Category Archives: Indonesia

Oldest known picture story is a 51,000-year-old Indonesian cave painting

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New dating technique finds painting on island of Sulawesi is 6,000 years older than previous record holder

The world’s oldest known picture story is a cave painting almost 6,000 years older than the previous record holder, found about 10km away on the same island in Indonesia, an international team of archaeologists has said.

The painting, believed to be at least 51,200 years old, was found at Leang Karampuang cave on the east Indonesian island of Sulawesi, researchers from Griffith University, Southern Cross University and the Indonesian National Research and Innovation Agency wrote in the journal Nature.

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Indonesian boys jailed by Australia claim no translation provided in court

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Minors who were locked up in adult prisons for people smuggling say they could not understand proceedings and thought they were going home

Vulnerable Indonesian children say they were either given no interpreter or an interpreter who spoke the wrong language during deeply flawed people smuggling prosecutions, leaving them unable to understand court proceedings before their imprisonment by Australia in maximum security adult jails.

The Australian government last year agreed to pay $27.5m in compensation to more than 200 Indonesians who were wrongfully prosecuted and detained as adult people smugglers while they were children.

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Protecting just 1.2% of Earth’s land could save most-threatened species, says study

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Study identifies 16,825 sites around the world where prioritising conservation would prevent extinction of thousands of unique species

Protecting just 1.2% of the Earth’s surface for nature would be enough to prevent the extinction of the world’s most threatened species, according to a new study.

Analysis published in the journal Frontiers in Science has found that the targeted expansion of protected areas on land would be enough to prevent the loss of thousands of the mammals, birds, amphibians and plants that are closest to disappearing.

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Broncos rally around Payne Haas after father arrested in the Philippines over alleged drug trafficking

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Gregor Johann Haas, 46, was arrested in Cebu City on Wednesday and is facing extradition to Indonesia, where he is accused of drug trafficking

Brisbane coach Kevin Walters says the club are supporting prop Payne Haas “in every way” after the player’s father was arrested in the Philippines and facing extradition to Indonesia, where he is accused of drug trafficking.

Gregor Johann Haas, 46, was arrested in Cebu City on Wednesday, according to local media reports.

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Dozens killed in cold lava mudslides on Indonesian island of Sumatra

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Nearly 20 missing after monsoon rains trigger flash floods, sending torrents of volcanic material and mud down slopes of Mount Marapi volcano

Heavy rains triggered flash floods and caused torrents of cold lava and mud to flow down a volcano’s slopes on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, killing at least 41 people and leaving more than a dozen others missing, officials have said.

Monsoon rains and a major mudslide from a cold lava flow on Mount Marapi caused a river to breach its banks and tear through mountainside villages in four districts in West Sumatra province just before midnight on Saturday. The floods swept away people and submerged more than 100 houses and buildings, national disaster management agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said on Sunday.

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Floods and landslide kill more than a dozen people in Indonesia’s Sulawesi island

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Officials say a landslide hit Luwu regency in South Sulawesi on Friday after torrential rain pounded the area

A flood and a landslide have hit Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, killing at least 14 people, according to officials.

The landslide hit Luwu regency in South Sulawesi on Friday just after 1am local time, Abdul Muhari, spokesperson of Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency (BNPB), said in a statement.

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Indonesia volcano eruption spreads ash to Malaysia and shuts airports

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Ships evacuating 12,000 islanders over fears that side of Mount Ruang might slide into sea and cause tsunami

Eruptions at a remote Indonesian volcano have forced more than half a dozen airports to close with ash spreading as far as Malaysia, according to officials, while authorities rushed to evacuate thousands due to tsunami fears.

Mount Ruang erupted three times on Tuesday, spewing lava and ash more than 5km (three miles) into the sky and forcing authorities to issue evacuation orders for 12,000 people.

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Indonesia election: Prabowo formally declared president-elect after court rejects legal challenges

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Rivals had said February election won by former general was undermined by state interference and unfair rule changes

Indonesia’s electoral commission has formally declared Prabowo Subianto president-elect in a ceremony, after the country’s highest court rejected challenges to his win by rival candidates.

Prabowo, 72, a former general dogged by allegations of human rights abuses, won a landslide victory in February’s elections, but his two opponents claimed that the vote had been undermined by state interference and unfair rule changes.

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Indonesia volcano: thousands evacuated amid spreading ash and tsunami fears

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More than 11,000 people told to leave their homes after Mount Ruang erupted at least three times since Friday afternoon

More than 2,100 people living near an erupting volcano on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island were evacuated on Friday due to the dangers of ash, falling rocks, hot volcanic clouds and the possibility of a tsunami.

Indonesia’s volcanology centre recorded at least three eruptions since Friday afternoon, with the maximum height of the eruption column reaching 1,200 metres (3,900 ft).

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Indonesia issues tsunami alert as volcano erupts

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More than 800 people evacuated from Mount Ruang as alert level raised to four – highest in four-tier system

Authorities in Indonesia have issued a tsunami alert after a volcano erupted several times in the country’s southernmost region, spewing a column of smoke more than a mile into the sky and forcing hundreds of people to be evacuated from their homes.

Mount Ruang, a stratovolcano in North Sulawesi province, first erupted at 9.45pm local time on Tuesday and then four times on Wednesday, Indonesia’s volcanology agency said.

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More than 100 cattle die on export ship travelling from Australia to Indonesia

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Federal government investigating deaths as a ‘matter of priority’, with efforts under way to treat remaining animals

More than 100 cattle have died on an export ship destined for Indonesia, prompting a “priority” investigation by the federal government.

The deaths occurred on the Brahman Express, which left Darwin on 14 March and arrived in Indonesia six days later.

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Indonesian military apologises after West Papuan man filmed being tortured in water-filled barrel

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In rare admission, commander of Indonesian military in the province says horrific footage is a ‘violation of the law’, and confirms 13 personnel have been detained


Warning: this article contains graphic content

Graphic footage of a West Papuan man bound in a water-filled barrel and being beaten and cut with knives by Indonesian soldiers has drawn a rare apology from the commander of Indonesia’s military in the province.

Major General Izak Pangemanan confirmed 13 military personnel had been detained and more than 40 questioned as part of an investigation into the torture of the unarmed man.

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Dozens of Rohingya refugees rescued from overturned boat in Indian Ocean

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Soaked survivors clung to hull overnight before being taken to safety by Indonesian rescue team

Dozens of Rohingya refugees have been rescued from the Indian Ocean off the coast of Indonesia after spending the night balanced on the hull of their overturned boat.

Seventy-five people were pulled from the stricken vessel, which was spotted on Thursday by an Indonesian search and rescue ship.

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Indonesia election: losing candidate files court challenge after Prabowo Subianto victory

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Anies Baswedan has refused to concede and alleges there were ‘many problems’ with the vote

Losing Indonesian presidential candidate Anies Baswedan has filed a legal case at the constitutional court to challenge the outcome of last month’s election, won overwhelmingly by defence minister Prabowo Subianto.

Anies, a former Jakarta governor, said the aim of the case was to ensure democracy was improved and said there were many problems with the election that needed to be corrected.

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Indonesia fishing village flooded with tide of rubbish after heavy rains

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Teluk has one of country’s dirtiest beaches and the problem has worsened due to weather

An Indonesian fishing village has been inundated with tonnes of rubbish after recent heavy rains resulted in stronger tides.

Teluk, in the Indonesian province of Banten on the western edge of Java island, has one of the country’s dirtiest beaches. But the arrival of tonnes of rubbish on the shore has shocked residents.

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Weather tracker: Indonesia floods cause landslides and disruption to transport

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Heavy rainfall linked to low-pressure system hits south of Java with flood depths of up to 80cm in Semarang

Semarang, the provincial capital of Central Java in Indonesia, experienced severe flooding overnight on Wednesday. This rainfall was linked to a low-pressure system to the south of Java, which brought close to 200mm of rainfall to the area by Thursday daytime. Further rainfall is forecast over the coming week.

Flood depths of up to 80cm have been reported in the old town, with many roads and one railway station closed. There have been 10 reported landslides, and the authorities have advised people who live under clifftops and close to riverbanks to evacuate the area.

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Indonesia opens inquiry after pilots fell asleep on flight carrying 153 people

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Pilot and co-pilot unresponsive for nearly 30 minutes, prompting review of country’s night flight operation

Two Indonesian pilots fell asleep for almost 30 minutes mid-flight, an investigation has revealed.

A pilot and co-pilot were simultaneously asleep for about 28 minutes. The Batik Air flight was travelling from South East Sulawesi to the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, on 25 January, a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) said.

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Indonesia activists condemn four-star general rank for presumed president

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Outgoing president confers honour on presumed successor, Prabowo Subianto, who is accused of human rights violations

Human rights experts have condemned a decision by Indonesia’s outgoing president to award the rank of honorary four-star general to his presumed successor, Prabowo Subianto, a controversial figure accused of human rights violations.

Prabowo, 72, a former son-in-law of the dictator Suharto and a special commander under his regime was dismissed from the military over allegations he was involved in kidnapping and torturing pro-democracy activists in 1998.

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‘A betrayal’: mother’s fight for justice as Indonesia elects Suharto era figure

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President-elect Prabowo Subianto has human rights abuses to answer for, says mother of student shot at 1998 protest

Every Thursday for the past 17 years, in searing heat and pouring rain, Maria Catarina Sumarsih has stood outside the Indonesian presidential palace, demanding justice for her son. He was shot dead in 1998, when authorities opened fire on student protesters as they called for an end to the rule of dictator Suharto.

Soon, it is assumed, the palace behind her will be inhabited by Prabowo Subianto – a former son-in-law of Suharto and a special commander under his 32-year regime, one of the most brutal and corrupt of the 20th century. He is accused of involvement in a series of rights abuses, including enforced disappearances and torture during the Suharto era, which ended in the same year that Sumarsih’s son died.

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End fossil-fuel era to address colonial injustices, urges prominent historian

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West should address ‘colonisation of the present’ and not focus on past, argues David Van Reybrouck

Cities in the global north that curb their carbon emissions are doing more to address colonial injustices than those who focus their efforts on taking down statues and changing street names, one of Europe’s leading historians has said.

David Van Reybrouck, the Belgian author of a bestselling history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a new book on Indonesia’s independence from Dutch rule, has become one of the key drivers of a nascent and often fraught debate about Europe’s colonial legacies. Those who have lauded his work include the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the former UN secretary general Kofi Annan.

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