Indonesia

VATICAN - 2024/08/21: Pope Francis delivers a speech during his traditional Wednesday General Audience at Paul VI Audience Hall. (Photo by Stefano Costantino/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

September 4, 2024 1:36 PM

Pope Francis, in Muslim-majority Indonesia, warns against religious extremism

Pope Francis on Wednesday urged political leaders in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, to guard against religious extremism, which he said distorted people's religious beliefs through "deception and violence". In his first speech during an ambitious 12-day journey across Southeast Asia, where Christians are a small minority of the regional population, the pontiff said the Catholic Church would increase its efforts toward inter-religious dialogue in hopes of helping t...

JAKARTA, INDONESIA - SEPTEMBER 03: (EDITOR NOTE: STRICTLY EDITORIAL USE ONLY - NO MERCHANDISING). Pope Francis is welcomed as he arrives at Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on September 03, 2024 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Pope Francis is embarking on his longest papal tour to date, with trips to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore. The tour was originally postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)

September 3, 2024 3:21 PM

Pope Francis arrives in Indonesia to begin ambitious Asia-Pacific tour

Dozens of excited Indonesians waved on Tuesday as a motorcade carried Pope Francis through the capital as he began the first leg of an ambitious Asia-Pacific tour expected to urge global action on climate change as part of his longest trip yet. The 87-year-old pontiff, who will also visit East Timor, Singapore and Papua New Guinea over the next 10 days, was seated in a wheelchair as a lift disembarked him from a chartered aircraft at Jakarta airport. Two children in traditional clothes present...

August 30, 2024 4:33 PM

Indonesia to reform tourism on tropical island Bali

Indonesia will conduct an audit to reform tourism on the tropical island of Bali to improve tourism quality and preserve local culture and jobs, a senior minister said on Friday. About 200,000 foreigners currently live in Bali and have created problems such as crime, over-development and competition for employment, Luhut Pandjaitan, senior minister overseeing tourism said on his Instagram page. "Foreign tourists who bring problem here, such as narcotics, gangs, and other issues, we can deport ...

Students hold protest posters during a demonstration to reject the ratification of the Regional Head Election (Pilkada) Bill in front of the West Java DPRD Building in Bandung, Indonesia, on August 22, 2024. (Photo by Ryan Suherlan/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

August 22, 2024 6:39 PM

Protests across Indonesia as parliament delays change to election law

Indonesia's legislature will not ratify changes to election rules during the current government's term, its deputy speaker said on Thursday, as demonstrations flared outside parliament and security forces used tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters. Sufmi Dasco Ahmad told Reuters deliberations will continue in the parliament's next sitting period, meaning it would not apply to this year's elections or under the administration of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, who leaves office in Oct...

INDONESIA - 2019/06/01: Boats, mostly excursion boats for tourists, in the port of Labuan Bajo, a fishing town located at the western end of the large island of Flores in the Nusa Tenggara region of east Indonesia. (Photo by Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images)

August 7, 2024 4:15 PM

Tiny arm bone unlocks mystery of Indonesia’s extinct ‘Hobbit’ people

When researchers excavated fossilized fragments of a rod-shaped bone 3-1/2 inches (88 mm) long at a site called Mata Menge on Indonesia's Flores island, the pieces initially were bagged and marked "crocodile bone fragment?" It was only later that they realized what they actually were. These fragments, dating to about 700,000 years ago, of the upper arm bone, called the humerus, comprise the smallest limb bone known for any member of the human evolutionary lineage - an adult individual of the di...

29 May 2024, Baden-Württemberg, Karlsruhe: An employee of the Baden-Württemberg Cybercrime Center sits at a workstation (staged scene). The newly founded Cybercrime Center Baden-Württemberg began its work on January 1, 2024 and, according to the authority, is responsible for particularly demanding cybercrime investigations throughout the state. Photo: Uli Deck/dpa (Photo by Uli Deck/picture alliance via Getty Images)

June 28, 2024 12:18 PM

Indonesia to deport 103 Taiwanese suspected of cyber crimes in Bali

Indonesian immigration authorities arrested 103 Taiwan passport holders, an official said on Friday, suspecting them of running a cyber crime operation out of the island of Bali. The raid on June 26 was the biggest arrest this year, the Immigration agency said. Bali immigration director Saffar Muhammad Godam told reporters authorities would soon deport the Taiwan passport holders after arresting them in a sting operation at a villa in Bali's Tabanan district. "The 103 foreign nationals stayed...

June 24, 2024 6:02 PM

Cyber attack compromised Indonesia data centre, ransom sought

A cyber attacker compromised Indonesia's national data centre, disrupting immigration checks at airports, and asked for an $8 million ransom, the country's communications minister told Reuters on Monday. The attack disrupted several government services, most notably at airports last week, with long lines forming at immigration desks. Automated passport machines were now functioning, the communications ministry said. Minister Budi Arie Setiadi said the attacker used a new variant of existing ma...

June 14, 2024 7:10 PM

Australian Open: Aakarshi Kashyap crashes out after defeat in quarter-final

India shuttler Aakarshi Kashyap crashed out of the ongoing Australian Open 2024 after conceding a defeat in the quarter-final round of the badminton tournament on Friday. In the women's singles, Kashyap suffered a 21-17, 21-12 loss against Taiwanese shuttler Pai Yu-Po in the 42-minute match. The Taiwanese shuttler dominated Kashyap in straight two games. In the first game, Pai won it 21-17 over the Indian shuttler. While, in the second game, Kashyap failed to make a comeback and lost by 21-12....

June 7, 2024 3:59 PM

PM Modi thanks leaders of Indonesia, Switzerland for congratulating him on LS election win

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday expressed gratitude to the leaders of Indonesia and Switzerland for congratulating him on his party's resounding victory in India's general elections. PM Modi responded to Amherd in a post on X saying, "President @ViolaPamherd, we appreciate your kind words. The 'Festival of Democracy' in India has indeed drawn global attention. We will work together to enhance the India-Switzerland partnership". The Swiss leader had earlier congratulated PM Modi, calling...

June 6, 2024 10:27 AM

Indonesia’s Ibu volcano erupts twice, spewing red-hot lava

Indonesia's Mount Ibu volcano erupted again on Thursday, firing red bright lava and rocks into the night sky and triggering a spectacular display of volcanic lightning, the country's volcanology agency PVMBG said. The 1,325 metre-high (4,347 ft) volcano on the eastern island of Halmahera erupted twice on Thursday, Heruningtyas Desi Purnamasari an official at PVMBG told Reuters. The first eruption was at 1:30 a.m. local time, spewing incandescent lava and rocks as lightning flashes lit up its c...