Bali began a tentative re-opening to foreign tourists on Wednesday with the first international passenger flight to the Indonesian holiday island in nearly two years.The resumption of flights comes as the Southeast Asian archipelago loosens quarantine rules even as it battles a surge in COVID cases fuelled by the Omicron variant.A Singapore Airlines plane carrying 109 international travellers and 47 Indonesians landed in Bali on Wednesday, the island's governor Wayan Koster told a press

Indonesia reported a record number of new coronavirus cases on Tuesday as the Omicron variant spreads across the Southeast Asian archipelago.The number of daily infections topped 57,000, according to the government's COVID-19 taskforce, surpassing the previous peak of 56,757 cases recorded in July last year during the country's Delta wave."The national figure for positive cases in this third wave increased sharply and faster compared to the second wave," taskforce spokesma

Indonesia – an archipelago of 17,000 islands – is modernising its military amid increasing maritime and regional challenges. Indonesia is moving to upgrade its ageing air force fleet with multi-billion-dollar orders for advanced fighter jets from France and the United States (US), amid increasing tensions in the Asia Pacific region.The agreement for 42 French Rafale fighters was announced as Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto met his French counterpart Florence Parly in Jakarta.

Indonesia began testing a homegrown COVID-19 vaccine on humans Wednesday after getting the green light from the drug regulator as the country faces a rising wave of virus cases.Research on the "Merah Putih" ("Red White") vaccine – named after the colours of the Indonesian national flag – is led by Airlangga University and Biotis Pharmaceutical Indonesia.The project has suffered delays since starting in 2020, but authorities are now hoping to authorise its use by the middle

Indonesia's economy returned to growth last year as surging commodity prices helped drive a recovery from a coronavirus-triggered recession, data showed Monday, though officials warned the outlook depended on how well the fast-spreading Omicron variant is managed.Southeast Asia's biggest economy expanded 3.69 percent on-year, the country's statistics agency said, having contracted in 2020 for the first time since 1998 during the region's financial crisis.The healthy reboun

As a third wave of the pandemic begins to take hold across Indonesia, there are questions over its use of China’s Sinovac, after a series of studies suggesting the most commonly used COVID-19 vaccine in the Southeast Asian nation is no match for the Omicron variant of coronavirus.On Friday, the country recorded 32,211 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, the highest official number since the Delta wave began to fade in mid-August.

Indonesia's parliament on Tuesday passed a law approving the relocation of its capital from slowly sinking Jakarta to a site 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) away on jungle-clad Borneo Island that will be named "Nusantara".The House of Representatives vote provides the legal framework for the move, which was first tipped by President Joko Widodo in April 2019, citing rising sea levels and severe congestion on densely populated Java Island.The president chose the new city’s name –

This was supposed to be the Asian century, with the ascent of China being only one – albeit a major – part of the story.

The death toll from a sudden, spectacular eruption of Indonesia's Mount Semeru has risen to 13, disaster officials said Sunday, as rescuers searched villages blanketed in molten ash for survivors.

The use of crypto assets as a currency is forbidden for Muslims, according to Indonesia’s council of religious leaders.The National Ulema Council, or MUI, has deemed cryptocurrency as haram, or banned, as it has elements of uncertainty, wagering and harm, Asrorun Niam Sholeh, head of religious decrees, said on Thursday after the council held an expert hearing.