As the masses jostled around, stalls were packed, halls swarmed and amusement rides filled to the brim.

Despite infrastructure improvements over the past decade, problems for an increasingly overburdened Jakarta have begun to rear their ugly heads once more as the city prepares to celebrate its 496th anniversary.

Jakartans rejoiced last weekend as the sidewalk in front of the United States Embassy compound in Central Jakarta was reopened to the public after more than two decades.

This year's month-long Jakarta Fair opened on Wednesday as part of the capital’s 496th anniversary celebrations.

The state-owned airport operator has backpedaled following online backlash about its proposal for city-owned TransJakarta to provide what would essentially be an employee shuttle service, saying that the new route would prioritize airport workers while also serving the public.

Jakarta has crept into the top of a list of cities with the worst air quality in the world, and its residents are having none of it.

As Indonesia moves closer to treating COVID-19 as an endemic, the Jakarta Transportation Agency on Friday lifted the mask requirement on public transportation, with city-owned public transportation operators implementing the ease of restrictions to immediate effect.

The dry season has once again exacerbated Jakarta's chronic pollution issue, with the capital routinely topping the list of the world’s most polluted major cities in recent weeks.

Organizers, buoyed by the success of this year’s competition, are already preparing for a third next year.

Amid rising excitement over British rock band Coldplay’s upcoming first-ever concert in Indonesia, the Jakarta Police have arrested a married couple on charges of fraudulent ticket scalping, as reports of more fraudulent ticket transactions emerged from several other places outside the capital.

After previously failing to convince workers and employers to alter their work schedules to alleviate the city's chronic traffic issues, the Jakarta administration has once again started a conversation surrounding staggered working hours to ease the capital's infamous gridlocks.

Jakarta is expected to see up to 40,000 newcomers flocking to the already densely populated city in search of a better life after the Idul Fitri holiday.

The Jakarta Police are investigating the alleged suicide of one of its middle officers, Adj. Sr. Comr. Buddy Alfrits Towoliu, who was found dead on the side of train tracks after he was thought to have jumped onto an oncoming train on Saturday.

Jakarta will see the peak of the return flow of people celebrating Idul Fitri on Tuesday, the end of the seven day holiday period, a senior minister has said.

The agency has admitted that there was an error in the design of the project and that it would soon reopen an intersection on Jl. Tendean, including its bike lane, to allow for smoother traffic flows.

 The Jakarta Transportation Agency recently decided to close the bike lane connecting Jl. Walter Monginsidi and Jl. Tendean in South Jakarta and set up a concrete barrier to block access for riders and pedestrians looking to use the path. 

Reversing course, the House of Representatives on Wednesday pushed the government to immediately make a decision on importing used Japanese trains to replace the aging fleet currently used in the Greater Jakarta Commuter Line (KRL) network.

A Jakarta man has been accused of replacing mosques’ charitable Quick Response Indonesia Standard (QRIS) codes, which can be scanned with a smartphone to make cashless payments, with ones connected to his own newly created bank account, called “Mosque Restoration”.

The men were originally arrested by authorities earlier this month, alongside a fourth Uzbek suspect, for allegedly spreading terrorism propaganda online. 

Civil groups have raised their suspicion that PAM Jaya's latest "bundling" deal with Moya Indonesia is simply another way to keep private companies' hands in the city's water system.

Top officials called for an audit of the country's energy facilities after the March 3 blaze ripped through a nearby residential area, gutting houses and burning cars next to the depot in North Jakarta.

Members of some Muslim groups took to the streets of Jakarta on Monday to protest against the Israeli soccer team’s participation in the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which Indonesia is hosting in May and June.

Following a recent blaze at a fuel storage depot in Plumpang, North Jakarta, that killed more than a dozen people, state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina has said it will begin work on a buffer zone it had intended to create in 2009 after a similar fire at the facility.

Luhut said that the fuel storage facility should remain in place given its strategic role and it was the residents living in the vicinity of the establishment who should instead be relocated.

The Indonesian Navy has stepped up to the plight of the people affected by the Pertamina Plumpang Depot fire by offering one of its warships as temporary accommodation.

Following Friday’s deadly blaze at the Pertamina Plumpang Depot in North Jakarta that killed at least 17 local residents, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is seeking greater accountability from the state-owned energy holding company and has also ordered a safety audit for state facilities across the country that posed a similar hazard.

The decision will rest with State-Owned Enterprise Minister Erick Thohir, Pertamina and Jakarta Governor Heru Budi Hartono, he said, adding that no one can live near the facility.

The fire, which started at around 8 pm (0100 GMT) on Friday from a fuel pipe at Pertamina's Plumpang fuel storage depot in North Jakarta, quickly spread to nearby houses and sent residents in the densely populated area into panic.

Linda, a mother of one, said she had lost everything after fleeing with her family and just the clothes on her back.

Officials have called for an investigation and an audit of state energy company Pertamina's  facilities after a fire at its storage facility killed 13.