JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — A 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit Papua, in eastern Indonesia Thursday, US seismologists said, but no tsunami warning was issued. The quake hit about 250 kilometers west of the town of Abepura in Papua province at 12:46 am local time, at a depth of 12 kilometers, according to the US Geological Survey. The quake was felt weakly in Abepura, but most people did not notice it. “I was still awake at home but […]
Tag: Indonesia
Indonesia ferry sinking leaves at least 15 dead
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — At least 15 people have died after a passenger ferry sank off the Indonesian island of Java, police said Tuesday, the latest maritime accident to hit the archipelago nation. The overloaded boat was carrying around 50 people when it overturned Monday in rough seas near Madura island, East Java Police spokesman Frans Barung Mangera said. Search and rescue teams found 13 bodies Tuesday morning, bringing the total number of dead to […]
Dozen killed in Indonesia bus crash after passenger argument
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP ) — Twelve people were killed and dozens more injured in an Indonesian traffic accident Monday after a bus passenger tried to wrest control of the steering wheel following an argument with the driver, police said. The accident happened at around 1:00 am Monday (1800 GMT Sunday) when the coach swerved into oncoming traffic on a toll road in West Java, smashing into two cars and causing a truck to roll. Some […]
Indonesia returns five containers of waste to the US
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia has returned five containers of rubbish to the United States and will not become a “dumping ground”, officials said Saturday, the latest Southeast Asian country to return imported waste. The containers were supposed to contain only paper scrap, according to the customs documents. Instead they were loaded with other waste including bottles, plastic waste, and diapers, said senior environment ministry official Sayid Muhadhar. “This is not appropriate and we don’t […]
Indonesian police fire tear gas to break up election protest
JARATA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesian police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators in downtown Jakarta early Wednesday after a rally opposed to President Joko Widodo’s re-election, an AFP reporter said. The country’s election commission on Tuesday released official results that confirmed Widodo, 57, had beaten retired military general Prabowo Subianto for the presidency in a poll held on April 17. Subianto has said he would challenge the results in court, and warned that his claims […]
Masters of puppets: Indonesia’s ‘Ondel-Ondel’ kids
by Dessy SAGITA JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) – Peeking through a slit in her giant puppet costume, Indonesian teen Juniarti is drenched in sweat as she moves stiffly under the blistering sun. The 15-year-old and a motley crew of other children — some as young as nine — make a living by strapping on two-metre (6.5 foot) brightly coloured folk effigies known as Ondel-Ondel. The giant-headed puppets are a staple on the streets of Indonesia’s bustling […]
Indonesia’s Joko Widodo wins second term as president: elections commission
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia’s Joko Widodo has won a second term as president, beating out rival Prabowo Subianto, a retired general, by a 55.5 percent to 44.5 percent margin, the elections commission said. “This ruling was announced on May 21… and will be effectively immediately,” the commission’s chair Arief Budiman said in a live streamed announcement that was broadcast on major media. The commission had been expected to announce the official results of the […]
Indonesian court sentences French drug smuggler to death
MATARAM, Indonesia (AFP) — An Indonesian court Monday sentenced Frenchman Felix Dorfin to death for drug smuggling, in a surprise verdict after prosecutors asked for a 20-year jail term. “After finding Felix Dofin legally and convincingly guilty of importing narcotics … (he) is sentenced to the death penalty,” presiding judge Isnurul Syamsul Arif told the court in Lombok. © Agence France-Presse
Indonesia’s Mt. Sinabung spews massive smoke-and-ash column
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — An Indonesian volcano erupted Tuesday, sending a massive column of ash and smoke 2,000 metres (6,500 feet) into the air, coating local villages in debris. Mount Sinabung on Sumatra island — which has been rumbling since 2010 and saw a deadly eruption in 2016 — spewed the thick plume after activity picked up recent days. Disaster agency officials said the eruption has the “potential” to affect flights, but it had […]
Indonesia detains Vietnamese fishermen after clash in South China Sea
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia has accused the Vietnamese coastguard of ramming one of its vessels to block the interception of a boat fishing illegally, as a senior minister announced a return to sinking foreign trawlers. The clash in the South China Sea at the weekend saw Jakarta summon Vietnam’s ambassador on Monday, after the navy detained a dozen Vietnamese fishermen. “The actions taken by the Vietnamese coast guard ship endangered the lives of […]
Floods in Indonesia kill dozens, thousands displaced
by Debbi Ernest Agence France Presse BENGKULU, Indonesia (AFP) — Floods sparked by torrential rains have killed nearly 40 in Indonesia with a dozen more still missing, officials said Monday, marking the latest calamity for a disaster-prone nation. Landslides and floods are common during the monsoon season between October and April, when rains lash the vast Southeast Asian archipelago. On Monday, Indonesia’s disaster agency confirmed 29 deaths and said at least 13 more people […]
Torrential rain triggers flooding, evacuations in Indonesia’s capital
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Torrential rain triggered flooding in parts of the Indonesian capital Jakarta overnight, the disaster agency said Friday, forcing the evacuation of residents. Heavy rain pounded the greater Jakarta area, causing the Ciliwung river to burst its banks, and prompting flash flooding in at least 17 communities. Dozens of residents in parts of the capital’s east, where flooding occurs frequently during rainy season, were forced to wade through streets filled with 1-metre […]
