“Elephants are a protected species. Involving them in heavy post-disaster work puts their safety at risk. Deploying elephants also contradicts conservation principles, which place animal welfare as a priority,” Daniel Johan, a member of House of Representatives Commission IV overseeing agriculture, forestry and fisheries, said.

 The suspects promised victims a job in France at a cost of US$5,000.

Yogyakarta provided Rp 1 billion each to the three affected provinces in the northern part of Sumatra.

For a fee, packages containing used clothing can be taken by passengers as carry on luggage or registered as checked baggage.

TNI’s role in Papua is not limited to security but also covers social communication, support for public service and contribution to regional development acceleration, a flag officer said.

Authorities are struggling to restore power in northern Sumatra, particularly in Aceh, after widespread floods and landslides last month, triggered by a rare cyclone and exacerbated by environmental destruction, with felled trees sweeping away villages, causing massive damage and hampering recovery.

The government assessed that there were relations between activities of the three companies with natural disasters affecting several regions in North Sumatra.

Reproducing giant pandas is considered one of the greatest challenges in wildlife conservation. Female pandas are fertile only once a year, and their receptive window lasts just two to three days. The egg remains viable for only a few hours, making natural breeding success rates extremely low.

The volcano has been highly active lately, with earlier eruptions occurring on Dec. 5 and Nov. 19. 

Suffering through days without clean water or proper medical care, evacuees packed into emergency shelters across three provinces in the northern part of Sumatra are falling severely ill, with some reportedly dying before help can reach them.

Karanganyar Police spokesperson First Insp. Mulyadi said the victims, 45-year-old Sigit Joko Purnomo and 55-year-old Pujo Buntoro, collapsed within minutes of each other at around 11 a.m.

With fatalities from the hydrometeorological disaster in Sumatra approaching 1,000 and numerous regions still struggling to receive aid, questions are growing over whether the government can manage the situation without international assistance.

Regent Mirwan said he had checked that all victims had been properly handled and ensured that all agencies were working properly before he performed umrah pilgrimage.

Fuel and liquified petroleum gas (LPG) supply is still limited and electricity has not fully recovered, with occasional blackouts continuing.

Riau Islands province has signaled it is ready to implement community service as an alternative punishment for criminal offenses carrying a maximum five years in prison or a fine of Rp 10 million when the new KUHP goes into effect on Jan. 2.

The regions hit by the floods and landslides in Aceh remain cut off from the government’s rescue efforts and aid delivery because of infrastructural damages, prompting fear of a rising death toll in one of the worst-hit provinces in the disaster.

The Indonesian Navy deployed at least 13 warships, five helicopters and an airplane to distribute relief for disaster victims in the northern part of Sumatra.

Drug smugglers Ali Tokman, 65, and Siegfried Mets, 74, have been languishing in jails for years after falling foul of the country's strict narcotics laws.

Aceh resident Munawar Liza Zainal said he felt "betrayed" by the government, which has so far shrugged off pressure to declare a national disaster. Declaring a national disaster would free up resources and help government agencies coordinate their response. 

Zoo spokesperson Sulhan Syafi'i said the remaining funds for animal feed will only last until Dec. 10, and so far the zoo has received no emergency assistance from either the Bandung administration or the central government.

Four species of the rare parasitic flower Rafflesia are blooming simultaneously in Bengkulu, a highly unusual phenomenon and a positive sign for the conservation of these iconic endemic plants.

Local and national police are continuing to search for at least 122 people still missing in the aftermath of the flooding and landslides that struck northern Sumatra on Nov. 26.

As fevers, typhoid and skin infections surge among survivors of last week’s deadly floods, authorities are stepping up medical outreach and disease-prevention efforts across Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra to contain outbreaks and protect vulnerable communities.

In two recent operations, the Indonesian Navy has thwarted one smuggling attempt involving sports apparel worth around Rp 6.1 billion and another involving 133 reptiles from Papua.

Nearly 200,000 people died in Aceh alone after a 9.1-magnitude quake off the northern province triggered the catastrophic Indian Ocean tsunami on December 26, 2004.

Joint authorities in Aceh are working around the clock to open alternative land routes and flying in fuel to support road repairs as several regions across the province are still cut-off and hindered from receiving aid.

Many evacuees have been forced to take shelter along the roadside, enduring scorching heat by day and cold temperatures at night due to a lack of temporary shelters. Residents are resorting to filtering water from puddles left by the flood to meet their basic drinking needs.

An analysis conducted at WIOEH’s Green Hospital Laboratory in South Korea detected 23 hazardous plastic-related chemicals in all samples, with the waste workers showing significantly higher concentrations than the control group.

Goods, including non-commercial ones, shipped from Batam have to pay high taxes to enter Indonesian customs area.

The Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister has dispatched around 40 tonnes of food and medical supplies to flood-ravaged Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra, as the government pressed on with search and rescue missions for a disaster that has claimed nearly 800 lives.