Jakarta’s air quality has deteriorated for the past two weeks, achieving “unhealthy” and “very unhealthy” statuses, which experts say is the result of trans-boundary pollution from neighboring cities and as such is an issue beyond the capital’s borders.

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has received his fair share of both praise and criticism during his five years in office.

More than a thousand people flocked to Jakarta’s iconic National Monument (Monas) at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, all dressed their best, to celebrate the 495th anniversary of the city’s founding.

After being canceled in the previous two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Jakarta Fair has returned to Jakarta International Expo (JIExpo) Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, as part of the capital's 495th anniversary.

The roaring success of the inaugural Jakarta E-Prix is in little danger of being politicized according to one analyst, who says that the event will have almost zero political impact ahead of 2024.

After various controversies and multiple delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Jakarta is finally ready to host its first-ever Formula E electric motorsport on Saturday at Ancol Beach, North Jakarta.

The Jakarta administration has said it will allow schools to hold classes at full capacity starting in April as the city’s COVID-19 cases have eased.

As mobility returns to pre-pandemic levels in response to plummeting COVID-19 cases and easing restrictions, experts say that major efforts are needed to keep Jakarta's roads gridlock-free.

As one of the main facilities for treating COVID-19 in the capital city, the Athletes Village apartment compound has witnessed the ups and downs of the pandemic over the last two years.

Occupancy rates for hospital beds for COVID-19 patients are rising rapidly in Jakarta, albeit mostly for asymptomatic or mild patients, as the third wave of infections fueled by the highly contagious Omicron variant engulfs the city and the daily caseload reaches record highs.

A third wave of the coronavirus pandemic has begun to take hold across the country, with the Omicron variant of the virus believed to have driven a surge in cases and hospitalization in the capital, where more than 80 percent of the population has been vaccinated.

Senior minister Luhut Pandjaitan has said that the impending third wave of infections in Jakarta looks likely to peak sometime between the end of February and early March.

The Jakarta administration has said it will administer booster shots for eligible recipients, regardless of their official residency status as shown on their ID cards, as it kicked off the booster shot rollout on Wednesday.

Overhead pedestrian crossings are a common sight in Jakarta, particularly on its main thoroughfares. Footbridges also allow commuters to reach Transjakarta bus stops, which are often on a dedicated lane on the right-hand side of the road.

The expansion of tap water services is seen as crucial to halting land subsidence in the sinking capital, which is primarily driven by excessive groundwater extraction as not all residents have access to piped water.

The government initially planned to impose strict curbs nationwide under multitiered public activity restrictions (PPKM) but rescinded the decision on the grounds that the COVID-19 situation had improved.

The National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) has advised Jakarta-owned bus service Transjakarta to create a unit specifically responsible for setting and maintaining safety standards following a recent spike in crashes involving the city buses.

With La Niña weather phenomenon in full swing and tropical cyclones detected in the wider region, Jakarta is on high alert for the possibility of heavy downpours causing floods.

Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) chairman Hariyadi Sukamdani said on Monday that the organization would file a lawsuit against Anies’ decision to increase the provincial minimum wage by 5.1 percent, rather than the 0.8 percent designated by the central government.

 “We’re thoroughly investigating all of the [Transjakarta bus] accidents and we will publish our findings on Dec. 21,” National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) head Soerjanto Tjahjono said. 

The government has reimposed level-2 curbs on Greater Jakarta as part of its COVID-19 control measures, amid the double threat of a third wave and Omicron over the year-end holidays.

Jakartans have returned with gusto to the city’s public parks, which are now open after months of closure under COVID-19 restrictions, but many are worried about what changes a recently announced period of increased year-end mobility restrictions might bring.

Jakarta disaster agency warns residents of the capital and its satellite cities of possible extreme weather and floods.

Jakarta was awarded the City of Literature designation alongside 40 other cities from 29 countries on Monday, placing it in a global network that recognizes creativity as a major factor in urban development.

Since the government decided to ease community activity restrictions (PPKM) in Jakarta last week, the city has been seeing more commuters return to the workplace. Civil society is now pushing for online taxis to be exempted from the odd-even number plate policy to benefit commuters who do not own private vehicles.

Jakarta, once a hotspot for COVID-19 infections, is now among the first few regions in the country to enjoy the most relaxed set of public activity restrictions (PPKM).

A pair of accidents involving a trial run of Greater Jakarta LRT trains and, separately, two Transjakarta buses has spotlighted safety concerns over public transportation in Jakarta, just as the hustle and bustle of Indonesia's capital returns following a drop in COVID-19 cases.

As part of the Jakarta administration's 'smoke-free Jakarta' campaign, Satpol PP officials are beginning to conduct inspections to enforce the new cigarette display ban, with sanctions also being drafted.

An internal investigation by the Jakarta administration into claims that 25 COVID-19 infection clusters had been found among schools trialing classroom learning reveals that the findings were blown out of proportion.

Anies insisted that the Formula E should be held next year.