This screengrab, with no time or location provided, shows the atmosphere during The Sounds Project music festival held Aug. 7-9, 2026, at Ecovention & Ecopark Ancol in North Jakarta, Indonesia.`

Quran challenge for alcohol draws outrage, police probe

An offer of free alcohol in exchange for reciting a Quran verse at a North Jakarta music festival has sparked public outrage and a police investigation over alleged blasphemy.

6 hours ago

Society

Free meals drive leaves remote kitchen investors deep in debt

Mounting debts are the latest blow for an initiative that has struggled with governance issues, supply chains problems, mass food poisoning cases and financial cutbacks since it was launched last year, leaving kitchens idle, children unfed and investors owing tens of millions of dollars.

12 hours ago

Archipelago

Rescuers comb waters near Bali for 5 missing after ferry blaze

Rescuers combed the Lombok Strait off Bali island on Thursday for five people declared missing after a ferry fire that killed one and sent dozens of passengers scrambling overboard, officials said.

12 hours ago

The Latest

Passengers alight from Putri Deli train on June 6, 2025, at Medan station in Medan, North Sumatra. The train plies the Medan-Tanjungbalai route with a distance of some 175 kilometers in 4 hours and 45 minutes.

Archipelago premium

Two motorcyclists killed by train at unguarded N. Sumatra railway crossing

The motorcycle was hit by the Putri Deli U98 train, which was traveling from Medan to Tanjungbalai in North Sumatra.

14 hours ago

Archipelago premium

Protesters torch government buildings in Central Papua over village funding cuts

In February, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa issued a regulation requiring 58 percent of village funds to be allocated to support President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship Red and White Cooperatives program.

16 hours ago

Commuter train passengers wait for the wagons to stop during the morning rush hour on November 8, 2024, at Manggarai Station in Jakarta.

Jakarta premium

Teen’s death on commuter train track stirs calls for transit safety

Calls grow for installations of train platform barriers to prevent passengers from falling onto the tracks, following the recent death of a teenager who was struck by a commuter train in South Tangerang, Banten.

17 hours ago

Golden Indonesia Community Forum (Formas) board of trustees chairman Hashim Djojohadikusumo (right), Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar (center) and Formas chief expert Serian Wijatno attend the inauguration of 20 mass organizations as Formas new members in Jakarta on Aug. 7, 2026.

Politics premium

Critical space narrows as Prabowo's brother embraces mass orgs

The growing consolidation of mass organizations under a group cofounded by President Prabowo Subianto’s younger brother Hashim Djojohadikusumo to support government programs has raised concerns over the potential narrowing of space for criticism and the weakening of independent voices.

18 hours ago

A boy sits on Aug. 5 at the Dago residential area in Bandung, West Java. The West Java office of Statistics Indonesia (BPS) recorded a decrease in the urban poor population from 2.83 million people in September 2025 to 2.7 million in March.

Society premium

Inequality worsens as wealth gap widens

The economic disparity is most apparent in the eastern part of Indonesia, such as Sulawesi and Papua, where extractive industries, which are done by businesses led by wealthy people and driven by Jakarta-centered development, have exacerbated the wealth rift.

19 hours ago