Thousands of protesters set fire to barricades and police posts in the Indonesian capital Thursday as opposition mounted to a controversial new investment law which critics say will harm labour rights and the environment.Tens of thousands of people have protested in cities across the archipelago since Monday's passing of the bill, which seeks to attract foreign investment by cutting red tape around taxation, labour and environment regulations.Labour activists and green groups have slamme

Locked up all day in a tiny, squalid hut with barely enough space to lie down, Rauf is a prisoner to his mental health issues and carers whose only way of coping is to shut him away.While not unique to Indonesia, padlocks, shackles and chains are frequently used to cover for a lack of proper mental health provision in the world's fourth most-populous nation.But the coronavirus epidemic has exacerbated the problem, forcing many people back into chains after they had been freed following a

With the coronavirus devastating jobs across the country, desperate Indonesians are flocking to illegal gold mines as the soaring price of the precious metal overrides the risk to their lives and the environment.Spooked by the economic destruction wrought by the pandemic, consumers and investors around the world have been snapping up gold, which is seen as a hedge against volatility, sending its price to a record above US$2,000 an ounce last month.The surge in demand has fuelled a boom in min

According to the International Council of Nurses (ICN), more than a thousand nurses around the world have succumbed to the deadly COVID-19 coronavirus. The Geneva-based federation branded the situation “catastrophic” and criticised governments for not doing enough to protect front-line healthcare workers amid the pandemic.“As of 14 August, the cumulative number of reported COVID-19 deaths of nurses in 44 countries is 1,097,” the ICN stated in a report.

Authorities in the Indonesian capital re-imposed a partial coronavirus lockdown Monday and vowed to strictly isolate anyone testing positive for COVID-19 as infections soared in the metropolis.Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan said the city would resume large-scale social restrictions for two weeks starting Monday, calling it a necessary measure to prevent the health system from collapsing. Non-essential businesses are only allowed to operate at 25 percent capacity, restaurants can onl

When hundreds of Rohingya refugees paid traffickers to escape their squalid camp in Bangladesh, they were promised a new life in Malaysia after just one week at sea.Instead, the group of mostly women and children suffered more than 200 days of terror on the high seas, until they landed this week on Indonesia's northern coast, where they are now back in refugee tents.Beaten by the traffickers, they battled hunger and thirst as storms lashed their wooden vessel, and watched in horror as th

While Indonesia may not have the best internet connectivity in Southeast Asia, one thing it is certainly doing well compared to some other ASEAN member states is providing 4G availability to its estimated population of over 260 million. A 2019 report by London-based Opensignal titled, “The State of Mobile Network Experience” revealed that after Singapore and Thailand, Indonesia performs the best in ASEAN in terms of providing 4G availability.

The chairman of Singapore's airport operator has stepped aside after he faced a public backlash when a judge cleared an Indonesian maid accused of stealing from his family and criticised the case.The scandal involving Liew Mun Leong has sparked a storm of anger and raised questions about how the system treated one of the city-state's best-known businessmen compared with a low-paid domestic helper. With calls mounting for him to quit following last week's ruling, Liew a

The United Nations (UN) has projected that the coronavirus crisis could push a further 34 million people into extreme poverty by the end of the year and an additional 130 million more by 2030. The deadly virus is not just a threat to one’s health, but has also devastated livelihoods across the globe. Businesses, industries and the economy in general have been severely affected by the pandemic.

Nearly 300 Rohingya migrants reached Indonesia on Monday claiming to have been at sea for seven months, the United Nations (UN) refugee agency said, in one of the biggest such landings by the persecuted Myanmar minority in years.The migrants - including more than a dozen children - were spotted on a wooden boat by locals who helped them land near Lhokseumawe city on Sumatra's northern coast, officials said.But as many as 30 may have died during the perilous high-seas voyage, the UN said,