Rampant deforestation has reduced the elephants' habitat and brought them into increasing conflict with humans, while their ivory tusks are prized in the illegal wildlife trade.

The Langkat regent was apprehended last week on separate charges of graft in a Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) sting operation.

"The clash broke out last night (Monday) at 11 pm. It was a prolonged conflict from a clash on Saturday," Sorong police chief Ary Nyoto Setiawan said in a statement.

Singaporeans can visit Batam and Bintan islands approximately 15 km (9.32 miles) and 30 km away respectively providing they are vaccinated against COVID-19, they undergo tests and have insurance coverage, authorities said.

Indonesia will build a lighthouse on Karang Singa in Riau Islands province next month, in the latest move by the government to reaffirm the sovereignty of Indonesian territory near the maritime border with Singapore and Malaysia.

The extensive ritual for Anak Agung Ngurah Manik Parasara, who died in late December at the age of 76, started on January 2 and continued until the main event on Friday.

The government has disputed the recently published scientific research that claimed the area lost to forest and peatland fires in 2019 was larger than official estimates, a move which activists said highlighted the government’s lack of openness toward data gathered from independent studies.

Lawmakers passed the new capital city bill on Tuesday, which will provide the necessary legal framework that will move forward the government’s plan to relocate the capital from Jakarta to East Kalimantan.

The Environment and Forestry Ministry inaugurated on Thursday a rescue center that will house orangutans rescued from attempted wildlife smuggling, in Langkat Regency, North Sumatra.

Hundreds of buildings, including houses, places of worship and community health center (Puskesmas), were damaged in a 6.6 magnitude earthquake that struck the western parts of Java Island on Friday.

The Lhokseumawe city administration in Aceh wants dozens of stranded Rohingya refugees, who were rescued at the end of last year, to find a new place to stay outside the city once their COVID-19 quarantine is over.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported that in the first nine days of 2022, 78 distinct natural disasters had occurred nationwide.

The turtles, from the Chelonia mydas species that is protected in Indonesia, were released on Kuta beach after they being rescued during a Navy operation against poachers in December.

The Medan administration is on high alert after it detected a probable case of the highly transmissible COVID-19 Omicron variant linked to a man from the United Kingdom, who was part of an international airline cargo crew that transited in the North Sumatran city.

Torrential rains have hammered the island for days, causing rivers to burst their banks and sending water levels surging in residential areas, the national disaster agency said. 

The La Niña weather phenomenon, which is associated with intense rainfall in Indonesia, is expected to wane after the first few months of this year, a scientist has said, as the global climate cycle is projected to transition into El Niño in the second half of 2022.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD said the new approach would be centered on collaborative efforts by government stakeholders to carry out programs aimed at improving the lives of Papuans.

The naval ship arrived in Lhokseumawe on the north coast of Aceh province shortly after midnight, according to AFP journalists at the scene.

Dozens of Rohingya refugees are currently sheltering in a makeshift facility in Lhoksemauwe, Aceh, where they will undergo quarantine for up to two weeks, after the vessel they were in was towed ashore by the Navy on Friday.

The boat carrying the refugees docked safely in Lhoksemauwe, Aceh, shortly after midnight Friday, where they were transported to a temporary shelter provided by authorities amid heavy monsoon rains, AFP reported.

The forestry sector appears to be the key for the government to achieve Indonesia's climate goals, but its reluctance to use a big-data approach and a conflicting signal from its top environment official has undercut its attempt to present a united front, both nationally and globally.

Edi and his fellow fishermen raced to the spot, about 30 miles away, where the friend was waiting near a small wooden vessel helplessly adrift on the ocean.

At least 100 mostly women and children aboard a stricken wooden vessel off Aceh province were denied refuge in Indonesia, where authorities on Tuesday said they planned to push them into the neighbouring Southeast Asian country after fixing their boat.

There were no immediate reports of tsunami warnings, nor casualties or damage. 

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Amnesty International Indonesia have called on the government to allow a Rohingya refugee boat that has been stranded off the coast of Bireuen, Aceh, for days to come ashore.

At least 100 mostly women and children aboard a wooden vessel said to be taking on water were denied refuge in Indonesia and instead pushed into the neighbouring Southeast Asian country.

Rohingya refugees from Myanmar have for years sailed to countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia between November and April when the seas are calm.

Floods and landslides struck several areas in South Sumatra and Riau over the long holiday weekend, with at least two deaths reported.

The country has been hard-hit by COVID with the virus also disrupting the puppet group's shows.

Malaysian authorities have returned the remains of 11 people who died in a boat accident on Dec. 15 off the coast of Johor Bahru, Malaysia to the Indonesian counterpart in Batam, Riau Islands, on Thursday.