Quake rattles Indonesia’s Sumatra island, killing at least seven people
Jakarta, IndonesiaReuters A magnitude 6.1 earthquake killed at least seven people and injured dozens more when it struck inland near the western coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island on Friday, with tremors also felt in neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore, officials said. The quake caused residents to flee buildings in some areas and triggered evacuations nearly 400 […]
COVID-19 shots to the people: Indonesia city revs up vaccine buses
Pekanbaru, IndonesiaReuters An Indonesian city is bringing COVID-19 vaccines to its people with a growing fleet of inoculation buses, as the country faces a spike in infections after a major religious festival. Authorities in Pekanbaru on the island of Sumatra have doubled to 10 the number of buses in its vaccination program, since launching it […]
Indonesian farmers walk 1,800 kilometres to protest against evictions
Jakarta, IndonesiaThomson Reuters Foundation More than 100 Indonesian farmers gathered outside the presidential palace in Jakarta on Monday, having walked about 1,800 kilometres from the island of Sumatra to protest against forced evictions from their lands. About 170 farmers began the trek from Deli Serdang in northern Sumatra on 25th June to raise awareness of […]
Asian pulp giants pressed to paper over rivalry to save rainforest
Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaThomson Reuters Foundation Asia’s pulp and paper giants – which supply materials for stationery, tissues and toilet roll – are being urged by environmentalists to follow the palm oil industry in stepping up collaboration to tackle forest loss and fires in Indonesia. Singapore’s APRIL Group and its main rival Indonesia’s Asia Pulp & […]
Strong earthquake kills four in Indonesia
Jakarta, IndonesiaReuters A powerful undersea earthquake that struck off the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java has killed four people and damaged hundreds of buildings, the nation’s disaster agency said on Saturday. Indonesia issued a tsunami warning within minutes of the 6.8 magnitude quake on Friday night. The warning lasted two hours and sent people […]
Death toll continues to climb after Indonesian tsunami
The death toll from a tsunami which struck parts of the coastline of the western Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra has reached at least 430 with almost 1,500 more injured. The tsunami, which hit coastal communities on Saturday night, was triggered by volcanic activity on Anak Krakatau, a volcano located in the Sunda Strait. […]
More than 220 killed as tsunami strikes parts of Indonesia
At least 222 people have died and hundreds more been injured in Indonesia after a tsunami struck parts of Java and Sumatra following an underwater landslide caused by an erupting volcano. Officials were quoted as saying the disaster resulted from volcanic activity on Anak Krakatau and that with many affected areas still out of communication, […]
INDONESIA: WITH FOREST RIGHTS, INDIGENOUS PEOPLES STAVE OFF MINING AND PALM OIL PLANTATIONS
RINA CHANDRAN, reporting for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, writes about how Indigenous people on the Indonesian island of Sumatra are looking to assert land rights to preserve forests…
Three churches closed in Indonesia in permits dispute
World Watch Monitor Three churches were closed in an Indonesian village last week amidst rumours Muslims were planning to protest against the churches’ presence because they did not have the required permits. But a pastor from one of the affected churches in West Kenali village, Alam Barajo district, in Sumatra’s central Jambi province, told World […]
Indonesia Christians’ whipping a rare example of non-Muslims punished under Sharia
Two Indonesian Christians were whipped in public earlier this week in Banda Aceh, the capital of the Sumatran province of Aceh, as a crowd took photos and jeered. Dahlan Sili Tongga, 61, and Tjia Nyuk Hwa, 45, were being punished for breaking Sharia (Islamic law) by playing a game at a children’s entertainment centre, which the […]