Violent protests erupted anew Wednesday in Indonesia's restive Papua region, with a market torched and street battles breaking out between police and demonstrators as more than 1,000 security personnel were deployed to contain the unrest.Jakarta has called for calm in its easternmost territory - where an insurgency against Indonesian rule has simmered for decades - following riots triggered by the detention of dozens of Papuan students in Java at the weekend.On Wednesday, as man

At least some form of religious intolerance is apparent in several ASEAN countries. Myanmar has its conflict with the Rohingya issue which is propagating religious intolerance among the country’s Buddhists and Muslims. Similarly, Thailand’s deep south insurgency has resulted in some level of intolerance among the Buddhists and Muslims there as well.

His weathered face breaks out in a big grin as Keman explains how sifting through rubbish paid for his children's education, one of many in his Indonesian hometown basking in a waste-picking boom.Governments around the world are grappling with how to tackle the scourge of single-use plastic, but for the people of Bangun, trash equals cash. Around two-thirds of the town's residents eke out a living sorting and selling discarded plastic bottles, wrappers and cups back to loca

Riots broke out and a local parliament building was torched in Indonesia's restive Papua region on Monday, as thousands protested against the weekend detention of dozens of Papuan students.Demonstrators took to the streets of Manokwari, the capital of West Papua province, bringing the city of some 130,000 to a standstill as its civic building was nearly reduced to ashes.Some protesters set fire to shops and vehicles, knocked down street signs, and threw rocks at government buildings, acc

Earlier this month, the Indonesian National Police revealed that there were 236 cases of child sexual assault that occurred from January to May this year.

Time is running out for Jakarta. One of the fastest-sinking cities on earth, environmental experts warn that one third of it could be submerged by 2050 if current rates continue.Decades of uncontrolled and excessive depletion of groundwater reserves, rising sea-levels, and increasingly volatile weather patterns mean swathes of it have already started to disappear.Existing environmental measures have had little impact, so authorities are taking drastic action: the nation will have a n

Dozens of people clutching bags full of plastic bottles and disposable cups queue at a busy bus terminal in the Indonesian city of Surabaya – where passengers can swap trash for travel tickets.The nation is the world's second-biggest marine polluter behind China and has pledged to reduce plastic waste in its waters some 70 percent by 2025 by boosting recycling, raising public awareness, and curbing usage.The Surabaya scheme has been a hit in the city of 2.9 million, with nearly 16,000 pa

The former CEO of Indonesian carrier Garuda has been arrested on money-laundering charges linked to a major corruption scandal that saw British engine-maker Rolls-Royce pay more than US$800 million in fines, anti-graft investigators said.Emirsyah Satar's arrest Wednesday comes over two years after he was named a suspect by Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for allegedly receiving kickbacks from Rolls-Royce in exchange for buying planes fitted with its engines.Satar

Indonesian leader Joko Widodo warned Tuesday that officials would be sacked if they failed to stamp out rampant forest fires that are belching out toxic smog over Malaysia and Singapore.The threat came as Indonesia faced pressure from its neighbours to douse the blazes, which are blamed for sending air quality plummeting in parts of Southeast Asia."I've told the military and police chiefs to sack people who don't tackle forest fires," Widodo told a ministers meeting on the

Indonesian authorities lifted a tsunami warning late Friday after a powerful earthquake earlier struck off the southern coast of heavily populated Java island.The 6.9 magnitude quake registered at a depth 52.8 kilometres (33 miles), some 150 kilometres (90 miles) from Labuan, southwest of the capital Jakarta, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Panicked residents fled their homes as the quake hit, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.Images from affe