World News by Wild Rose

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

Indonesia’s government has paid bondholders the 722 billion rupiah ($40 million) owed to them after state-owned builder PT Waskita Karya failed to settle it last week, marking the first payout under a pandemic-era guarantee program for securities issued by state companies.

This year’s haze crisis has added to the heat woes squeezing livestock farmers in Malaysia and Indonesia, as they struggle to keep their animals cool, fed and productive. While it is difficult to separately assess the effects of haze-related smoke from heat, water shortages, feed and disease, farmers and industry groups say the cumulative strain is severely affecting animal health, productivity and their finances. In Selama, Perak, poultry keeper Zaiful Zakaria, 42, had begun installing...

Indonesia is considering lifting a statutory cap on government spending that has been in place for more than two decades, as President Prabowo Subianto pushes for faster economic growth. Supporters argue that greater room to borrow and spend would let Southeast Asia’s largest economy invest its way towards Prabowo’s target of 8 per cent annual growth by 2029. Economists counter that weakening the rule could push up borrowing costs and dent investor confidence. At issue is the mandatory ceiling...

A major coal deal in Indonesia is set to secure a powerful new partner for one of the country’s biggest miners, even as the industry worries a delay in the government’s approval of production quotas could have a severe impact on the business outlook. Low Tuck Kwong and his daughter Elaine Low, the biggest shareholders of Bayan Resources, agreed on September 16 to sell a 30 per cent stake in Indonesia’s third-largest coal producer to fellow tycoon Andi Syamsuddin Arsyad, better known as Haji...

Bank Indonesia Governor Destry Damayanti and Finance Minister Suaha showcased a united front and promised to align their policies in managing liquidity and boosting economic growth, after disagreements by their predecessors rattled markets.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr is weighing an absolute pardon for Mary Jane Veloso, a former death row inmate detained since her 2010 conviction for drug trafficking in Indonesia. “The Office of the President is seriously considering granting an absolute pardon to Mary Jane Veloso on humanitarian grounds in support of the government’s commitment to protecting Filipino migrant workers,” lawmaker Albert Garcia said on Wednesday, as quoted by the Philippine Daily Inquirer. “There will be...

Malaysia’s haze crisis has flared again just weeks after emergency measures and cloud-seeding operations brought temporary relief, with experts warning that smoke from Indonesian fires could continue drifting across the country until monsoon winds change. All 108 schools in Serian, a district in the state of Sarawak on Malaysian Borneo, were ordered to close on Thursday after the air pollutant index (API) breached 200 on Wednesday night, forcing pupils back to home-based learning. By noon,...

Indonesian state-owned builder PT Waskita Karya was unable to repay 722 billion rupiah ($40 million) of bonds that fell due on Thursday, prompting a claim under an Indonesian government guarantee program that could test the country’s pandemic-era mechanism.

China has scrapped two-thirds of its planned overseas coal projects since President Xi Jinping pledged five years ago to stop building plants abroad, while stepping up the development of green energy in the Global South.

More than 40,000 of the cases – which range from mild coughs to pneumonia – involve toddlers.

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...

Indonesia will form a new body to oversee land reform and settle related conflicts in a bid to address longstanding problems that have plagued plantations, mines, farmers and indigenous communities.

Indonesia’s bid for another term on the United Nations’ premier security body stands a good chance of success given Jakarta’s growing global engagement, analysts say, but its balancing act between competing powers could complicate efforts to speak for the Global South. Jakarta’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it would launch its campaign this week for a fifth term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for 2029–2030. The ministry said it was seeking the seat to...

Smelters at a major Indonesian nickel-processing hub will be forced to cut output as an El Niño-driven drought reduces the supply of water used to cool and protect equipment, according to people familiar with the matter.

The rupiah may struggle to extend its recent rally, as lingering concerns over spending and trade temper optimism over Indonesia’s efforts to bolster policy credibility.

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.

A former Australian official’s use of a hypothetical “aggressive Indonesia” to make the case for Aukus at a public inquiry has been called “clumsy diplomacy” by analysts, who say the comments risk reviving old suspicions as Jakarta and Canberra try to strengthen security ties. Michael Pezzullo, a former deputy secretary of strategy in Australia’s defence department, made the remarks in testimony on September 2 to the Aukus Public Inquiry, an independent, crowdfunded review of the trilateral...

Indonesia’s new finance minister will retain the policy of his predecessor of keeping about $17 billion in the government’s standby funds with state lenders to help boost borrowing and economic activity.

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 is doubling its 2028 bioethanol-blending target to 20%, accelerating a push under President Prabowo Subianto to reduce reliance on fuel imports.

Japan’s proposed port upgrades in Indonesia’s Natuna Islands reflect Tokyo’s push to bolster South China Sea security without building an overt military footprint. However, analysts stress that the move does not mean Jakarta is siding with Japan in its efforts to contain Beijing. Japan, which earlier this year eased its restrictions on lethal weapons exports, is ramping up security cooperation with Indonesia – a crucial bellwether for Southeast Asia. The expanding partnership includes joint...

Struggling to breathe through the acrid haze emanating from wildfires on Indonesia’s Borneo Island, residents said on Wednesday they feared for their health but had little to do but wait out the foul-smelling hazard. Indonesia, which shares Borneo with Malaysia and Brunei, is grappling with forest fires that have ravaged swathes of the island, partly caused by the El Nino climate phenomenon that has also affected other countries in Southeast Asia and beyond. In Pontianak, the capital of West...

Insight with Haslinda Amin, a daily news program featuring in-depth, high-profile interviews and analysis to give viewers the complete picture on the stories that matter. The show features prominent leaders spanning the worlds of business, finance, politics and culture. (Source: Bloomberg)

Nickel Industries Ltd. halted the ramp-up of one of its Indonesian processing plants due to water shortages, a sign of how an El-Niño linked drought is hurting output in the world’s top producer.

Suahasil Nazara, Indonesia’s new finance minister, is an experienced insider and familiar face for investors, having served as a deputy over the past seven years.

The appointment of Suahasil Nazara as Indonesia’s new finance minister signals the government’s recognition of its fiscal challenges, according to analysts.

Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto has sacked the finance minister and appointed the deputy ‌finance minister as his replacement, the president’s office said on Monday. Deputy Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara was among the senior ⁠officials who arrived at the state ‌palace for a swearing-in ceremony. Earlier on Monday, Finance Minister Purbaya ‌Yudhi Sadewa had left in ⁠the ⁠middle of a parliamentary hearing. Suahasil Nazara ‌had been deputy finance minister since 2019. He said ‌on Monday...

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.