious festival may do little to prevent a rise in Covid-19 infections, health experts have said, with one warning an India-style flare-up is possible.

Linda Yulisman, Banyuwangi, East Java – As Hari Raya Aidilfitri approaches next Thursday (May 13), Banyuwangi resident Fitri Koreasari is looking forward to cooking up a feast for her family – a spread that will include festive favourites chicken opor and beef rendang.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Indonesia on Saturday welcomed a fresh shipment of around 1.3 million doses of Astrazeneca's Covid-19 vaccine, acquired via the global procurement scheme Covax Facility.

Linda Yulisman, Jakarta – Indonesian street food vendor Ahmad Dedi and his family arrived at Jakarta's Pasar Senen train station from the neighbouring city of Bekasi more than six hours before their departure to Kebumen, Central Java, on Tuesday (May 4) evening.

Jakarta – A new analysis from the University of Washington's Institute of Health Metric and Evaluations, or IHME, has suggested that the total number of Covid-19 deaths in Indonesia, as well as in the world, could be more than twice the reported figure, changing the picture about the scale and risk of the pandemic.

Jakarta – The government will impose sanctions on those who defy the 2021 Idul Fitri homecoming ban as a drastic measure to contain coronavirus transmission.

The enforcement of the mudik ban in the Greater Jakarta Area will be monitored by local neighborhood or community units, an official has said, as Indonesia enters day two of banning the annual Eid homecoming tradition.

Iman Rahman Cahyadi, Jakarta – More than 8.4 million Indonesian citizens have received two doses of Covid-19 vaccine as of Friday, government figures show, but the number represents a tiny percentage of the country's 270 million population.

Lani Diana Wijaya, Jakarta – The Jakarta provincial government is still recording new cases of Covid-19. As of Thursday, May 6, it logged 905 confirmed cases over the last 24 hours.

The city's Health Agency Head of Disease Prevention and Control Unit, Dwi Oktavia, said the additional cases were obtained from the results of PCR swab tests carried out on 15,307 specimens.

Dozens of dogs escaped getting slaughtered for their meat as they were being smuggled across provincial borders, though some sadly died during the inhumane transportation conditions.

Yesterday, two men, one from Jakarta and another from Central Java, drove a pickup truck carrying 78 dogs – which were shoved inside burlap sacks – and were headed for Solo, Central Java.

A "tantric full body orgasm" event scheduled for this weekend in Ubud has caused some online hubbub as news about the retreat makes national headlines, prompting an official investigation by immigration authorities today.

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Indonesia could lose an area of tropical rainforest bigger than Belgium to oil palm plantations over the next three years without existing measures to slow this loss, activists warn. This would negate the government's own commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.

Budiarti Utami Putri, Jakarta – The Gerakan Indonesia Kita (GITA) or Our Indonesia Movement has blasted the decision of Garut Regent Rudy Gunawan, whom they said had hindered the freedom to worship of Ahmadiyah followers, after the regent issued a circular that effectively banned religious activities of the Ahmadiyah Indonesia congregation and halted the construction of their house

Jakarta has begun administering COVID-19 shots to people aged 18 and above, becoming one of the first provinces in the country to target the general public in its mass vaccination drive.

As stated in a press release by the Jakarta Provincial Government, starting May 5, health authorities in the capital have begun administering the AstraZeneca vaccine to the general public.

Antara, Jakarta – Gerindra Party secretary Ahmad Muzani said on Thursday, May 6, 2021, that the party members are hoping that the party's chairperson and current Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto is willing to run for the presidency in the 2024 presidential election.

Health authorities in Banten province say they have detected two dangerous mutations of the coronavirus in three patients from the Greater Tangerang Area so far, raising alarm for a possible spread to the capital Jakarta and beyond.

Tsarina Maharani, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) says that the virtual police unit initiated by Indonesian police chief (Kapolri) General Lusty Sight Prabowo has become a new tool of repression in the digital world.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – A popular Islamic cleric in Indonesia has come under fire for claiming that Catholics only go to church on Sundays to pray to St. Dominic.

Indonesia's Culture, Education, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim is insisting on resuming face-to-face learning in schools in July, despite great concerns that reopening schools would lead to a surge in COVID-19 cases.

Antara, Jakarta – State-owned toll road operator Jasa Marga recorded 414,774 vehicles leaving the Greater Jakarta area just one day before the ban on mass exodus or 'mudik ban' was imposed on May 6, 2021.

M Julnis Firmansyah, Jakarta – Hundreds of factory workers from West Karawang staged a demonstration in KM 31 of Cikarang toll road as they could not enter Bekasi because of the toll road closure.

Ebed de Rosary, Kupang, Indonesia – In Indonesia's arid, southern East Nusa Tenggara province, clean water is hard to come by.

The issue made national headlines last year when an "extreme drought" triggered clean water shortages in different parts of the archipelagic province, from Rote in the south to Flores in the north.

Officials and staff at Indonesia's Social Affairs Ministry went to a karaoke bar on numerous occasions and paid for their nights out using ill-gotten money in a massive COVID-19 aid bribery scandal, a court heard.

Fana Suparman, Dwi Argo Santosa, Jakarta – The employees' association of the Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, alleged on Wednesday that there was an attempt to dismiss certain investigators through the so-called nationalism test.

Egi Adyatama, Jakarta – The National Covid-19 task force on Tuesday recorded an increase in people's mobility especially in shopping centers amid a stricter restriction to curb Covid-19 spread.

Max Walden – The Indonesian government has vowed "strict punishment" for several staff members of a state-owned pharmaceutical company accused of reusing cotton swabs for COVID-19 tests at a busy international airport.

Konradus Epa, Jakarta – Indonesian journalists marked World Press Freedom Day on May 3 by calling on the government and parliament to revise a law they say has been used to gag and persecute them.

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, thousands of Jakartans are racing to beat the mudik ban before it comes into effect tomorrow, inundating the capital's travel hubs.

Dzulfiqar Fathur Rahman – The Indonesian economy saw the latest in a series of diminishing contractions in the first quarter of 2021, staying on course for an economic recovery as the government kept up its fiscal support and ramped up the COVID-19 vaccination drive to allow people and businesses to bounce back from the pandemic.

Shotaro Tani, Jakarta – Indonesia's economy shrank for the fourth straight quarter, as the coronavirus pandemic remains a drag on Southeast Asia's largest economy.

Nivell Rayda, Jakarta – Train stations and airports in Jakarta were packed with travellers making a last-ditch effort to leave the capital city, with the government set to impose another ban on Thursday (May 6) on the annual exodus to other provinces marking the end of Ramadan.

A man who achieved viral infamy for his vehemently anti-mask stance has been made an ambassador to promote health protocols, since Indonesian authorities love to punish people that way for some reason.

Police in the East Java capital of Surabaya this week summoned a man for questioning, after a video showing him mocking masked mall visitors circulated widely.

New policies are now being enforced at Central Jakarta's market district of Tanah Abang, following massive crowds at the popular textile market and nearby train station over the weekend.

Several videos taken from Tanah Abang have been widely circulating, prompting netizens to blame the crowds for ignoring lessons from India's devastating second wave of the coronavirus.

Nivell Rayda, Jakarta – Despite obvious signs that a powerful cyclone was brewing, life carried on as usual in the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara last month.

Aside from grounding ships and airplanes from travelling in the rough weather, hardly any preparation was made.

Indonesia is seeing drastic COVID-19 case surges in seven provinces – all of which are major mudik Eid exodus destinations – in the lead up to the Islamic holiday which falls on May 12-14.

M Rosseno Aji, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leaders reportedly planned to dismiss 75 employees as they did not pass the national test. One of them is senior investigator Novel Baswedan.

Novel confirmed to have heard the news of his dismissal. "Yes, I've heard the information," he said via a text message to Tempo on Monday, May 3, 2021.

Why mask up when prayer can shield you from the coronavirus? That was the reasoning behind a no-mask rule at a mosque in Bekasi, West Java before a viral incident taught its staff the importance of health precautions.

Jakarta – Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) investigator Kurnia Ramadhana says that the public's concerns about President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's policies on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) are being confirmed bit by bit.

Jakarta – A 10-year-old boy died after eating cyanide-laced satay which was allegedly intended for another person in a murder plot that goes horribly wrong in Yogyakarta, police said on Monday.

A woman has been arrested for allegedly lacing satay and cyanide and ordering a motorcycle taxi to deliver it to the target – an ex-boy friend, according to police.

Jakarta – Yogyakarta has administered the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to more than 55 percent of its targeted recipients, helping the province to avoid spiking fatalities in the province, according to the Yogyakarta Health Agency.

Richard Heydarian – When India's then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was asked in the 1950s why Southeast Asian nations were designated as Category C in his country's foreign policy, he reportedly replied: "Do you gentlemen wish to become friendly with Coca-Cola governments?"

Stanley Widianto – Indonesia has recorded its first cases of a highly infectious COVID-19 variant first detected in India, the health minister said on Monday, as authorities implored people not to travel to their hometowns for the end of the Muslim fasting month.

Jakarta – Indonesia has seen inflation accelerated to its fastest pace in three months in April, as demand for foods and clothes during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan picked up and drove up the commodities' prices.

Amy Chew – Indonesian lawmakers are calling for the sister ship to KRI Nanggala 402 – which sank recently with the loss of all 53 crew – to be grounded until it is proven seaworthy.

Jakarta – The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) says that 90 journalists were victims of violence over the last year with most of the alleged perpetrators being police.

Bisnis.Com, Jakarta – The secretary of the state passenger ferry operator ASDP Indonesia Ferry, Shelvy Arifin, said passenger and vehicle mobility in this year's mudik saw a surge 12 days ahead of the Eid al-Fitr national holidays.

Emma Connors, Singapore/Jakarta – Public health experts believe Indonesia is dangerously exposed to a steep rise in COVID-19 infections as a religious celebration looms and scams reveal weaknesses in border controls and testing regulations.

Antara, Jakarta – Confederation of Indonesian Workers Unions (KSPI) President Said Iqbal echoed demands, including calls to revoke the Job Creation Law, especially regarding the manpower cluster, at a rally to commemorate Labor Day or May Day 2021.

Nasrudin Yahya, Jakarta – Labour Movement with the People (Gebrak) spokesperson Nining Elitos says that protesters received threats from outside parties prior to the commemoration of May Day 2021 in Jakarta on Saturday May 1.