Latest Indonesia News &amp; Current Events in English

Army deployed as Mt. Sinabung’s activity increases

Residents in danger zones should always be on guard because there could be a major eruption at any time.

19 hours ago

Society premium

One orangutan dies, more rescued as wildfire rages

Sempurna, an adult male Bornean orangutan previously found weak in a community oil palm plantation in West Kalimantan’s Ketapang, died after suffering from low blood oxygen level from inhaling too much wildfire smoke, as confirmed by authorities.

21 hours ago

The Latest

Students rest while receiving treatment for food poisoning at the regional general hospital after eating government-sponsored free school meals in Sidoarjo, East Java province, Indonesia, September 2, 2026.

Politics premium

Mass poisonings cast doubt on free meals reforms

New National Nutrition Agency (BGN) head Sudaryono, who oversees the free meals program, described the series of food poisoning incidents lately as “deliberate negligence” by kitchens that had failed to follow the agency’s food-safety procedures.

22 hours ago

An NBO-105 light, multirole, twin-engine helicopter from the Yogyakarta Police drops 9,000 liters of water to extinguish a fire on Friday at the Putri Cempo landfill in Surakarta, Central Java. The fire has been burning some 6 hectares of Blocks B, C and D of the landfill since Wednesday.

Water bombing used on Surakarta’s Putri Cempo landfill fire

An NBO-105 light, multirole, twin-engine helicopter with a water capacity of some 9,000 liters from the Yogyakarta Police was used for water bombing.

22 hours ago

The Presidential Palace is seen before a ceremony marking Indonesia's 80th Independence Day at the Ceremonial Plaza in Nusantara Capital City (IKN) in East Kalimantan on Aug. 17, 2025.

Wildfires spread near new capital Nusantara

Indonesia has intensified efforts to contain haze in six provinces hit the hardest by forest and land fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra islands, which so far have reached 73,311 hectares.

1 day ago

Personnel from a joint team (background) talk to five migrant workers at Wisma Amira hotel in Dumai, Riau, on Dec. 12, 2025, preventing their illegal departures. A human trafficking syndicate was going to send the migrant workers to work in Cambodia through Malaysia.

Navy intercepts eight Indonesians, eight Bangladeshis arriving from Malaysia

The Indonesian Navy deployed personnel from multiple units and arrested 16 people who arrived illegally from Malaysia, but the two people, a speedboat skipper and a crew member, are still at large.

1 day ago

Jakarta Transportation Agency officers inspect a free-meals delivery vehicle that struck students and a teacher at SDN Kalibaru 01 Pagi state elementary school in Cilincing, North Jakarta, on Dec. 11, 2025. The incident left 20 students and a teacher injured and requiring treatment at nearby hospitals.

Politics

Komnas HAM calls for police to probe food poisoning of more than 2,000 students

In separate cases across at least three major islands, more than 2,000 students and teachers fell ill after eating lunch issued by the government as part of a scheme to eradicate malnutrition launched by Prabowo last year.

1 day ago

politics

Komnas HAM calls for police to probe food poisoning of more than 2,000 students

1 day ago

Workers prepare nutritious meals under the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program at the Samarinda Police Nutrition Fulfillment Service Unit (SPPG) in Samarinda Ulu, East Kalimantan, on Nov. 4.

premium

More than 1,700 students and teachers sickened this week due to free meals

Lawmakers attend a House of Representatives plenary session on July 1, 2025, at the Senayan Legislative Complex in Central Jakarta.

premium

Calls mount for House transparency on asset forfeiture bill

In this screen grab, Hercules or Rosario de Marshal (central) of United Indonesian People’s Movement (GRIB) Jaya, speaks on Aug. 30 about several issues that emerged following chaotic demonstrations on Aug. 27 in Jakarta, after attending the regional working meeting of the GRIB Jaya West Java chapter, which also marked the first anniversary of the GRIB Jaya branch in Palabuhanratu, Sukabumi regency, West Java.

premium

Hercules’ return spotlights Prabowo’s informal power network

Riot police stand guard during a protest on Aug. 27 against government policies and demanding harsher penalties for corruption outside the Senayan Legislative Complex in Central Jakarta.

premium

Komnas HAM launches probe on Jakarta protest handling

Harry Tjan Silalahi, chair of the Board of Trustees of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) (left) and Jusuf Wanandi, vice chair of the Board of Trustees, deliver remarks on Tuesday, Sept.1, 2026, during a ceremony marking the 55th anniversary of CSIS Indonesia at the CSIS office in Central Jakarta.

premium

CSIS at 55: Defending space for policy debate

President Prabowo Subianto (right) closes the 35th Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) congress on Aug. 31as newly elected supreme leader Miftahul Akhyar (center) and newly elected chairman Abdul Hakim Mahfudz, also known as Gus Kikin, look on at Bahrul Ulum Islamic boarding school in Jombang, East Java.

premium

Gus Kikin vows calmer, more cohesive NU

jakarta

premium

Jakarta transit grows, but Greater Jakarta stays disconnected

jakarta

Jakarta fines waste firms over illegal dumping

Jakarta has seen a surge of makeshift dumpsites as the gradual closure of Bantar Gebang, the capital’s largest landfill in neighboring Bekasi, has put further pressure on the city’s waste management system.

5 days ago

A sanitation worker walks through a parking lot at an apartment complex on Jl. Jend. Basuki Rachmat in East Jakarta, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026.

premium

Jakarta commuters unhappy with proposed parking fee hike

Feeling the heat: The main play structure at Embung Jagakarsa open green space in Jagakarsa, South Jakarta stands tall under direct sunlight with no shade above and around it, as seen on Aug. 10, 2026.

premium

Too hot for Jakarta kids to play outside

Visitors look at the National Monument (Monas) against a backdrop of air pollution, from the balcony of the National Library on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan on Sunday in Central Jakarta.

premium

Borderless pollution chokes Greater Jakarta as policy gaps persist

Students stage a protest in the city center on Aug. 18, a day after the 81st Independence Day in Jakarta, demanding the government eradicate corruption, collusion and nepotism, end wasteful programs, and lower the prices of basic necessities and fuel.

premium

Jakarta police plan to limit protest sites draws backlash

Skyscrapers in Jakarta are shrouded in haze on July 20 in East Jakarta. Jakarta's Air Quality Index (AQI) averaged between 120 and 168 in mid-July 2026, placing the city's air quality in the unhealthy category.

premium

Rainless days exacerbate air pollution in Jakarta

archipelago

premium

Wildfires spread near new capital Nusantara

premium

Navy intercepts eight Indonesians, eight Bangladeshis arriving from Malaysia

Mount Sinabung spews ash and thick smoke early on Wednesday as seen from Karo, North Sumatra province.

premium

Villagers ignore warning, still working in Sinabung’s danger zones

Armed officers stand guard on Tuesday near a pile of evidence during a news conference on a drug smuggling case at the Riau Islands Police headquarters in Batam, Riau Islands. A joint team from the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), the National Police Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim Polri), the Directorate General of Customs and Excise and the Riau Islands Police foiled an attempt to smuggle 800 kilograms of ketamine in Riau Islands waters by an international syndicate and named a Taiwanese national, identified by the initials WLC, a suspect accused of acting as the syndicate's controller.

premium

Riau Islands guarantees investment despite large-scale drug smuggling

Soldiers of the Indonesian Military's (TNI) 613th Infantry Battalion/Raja Alam chant during a homecoming ceremony at Semayang Port in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, on July 22, 2026, after returning from a 12-month border security deployment along the Indonesia–Papua New Guinea frontier. A total of 450 personnel took part in the mission.

premium

Why do Dayak recruits get a special military pathway?

Armed officers stand guard near a pile of evidence during a news conference on a drug smuggling case at the Riau Islands Police headquarters in Batam, Riau Islands, on Sept. 1, 2026. A joint team from the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), the National Police Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim Polri), the Directorate General of Customs and Excise and the Riau Islands Police intercepted 800 kilograms of ketamine in Riau Islands waters, and named a Taiwanese national, identified by the initials BNC, as a suspect accused of acting as the syndicate's controller.

premium

Authorities intercept 800 kg of ketamine in Anambas waters

Wildfire flames and smoke rise above a forest on Aug. 10 in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park near Mount Bromo in Probolinggo, East Java.

premium

Mount Semeru fires spreading as E. Java experiences extreme drought

society

Gelar Alam ethnic people carry bundles of rice stalks on Oct. 5, 2025, during a Seren Taun harvest festival procession in Sukabumi, West Java. The annual ceremony expresses gratitude for the year's harvest and seeks blessings for harmony with nature and ancestors.

premium

Civil groups seek better recognition for indigenous peoples in new bill

Fire fighters with the Forest and Land Fire Control Brigade spray water to extinguish a fire on Aug. 12 in an area close to an oil palm plantation affected by wildfire in Pulang Pisau regency in Central Kalimantan.

premium

Unchecked businesses blamed for raging wildfires

Farmers joined under the Kawulo Alit Mandiri Farmers Group hold a banner that reads “Land for The People“ during a rally to protest against the criminalization of local farmers in Semarang, Central Java, on Aug. 3, 2026. The protesters demanded the Central Java Police stop the investigation into two local farmers, who were reported by a company for allegedly illegally taking control of a 16-hectare plot in Dayunan in Kendal regency.

premium

House moves on agrarian reform legislation

This undated handout photograph taken by the Orangutan Information Centre and released on June 10, 2026 shows the Tapanuli orangutans over a tree in the Batang Toru forest in Indonesia's North Sumatra. Climate change-fueled landslides wiped out nearly one in 10 remaining members of the world's rarest great ape species on Sumatra island, scientists said on June 10.

premium

As forests fragment, arboreal bridges offer orangutans a lifeline

About 200 graduates of master's and doctoral programs gather for their commencement ceremony on Thursday at the Lecture Hall of the Indonesian International Islamic University (UIII) in Depok, West Java.

premium

UIII marks first commencement ceremony for doctoral graduates

A firefighter sprays water to extinguish wildfire on Aug. 26 in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan. Around 7,600 hectares of land have been burned across the province between January and late July, according to data from the Forestry Ministry.

premium