As Indonesia commemorated World AIDS Day, some regions in the country recorded thousands of HIV cases, prompting renewed calls for stronger HIV education in schools and families.

About 1.4 million hectares of forest cover have been cleared across Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra between 2016 and 2025 to make way for plantations and mining, according to the environmental group Walhi. The areas hardest-hit by floods and landslides last week were degraded watersheds. 

In affected regions, there is growing frustration among survivors of catastrophic flooding and landslides over the pace of the rescue effort and aid delivery.

Environmentalists, experts and even the government have pointed to the role forest loss played in flash flooding and landslides that washed torrents of mud into villages and stranded residents on roofs.

Government agencies and aid groups are rushing to get aid to those affected, while rescuers search for 472 people still listed as missing.

Indonesian women still face four health problems of high maternal mortality ratio, varied quality continuity of health service, regional gaps and limited access to health service, and uneven literacy and public trust.

Anger at the University of Oxford regarding the lack of credit on social media for Indonesian researchers and collaborators in research about world’s largest flower rafflesia was caused by decades of unfair practices by Global North researchers to their Global South counterparts, experts have said.

Stigma against people with HIV puts the lives of women who contract the virus in jeopardy, as discrimination may block them from opportunities for better lives and proper health treatment.

The death toll surged 435 on Sunday, up from 303 on Saturday, official data uploaded on a government website showed, as officials compiled reports of casualties and damage pouring in from the western island of Sumatra, where three provinces had been devastated by landslides and floods after the rains.

At least 279 people are still missing even as about 80,000 people have been evacuated and hundreds are still stranded in Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra.

Over the years, teachers have absorbed increased administrative duties, beyond teaching. The most notable one recently being the distribution of the free nutritious meal program introduced in January by the administration of President Prabowo Subianto.

Tropical Cyclone Senyar, which formed over the Malacca Strait, reached Sumatra’s mainland on Wednesday, unleashing extreme rainfall and strong winds that triggered severe flash floods and landslides across Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) head Lt. Gen. Suharyanto acknowledged that there had been discussions on raising the disaster status from the provincial level to the national level for flood and landslide mitigation in northern and western Sumatra, but noted that such a decision has historically been rare. 

During a bilateral meeting with Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, President Prabowo Subianto acknowledged Indonesia’s need for a structured and robust national strategy to promote financial health awareness.

The diaspora community is skeptical of the newly launched policy granting former Indonesian citizens and their families stay permits for an unlimited period, calling it an investment-driven scheme that does not address the country’s brain drain phenomenon.

The recent sighting of the Rafflesia hasseltii flower in West Sumatra is mostly welcomed by researchers and social media users, who rejoiced at the rediscovery of one of Indonesia’s national flowers.

The move comes amid continued concerns about religious intolerance in Indonesia, where issues surrounding Christmas greetings and joint celebrations with Muslims remain sensitive in the country’s Muslim-majority context.

Environment groups have decried Indonesia’s lack of bold commitments to cutting emissions and phasing out fossil fuels at the United Nations climate summit, with national energy plans still reliant on coal and the carbon market.

The government has unveiled a new hospital referral system for the National Health Insurance (JKN) program with the aim of reducing costs and shortening treatment times.

Offline reading spaces across the capital are abuzz with activity, presenting a counterpoint to the country's oft-cited poor reading interest, though increasing access to literary materials in remote regions remains a challenge.

The dispute over Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf’s invitation of an Israel-supporting scholar has reached new heights, with more senior clerics coming out in support of Yahya and plans for further meetings underway.

Indonesia pledges to grant 1.4 million hectares of forest to indigenous communities by 2029, endorsing a global agreement aiming to recognize 160 million ha of customary lands in the next five years.

People residing within Tesso Nilo National Park in Riau are demanding that the government allow comanagement of land and plantations with the state-owned PT Agrinas Palma Nusantara instead of evicting them and handing the land to third party companies.

The National Police’s National Criminal Information Center recorded 50 abductions involving victims under 20 years of age between January and November this year, most of whom were targeted through illegal adoption pages on social media.

A spate of bullying cases since September that have reportedly led to injury or death have worried parents calling for more oversight, while experts say that a planned revision to a rule on a monitoring system misses the mark in both tackling school violence and offering student support.

Sofi Azilan Aini, ECOTON’s microplastic research volunteer coordinator, said the main source of airborne microplastics is the widespread burning of plastic waste, which accounts for 57 percent of contamination.

One of the suspects is described as a “veteran” previously linked to the Islamic State militant group.

A hypothesis suggesting that ancient humans came from the prehistoric Indonesian archipelago, or Nusantara, is part of a bigger claim that suggests Indonesia as the oldest civilization in the world, Culture Minister Fadli Zon has said.

As the United Nations climate summit enters its second week, calls are mounting for Indonesia to take stronger action to protect small islands and the ocean from the looming threats of global warming and industrial emissions.

The upcoming policy would allow community health centers (Puskesmas) to send patients directly to hospitals best equipped to treat them, cutting out multiple intermediate steps that often delay care.