Indonesia

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

Indonesia Tears Down Luxury Compound Inside Prison

Flat-screen TVs, air conditioners, and gym equipment removed

(Newser) - Indonesian authorities on Wednesday ordered the demolition of a luxury compound inside a prison that was allegedly providing preferential treatment for favored inmates. Workers removed furniture and appliances including large flat-screen televisions, air conditioners, sofas, and refrigerators from the Cibinong Prison in Bogor, near the capital Jakarta, and several of...

Families Await Word as Crews Search for Ferry Survivors

About 130 are missing in Indonesia's Java Sea

(Newser) - A ferry overturned in rough weather in Indonesia's Java Sea on Sunday, leaving about 130 passengers and crew missing, rescuers said. At least 107 people were rescued, and the bodies of six passengers were recovered as the search operation expanded around the vessel's last known position. The ferry...

It's Oldest Evidence of Habitual Drug Use—and the Damage

Teeth marked by regular sucking on betel nuts are at least 16K years old

(Newser) - An ancient toothache may have given researchers their earliest look yet at habitual drug use among humans. Archaeologists studying two sets of human teeth from caves on Indonesia's Sulawesi island say distinctive grooves and chemical traces show people there were sucking on betel nuts, also known as areca nuts,...

Volcano in Indonesia Just Snarled Travel Plans for 150K

Flights are grounded after eruption at Anak Krakatau

(Newser) - Indonesia's Anak Krakatau volcano erupted early Sunday, prompting the cancellation of all flights at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and disrupting other domestic airports as volcanic ash drifted across parts of western Indonesia. The closures affected nearly 500 flights and roughly 150,000 passengers, per the AP . Indonesia's...

2K Fall Ill After Eating Free School Meals

Food poisoning is suspected in Indonesia, with ties to nation's Free Nutritious Meals program eyed

(Newser) - Nearly 2,000 people, most of them students, fell ill in suspected food-poisoning outbreaks linked to President Prabowo Subianto's flagship Free Nutritious Meals program this week, raising fresh concerns about food safety as the government rapidly expands the multibillion-dollar initiative nationwide, officials said on Saturday. The incidents, reported between...

This Shark Is So Rare, There's Not a Photo of One Living

CNN explores what could be the last remaining refuge of the Ganges shark

(Newser) - We'd like to show you a photo of an extremely rare, critically endangered shark, one of only three river shark species around the world, but this one is so obscure, it's never been photographed alive. As CNN reports, the Ganges shark is generally known only from the odd...

Bali Just Proved How Seriously It Takes Its 'Day of Silence'

Swiss national gets year behind bars for posting on social media on sacred day of meditation

(Newser) - A court on the Indonesian resort island of Bali sentenced a Swiss tourist on Thursday to one year in prison for insulting a sacred Balinese Hindu observance. Luzian Andrin Zgraggen, 26, was found guilty of violating Indonesia's new criminal code by posting social media messages about the Day of...

At Least 47 Dead in 7.7 Indonesia Earthquake

Death toll will almost certainly rise, officials warn

(Newser) - A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia early Saturday, killing at least 47 people, collapsing buildings, and causing panic in a region prone to deadly quakes, the AP reports. Authorities said dozens more residents were injured and warned that the death toll would almost certainly...

Five People Stayed Afloat Four Days Before Sea Rescue

Survivors clung to fishing trap, boat debris in Indonesia

(Newser) - An improbable maritime rescue is making headlines out of Indonesia. Five of the people who vanished after a passenger boat went down off South Sulawesi on Wednesday were found alive Saturday—four days after the sinking—reports the Anatolian News Agency . One of the survivors is a 7-year-old girl, per...

Separatists Say They Killed an American Pilot

They accuse him of transporting Indonesian troops into West Papua

(Newser) - A Papua separatist group said Thursday it shot dead an American pilot who allegedly transported Indonesian troops into the restive province. A spokesman for the West Papua Liberation Army, or TPNPB, said its fighters fatally shot Nicholas F. Goselin and set fire to an aircraft operated by PT AMA, an...

They Kissed on a TikTok Livestream, Then Got Caned

Unmarried pair in Indonesia's Banda Aceh punished for alleged violations of Islamic law

(Newser) - A young couple in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province were publicly caned on Thursday after a Shariah court convicted them of violating Islamic law by kissing during a TikTok livestream. Aceh's Sharia court ordered the two people to be whipped with a rattan cane 21 times each for kissing...

Single Brutal Storm Wiped Out 7% of Rarest Great Ape
4 Days of Rain Wiped
Out 7% of Rarest Great Ape
new study
Jun 11, 2026 6:15 PM CDT

4 Days of Rain Wiped Out 7% of Rarest Great Ape

About 800 Tapanuli orangutans live in 3 isolated populations in Batang Toru

(Newser) - A four-day deluge in Indonesia killed off 7% of an entire species of endangered great ape, a new study has found. Researchers say roughly 39 inches of rain fell as Cyclone Senyar hit Indonesia's North Sumatra province last November, triggering landslides that, per satellite imagery, brought down about 20,...

Researchers Have Surprisingly Good News on Mangroves

Decades of global decline have reversed since 2010

(Newser) - Mangroves, long seen as casualties of coastal development, are quietly clawing their way back. A new global study published in Science finds that since 2010, Earth has actually added more mangrove forest than it has lost—reversing decades of net decline driven by fish farming, agriculture, and urban growth. Researchers...

Guide on Fatal Hike Says He Was Oblivious to Warnings

Reza Selang recounts watching 2 people get crushed on Indonesia's Mount Dukono

(Newser) - A man who guided hikers up one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes says he had no indication the trip would turn fatal in seconds . "I still can't believe it," Indonesian guide Reza Selang tells the BBC , claiming he was unaware Mount Dukono was off-limits, having erupted...

Hikers Defy Volcano's Restricted Zone, Pay With Their Lives

At least 3 in group of 20 killed when Indonesia's Mount Dukono erupts

(Newser) - An explosive eruption of Mount Dukono on a remote Indonesian island killed three hikers, authorities said Friday. About 20 climbers set out Thursday to ascend the nearly 4,445-foot volcano on the island of Halmahera, in defiance of safety restrictions, said North Halmahera police chief Erlichson Pasaribu. They became stranded...

After Moment of Hesitation, Primate Takes Big Leap of Faith

Sumatran orangutan is first ever to use artificial canopy bridge to cross a public road

(Newser) - A Sumatran orangutan has been filmed for the first time using a human-made canopy bridge to cross a public road on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, conservationists said Monday. Rapid development has been shrinking the jungle habitat of the critically endangered species, and fatal conflicts with people have been increasing....

Jakarta Goes After Its Invasive 'Janitor Fish'

Mass operation in Indonesia aims to remove 10 tons of suckermouth catfish from polluted waterways

(Newser) - Cheers broke out in Indonesia's capital on Friday as residents, city workers, and environmental volunteers hauled bulging nets of invasive fish to the surface of a reservoir in an operation to crack down on "janitor fish." Authorities are seeking to remove at least 10 tons of the...

Undersea Earthquake Sets Off Small Tsunami

7.4 earthquake off Indonesia kills at least one person

(Newser) - An undersea magnitude 7.4 earthquake toppled buildings in parts of northern Indonesia, sent people fleeing from their homes, killed at least one person, and generated a small tsunami Thursday, the AP reports. Strong shaking lasting 10 to 20 seconds was felt in Bitung in North Sulawesi province as well...

Avalanche of Garbage Kills 7 at Landfill

Tragedy strikes in Indonesia after heavy rains

(Newser) - A massive avalanche of garbage at Indonesia's largest landfill killed seven people after heavy overnight rain triggered a rubbish dump collapse, officials said Tuesday. More than 300 search-and-rescue personnel, using heavy machinery and sniffer dogs, were deployed to the sprawling dump site late Sunday at the Bantargebang Integrated Waste...

'Suitcase Murder' Convict Pleads Not Guilty in US

Tommy Schaefer served 11 years in Indonesia prison before he was sent back to US next week

(Newser) - A Chicago man convicted in Indonesia of beating his then-girlfriend's mother to death with a fruit bowl and hiding the body in a suitcase more than a decade ago pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal charges in the US. Tommy Schaefer was sentenced in Indonesia to 18 years in...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>
Most Read on Newser
More News: Smith Urges Justices To Reject Trumps... | El Salvador Doubles Down On Risky Bit... | Coca Cola Reveals New Trump Approved ... | Ozzy Osbourne Dies Weeks After Farewe... | Doj Is Now Reviewing Whether Watergat...