Indonesia is bracing for a tumultuous political year in 2023 as parties gear up for the upcoming general elections next year, raising fears of heightened uncertainty that analysts say could derail the nation’s economic recovery.

The Supreme Court has taken several measures in an attempt to clean up judicial corruption and improve internal oversight after it was hit by a mega-corruption scandal that involved dozens of justices and workers. 

The government is expecting that this year will be drier compared to the past three years, which might translate to higher risk of forest fires than the previous years.

Two opposition parties in the House of Representatives – the Democratic Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) – have criticized the controversial issuance of a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on job creation and the government’s reasoning behind the decision.

Although the PPKM has been revoked, the government is reminding the public to stay vigilant and to continue to follow the 3M health protocols of mask-wearing, handwashing and social distancing, and that the COVID-19 curbs could be reinstated if cases spiked again.

In the brief visit, Jokowi was joined by Jakarta acting Governor Heru Budi Hartono in distributing gifts to market visitors.

The controversial issuance of a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on job creation could have a positive impact on economic activities this year, economists say, as it may act as a catalyst to improve the Indonesian business climate, which will eventually lead to healthier investment growth.

Indonesia is inching toward an endemic phase of the COVID-19 outbreak after the government lifted all of the remaining COVID-19 restrictions just before the turn of the year, but epidemiologists say the war on the virus is far from over.   

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Friday removed all remaining measures to control the spread of COVID-19 effective immediately, saying that most of the country's population already has antibodies against the disease.

Ma'ruf also pledged that the government would push for a regulation that would allow Indonesian media to get payments for their contents from tech giants distributing contents, as has been implemented in Australia.

The Indonesian Navy sent Thursday hospital ship KRI Soeharso-990 to bring logistics and to evacuate hundreds of residents and tourists stranded on Bawean Island off the coast of East Java amid bad weather.

Indonesians are bidding farewell to another terrible year, 2022, the latest annus horribilis, filled with global conflicts, national tragedies and lingering uncertainties. But while we say good riddance to it, 2022 appears to have revealed some silver linings, giving us reasons to be more upbeat about the new year ahead.

After a two-year absence, the Jakarta administration is set to resume public New Year’s Eve celebrations, with the main event set to take place in the newly renovated Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII).

While 2022 saw a reduction in the occurrence of natural disasters, the death toll nonetheless ranked the highest in four years as a result of the deadly Cianjur, West Java, earthquake in November, as authorities promised improved disaster resilience by building on experience learned from this year.        

Freshly appointed Malaysian Foreign Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir embarked on his first bilateral trip to Jakarta on Thursday, meeting with his Indonesian counterpart Retno LP Marsudi to prepare for the visit of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim next month.

Ten Indonesian universities will survey alimentary resources across the archipelago in the coming year as part of the government’s food security program.

A woman died on Wednesday after becoming trapped in a flood that hit Emplasmen village in Labuhan Batu regency, North Sumatra.

What began as a tweet from a National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) climatologist has spiraled into conflicting weather warnings that bamboozled many Greater Jakarta residents.

But after more than a month adrift on the Andaman Sea without much food, medicine or a working engine, nearly 200 Rohingya reached Aceh province after their overcrowded, rickety wooden boat finally reached shore on Monday.

As Jakarta resumes normal service in 2022 with the worst of the pandemic in the rearview mirror, the capital’s 10 million residents, plus 18 million more from the surrounding satellite cities, have found themselves dealing again with one of the city’s perennial problems: heavy traffic.

Authorities have sounded the alarm about heavy rain that is expected to hit Jakarta on Wednesday, amid a wider threat of extreme weather that still looms over numerous provinces across the country this week and at least until Jan. 2.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has said that he is not worried about a possible surge of COVID-19 infections from foreign tourists amid concerns of surging of cases in China, which has decided to relax its strict pandemic measures.

Police have deployed personnel to Central Weda district in Central Halmahera, North Maluku, following a clash between youth groups that started on Christmas Day and left two people injured.

A boat washed ashore in Aceh province on Monday carrying 174 Rohingya, most of them dehydrated, fatigued and in need of urgent medical care after weeks at sea, local disaster agency officials said. 

The President is optimistic that Indonesia has brought COVID-19 transmissions under control, citing the results of a serological study in July that showed 98.5 percent of 20,501 total respondents had developed antibodies against the coronavirus.

Local police in Tanjung Balai, North Sumatra, on Monday arrested a 50-year-old man suspected of attempting to smuggle 28 Rohingya refugees to Malaysia.

Each year thousands of the mostly Muslim Rohingya, heavily persecuted in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, risk their lives on long, expensive sea journeys -- often in poor-quality vessels -- in an attempt to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.