Indonesian officials are forcing social distancing violators to recite Koran verses, stay in "haunted" houses and submit to public shaming on social media as the country battles to contain surging coronavirus infections.The Southeast Asian archipelago began deploying around 340,000 troops across two dozen cities to oversee enforcement of measures aimed at halting transmission of the disease, such as wearing facemasks in public.But provincial leaders are buttressing these efforts wit

Indonesia made history just two years ago by reaching the milestone of a single-digit poverty rate for the first time since its independence in 1945. The percentage of those below the poverty line – with incomes of less than US$2.50 per day – fell below 10 percent (9.82 percent) at the national level for the first time in March 2018. Following the COVID pandemic, there is concern that poverty could once again rise and reverse years of positive work.

Indonesians are turning to smugglers and bogus travel documents to get around bans on an annual end-of-Ramadan exodus that could send coronavirus cases skyrocketing in the world's biggest Muslim majority nation.Thousands are using any trick in the book to reach their hometowns in time for celebrations at the end of Islam's holy fasting month, a festival known as Eid ul-Fitr."It is a critical moment," said Doni Monardo, head of Indonesia's COVID-19 mitigation task forc

A few months ago, investigators from Dog Meat Free Indonesia (DMFI) – a group committed to ending dog meat trade in the archipelagic nation, revealed heart-breaking footage exposing the extreme cruelty suffered by an estimated 13,000 dogs every month in the Indonesian city of Solo. The dogs being shown on camera were heading to the slaughterhouse for their meat.The investigators found that dogs were being slaughtered in unhygienic conditions and were being killed in front of other dogs.

The holy month of Ramadan for Muslims around the world will end this weekend. After about 30 days of fasting from dawn to sunset, an estimated 1.8 billion Muslims across the globe will celebrate Eid-ul-fitr which signifies the end of Ramadan. Eid-ul-fitr is typically celebrated with morning prayers in congregations at mosques, a big feast, mass gatherings of family and friends and also new traditional clothes.

Gravedigger Junaidi Hakim shouts "hurry up" as he summons his weary colleagues in a never-ending race to bury novel coronavirus victims at a Jakarta cemetery.The team switches quickly from digging fresh graves to burying the bodies - aiming to get the task done in under 10 minutes to lessen the chance of getting infected themselves."The most worrying part is when we're unloading a coffin because we have to touch it," said 42-year-old Hakim, a father of four."We f

Here are the latest developments from Asia related to the novel coronavirus pandemic: Japan Lifts Emergency For Most RegionsJapan's prime minister lifted a state of emergency imposed due to the coronavirus for the majority of the country but kept it in place for top cities Tokyo and Osaka.

The Indonesian government’s plan to relocate the country’s capital from Java to Borneo has hit a wall amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with a top official saying they would “evaluate it or something” after the crisis passes.President Joko Widodo announced last August a US$33 billion project to build a new capital city in East Kalimantan province, citing worsening traffic, land subsidence, flooding and a host of other problems in Jakarta.But the government’s current focus on handling the COVID-19 o

Andin is haunted by memories of being forced into an exorcism to "save" her from being transgender - a ritual that could become mandatory for Indonesia's LGBT community if a controversial new law is passed.For two decades she has endured harassment and abuse as her family desperately tried to "cure" her.