In West Kalimantan, one of the provinces hit hardest by the ongoing wildfires, conservation authorities and environmental groups have rescued three orangutans found in critical condition.

Dozens of people remain unaccounted for three days after the Virgo Transport 8, which carried 213 passengers and 30 crew, went down early Sunday.

According to authorities the two hostages had fled their captors and travelled through the forest for about 20 days without food or water. Demerina was found in a weakened condition while Yosina was found dead due to starvation.

Kelingking Beach is a popular tourist destination where visitors regularly hike along the cliffs or trek down to the beach. The descent can take up to two hours and the trail has been described as perilous.

The latest blaze is the second wildfire to hit the Mount Bromo area in about a month, underscoring heightened fire risk during the dry season.

Choppy waters with high waves and strong winds were impeding the search on Monday, said Mohammad Syafii, head of the National Rescue Agency (Basarnas).

The Virgo Transport 8 ship carrying 243 people went missing in bad weather early on Sunday, the rescue agency said. Authorities have rescued 108 people from the ship, which was travelling from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan.

The Virgo Transport 8 -- which authorities said carried 213 passengers and 30 crew -- lost contact with its shipping company early Sunday after departing from Surabaya in East Java.

Greenhouse gas emitted from forest and peatland fires across Indonesia has reached the same amount of 74 coal-fired power plants, potentially hurting the country’s “net sink” aim in the forestry sector by 2030.

Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka has become the highest state official to apologize for mass food poisoning caused by the free nutritious meal program in Karo regency, North Sumatra. 

Fires on peatlands have unique characteristics because extinguished fires can continue to burn underneath the surface.

A passenger ship carrying 243 people was reported missing after losing contact early on Sunday during bad weather, the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) said.

Initial information revealed that the orangutan babies are aged between one and five years old and were found in healthy conditions.

According to authorties, the incident occurred on Wednesday as a group of 11 employees from the Jayawijaya Agriculture Agency were returning to the regency capital of Wamena from Muliama district, some 20 kilometers away.

Indonesia is emerging as a new operational hub for transnational online gambling and cyber scam syndicates, according to the National Police, as a crackdown on scam centers in mainland Southeast Asia pushes some criminal networks to seek new locations.

The eruptions involved Mount Semeru in East Java, Mount Ili Lewotolok in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and Mount Ibu in North Maluku.

The Indonesian Immigration Directorate General also decided to ban the Australian, identified as BA, from entering Indonesia for 10 years.

The search for five journalists and three boat crew members who went missing near Mount Anak Krakatau entered its fourth day on Friday, with authorities expanding the search area to include nearby islands within the volcano’s restricted zone.

Currently there are seven piers on each side of the crossing but more piers are needed to ease traffic to and from Bali, especially large trucks. 

In Central Kalimantan, prolonged drought has dried up parts of the Barito River, one of the longest and largest rivers in the Kalimantan region, bringing river transportation to a standstill.

The Karo Health Agency said six students remained hospitalized as of early September. Among them was 16-year-old Febiola Purba, who developed memory loss, suffered multiple seizures and had difficulty speaking after falling ill.

The NTT administration will strengthen monitoring and protection efforts not only centralized evacuation shelters but also communal shelters and independent evacuation sites.

Police have prevented a group of 10 Meranti Islands residents from departing on tourist visas for migrant jobs in Malaysia and arrested their "agent" on various charges.

Despite the arrests, questions remain over whether authorities are targeting only those who physically set the fires or are also pursuing those who may have benefited from them.

The contraband was found in four packages wrapped in black plastic covers, each containing 60 vape cartridges.

The group set out on a speedboat from an area west of Jakarta on Monday afternoon, but the crew lost contact with the boat owner soon after departure, according to Basarnas.

The fire was first reported at around 12:30 a.m. and quickly spread through the market, engulfing several shophouses. It burned for more than three hours and destroyed at least 49 kiosks and shophouses despite efforts by firefighters.