Culture Minister Fadli Zon announced this week that his ministry plans to send an official letter to the German government requesting the return of several historical objects originating from Indonesia, including artifacts connected to the Batak people of North Sumatra.

Fire broke out on the vessel, the MT Federal II, at around 4 a.m. on Wednesday (2100 GMT Tuesday) at a shipyard in the city of Batam, local police chief Sr. Comr. Zaenal Arifin said. Batam is around 20 kilometres (12.4 miles) away from Singapore by sea.

Sjafrie described the one-hour meeting with Surya as part of an outreach to politicians in a bid to "maintain national stability" and "protect the country's sovereignty", which is under the purview of his ministry.

The discovery of radioactive contamination in Indonesian cloves came shortly after the US FDA also flagged a shipment of shrimp from Indonesia for containing Cesium-137.

Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island erupted late Tuesday and again at 01:35 am (1735 GMT), sending volcanic materials 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) above its 1,584-metre-high peak, the National Volcanology Agency said in a statement.

Electric vehicle (EV) impacts on fuel station business would depend on technological advancement and government’s policy.

President Prabowo Subianto’s popularity may help the nationalist party win the 2029 elections, analysts have said, but extra efforts will still be needed as Gerindra may face more challenges in the next four years.

As of Oct. 5, Central Java had reported 15 food poisoning outbreaks linked to the government's free meals program, the second-highest number nationwide, behind West Java, which recorded 34 incidents, according to a Health Ministry report.

Jakarta is expanding its fire-fighting capacity with new stations and 1,000 trainees set to join the brigade next year, aiming to better protect residents in the city’s densely populated and fire-prone neighborhoods.

Former education minister Nadiem Makarim told reporters that he accepted the court’s decision to reject his pretrial motion that challenged the Attorney General’s Office’s (AGO) naming him a suspect.

The National Police have launched a criminal investigation into the radioactive contamination of Cesium-137 (Cs-137) at the Cikande Industrial Estate in Serang, Banten, after traces of the substance were detected in shrimp exported to the United States.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently said it had detected the presence of Caesium-137 in a sample of cloves from PT Natural Java Spice during screening after the radioactive isotope was also detected in August in a sample of frozen shrimp from Indonesia.

The West Java provincial administration’s donation drive asking residents to donate Rp 1,000 (6 US cents) per day to a so-called social solidarity movement has come in for scrutiny over fears that it will be prone to misuse and overlap with the state’s responsibility to provide public services.

The House of Representatives has denied reports of a fresh increase in lawmakers’ recess allowances, asserting its commitment to reform pledges as experts urge for stronger transparency and accountability in the use of the funds.

A permit for a floating cottage and pier run by real estate developer PT Central Pondok Sejahtera (PT CAS) recently drew scrutiny after the ministry ordered a halt to unauthorized dredging and illegal reclamation in Gudus Lempeng, Biawak Islet.

Twelve-year-old Angga Bagus Perwira was found dead in his classroom at SMPN 1 Geyer Junior High School, Grobogan, Central Java, on Saturday at around 11 a.m. According to his classmates, Angga had been involved in two separate altercations with peers earlier that day, before experiencing seizures and ultimately passing away.

In the provincial capital of Medan, heavy rainfall that began on Saturday and continued into the early hours of Sunday caused the Deli, Babura, and Sunggal rivers to overflow. Floodwaters between 30 and 100 centimeters high submerged more than 3,300 homes across seven of the city’s 21 subdistricts.

Each lawmaker will now get Rp 700 million ($42,200) for each recess, up from Rp 400 million previously. All of the 580 lawmakers take approximately five breaks per year.

Suyati, who was reported after a tourist discovered the monkey in poor condition, was reportedly warned previously to stop selling wild animals at her stall in Denpasar's Satria Market.

Training staff at free nutritious meal program kitchens to adhere to food and hygiene standards may be insufficient to preventing further food poisoning cases, experts have said.

The government is aiming to pass the cybersecurity and resilience bill into law by the end of 2025, as the draft law has been included in the House of Representatives’ 2025 Prolegnas (National Legislation Program) priority list.

Scholars have reminded the Indonesian Navy to carefully study the planned acquisition of the Italian decommissioned light aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi, weighing both the merits and disadvantages of having a capital ship. 

The five Mobile Brigade (Brimob) personnel who were in the back seat of the vehicle that killed Affan Kurniawan were ordered to issue an apology to the public and the National Police leadership alongside administrative sanctions.

As a new task force begins to emerge in the aftermath of the Al Khoziny school tragedy, experts are urging the government to step up to the plate and meet its legal obligations in delivering quality education and safe learning facilities.

The presence of Cesium-137 in food products exported from Indonesia is believed to come from imported scrap metal recycled as raw material for steel processing industries. More than 450,000 tonnes of scrap metal have been imported to Indonesia this year, according to UN Comtrade data.

The Garuda School initiative was officially launched on Wednesday as a flagship education program under President Prabowo Subianto’s administration. 

Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) head Dwikorita Karnawati has warned that Bali is likely to experience heavy rainfall during the upcoming rainy season, which is expected to peak in January and February next year.