JAKARTA, Sept 8: A fire tore through an overcrowded block in a jail in Indonesia's Banten province in the early hours of Wednesday, killing at least 40 people and injuring dozens, a government spokeswoman and media reports said.

Overall, Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most populous country, has reported more than 2.4 million infections and 64,631 fatalities from COVID-19. Those figures are widely believed to be a vast undercount due to low testing and poor tracing measures. Indonesia reported the highest toll of 1,040 deaths on Wednesday and nearly 39,000 confirmed cases on Thursday and Friday.

LEMBATA, April 7: The death toll from mudslides in eastern Indonesia has risen to 119 with scores still missing, officials said Wednesday, as rain continued to pound the region and hamper the search.

JAKARTA, April 5: Multiple disasters caused by torrential rains in eastern Indonesia have killed at least 55 people and displaced thousands, the country’s disaster relief agency said Monday. More than 40 other people were missing.

JAKARTA, March 31: Indonesian navy divers have recovered the cockpit voice recorder of a Sriwijaya Air jet that crashed into the Java Sea in January, killing all 62 people on board, officials said Wednesday.

JAKARTA, March 21: AstraZeneca said on Sunday its COVID-19 vaccine contains no pork-derived ingredients, countering an assertion in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, that the drug violates Islamic law.

JAKARTA, March 11: A tourist bus plunged into a ravine on Indonesia’s main island of Java after its brakes apparently malfunctioned, killing at least 27 people and injuring 39 others, police and rescuers said Thursday.

JAKARTA, Jan 18: A powerful earthquake that struck Indonesia’s Sulawesi island last week has killed at least 81 people and displaced more than 19,000, the country’s disaster mitigation agency said, as search and rescue efforts continued on Monday.

JAKARTA, Jan 17: At least 73 people have been killed after an earthquake struck Indonesia’s West Sulawesi province on Friday, the disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) said on Sunday, the latest in a string of disasters to hit the Southeast Asian country.

JAKARTA, Jan 17: At least 56 people have been killed after an earthquake struck Indonesia’s West Sulawesi province on Friday, the disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) said on Sunday, the latest in a string of disasters to hit the Southeast Asian country.

MAMUJU, Indonesia, Jan 16: Damaged roads and bridges, power blackouts and lack of heavy equipment on Saturday hampered rescuers after a strong earthquake left at least 46 people dead and hundreds injured on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island.

JAKARTA, Jan 16: A powerful earthquake killed at least 42 people and injured hundreds on Indonesia’s island of Sulawesi on Friday, trapping several under rubble and unleashing dozens of aftershocks as authorities warned of more quakes that could trigger a tsunami.

JAKARTA, Jan 15: A 6.2-magnitude earthquake on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island killed at least seven people, injured hundreds and damaged many buildings on Friday, the country’s disaster mitigation agency said, as panicked residents fled to safer areas.

JAKARTA, Jan 13: Indonesia launched one of the world’s biggest COVID-19 vaccination campaigns on Wednesday with President Joko Widodo getting the first shot of a Chinese vaccine as his country fights one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in Asia.

JAKARTA, Jan 13: Indonesian divers believe they are close to finding the cockpit voice recorder of a Sriwijaya Air jet that plunged into the sea shortly after takeoff with 62 people onboard.

JAKARTA, Jan 12: Indonesia has deployed a remotely operated underwater vehicle to help divers search for the remains of victims and recover the flight recorders from a Sriwijaya Air jet that crashed into the sea three days ago soon after takeoff.

JAKARTA, Jan 11: Indonesian divers on Monday will try to retrieve the data recorders of a Sriwijaya Air jet that plunged into the sea two days ago with 62 people on board minutes after take off from Jakarta’s main airport.

JAKARTA, Jan 10: A Sriwijaya Air plane crashed into the sea on Saturday minutes after taking off from Indonesia’s capital Jakarta on a domestic flight with 62 people on board, and their fate was not known.

KATHMANDU, Aug 31: Nepal is preparing to enter an air service agreement with three countries including Indonesia, Finland and Russia.

JAKARTA, April 17: Indonesia reported on Friday 407 new coronavirus cases, taking the total number of cases to 5,923 and surpassing the Philippines as the country with the highest number of infections in Southeast Asia.

JAKARTA, March 31: Indonesian President Joko Widodo declared a national public health emergency over the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday and announced measures to help people with lower incomes.

JAKARTA, March 27: Indonesia has confirmed 153 new coronavirus cases, the biggest daily rise so far and taking the Southeast Asian country’s total to 1,046, Health Ministry official Achmad Yurianto said on Friday.

JAKARTA, March 24: Indonesia on Tuesday confirmed 107 new coronavirus cases, the biggest daily increase to date in the Southeast Asian country, bringing the total number of cases to 686, Health Ministry official Achmad Yurianto said on Tuesday.

MAKASSAR, INDONESIA, March 19: Indonesia halted a mass congregation of nearly 9,000 Muslim pilgrims and began quarantining and checking their health Thursday to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Jan 5: Soldiers and health workers sprayed Indonesia’s capital with disinfectant on Sunday to fend off possible diseases spread by massive flooding that has killed 60 people and affected hundreds of thousands.

JAKARTA, INDONESIA, Jan 3: The death toll from floods in Indonesia’s capital rose to 43 on Friday as rescuers found more bodies amid receding floodwaters, disaster officials said.

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, DEC 26: Thousands of people knelt in prayer in Indonesia’s Aceh province at ceremonies Thursday marking the 15th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami, one of modern history’s worst natural disasters.

PHANG NGA, Thailand Dec 26: Communities across Asia commemorated the 230,000 victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami on Thursday, the 15th anniversary of one of the world’s most deadly disasters.

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JAKARTA, Sept 18: The final report on the crash of a Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX jet that killed 189 people last year will be published in the first half of November, Indonesia’s civil aviation authority said on Wednesday.

Indonesia will raise the minimum price of cigarettes by more than a third from January next year, a finance ministry spokesman said on Friday, as part of the government’s efforts to reduce smoking rates.

JAKARTA, Sept 1: Indonesian police have arrested dozens of people in the easternmost region of Papua following protests last week in which buildings were set ablaze, a police spokesman said on Sunday.

JAKARTA, Aug 29: Protesters in Indonesia’s easternmost region of Papua set buildings ablaze on Thursday, forcing the state power firm to cut off electricity in parts of the provincial capital of Jayapura, state media and an executive of the utility said.

KATHMANDU, Aug 27: Police have arrested six persons on the charge of trafficking Nepali youths promising attractive jobs in Australia.

JAKARTA, Aug 26: Indonesia plans to move its capital to Borneo island from Jakarta, a crowded, polluted city on the north coast of Java island which is slowly sinking, the president said on Monday.

JAKARTA, Aug 18: A suspected Islamic militant has launched an attack on an Indonesian police station in the country’s second-biggest city, slashing one officer with a sickle, before being shot and taken into custody, police officials said on Sunday.

JAKARTA , Aug 16:  Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Friday formally proposed to parliament a plan to move the country’s capital from Jakarta, on the crowded island of Java, to Kalimantan on the island of Borne

JAKARTA, Aug 4: Indonesia’s capital Jakarta and some neighboring provinces on Java island have been hit by a major electricity outage after problems at a number of power stations on Java, the country’s state electricity company PLN said in a statement on Sunday.

JAKARTA, Aug 3: A powerful undersea earthquake that struck off the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java has killed at least one person and briefly displaced more than 1,000 coastal-dwellers who feared a tsunami, Indonesia’s disaster agency said on Saturday.

JAKARTA, Aug 2:  An Indonesian fishing boat has sunk in waters off South Kalimantan province on Borneo island, with 31 people still missing, media reports cited the country’s search and rescue agency as saying on Friday.

An Indonesian province has put 50 overweight police on a crash program of aerobics, swimming and jogging, telling them they’d better shape up for the job. The officers in East Java are being closely monitored on the two-week program and also get guidance from nutritionists and medical experts, said spokesman Frans Barung Mangera.

JAKARTA, July 28: Indonesia’s president said in an interview that he wants to see the speedy construction of a giant sea wall around Jakarta to prevent the low-lying capital from sinking under the sea, lending renewed backing and a sense of urgency to a slow-moving and politically contested mega project.

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SINGAPORE, July 14: An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 struck southeast of the city of Ternate on Sunday, in the Moluccas in the eastern area of Indonesia, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

JAKARTA, July 9: Indonesia is sending dozens of containers of waste back to wealthy nations after finding it was contaminated with used diapers, plastic and other materials, adding to a growing backlash in Southeast Asia against being a dumping ground for the developed world’s rubbish.

JAKARTA, July 8: A strong subsea earthquake late Sunday night caused panic in parts of eastern Indonesia and triggered a tsunami warning that was later lifted. There were no immediate reports of major damage or casualties.

JAKARTA, July 8: There were no reports on Monday of major damage in Indonesia from a weekend earthquake of magnitude 6.9 off the northeastern coast of the island of Sulawesi, and authorities lifted a tsunami warning.

Ambassador of Indonesia to Nepal, Rina P Soemarmo and honorary consul of Indonesia to Nepal, Chandra Prasad Dhakal jointly inaugurated Indonesia Boutique Fair at Hotel Annapurna in Kathmandu on Thursday.

JAKARTA, July: An Indonesian woman who doctors say should receive psychiatric treatment has been named a suspect in a blasphemy case after taking a dog into a mosque, sparking calls for the frequently abused law to be repealed.

MEDAN, June 21: At least 30 people including children were killed in a fire that swept through a house that doubled as a match factory in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province, a disaster official said Friday.