ReportWire

Tag: Indonesia

  • Thailand to Airlift Critical Patients as Southern Floods Kill 33

    [ad_1]

    By Panarat Thepgumpanat and Chayut Setboonsarng

    BANGKOK (Reuters) -Authorities in Thailand plan to send helicopters on Wednesday to evacuate critically-ill patients from a southern hospital marooned by some of the region’s worst floods in years, as the death toll rose to 33, with more rain expected.

    Floods have swept through nine Thai provinces and eight states in neighbouring Malaysia for a second successive year, prompting both countries to evacuate nearly 45,000 people.

    In Indonesia, eight to 13 people are estimated dead following floods and landslides this week, while one has died in Malaysia.

    In Thailand’s hardest-hit city of Hat Yai, a public health official said helicopters would deliver food and ferry out patients after the first floor of the main government hospital treating 600, some 50 of them in intensive care, was inundated.

    “Today, all intensive care patients will be transported out of Hat Yai Hospital,” the ministry official, Somrerk Chungsaman, told Reuters.

    About 20 helicopters and 200 boats drafted into the Hat Yai rescue effort have had difficulty reaching stranded people, government spokesman Siripong Angkasakulkiat told reporters.

    BOATS CAN CARRY IN SUPPLIES WHEN WATERS RECEDE

    Patients, relatives and medical staff at the hospital number around 2,000 and boats should be able to carry in food as the waters recede, Somrerk said.

    On a single day last week Hat Yai received 335 mm (13 inches) of rain, for its highest such tally in 300 years. 

    Military helicopters were also carrying generators to the hospital, the Thai Navy said, posting photographs on social media of equipment being moved to a rooftop under dark grey skies.

    Floods across nine Thai provinces, including Songkhla, where Hat Yai is located, have affected more than 980,000 homes and over 2.7 million people, the interior ministry said.

    Thai weather officials forecast scattered thundershowers and heavy rains on Wednesday in several southern provinces, including Songkhla.    

    Convoys of aircraft and trucks were moving flat-bottomed boats and rubber dinghies towards Hat Yai, along with medical supplies and personnel, said the Thai military, which took charge of relief efforts on Tuesday.

    SOLE THAI AIRCRAFT CARRIER JOINS RESCUE

    Thailand’s only aircraft carrier, Chakri Naruebet, set out from its home port on Tuesday to provide air support, medical assistance and meals in the relief efforts, the navy said. 

    Rescuers pulled stranded families, including children and the elderly, from homes inundated by swirling brown waters, photographs posted by the Thai army showed.

    Many of the stranded took to websites and social media to seek help.

    “Please help. I’m very worried about my mother,” wrote one person, adding that she had been unable to contact the 53-year-old in Hat Yai since Saturday, when domestic supplies were down to just a bottle of water and two packs of instant noodles.

    (Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat and Chayut Setboonsarng in Bangkok; Additional reporting by Stanley Widianto in Jakarta and Danial Azhar and Rozanna Latiff in Kuala Lumpur; Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • GoTo taps new CEO in step toward game-changing Grab takeover | Fortune

    [ad_1]

    GoTo Group appointed a new chief executive officer to replace Patrick Walujo, a move that’s expected to speed the takeover of Indonesia’s largest internet company by Grab Holdings Ltd.

    Chief operating officer Hans Patuwo will take the helm from Walujo, the company said Monday. His appointment—which requires shareholder approval—comes after GoTo co-founders and prominent investors including SoftBank Group Corp. pushed for Walujo’s ouster over a dismal stock performance.

    The change-up marks an about-face for GoTo, which in January said Walujo, 50, would run the company for years to come. The former investment banker helped usher the Indonesian ride-hailing and delivery giant to its first profit over a two-and-a-half-year tenure as CEO. But the company lost more than 40% of its value over the same period, and he also opposed a takeover by Singapore’s Grab.

    Shares of GoTo climbed as much as 6.3% in Jakarta Monday, giving the company a market value of about $5 billion. Grab, traded in New York, has a market capitalization of $20 billion.

    “The transition could signal a pivot towards operational focus and revive the long-stalled proposed Grab-GoTo merger,” Citigroup Inc. analysts Ferry Wong and Ryan Davis wrote. 

    Patuwo, 49, is now set to steer a company mired in a persistent funk, grappling with a global shift towards artificial intelligence and preparing to revive talks with Grab. The likelihood of a takeover—after years of on-and-off discussions—is increasing after Indonesia’s government said it’s talking to the two companies about a deal.

    The country’s sovereign wealth fund, Danantara, is set to get involved in a plan to combine the companies. The fund began exploring a minority stake in a combined entity early this year, people familiar with the matter said in June.

    Its involvement could smooth concerns that consumers will lose out in a marriage of the country’s two biggest ride-hailing providers. “Danantara’s possible minority stake in a potential combined entity would serve as both a symbolic and structural safeguard of national interest,” and would assuage monopoly concerns, the Citigroup analysts wrote.

    Patuwo joined the company more than seven years ago from an Indonesian conglomerate, according to his LinkedIn profile. He started at the ride-hailing arm Gojek, building relationships with drivers and merchants and expanding its network across the country. Patuwo then moved to head payments and financial services.

    Among other leadership changes, GoTo said it’s appointing co-founder Andre Soelistyo to the board of commissioners. In Indonesia, company commissioners typically function as a separate body from directors, serving as a sort of steering committee on matters including corporate governance.

    Soelistyo, who headed the company before he was replaced by Walujo, helped carry out the merger of Gojek and e-commerce firm Tokopedia that created Indonesia’s biggest internet company. Previously, he was an executive director at Northstar Group, Walujo’s former private equity firm.

    GoTo shareholders will vote on matters including the leadership shift in an extraordinary general meeting on Dec. 17.

    [ad_2]

    Olivia Poh, Bloomberg

    Source link

  • Indonesia Evacuates Stranded Climbers After Semeru Volcano Erupts

    [ad_1]

    JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesian authorities evacuated more than 900 people and were facilitating the safe return on Thursday of 170 climbers stranded after the eruption of its Semeru volcano, one of the country’s tallest mountains. 

    The alert level was maintained at its highest after Semeru on Java island erupted 10 times on Wednesday, emitting massive plumes of ash and sending lava and rocks as far as 13 km (8.08 miles) down its slopes, officials said. 

    The climbers were stuck overnight at a lakeside camping area at the foot of the volcano about 6.4 km from the crater but were now being helped to safety, said Septi Wardhani, an official at Semeru national park. 

    “All climbers with their guides are safe,” Wardhani told Reuters. “The situation is under control,”  

    Footage from Indonesia’s volcanology agency showed a huge cloud of hot ash billowing from the crater and blanketing the slopes of the volcano.

    Its last major eruption was in December 2021, when at least 51 people were killed and nearby villages were blanketed in ash.  

    The 3,676 m (2.28 mile) high Mount Semeru is one of about 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which straddles the “Pacific Ring of Fire”, a highly seismically active zone, where different plates on the earth’s crust meet and create a large number of earthquakes and volcanoes.

    East Java’s rescue agency deployed dozens of personnel to assist the evacuation, with 956 people living close to the volcano already moved to schools, mosques and government buildings, said agency official Prahista Dian.

    “We’ve also deployed personnel to search for whether there are still residents trapped or not,” he added.  

    (Reporting by Ananda Teresia)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • Landslides in Indonesia’s Central Java Kill at Least 18; Dozens Missing

    [ad_1]

    JAKARTA (Reuters) -Rain-triggered landslides in two regions in Indonesia’s Central Java province last week have led to the deaths of at least 18 people, authorities said on Monday, with search operations ongoing.

    A landslide in the city of Cilacap last week buried a dozen houses in Cibeunying village, the disaster mitigation agency said. Search and rescue efforts were challenging as people were buried 3 to 8 metres (10 to 25 feet) deep, it said.

    The Cilacap landslide has killed at least 16 people, with 7 missing, said M Abdullah, chief of the search and rescue agency’s local division.

    Excavators were deployed to dig through dirt in Cilacap, footage from news channel KompasTV showed on Monday.

    Separately, two people died and 27 were missing after a landslide on Saturday in the region of Banjarnegara in Central Java, the disaster mitigation agency said on Monday. As many as 30 houses as well as farms were damaged, it said.

    The Southeast Asian country’s wet season started in September and is likely to last until April, bringing a high risk of extreme rainfall and flooding, the weather agency said.

    (Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • Boeing Ordered to Pay More Than $28 Million to 737 MAX Crash Victim’s Family

    [ad_1]

    CHICAGO (Reuters) -A jury in federal court in Chicago ordered Boeing on Wednesday to pay more than $28 million to the family of a United Nations environmental worker who was killed in the 2019 crash of a 737 MAX jet in Ethiopia.

    The verdict awarded to the family of Shikha Garg is the first in the dozens of lawsuits filed in the wake of that crash and another in Indonesia in 2018, which combined killed 346 people.

    Under a deal between the parties struck on Wednesday morning, Garg’s family will receive $35.85 million – the full verdict amount plus 26% interest – and Boeing will not appeal, according to attorneys for the family.

    Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    Shanin Specter and Elizabeth Crawford, who represented the family, said in a statement the verdict “provides public accountability for Boeing’s wrongful conduct.”

    Garg was 32 when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Nairobi, Kenya, crashed just a few minutes after takeoff, her lawyers said.

    The lawsuit alleged the 737 MAX plane was defectively designed and that Boeing failed to warn passengers and the public about its dangers.

    The Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed five months after Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea in Indonesia. An automated flight control system contributed to both crashes.

    The U.S. planemaker has settled more than 90% of the dozens of civil lawsuits related to the two accidents, paying out billions of dollars in compensation through lawsuits, a deferred prosecution agreement and other payments, the company previously told Reuters.

    On November 5, Boeing settled three lawsuits brought by the families of other victims who died in the Ethiopian Airlines crash, according to their attorney. The terms of those settlements were not released.

    (Reporting by Diana Novak Jones; Editing by Jamie Freed)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • Explosions at high school mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia during Friday prayers wound dozens of students

    [ad_1]

    Jakarta, Indonesia — Multiple explosions shook a mosque at a high school during Friday prayers in Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, injuring at least 54 people, mostly students, police said.

    Witnesses told local television stations that they heard at least two loud blasts around midday, just as the sermon had started at the mosque at SMA 27, a state high school within a navy compound in Jakarta’s northern Kelapa Gading neighborhood. Students and others ran out in panic as gray smoke filled the mosque.

    Most of the victims suffered minor to severe injuries from glass shards. The cause of the blasts was not immediately known but they came from near the mosque’s loudspeaker, according to Jakarta Police Chief Asep Edi Suheri.

    Bomb squad officers stand guard at the entrance of a school in Jakarta, Indonesia, Nov. 7, 2025, after multiple explosions wounded dozens of people during Friday prayers.

    CANDRA/AFP/Getty


    People were rushed to nearby hospitals. Some were soon sent home but 20 students remain in hospital care, three of them with serious injuries, the police chief said.

    Suheri said an anti-bomb squad that was deployed at the scene found toy rifles and a toy gun near the mosque.

    “Police are still investigating the scene to determine the cause of the blasts,” Suheri said, and urged against speculation that the incident was an attack before police investigation is completed.

    “Let the authorities work first,” Suheri said. “We will convey whatever the results are to the public.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Explosion at Mosque in Indonesian Capital Injures 54 People, Police Say

    [ad_1]

    JAKARTA (Reuters) -Dozens of people were injured and hospitalised after an explosion occurred during Friday prayers at a mosque inside a school complex in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta, police said. 

     Police were investigating the cause of explosion at the site in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, city police chief Asep Edi Suheri told a televised press conference.

    The number of people admitted to hospitals was 54, he said, adding the injuries ranged from minor to serious and included burns.  

    News channels KompasTV and MetroTV showed footage of a police line around the school with ambulances standing by. Images of the mosque showed no extensive damage.

    (Reporting by Jakarta bureau; Editing by David Stanway, Martin Petty)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • South Korea’s Lee Hopes to Keep Cooperating With Indonesia in Military Security

    [ad_1]

    GYEONGJU, South Korea (Reuters) -South Korean President Lee Jae Myung told Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on Saturday that he hopes the two countries will continue to cooperate in military security, building on existing collaboration such as the joint development of fighter jets, Lee’s office said.

    The two leaders held talks on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum being held in Gyeongju, South Korea.

    A decade ago, South Korea and Indonesia agreed to jointly develop KF-21 jets. Since then, the two countries agreed to cut Indonesia’s contribution to the project.Prabowo said at the meeting with Lee that discussions with South Korea over the fighter project were continuing, according to a statement from the palace. “Negotiations are ongoing, and of course they depend on economics, price and financing factors. So I think our ministers and our technical team will continue this,” he said.

    (Reporting by Joyce Lee and Stefanno Sulaiman in JakartaEditing by Ed Davies)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • Pentagon Chief Joins Southeast Asian Meet to Shore up US Ties

    [ad_1]

    KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) -U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was expected on Friday to hold two-way meetings in Malaysia during a gathering of Southeast Asian counterparts, as Washington seeks to strengthen security ties amid China’s growing assertiveness in the region. 

    Hegseth is expected to meet defence ministers from India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, among others, said an official speaking on condition of anonymity, who warned the schedule could change.

    It was not clear if the Pentagon chief would meet any Chinese officials while in the Malaysian capital for the two-day meeting.

    In his meeting with Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh, Hegseth was expected to discuss a review of India’s plans to buy U.S. military hardware, as well as a new India-U.S. defence cooperation framework.

    Delegations from Australia, China, New Zealand, South Korea and Russia are also attending the meeting of defence ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.   

    CHINESE GREY-ZONE TACTICS

    Hegseth met Malaysia’s defence minister on Thursday and both leaders committed to maritime security in the disputed South China Sea.

    Beijing has deployed a coast guard armada in the busy waterway that has clashed repeatedly with Philippine vessels and been accused of disrupting the energy activities of Malaysia and Vietnam. 

    “Grey-zone tactics, such as hydrographic research conducted under the protection of foreign coast guard vessels, threaten sovereignty and are a clear provocation and threat,” Malaysian minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin said in a joint statement.

    China claims almost the entire South China Sea on its maps, overlapping with the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

    Unresolved disputes have festered for years over the sovereignty of multiple islands and features. 

    Beijing says its coastguard has operated professionally in defending Chinese territory from incursions.  

    The United States has sought to shore up its presence in Southeast Asia and counter the growing influence of China.

    On Sunday, President Donald Trump told ASEAN leaders the United States was “with you 100% and we intend to be a strong partner for many generations”.

    Washington has a defence pact with the Philippines that involves dozens of annual military drills and use of some of its bases, in addition to similar exercises with Thailand and Indonesia and exchanges with Malaysia.       

    ORDER TO RESUME NUCLEAR WEAPONS TESTING

    Shortly before meeting Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday, Trump said he had ordered the U.S. military to resume nuclear weapons testing amid a rapid expansion of China’s nuclear stockpile.

    His administration’s efforts to persuade its allies to spend more on defence have caused friction, but Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told Trump this week that she was determined to boost defence capabilities.

    On Wednesday, Hegseth urged Japan to hasten plans to boost defence spending to 2% of GDP, saying the alliance between Washington and Tokyo was “critical to deterring Chinese military aggression”.

    (Reporting by Danial Azhar; Additional reporting by Idrees Ali in Washington; Writing by David Stanway; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • Brazil’s Lula Says He Will Seek Re-Election in 2026

    [ad_1]

    (Reuters) -Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday he will run for re-election next year, seeking a fourth term in office.

    Speaking during a state visit to Indonesia alongside President Prabowo Subianto, Lula said he remains energized despite his age.

    “I’ll be 80, but I have the same energy I had at 30. I will run for a fourth term in Brazil,” Lula said.

    His current term ends in late 2026. The leftist leader has already won three presidential elections – in 2002, 2006 and 2022.

    Earlier this year, Lula had already hinted a possible re-election, but stopped short of making a formal announcement. His latest remarks came about a year ahead of the 2026 election.

    It remains unclear who will be his main challenger.

    Former President Jair Bolsonaro, who lost to Lula in 2022, is currently barred from running due to electoral court rulings and was recently sentenced to over 27 years in prison for an alleged coup attempt. He denies wrongdoing and says he will run.

    (Reporting by Eduardo Simoes; Writing by Isabel Teles; Editing by Ros Russell)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • East Timor’s ASEAN Membership a Win for Asia’s Youngest Nation

    [ad_1]

    JAKARTA (Reuters) -Asia’s youngest nation East Timor is set to achieve a decades-long dream when it becomes the 11th member of ASEAN this weekend, which analysts say is a win politically although the economic benefits remain to be seen.

    East Timor, Southeast Asia’s poorest nation with 1.4 million people and slightly bigger than Qatar, applied to join the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2011 and was granted observer status in 2022.

    The nation gained independence in 2002 from neighbouring Indonesia, following a 1999 referendum overseen by the United Nations, and shares a border with the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara.

    Two of its independence heroes now lead the country: President Jose Ramos-Horta, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 for his efforts, and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.

    Decades after Ramos-Horta raised the idea of joining ASEAN in the 1970s when East Timor was still a colony of Portugal, the country will be formalised as a member at the October 26-28 ASEAN leaders summit, which Malaysia chairs.

    Commonly known as Timor-Leste, East Timor is trying to diversify its nearly $2 billion economy away from its heavy reliance on dwindling oil and gas reserves.

    Analysts say the accession to ASEAN will benefit its newest member but they worry about how it will fare as the group’s smallest economy. ASEAN’s collective gross domestic product is $3.8 trillion, with Indonesia alone making up $1.4 trillion of that.

    Ahead of the summit, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim recalled other members were also poor when the bloc was first formed.

    “I’m very optimistic that ASEAN as a community can continue to engage more and assist, as we have benefited from the assistance of many countries (including) the West and China,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

    ASEAN Secretary General Kao Kim Hourn has said joining ASEAN will amplify East Timor’s “voice in international forums while securing its strategic interests through an established network of diplomatic and economic support.”  

    Ramos-Horta has called the membership a long-held dream.

    “The road to ASEAN is more difficult than the road to heaven,” he said in a speech at the group’s headquarters in August.

    Parker Novak, an East Timor expert at the International Republican Institute, said the country’s leadership sees ASEAN “as giving them additional political legitimacy in the region.”

    Marty Natalegawa, a former Indonesian foreign minister who oversaw East Timor’s ASEAN application, said the bloc would shield East Timor against the geopolitical push-and-pull among major powers such as the United States and China.

    “It provides assurances that Timor-Leste’s position and future development and outlook will be akin to ASEAN’s own,” Marty said.

    However, Guteriano Neves, an economic development researcher in East Timor’s capital Dili, worries the country’s low productivity and lower-quality governance will limit the economic benefits of membership.

    Neves said membership may pressure East Timor’s government to enact institutional reforms to attract foreign investment.

    “Economically speaking, that is the hard question that I think we haven’t really found the answer to,” Neves said. “It’s very hard for Timor-Leste to compete in the ASEAN market.”

    (Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • Factbox-What’s Being Discussed in the Next Phase of Trump’s Gaza Ceasefire Plan

    [ad_1]

    CAIRO (Reuters) -Gaza mediators — the United States, Egypt and Qatar — stepped up their efforts this week to stabilise the early stages of the truce between Israel and Hamas and to push forward U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan.

    WHAT IS THE STATUS OF TALKS?

    A Hamas delegation led by the group’s exiled Gaza chief, Khalil Al-Hayya, has been in Cairo for talks with Egypt since Saturday. 

    U.S. Vice President JD Vance is in Israel on Tuesday after envoys Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. Egyptian officials have also met Netanyahu.

    The first phase of the ceasefire involved stopping fighting, returning hostages, increasing aid flows and a partial pull-back of Israeli forces to a “yellow line”.

    WHAT HAS EACH SIDE DONE UNDER THE TRUCE?

    Israel’s forces have pulled back from some parts of Gaza, but around half of the strip remains under Israeli control. On Monday, the military said it began marking the withdrawal line, warning Hamas and residents to stay away.

    Hamas has released all 20 living hostages it was holding and 13 bodies, leaving 15 deceased hostages still in Gaza. Hamas says rubble and other factors may complicate the retrieval of a number of bodies. Israel believes Hamas can quickly return around five more bodies and is stalling. An international task force is meant to locate the rest. 

    Israel has released around 2,000 Palestinians, including 250 long-serving inmates, but vetoed the release of some prominent militant leaders. It has returned 165 bodies of Palestinians to Gaza. 

    Israel has also facilitated the entry of more aid trucks through two crossings into Gaza, but UN and Palestinian officials said it remains far from sufficient.

    WHAT PROBLEMS HAVE HIT THE TRUCE ALREADY?

    There have been continued flashes of violence, particularly around the “yellow line” demarcating Israel’s partial pullback inside Gaza.

    Israel began marking out the line on Monday with yellow concrete blocks after repeated incidents of shootings. Israel says it has fired at suspected militants crossing the line. Gaza residents say it has not been clear where the line runs. 

    On Sunday, Palestinian militants killed two Israeli soldiers in Rafah. Israel responded with airstrikes that Gaza health authorities said killed 28 people. Hamas and Israel later recommitted to the truce. 

    Inside Gaza, Hamas has reimposed control, killing members of rival groups and those it accuses of collaborating with Israel. Trump signalled his endorsement of that but the U.S. military has said it must stop.

    Hamas has said aid is flowing in too slowly. Israel says it is sticking to agreements. 

    The Rafah border crossing from Egypt to Gaza is also meant to reopen but has not yet done so.

    WHAT’S BEING DISCUSSED FOR THE COMING PHASES?

    A U.S.-backed stabilisation force is meant to ensure security in Gaza. Its composition, role, chain of command, legal status and other issues are yet to be agreed. 

    The United States has agreed to provide up to 200 troops to support the force without being deployed in Gaza itself. U.S. officials have said they are also speaking to Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and Azerbaijan to contribute. 

    Trump wants Hamas and other factions to disarm and Gaza to be demilitarised. The group has never accepted this and says mediators have not yet officially started discussing the issue with it. 

    Gaza is to be governed by a transitional committee of apolitical Palestinian technocrats. The composition of this body has not been agreed. Hamas has accepted the formation of this body, but says it would have a role in approving it. 

    The panel would be supervised by a new international transitional body called the “Board of Peace” headed by Trump. Its formation, and the possible inclusion of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, is still to be agreed.  

    Hamas wants employees of the existing Gaza government it has run since 2007 to stay in their jobs. Israel says Hamas can have no role.

    The phasing of further Israeli pull-backs is yet to be agreed, and will depend partly on Israel’s own assessment of how much of a threat Hamas still poses. Hamas says the war will only end when Israel has fully withdrawn.

    The Trump plan calls for the Palestinian Authority to be reformed. It is not clear what this would involve or what role it would take in future. 

    The plan says the truce could ultimately create the conditions for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination. Netanyahu has so far refused to accept the possibility of a Palestinian state. 

    (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell; Editing by Sharon Singleton)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • Investors Managing $3 Trillion in Assets Urge Countries to Stop Deforestation

    [ad_1]

    LONDON (Reuters) -Global investors managing over $3 trillion in assets called on governments on Monday to stop and reverse deforestation and ecosystem degradation by 2030, in a statement signed ahead of a U.N. climate conference in Brazil next month.

    Around 30 institutional investors including Swiss private bank Pictet Group and Nordic investor DNB Asset Management have so far signed up to the Belém Investor Statement on Rainforests, which is open until November 1.

    A report last week found the world is falling far short of the goal of stopping deforestation, with losses of 8.1 million hectares (20 million acres) of forest – an area about the size of England – in 2024 alone, largely driven by agricultural expansion and forest fires.

    “As investors, we are increasingly concerned about the material financial risks that tropical deforestation and nature loss pose to our portfolios,” the statement said.

    The investors emphasised the need for policies that deliver legal, regulatory, and financial certainty to help protect the forests and safeguard economic stability, said Jan Erik Saugestad, CEO at Nordic firm Storebrand Asset Management. 

    “Deforestation undermines the natural systems that global markets rely on – from climate regulation to food and water security.” 

    Earlier this year, the European Union delayed launching its anti-deforestation law by a year after facing opposition from industry and trade partners such as Brazil, Indonesia and the United States, who say complying with the rules would be costly and hurt their exports to Europe.

    The role of climate sceptic U.S. President Donald Trump in rolling back support for global environmental efforts was also hampering action, said Ingrid Tungen, head of deforestation-free markets at Rainforest Foundation Norway. 

    “I think Trump has made it more difficult for investors and managers to take climate and biodiversity into account in such a volatile market,” she said.

    “All the investors that we are talking to think there is a huge risk for us not taking diversification and climate change into consideration in the long-term, and not just for their own morals, but because that will harm the markets directly and their profits directly.”

    (Reporting by Sharon Kimathi; Editing by Nia Williams)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • Earthquake of Magnitude 6.7 Strikes Papua, Indonesia, USGS Says

    [ad_1]

    (Reuters) -An earthquake of magnitude 6.7 struck Papua province in Indonesia on Thursday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.  

    The quake was at a depth of 70 km (43.5 miles), USGS said.

    The epicenter of the quake was about 200 km from the city of Abepura, which has a population of over 62,000, according to USGS.

    There was no tsunami warning after the quake, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.  

    (Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim Coghill and Christian Schmollinger)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • ‘I’ll Have Eric Call’: Trump Sets Up Son’s Meeting With Indonesian President

    [ad_1]

    By

    Rory Jones

    in Singapore and Ramadani Saputra in Jakarta, Indonesia

    President Trump’s company has said he won’t be involved in day-to-day management. But the president’s personal business and his government role intersected this week when he was heard on a hot mic arranging a meeting between his son Eric, who runs the family company, and Indonesia’s leader.

    In the exchange, captured on audio at a Middle East summit, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto referred to an issue about a region that was “not safe, securitywise” before asking Trump: “Can I meet Eric?”

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

    [ad_2]

    Rory Jones

    Source link

  • Indonesia Makes Headway Towards A Future Free of Online Gambling

    [ad_1]

    In Indonesia, over 27,000 bank accounts have been suspended due to Indonesia’s crackdown on online gambling.

    The crackdown has been spearheaded by Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK).

    Dian Ediana Rae, the OJK’s Chief Executive of Banking Supervision, noted that the number of accounts that had been linked with illegal activities last month had been over 25,000.

    The OJK has asked banks to suspend accounts whose owners’ National Identity Numbers (NIK) had been connected to gambling.

    Government Trying to Help

    A new system has been in the works aimed at ensuring constant regulation over online platforms; it has been named Content Moderation Compliance System (SAMAN).

    At the same time, many families with ties to online gambling have been left with no government support.

    The number of people who have been left with no such support has passed 300,000.

    Extreme Cleanup Times

    In the last year, quite a large number of online gambling-related posts, as well as items from platforms and social media, have been removed.

    It has been discovered that the money spent on gambling by over 130,000 people has been getting distributed through banks and phone apps.

    During the crackdown, enforcement has put surveillance on things like VPN’s due to the increased frequency of Indonesians visiting prohibited websites.

    Southeast Asia Against Gambling

    At the moment, several countries in Southeast Asia have been working tirelessly to rid themselves of online gambling.

    Since its ban on online gambling in 2019, Cambodia has had to look for ways to transition its economy further away from online gambling

    .The approach of the Philippines towards the issue has been to make sure that the offshore gaming industry thrives.

    Meanwhile, Thailand has been on the grind trying to get rid of online gambling through efforts by multiple internal agencies.

    [ad_2]

    Tolga Ismetov

    Source link

  • Indonesian Lawmakers Get Allowance Hike After Protests Against Perks

    [ad_1]

    JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesia has nearly doubled a key allowance for its lawmakers, an official said on Monday, one month after cancelling some of the benefits given to parliamentarians in an effort to assuage public anger following a series of violent demonstrations. 

    In August, thousands of students, rights groups, and other civilians joined protests against the government’s spending priorities, including pay rises for lawmakers. The demonstrations later spiralled into riots after a motorcycle taxi driver was killed during a police operation. 

    The violence, which spread to 32 of Indonesia’s 38 provinces, resulted in 10 deaths and at least 5,000 arrests, making it the deadliest outbreak of unrest in the archipelago for over two decades.

    The increase in the “recess allowance” for lawmakers – which is given to parliamentarians to support their work in their constituencies while parliament is not in session – came into effect on October 3, at the start of the latest break, Deputy Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad told Reuters on Monday.

    Each lawmaker will now get 700 million rupiah ($42,200) for each recess, Dasco said, up from 400 million rupiah previously. Indonesia’s 580 parliamentarians take approximately five breaks per year. 

    The allowance, which Dasco said had been approved by the finance ministry in May, is earmarked for visits and activities in electoral districts.

    The August protests were sparked by anger at the perks available to politicians, with each lawmaker also entitled to an additional 100 million rupiah per month in housing and other allowances.

    Following the unrest, some of the benefits were removed, cutting the total to 65.5 million rupiah. 

    While commodity-rich Indonesia is Southeast Asia’s biggest economy and a member of the G20, the World Bank says tens of millions of Indonesians still live in poverty.  

    Dasco defended the increase, saying the last allowance was based on the 2019-2024 period and didn’t take into account the subsequent rises in staple food prices and transportation costs.

    “So this is not a raise, it’s a policy decided by the house’s secretariat after reviewing various kinds of aspects,” Dasco said, adding the figure was not proposed by the house but the secretariat. 

    Dasco, who is also a senior politician in President Prabowo Subianto’s Gerindra party, said parliament was developing a digital reporting mechanism to ensure transparency, which will be open to the public. 

    “It’s like Indonesians have been pranked,” said Lucius Karus from Formappi, a non-profit parliamentary watchdog. “We were satisfied by the abolition of the housing allowance… but, in fact, another fantastic allowance has appeared.” 

    (Reporting by Ananda Teresia; editing by Gibran Peshimam and David Stanway)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • Indonesia Ends Search for Victims of Boarding School Collapse, 61 Dead

    [ad_1]

    JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesian rescuers wrapped up the search on Tuesday for victims trapped under the rubble of a collapsed Islamic boarding school in the province of East Java, after retrieving more than 60 bodies, disaster authorities said.

    Grief and confusion gripped the small town of Sidoarjo last week after foundational failures caused the Al Khoziny school to cave in on hundreds of people, mostly teenage boys, while they were at afternoon prayers. Most escaped.

    The bodies of all 61 people in the building have been found, as well as seven body parts that police are trying to identify, the disaster mitigation agency said in a statement, halting the search effort in a disaster it had called the year’s deadliest.

    “Operations due to the collapsed structure of the Al Khoziny school … are officially closed,” said Mohammad Syafii, chief of the search and rescue agency, after authorities cleared away the debris.

    Severed limbs are among the parts being identified, said Budi Irawan, the agency’s deputy chief.

    Rescuers had used excavators and cranes to lift large chunks of concrete. Digging through tunnels, they shouted out the names of victims presumed to be still alive.

    Al Khoziny is one of more than 42,000 such schools nationwide, known as pesantren, just 50 of which have a building permit, the public works ministry has said.

    Reuters could not determine whether Al Khoziny had a permit, or reach school authorities. Media quoted Sidoarjo chief Subandi as saying last week it allegedly lacked one.

    (Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • Videos show unrest in Nepal and Indonesia, not Bangladesh

    [ad_1]

    Three people were shot dead after protests erupted in Bangladesh’s southeast border region with India over the alleged rape of a schoolgirl, but two videos showing protests scenes circulating on social media are not from the south Asian country. The clips were in fact taken during earlier demonstrations in Nepal and Indonesia.

    “Attacking the army and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in violation of Section 144 and looting weapons,” reads the Bengali-language caption to a 4-second clip shared on Facebook on September 28, 2025.

    It shows people filming and following a man holding a weapon along a street.

    The same clip was shared alongside similar claims elsewhere on Facebook after protests by indigenous communities erupted in Bangladesh’s southeastern Khagrachari district over the alleged rape of a schoolgirl (archived link).

    Three men were shot dead and dozens injured in the unrest, which prompted authorities to impose a law banning “unlawful assembly” for eight days until October 5 (archived link).

    Screenshot of the false post, taken October 2, 2025

    A second clip showing another chaotic nighttime protest scene, with explosions and police cars driving down a crowded street, also surfaced on September 27 on Facebook. The post claimed it depicted the unrest in Khagrachari.

    <span>Screenshot of the false post, taken October 2, 2025</span>

    Screenshot of the false post, taken October 2, 2025

    The region has long been a flashpoint between Indigenous communities and Bengali-speakers, with clashes breaking out over land and resources.

    Bangladesh’s interior ministry chief claimed weapons from “outside the country” were fuelling the violence, while the army’s public relations wing in a statement accused the the United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF), a holdout rebel faction, of instigating the violence and firing hundreds of shots (archived link).

    On October 1, local media reported that no evidence of rape was found by a government medical board examination of the schoolgirl, but an indigenous group said the medical report was “fabricated” (archived link).

    However, none of the circulating clips were taken in Bangladesh, they instead show scenes from protests in Nepal and Indonesia.

    A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the first falsely shared clip matches the beginning of a longer video on YouTube published on September 27, 2025 (archived link).

    <span>Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared clip (left) and the YouTube video (right)</span>

    Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared clip (left) and the YouTube video (right)

    The video’s caption links the footage to Nepal’s “Gen Z” protests, which began with demonstrations against a social media ban on September 8 and erupted into wider discontent over corruption and ultimately ousted the Himalayan country’s government (archived link).

    AFP found the scene corresponds to Google Street View imagery of an area outside a police station along Ring Road in Kathmandu (archived link).

    <span>Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and Google Street View imagery of Kathmandu (right), with corresponding features highlighted by AFP</span>

    Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and Google Street View imagery of Kathmandu (right), with corresponding features highlighted by AFP

    The second falsely shared video corresponds to footage shared in a compilation on Instagram on August 30, 2025 (archived link).

    The Indonesian-language caption states the footage shows a protest in Solo, a city in central Java officially known as Surakarta, on August 29, 2025.

    <span>Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared clip (left) and the Instagram video (right)</span>

    Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared clip (left) and the Instagram video (right)

    Further keyword and reverse image search found another YouTube video posted on August 29 captioned “chaos at Solo protest”, showing the same incident from a different angle (archived link).

    Protests broke out across Indonesia in late-August, sparked by discontent over economic inequality and lavish perks for lawmakers and intensified by the killing of a young delivery driver by a paramilitary police unit (archived link). At least 10 people were killed, and hundreds injured.

    Buildings and roadside decorations seen in the circulating video correspond to Google Maps Street View imagery along Slamet Riyadi Street in Surakarta (archived link).

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Indonesia School Collapse Death Toll Rises to 36, Search for Bodies Continues

    [ad_1]

    JAKARTA (Reuters) -The number of students confirmed dead after the collapse of an Islamic boarding school building in Indonesia rose to 36, from 16 a day earlier, the country’s disaster mitigation agency said on Sunday.

    Efforts continued for a seventh day to search for the bodies of 27 students still declared missing – mostly teenage boys from the ages of 13 to 19 – trapped under the rubble, the agency said.

    Cranes were deployed to excavate debris and search and evacuation efforts were 60% complete, according to the agency, which said it expected to clear all debris and finish the search on Monday.

    The Al Khoziny school in the town of Sidoarjo in East Java province caved in last Monday, collapsing on top of hundreds of teenage students during afternoon prayers, its foundations unable to support ongoing construction work on its upper floors.

    On Friday, rescuers received the parents’ permission to make use of heavy equipment after failing to find signs of life during previous efforts.  

    Rescuers dug through tunnels in the remains of the building, calling out the boys’ names and using sensors to detect any movement, but found no signs of life.

    Al Khoziny is an Islamic boarding school known locally as a pesantren.

    Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, has about 42,000 pesantren serving 7 million students, according to religious affairs ministry data.

    (Reporting by Dewi Kurniawati; Editing by Jamie Freed)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link