At least nine people have been killed and 14 injured in rioting and clashes with police in Papua’s Wamena town after rumours circulated that a child had been kidnapped, local media and an official said. More than 200 security personnel, including police and the military, have been deployed to contain the situation in the restive Indonesian province, police said on Friday. There has been no further violence since Thursday’s attacks on […]
INTERNATIONAL Indonesia has passed a controversial new Criminal Code that includes outlawing sex outside marriage and cohabitation, in changes that critics contend could undermine freedoms in the Southeast Asian nation. The new laws apply to Indonesians and foreigners and also restore a ban on insulting the president, state institutions or Indonesia’s national ideology known as Pancasila. The new criminal code, which was approved unanimously by parliament on Tuesday, replaces a framework that had […]
Indonesian rescue workers were racing on Tuesday to reach people still trapped in rubble a day after an earthquake devastated a West Java town, killing at least 162 people and injuring hundreds, as officials warned the death toll may rise. The epicentre of the shallow 5.6-magnitude quake hit on land close to the town of Cianjur in a mountainous area of Indonesia’s most populous province. The tremor on Monday afternoon […]
For more than three decades, Iwan Junaedi was a devoted fan of the Indonesian soccer side Arema FC, barely missing a game at the club in the country’s top-flight league. But Saturday’s match would be the last time the 43-year-old father of three would see his side play, as he became one of 125 victims caught up in a crowd stampede at the end of the game in the town of […]
At least 129 people were killed and around 180 injured at a soccer match in Indonesia after panicked fans were trampled and crushed trying to flee during a riot, police said on Sunday, in what appeared to be one of the world’s worst stadium disasters. When supporters of the losing home team invaded the pitch in East Java province on Saturday night to express their frustration, officers fired tear gas […]
Indonesian officials say debris from a missing submarine was found after the vessel sank as hopes of rescuing 53 sailors on board faded on Saturday. The items located included a bottle of lubricant and a device that protects a torpedo, Air Marshall Hadi Tjahjanto said. “The objects found near the last location of the submarine are believed to be parts of the submarine,” he said. “These objects would have never […]
At least 76 people have died and dozens more were missing after Cyclone Seroja hit Indonesia and East Timor, triggering flash floods and landslides that uprooted trees, blocked roads and turned small communities into wastelands of mud. Indonesia’s BNPB disaster agency, in a statement on Monday, said at least 55 people were dead and 40 were missing in the country’s East Nusa Tenggara province. More than 400 people were evacuated […]
An Indonesian court issued on Wednesday guilty verdicts against the first three West Papuan defendants accused of treason, in a case that has drawn concern about deteriorating political freedoms in the world's third-largest democracy. Buchtar Tabuni, one of the leaders of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, was found guilty of treason and sentenced to 11 months in prison - significantly lower than the 17 years that prosecutors had […]
Tens of thousands of Indonesians were still unable to return to their waterlogged homes Saturday after flooding hit the Jakarta capital region, killing at least 53 people, authorities said. More than 170,000 people took refuge in shelters across the massive urban conglomeration - home to some 30 million - after whole neighbourhoods were submerged. Torrential rains that started on New Year's Eve unleashed flash floods and landslides in the region and neighbouring […]
VOC became the first Muslim radio station in South Africa when a special events license was granted to the station in Ramadan/January 1995. Subsequent temporary broadcast licenses were granted, permitting the station to broadcast for 24 hours.
