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More than 350 doctors and medical workers have caught Covid-19 in Indonesia despite being vaccinated with Sinovac, officials said, as concerns grow about the efficacy of some vaccines against more infectious variants. Most of the workers were asymptomatic and self-isolating at home, said Badai Ismoyo, head of the health office in the district of Kudus in central Java, but dozens have been hospitalized with high fevers and falling oxygen-saturation levels. Kudus, which has about 5,000 healthcare workers, is battling an outbreak believed to be driven by the more transmissible Delta variant, which has raised its bed occupancy rates above 90%....

More than 350 Indonesian doctors and healthcare workers have contracted COVID-19 despite being vaccinated with Sinovac and dozens have been hospitalised, officials said, as concerns rise about the efficacy of some vaccines against more virulent virus variants. Most were asymptomatic and self-isolating at home, said Badai Ismoyo, head of the Kudus district health office in Central Java, but dozens were in hospital with high fevers and declining oxygen saturation levels. Kudus is battling an outbreak believed to be driven by the more transmissible Delta variant which has pushed bed occupancy rates above 90% in the district. Designated as a priority...

A cave painting on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, believed to be the world's oldest, is decaying at a rapid pace because of salt erosion likely caused by climate change, archaeologists have warned. The painting of a group of therianthropes, or humans with animal characteristics, appearing to hunt animals was found in a limestone cave in 2017 and dated to nearly 44,000 years ago. Experts are now racing against time to find ways to preserve the priceless Pleistocene artwork.

How far will you go to meet someone you know online? An Indonesian teenager went as far as selling her dad’s motorcycle in order to purchase flight tickets to Jakarta and meet her online crush. Indri, who was from Jambi, had met the boy via an online game Free Fire, and wanted to meet him in Jakarta, Tribun News reported. She then sold her father’s motorcycle for 20 million rupiah (S$1,870) in exchange for flight tickets to the capital. However, the teen’s plan went awry when the boy said that he did not want to meet up with her in...

The faster growth under Indonesia's Banda Sea hasn't left the core lopsided. Gravity evenly distributes the new growth—iron crystals that form as the molten iron cools—to maintain a spherical inner core that grows in radius by an average of 1 millimeter per year. But the enhanced growth on one side suggests that something in Earth's outer core or mantle under Indonesia is removing heat from the inner core at a faster rate than on the opposite side, under Brazil. Quicker cooling on one side would accelerate iron crystallization and inner core growth on that side. This has implications for Earth's...

Creating one of the most spectacular and surreal scenes in recent times, a blazing meteorite unexpectedly fell from the sky and crashed into Indonesia’s Mount Merapi volcano. The historical event occurred on May 27, when it was caught on a CCTV camera at Megadata facility in Kalitengah Kidul, Jogjakarta which is where the mountain is located. Luckily, at the same time, a local Indonesian identified as Gunarto Song was also taking photos of Mount Merapi volcano and caught the meteor in all its glory. Speaking to Indonesian Media outlet Kumparan later, he said that he took the photos from a...

A large ferry with nearly 200 people on board caught fire Saturday while traveling to a remote island in northeastern Indonesia, forcing passengers and crew to jump into the sea but causing no casualties, officials said. The KM Karya Indah was in the Molucca Sea heading for Sanana, a port on the island of Limafatola, when the fire broke out at around 7 a.m. local time, said Wisnu Wardana, a spokesperson for the sea transportation directorate general. The blaze began 15 minutes after the vessel had departed Ternate, the provincial capital of North Maluku province. Phone video of the incident...

THIS is the mysterious moment an anchor-shaped UFO left a trail of smoke in the sky before crashing into the sea in Indonesia. The bizarre footage of the long, black object plunging into the water was filmed at Jangkar Beach in East Java - with some people claiming it was a damaged UFO. The spooky object was swallowed by the waves shortly after crashing into the sea. Facebook user Kh Popeye Watermelon shared the clip and asked: "What is this anchor-like thing that fell from the sky?" Gabriel Notonegoro said: "Maybe it was fairy who lost her wings and forgot...

Indonesian rock art is decaying at an alarming rate due to the effects of climate change, researchers said. This includes a picture of a wild pig drawn 45,500 years ago on the island of Sulawesi - said to be the world's oldest animal cave painting. Other cave motifs in the region depicting hunting scenes and supernatural beings have also crumbled faster as temperatures increase. The findings signal that more needs to be done to preserve the priceless art. "[These pieces of art are] disappearing before our eyes," study lead Dr Jillian Huntley, from the Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural...

On this date in 1985, the onetime General Secretary of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) was suddenly executed for subversion. Though the date here says 1985, Munir was actually a very late casualty of the 1960s: specifically, the murky attempted “coup” of 1965 whose authorship the army quickly ascribed to the Communists and on that doubtful basis unleashed a ferocious bloodletting in 1965-66.* Along with the hundreds of thousands of leftists slaughtered — many in Muslim sectarian violence, as distinct from being specifically hunted down by the army — some 200,000 wound up in prison. According to a U.S. Department...

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned — a vengeful 25-year-old in Indonesia recently tried to kill her ex-boyfriend by sending poisoned food to him. While the cyanide-laced satay never reached him, the delivery man took the food home and shared it with his family on April 25. His 10-year-old son died from poisoning after consuming the satay. The woman, identified as Nani Aprilliani, was arrested on April 30 for premeditated murder, Yogyakarta police said at a press conference on Monday (May 3). "Her motive was heartbreak because the target married someone else, not her," said the police chief....

As an Indonesian navy submarine crewed by 53 men glided below the surface of the Bali Sea during a routine training exercise, it may have been hit by an invisible but powerful force that dragged them to the deep. Indonesian navy officials suspect an internal solitary wave, known to occur in the seas around Bali, may have caused the sinking of KRI Nanggala 402, and the loss of its 53 crew. The vessel sank to a depth of 838 metres, far beyond the reach of rescuers. As the personal effects of crew members floated up and the oxygen supply on...

They also warned that the move could worsen the already fragile human rights situation in the easternmost region of the country, amid accusations of numerous incidents of violence.Papua officially became a part of Indonesia in 1969, following a plebiscite in which representatives of various Papuan tribes voted in favor of joining the republic. As their votes were cast under a heavy military presence, Papuan separatists, including the Free Papua Movement (OPM), have since called for a fresh vote on self-determination, prompting military operations and retaliatory attacks against Indonesian personnel.

After a stint at the Obama Energy Department, Steven Koonin reclaims the science of a warming planet from the propaganda peddlers. For the record, Mr. Koonin agrees that the world has warmed by 1 degree Celsius since 1900 and will warm by another degree this century, placing him near the middle of the consensus. Neither he nor most economic studies have seen anything in the offing that would justify the rapid and wholesale abandoning of fossil fuels, even if China, India, Brazil, Indonesia and others could be dissuaded from pursuing prosperity. Any reader would benefit from its deft, lucid tour...

The Indonesian navy chief of staff said a scan had detected the submarine at 850 metres (2,788 feet), well beyond its survivable limits. The submarine, which disappeared as it prepared to conduct a torpedo drill, is designed to withstand a depth of up to 500 metres (1,640 ft).

Indonesia’s navy on Saturday declared its missing submarine had sunk and cracked open, killing 53 crew members aboard, after finding items from the vessel over the past two days. Military chief Hadi Tjahjanto said the presence of an oil slick as well as debris near the site where the submarine’s last dive on Wednesday off the island of Bali were clear proof the KRI Nanggala 402 sank. Indonesia earlier considered the vessel to be only missing. Navy Chief Yudo Margono told a press conference in Bali, “If it’s an explosion, it will be in pieces. The cracks happened gradually in...

The Indonesian navy is looking for a submarine that went missing north of the tourist island of Bali with 53 people on board, according to the military on Wednesday. Military chief Hadi Tjahjanto claimed that the KRI Nanggala 402 was engaged in a training exercise when it failed to register for duty. He believes the submarine went down in waters about 60 miles (95 kilometres) north of Bali. Tjahjanto stated that the navy has sent dozens of aircraft, including a hydrographic survey ship, to search the region and has requested assistance from Singapore and Australia, both of which have submarine...

Indonesia's navy is searching for a submarine that has gone missing with 53 people on board, the country's military chief Hadi Tjahjanto said on Wednesday (Apr 21). An oil spill was found near the dive position at 7am, Western Indonesian time (8am, Singapore time) and two navy vessels with sonar capability have been deployed to assist in the search, said Indonesia's Ministry of Defence. The submarine, KRI Nanggala 402, was taking part in a torpedo drill in north Bali waters but failed to relay results of the exercise as expected, said spokesman First Admiral Julius Widjojono. "We are still searching...

Imagine nearly getting married to a stranger instead of the love of your life. A glitch in Google Maps led a man in Indonesia, who was making his way to his wedding, to the wrong venue on April 4. Read the condensed version of this story, and other top stories with NewsLite. Coincidentally, an engagement was taking place that day in the same village in Central Java. The groom and his entourage were exchanging gifts with the 'bride's' family when someone realised they had entered the wrong home. He apologised for the mix-up and was led to the right place...

TOKYO—Japan and Indonesia pledged on Tuesday to tighten security ties and signed a deal to facilitate transfers of defense equipment and technology, as their near neighbor China expands its economic and military might. China’s territorial claims in the East and South China seas have become a priority issue in an increasingly testy Sino-U.S. relationship and also raise significant security concerns for Japan. “I think this is (a) historical first in bilateral relations between Japan and Indonesia,” Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto said, referring to the transfer pact. “We invite the Japanese side to participate in the modernization of Indonesia’s defense...