Place
Indonesia
Everything ForecastGeo has ingested that places a story in Indonesia — 11 articles from 7 outlets.
Every story
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Malaysian Pilot Smuggled 55 Pounds of Ecstasy Into Indonesia, Officials Say
The pilot, identified only by his initials, also tested positive for ecstasy and cocaine when he was arrested last week at the Jakarta airport, the Indonesian police said.
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Top Arab, Muslim diplomats launch plan to protect Jerusalem religious sites
Foreign ministers warn Christian and Islamic holy sites 'threatened' by Israel 'as never before'.
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Jordan warns status quo in Jerusalem 'under threat' as ministers meet in Amman
Amman hosted an emergency ministerial meeting on Wednesday to rally support behind Jordan’s custodianship of Jerusalem’s holy sites, as Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi warned that Israeli measures risk igniting a wider religious conflict.
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Former Iranian conscripts seeking asylum in Canada fear deportation
An immigration lawyer says many Iranian men in Canada are facing deportation for having formerly served in the Iranian military as a conscript.
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‘Feverish optimism’ as borough commits to revitalizing Montreal’s Chinatown
Ville-Marie borough said it will be stepping up efforts to revitalize Montreal’s Chinatown, starting with the deployment of a cleaning crew and the creation of a local alliance.
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An inside look at Calgary’s Saskatchewan-themed pub
For more than 20 years, this Calgary eatery has been bringing a taste of Saskatchewan to the city and celebrating a love of the Roughriders.
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Multiple threats endanger the world’s rarest great ape, a new study on the Tapanuli orangutan reveals
Deep in the forests of North Sumatra, Indonesia, lives the Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis), the world’s rarest great ape. Fewer than 800 individuals remain, confined to the Batang Toru ecosystem, a landscape that is also home to other rare species like Sumatran tigers, Sunda pangolins, agile gibbons and helmeted hornbills. For years, debates about the future of Batang Toru have largely focused on major development projects, particularly hydropower, gold mining and geothermal energy. But our new research, published in Biological Conservation, suggests that the story is more complicated. We tracked forest loss and the human activities driving it by combining three approaches. First, we used satellite data to see where forest had been lost and what was driving that loss. Second, we spoke with local communities to validate our spatial observations and determine the drivers from a local perspective. Finally, we utilised an impact evaluation approach called the synthetic control method. This technique created an artificial twin of the forest to show what would have happened if extractive industries had never arrived in Batang Toru. By combining these three methods, we examined the locations of forest loss, the social and economic processes driving it, and its additional impacts on the ecosystem. The results reveal that there is no single threat to the Tapanuli orangutan. Instead, multiple pressures are acting simultaneously — ranging from extractive industries and logging to agricultural expansion and, increasingly, climate-related disasters. How we discovered a new species of orangutan in northern Sumatra Forest loss accelerated after 2012 Between 2000 and 2023, Batang Toru lost 7,659 hectares of forest, equivalent to about 5% of its total forest cover. Forest loss accelerated sharply after 2012, around the time three major extractive projects were initiated in the region. Using the synthetic control method, we estimated that Batang Toru lost approximately 3,472 hectares more forest than would have been expected in the absence of these projects. This suggests that large-scale developments altered the trajectory of forest loss across the landscape. However, the direct footprint of extractive industries tells only part of the story. Our spatial analysis shows that around 70% of total forest loss was associated with small-scale agriculture and logging. While extractive industries caused a surge in forest loss, agricultural expansion and timber extraction have persisted and even increased over time. This does not mean industrial developments are unimportant. Rather, it highlights that different drivers operate on different timescales. Large infrastructure projects can trigger abrupt changes, whereas agricultural expansion and logging exert a slower but continuous pressure that gradually fragments the habitat. Looking beyond satellite images Understanding why forests disappear requires more than mapping where trees are lost. Satellite imagery can show when and where deforestation occurs but often cannot explain the complex social and economic forces behind land-use change. To address this, we collaborated with the Indonesian NGO Tangguh Hutan Khatulistiwa (TAHUKAH), with support from the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) — having partnered to implement conservation programmes in Batang Toru since 2021. They conducted participant observation, interviews and group discussions with communities living around Batang Toru. These ethnographically informed conservation methods revealed how changing commodity prices, shifting land tenure arrangements, road development and local livelihood strategies shape land-use decisions. For example, the drop in rubber prices has led residents to clear rubber plantations to make way for banana crops. Such unregulated land conversions can arise due to overlapping claims to customary and state-owned land, as well as weak oversight of small-scale logging activities. Together, these findings demonstrate the importance of integrating social and ecological perspectives. This approach is particularly critical because local communities and Tapanuli orangutans have coexisted in the same habitat for generations. Conservation problems are ultimately human problems as much as environmental ones. Climate change is adding a new threat As if these long-standing pressures were not enough, Batang Toru is now facing a new challenge. In late 2025, Tropical Cyclone Senyar brought intense rainfall to Sumatra, triggering widespread flooding and landslides. Recent estimates suggest that an estimated 8,300 hectares of intact forest were destroyed in the Western Block of Batang Toru alone, potentially resulting in the loss of roughly 58 Tapanuli orangutans — approximately 7% of the species’ global population. Remarkably, the forest loss caused by this six-day event exceeded the total deforestation recorded across the entire Batang Toru ecosystem between 2000 and 2023. Preventing extinction means addressing multiple threats The Tapanuli orangutan is threatened by a combination of extractive industries, agricultural expansion, logging, governance challenges, market forces and climate change. Addressing only one of these pressures is unlikely to secure the species’ future. Instead, effective conservation will require integrated approaches that strengthen land tenure security, improve logging monitoring, support sustainable livelihoods and reward communities for maintaining forests. Private-sector actors also have an important role to play through restoration, biodiversity offsets, and long-term stewardship. Ultimately, preventing the extinction of the Tapanuli orangutan is about more than protecting a single species. It is about maintaining the resilience of an entire landscape and ensuring that both humans and wildlife can continue to thrive in one of the world’s most biodiverse and imperilled ecosystems. Para penulis tidak bekerja, menjadi konsultan, memiliki saham atau menerima dana dari perusahaan atau organisasi mana pun yang akan mengambil untung dari artikel ini, dan telah mengungkapkan bahwa ia tidak memiliki afiliasi di luar afiliasi akademis yang telah disebut di atas.
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Pain and the struggle for relief: How fear influences patient access to medical opioids
If you are in severe pain and struggling to get opioid medication in Indonesia, you are not alone. Despite the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) recognising several therapeutic opioid as essential medicines, Indonesia has one of the lowest levels of medical opioid use in the region, far below global and regional standards. Indonesia consumes only 26 opioid doses per million people per day, compared with 1,467 doses in Malaysia and 200 in Timor-Leste. The problem is not a lack of medical need. It is government policy, our research shows. One complicating factor is the government’s strict political approach to narcotics, which prioritises consideration of potential harms over the real clinical need of patients to access essential medicines. Why are opioids so difficult to access? Therapeutic opioids are standard treatment for severe pain, including for cancer, post-surgical and palliative care. They work by blocking pain signals from the body to the brain. Indonesia’s National Essential Medicines List contains several strong opioids, such as morphine, pethidine, methadone, fentanyl, remifentanil, hydromorphone, and sufentanil. These opioids are different from what are sometimes referred to as ‘weak’ opioids such as codeine and tramadol, which are used for moderate pain. Tramadol and codeine are regulated under a different regulation to strong opioids and are more widely available in Indonesia. Like any medicine, opioids carry risks, including addiction and side effects. However, when prescribed appropriately, their benefits generally outweigh those risks. These medicines are legal, but many patients struggle to obtain them. One major reason is the government’s reluctance to import larger quantities because of concerns about potential misuse. Yet Indonesia’s medical needs continue to grow. Around 5,000 to 10,000 people per million require palliative care, while 137 new cancer cases occur per 100,000 people each year. Every year, Indonesia submits its estimated narcotic needs, including opioids, to the INCB, which sets limits on a country’s maximum annual import quota. If the Ministry of Health wants more opioids, it must request a higher quota for the following year. The ministry argues that Indonesia’s opioid use is too low to justify larger imports. However, our 2026 research found the opposite: usage is low because supplies are already insufficient. Hospitals frequently face shortages, long procurement delays and cash-on-delivery requirements. Many pharmacies also choose not to stock opioids because of the huge amount of paperwork and low profits. As a result, many hospitals carry low stocks of opioids and doctors cannot guarantee patients will be able to fill their medical opioid prescriptions. To avoid further pressure on patients, some doctors look for other pain management solutions, even when medical opioids are the best treatment option. Fear of misuse shapes policy Our team of researchers from universities in Indonesia and Australia held a public workshop in Jakarta in June 2026. We presented the results of our research on the factors that affect medical opioid use in Indonesia. Government officials agreed the shortage is concerning. However, representatives from the National Agency of Drug and Food Control, the Health Ministry, the National Narcotics Agency, and other institutions also argued that increasing opioid supplies could increase misuse, crime and addiction. Some of these concerns may be influenced by the North American “opioid crisis”. In fact, Indonesia’s situation is very different. The US crisis was fuelled by aggressive marketing by Purdue Pharma, which falsely promoted OxyContin as a safe long-term pain treatment. The company later agreed to pay billions in compensation to victims, and was convicted of criminal charges in 2026. Indonesia, meanwhile, has much tighter controls. The government strictly regulates opioid imports and distribution, with the state-owned company Kimia Farma handling almost all supplies. Moreover, opioids are not prescribed for long-term pain management. In the US, Purdue Pharma incorrectly promoted the use of OxyContin as a non-addictive treatment for long-term pain management. This was one of the triggers for the “opioid crisis” that emerged in North America in the 1990s. In 2025, Purdue Pharma agreed to pay billions in compensation to victims and was convicted of criminal charges in 2026. Two separate issues Our research found no cases of doctors prescribing medical opioids inappropriately. The 64 healthcare workers we interviewed understood the prescribing rules, and our review of court records found no criminal cases involving illegal prescribing. Interviewees did identify operational problems, including a complex reporting system, storing and the need for more training. Even so, they agreed that the authorities must strictly monitor these drugs and are supportive of government measures to ensure opioids are handled with care. It seems that current safeguards already make diversion from hospitals to the illegal market rare. Yet policymakers continue to assume that increasing legitimate medical supplies will inevitably increase misuse. This confuses two different problems: preventing illegal drug trafficking and sale is a law enforcement responsibility, while ensuring access to pain relief is part of the right to health. Both matter. Ensuring restricted access and strict government oversight of opioids is warranted. But prioritising concerns about potential misuse over real patients’ access to approved treatment risks undermining the legal right to health for Indonesian citizens. Discussions about drug classification, alternative therapies and patient care must be grounded in scientific research and evidence. Patients in severe pain should not be denied essential medicines because of hypothetical risks that current regulations are already designed to prevent. Healthcare and services professionals should be supported in their work to improve patients’ quality of life. Neither of these benefit when potential criminality is prioritised over patient care. Elisabeth Kramer receives funding from the Australian Research Council for this research (grant number LP210100387). She is a member of the secretariat for the Indonesia Council, which aims to raise awareness of Indonesia in Australia and support research collaboration between Australian and Indonesian researchers. Andi Hermansyah and the research team receive funding from the Australian Research Council (grant number LP210100387). They do not receive funding from the pharmaceutical or healthcare industries. Anshar Saud receives funding from the Australian Research Council (grant number LP210100387). Asmin Fransiska receives funding from the Australian Research Council (grant number LP2101003) and does not receive funding from the pharmaceutical or healthcare sectors. Barbara Mintzes is a member of Health Action International (HAI-Europe), a non-profit organisation that supports access to essential medicines. She also serves as the Secretary General of the International Society of Independent Drug Bulletins (ISDB) and the Association Mieux Prescrire, a French non-profit organisation. None of these organisations receive funding from the pharmaceutical industry. This project is funded by the Australian Research Council (grant number LP10100387). Desak Ketut Ernawati and the research team receive funding from the Australian Research Council (grant number LP210100387). They do not receive funding from the pharmaceutical or healthcare industries. Kirsty Foster is affiliated with the Australia and New Zealand Association of Health Professional Educators. She conducts accreditations for medical schools and specialist medical colleges on behalf of the Australian Medical Council. She receives no funding from, nor does she have any ties to, any pharmaceutical companies. This project is funded by the Australian Research Council (grant number LP210100387). Paul Glare receives funding from the Australian Research Council (grant number LP210100387). Simon Butt receives funding from the Australian Research Council (grant number LP210100387).
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Indonesia: Pilot faces death penalty after drugs found in suitcase
A Malaysian Airlines pilot tested positive for cocaine and meth after flying a passenger jet into Jakarta, with Indonesian authorities finding over 70,000 ecstasy pills in his suitcase.
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Bali’s traditional boats embody centuries of maritime tradition – but they’re quickly disappearing
Getty Images Five decades ago, Bali’s coastline was adorned with traditional fishing canoes with colourful carvings of mythical elephant-fish. Where did they go? The disappearance of these canoes tells a much bigger story about how tourism, collecting and coastal change are reshaping Indonesia’s living maritime heritage – and why preserving these traditions matters. The boats that once lined Bali’s beaches Before Bali became one of the worlds’ most popular tourist destinations, fishing villages lined the beaches of Benoa, Nusa Dua and Sanur, along the island’s southern coast. Generations of fishers built and sailed jukung pelasan – traditional timber double-outrigger sailing canoes with colourful carved gajah mina (elephant-fish) prows. The gajah mina is a creature in Balinese Hindu tradition with the head of an elephant and the body of a fish. Symbolising unity and harmony between land and sea, it is said to protect crews during voyages and provide safe passage. These were not just fishing boats; they were central to daily life in southern Bali. The jukung were symbols of status and community identity. They embodied generations of craftsmanship, spiritual belief and maritime knowledge. They expressed the economic, social and spiritual life of Bali’s coastal communities, and reflected the enduring relationship between its people and the sea. Today, however, only a handful remain. A jukung on a beach, circa 1970. Wikimedia (photo from the Tropenmuseum archives). My latest research, published in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, found only six intact timber jukung pelasan remain on beaches surveyed. Their rapid decline over the past half century offers a window into the profound changes that have reshaped Bali. Prosperity came at a price The transformation began in the 1970s and 1980s. As Bali’s tourism industry took hold, hotels and resorts replaced stretches of beachfront once home to traditional fishing villages. Many fishers left the sea for more stable work in tourism. As livelihoods declined, so too did the timber jukung. At Sanur, I spoke with a retired boat builder who told me there’s simply no demand left for timber fishing boats, as nobody fishes anymore. The traditional boats, he said, couldn’t be repaired the old way: the trees once used for hulls were felled decades ago to make way for tourist beach resorts, and the bamboo needed for spars and outriggers no longer grows large enough. What little suitable bamboo remains is prohibitively expensive. This boat builder is not alone. A former fisher also told me he now takes tourists out on fibreglass replicas for sunrise breakfast sails. Indonesia’s tourism industry shows no signs of slowing. The nation’s revenue from tourism grew by 6.3% in the first quarter of 2026. In 2025, Bali generated 55% of the nation’s national tourism earnings in 2025 – with tourism accounting for about 60% of the island’s own gross domestic product. Yet this prosperity has come at a price. Changing coastlines are adding to pressures facing the few remaining fishing communities. Boats without a beach As traditional fishing declined, many timber jukung disappeared from Bali’s beaches. Some were replaced with fibreglass boats. Others were sold to collectors overseas – who preserve the boats, but remove them from the communities that gave them meaning. Today, only a few examples can be found outside Indonesia, such as in Darwin’s Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Seattle’s Burke Museum and at the Institute of Ancient Chinese Ships in Ningbo, China. The elephant-fish imagery painted and carved onto traditional Balinese jukung represents the mythical gajah mina, with its bulging eyes. Getty Images Australians know Bali as a holiday destination. With more than 1.5 million Australians visiting Bali each year, we remain the island’s largest source of foreign visitors, contributing 23.44% of total arrivals in 2025. Yet Australia’s relationship with the island goes much further back than most people realise. The shared seas between Australia and Indonesia have long connected people through fishing, trade and cultural exchange. For centuries, Indonesian seafarers crossed these seas aboard traditional boats, carrying people, knowledge and commodities. By 1754, Macassan traders were harvesting trepang (sea cucumber) in Australian waters, linking northern Australia to markets across Asia. Beyond the boats Maritime heritage isn’t simply about preserving traditional boats. It’s also about safeguarding the knowledge that made it possible: how to select timber, shape the hull, lash the outriggers and read the sea. For generations, those skills were passed from boat builder to apprentice and from fisher to child. A boat preserved in a private collection can’t do this on its own. Balinese men launch a timber juking into the sea at Sanur beach, Bali. Sarah Ward Working with the remaining Balinese fishers and boat builders to record their knowledge, techniques and traditions is as important as preserving the boats themselves. My ongoing research involves recording traditional Balinese maritime techniques, terminology and stories, working alongside archaeologist Widya Nayati from Universitas Gadjah Mada. The goal is not just to help preserve Indonesia’s maritime past, but to sustain the living knowledge that connects communities, boats and the sea. The future of Bali’s maritime heritage will depend not only on those who inherit these traditions, but on those who value and support them. Sarah Ward is affiliated with Dalian Maritime University and the Council for Asian Underwater Cultural Heritage and receives funding from the Australian Government in the form of a Research Training Program Grant unrelated to this research.
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China’s exports feed the Global South’s industrial engines
A scaremongering narrative has taken root in Western corridors and financial press columns: China, having saturated developed markets, is now aiming to crush fragile industries in developing nations, effectively slamming the door on their industrial dreams. It is a convenient little tale. However, it does not hold up against empirical evidence. The premise assumes that China and the Global South are fighting over the same slice of the global consumption pie – cheap T-shirts, plastic sandals,...