World News by Wild Rose

Singapore’s air pollution worsened to the highest in the world as haze from Indonesia wildfires blankets the region days before the city state’s annual Formula One weekend. Air quality levels in Singapore were in the “very unhealthy” range as of Wednesday afternoon, according to data from IQAir. Nearby Kuala Lumpur, which was earlier in the top spot, ranked as the second-most polluted city globally. In the Malaysian state of Johor, about 140km (87 miles) northwest of Singapore, some 200 schools,...

A surprise inspection at the prison revealed apartment-like units appearing to house inmates, equipped with televisions, a gym and fridges stocked with alcohol.

More than 170,000 respiratory cases were recorded in regions affected by haze in Indonesia, a health ministry official said on Tuesday, as the country continues its battle to control fires that caused the toxic smog. Blazes in Borneo, Sumatra and Papua have blanketed parts of the vast archipelago of more than 280 million people with haze, as well as neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore, sending air quality indices plummeting. The toxic smog contains pollutants including PM 2.5, a fine particulate...

BBC Eye has discovered a teacher who was imprisoned for sexually assaulting a student in Indonesia has been secretly released early.

The World Health Organization should look beyond its own budget for funds to support itself and member countries, according to Indonesia’s Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, who is seeking to lead the agency.

Indonesia’s latest ferry disaster has exposed persistent weaknesses in maritime safety oversight, experts have said, with poor enforcement and inadequate supervision continuing to leave passengers vulnerable across the sprawling archipelago. The capsizing of the Virgo Transport 8 in the Java Sea on Sunday has intensified scrutiny of a system that analysts say too often comes under pressure only after deadly accidents, rather than preventing them. Six people have been confirmed dead and 129...

Indonesia intensified its search operation on 14 September for 129 people still missing after the Virgo Transport 8 ferry capsized in rough seas in the Java Sea the previous day. By then, 108 survivors had been rescued and six bodies recovered.

Indonesian rescue teams on Monday deployed specialised underwater teams and navy-operated underwater drones as the search for more than 120 people missing in the Virgo Transport 8 ferry capsizing intensified.

Six people have been killed and 130 remain missing after a passenger ship capsized in the Java Sea off Indonesia.

At least one person has died and more than 100 people remain missing after a ferry carrying 243 people sank in rough weather between the Indonesian islands of Java and Borneo. The disaster is the second major ferry accident in the region in five days, renewing concerns over safety standards, overcrowding and maintenance.

The nation's search and rescue team said it lost contact with the Virgo Transport 8 in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Search and rescue ongoing after Virgo Transport 8, with 243 people on board, lost contact with its operator.

Indonesian authorities are working to repatriate five baby orangutans allegedly trafficked to India, where they were found motherless in a forest, Jakarta’s forestry ministry said on Friday. The critically endangered animals were found on Tuesday by rangers patrolling in the Balasore district of India’s eastern Odisha state. Authorities suspect the primates, known for their shaggy red fur, were trafficked into India, sparking a criminal investigation. The youngsters, estimated to be about...

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship free nutritious meals programme is facing renewed scrutiny after yet another wave of mass food poisoning that affected more than 2,000 students, raising questions about why safeguards on paper fail to translate to food safety on the ground. A series of illnesses were reported in Java, Sumatra, and Sulawesi in the past week. The latest was on Tuesday in Rembang, Central Java, where 200 students of an Islamic school showed symptoms of food poisoning...

The eruption of Anak Krakatoa in Indonesia has tested the country’s disaster preparedness, disrupting nearly 3,000 flights carrying more than 340,000 passengers as volcanic ash spread across the region. Authorities say they are monitoring the volcano, which remains under the country’s second-highest alert status. According to scientists, the event’s exceptional scale makes its impact hard to anticipate. The eruption has renewed debate on whether Indonesia’s monitoring and disaster planning can...

Up to 200 Hong Kong-bound domestic helpers remain stranded in Indonesia despite the reopening of several affected airports, as the city’s employment agencies association braces for possible further closures due to volcanic ash. The Indonesian transport ministry said Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport resumed operations on Tuesday after being shut for several days, following the eruption of Mount Anak Krakatoa on Saturday, which affected thousands of travellers. Among those stranded...