The sweltering backwaters of Indonesian Borneo have become the unlikely ground zero for the global production and export of Kratom, a tree leaf hailed by some as a miracle cure for everything from opioid addiction to anxiety.Part of the coffee family, the leaf has been used for centuries in Southeast Asia and Papua New Guinea for its pain-relieving and mildly stimulating effects but it is now sold in powder form and exported worldwide – alarming some health regulators who have raised concerns

Is Russia meddling in the Indonesian elections too?The question is far from settled despite denials from the Russian embassy in Jakarta and presidential challenger Prabowo Subianto, who say the charge levelled by incumbent leader Joko Widodo is baseless.Widodo, who is seeking re-election in April, fired the first salvo last week, saying a campaign team deployed foreign consultants and resorted to “Russian propaganda” including defamation, lies and hoaxes.

The Indonesia Millennial Report 2019 has revealed an encouraging discovery: despite the numerous reports on a supposed increase in conservatism in the country, some 89.1 percent of the millennial generation have an optimistic outlook on diversity in Indonesia.The report defined millennials as those belonging to the age group of 20 to 35 years. It noted that some 24 percent of Indonesia’s population is made up of millennials.

Indonesia’s National Police recently announced that it would increase the allowances of police officers by 70 percent. According to police chief General Tito Karnavian, the allowances would apply retroactively and would be paid out this month.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo and his challenger Prabowo Subianto are set to face off in the first of a series of debates ahead of the April presidential election.Seeking to win over swing voters, Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, will defend his track record on corruption, terrorism, law reform and human rights in Thursday’s presidential debate, while Prabowo will lay out his vision to lure those still undecided.Although the economy has taken the centre-stage in the election campaign, sp

The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) from an Indonesian Lion Air jet that crashed in October has been recovered, officials said Monday, a discovery that could be critical to explaining why the brand-new plane fell out of the sky just after take-off.The Boeing 737 MAX vanished from radar about 13 minutes after departing Jakarta, slamming into the Java Sea moments after pilots had asked to return to the capital and killing all 189 people onboard.The bright orange voice recorder was discovered early

Three ASEAN countries finished in the top-10 of last year’s Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2018 in a strong acknowledgement of the region’s reputation as an Islamic tourism hub. Malaysia topped the index for the eighth straight year, finishing ahead of Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates and cementing its position in the global Islamic tourism market.

Last week, researchers urged conservationists and palm oil companies tackling deforestation and forest fires to rely less on satellite imagery and to start “listening” to the sounds of the forest instead.

2018 proved to be a tumultuous year for the region. Some ASEAN countries faced major challenges. For example, Indonesia was struck by disasters multiple times from earthquakes to a tragic plane crash to a devastating tsunami. Elsewhere, countries were navigating their respective democratic paths. Cambodia and Thailand saw its institutions challenged with Hun Sen winning an allegedly rigged election in Cambodia while Thailand’s junta continued to delay elections it promised to hold.

In the first half of 2019, a billion Asians will elect the next leaders of the region's two largest democracies. Half – 400 million in India, and 79 million in Indonesia – are from the millennial generation, born roughly between 1982 and 2001. Many will cast ballots for the first time.