Free Republic

A wife has learned that her husband of ten months is actually a woman, despite the couple being 'intimate' multiple times, local media claims. The Indonesian wife, named only as NA, 22, is suing her ex-partner who also claimed to be a neurologist who graduated in New York. The couple first met on a dating app with the 'husband' going by the name Ahnaf Arrafif in Jambi City. After sparking up a relationship online, they met up for in-person dates and Ahnaf even came to stay with NA for a week and helped take care of her unwell parents. The...

When you're at the zoo, you're probably looking out to see the exotic animals. However, one should pay even more attention to the surroundings and signage. Ilham, a tour guide in Indonesia, was driving tourists through Sinka Zoo in West Kalimantan on Thursday (June 9) afternoon when he stopped to change the car's tire as it had a puncture. The 49-year-old then jumped over a fence to wash his dirty hands at a pond, not knowing it houses one of the zoo's crocodiles, reported Detik News, an Indonesian online news platform. "When the victim was at the edge of the...

JAKARTA, May 23 (Reuters) - Indonesia summoned Britain's ambassador on Monday to explain the raising of a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) flag at its embassy, and urged foreign missions to respect local "sensitivities" following a backlash among conservatives. Barring the sharia-ruled province of Aceh, homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country, although it is generally considered taboo. The rainbow LGBT flag was flown alongside the British flag at the country's embassy in Jakarta on May 17 to mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, according an Instagram post by the embassy. ...

After nearly a month, Indonesia will lift an export ban on palm oil starting Monday, which could ease tight edible oil markets worldwide and reduce some of the pressure on soaring food prices. “Based on the current supply and price of cooking oil and considering that there are 17 million workers in the palm oil industry, both working farmers and other supporting staff, I have decided that the export of cooking oil will reopen on Monday, May 23,” President Joko Widodo said in a statement on Thursday. Indonesia is the world’s biggest shipper of edible oils, accounting for nearly 60%...

Pact between Marcos, Duterte families shaped the vote Bongbong' Marcos didn't just win the presidential election in the Philippines this week. He won it by a two-to-one landslide, despite the fact that he is the extremely entitled son of a former president who stole at least ten billion dollars and a mother who spent the loot partly on the world's most extensive collection of designer shoes (3,000 pairs). Moreover, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, to give him his real name, has virtually no accomplishments other than that name. Yet his name and his inherited wealth, originally stolen from the parents of the...

At least 14 people were killed and more than a dozen others injured when a bus carrying domestic tourists crashed into an advertising sign in Indonesia's East Java province early on Monday, police said. The bus -- which was carrying 31 passengers, the driver and a crew member -- hit the pole and then rolled over on a toll road connecting the town of Mojokerto to the country's second city, Surabaya. The victims were from Benowo, a village near Surabaya, and were returning home after a long weekend at popular holiday destination Dieng Plateau, about 400 kilometers away in Central...

More and more the United States views Russia’s war on Ukraine as a pivotal episode in a global contest that pits Washington not only against Moscow but against a group of active adversaries – with China at the group’s core. At a briefing convened by the US Senate’s Armed Services Committee last week, China shared top billing with Russia and the conflict in Ukraine as a talking point. In particular, attention centered on China’s military plans vis-a-vis a possible takeover of Taiwan. The two top intelligence agency heads – civilian and military – put China atop a list of four...

The world's top palm-oil producer announced that it would ban exports of the commodity starting on Thursday, sending the prices of edible oils soaring. Indonesia accounts for about half of the world's supply of palm oil, the world's most widely used vegetable oil. Palm oil is used for cooking and for the production of thousands of consumer products, including biscuits, detergents, and lipsticks.In a video statement on Friday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said the move was designed to bring down domestic palm-oil prices and ensure domestic food availability in the wake of global food inflation. "I will monitor and evaluate...

India will station maritime patrol aircraft in Australia amid ongoing concerns of hostility in the Indo-Pacific region, a move that comes as part of a larger package that will see the Australian government commit around AU$200 million (US$147 million) into developing the relationship.Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met virtually on March 21, where they discussed closer ties across sectors such as trade, clean technology, space, culture, defence, and the Indo-Pacific.While the Australian prime minister did not express the need for both nations to hold “Russia to account” for the invasion of Ukraine—according to a...

Scientists studying ice cores packing in some 60,000 years of history have found signs of thousands of volcanic eruptions across that time, stretching back to the last Ice Age – with 25 of the eruptions larger than anything Earth has seen in the last 2,500 years. Researchers excavated the cores near both poles: in Antarctica (where 737 eruptions were logged) and Greenland (where 1,113 eruptions were found). A total of 85 eruptions were large enough to leave evidence behind at both poles. That evidence takes the form of sulfuric acid deposits left behind by the eruptions. It gives researchers clues...

Fossil fuel prices have surged in recent weeks, with coal prices more-than-doubling from the end of Febuary to March 10th. Demand for key fossil fuels has surged as the anxiety of supply chain disruptions sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has grown. China is expected to turn to Indonesia to fill the gap in its coal imports should Russian coal exports be further disrupted. ... China is the biggest importer of coal, followed by India, Japan, and South Korea. Coal prices rose from $186 per metric tonne on 23rd February to $462 on 10th March ... Asian governments are rapidly...

Two residents have died in the past week after queuing for cooking oil at local shops in Indonesia. South China Morning Post/Aisyah Llewellyn Indonesia’s cooking oil shortage has turned deadly following the deaths of two residents who died after queuing for the liquid gold in East Kalimantan on the island of Borneo. The tragedies occurred despite the area being one of the largest producers of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) and fresh palm oil fruit in Indonesia. On Saturday, a housewife Sandra, 41, fainted while queuing for over an hour in the hot sun waiting for her local minimarket to open....

Indonesia, the world’s largest exporter of cooking oil, will reduce exports of edible oils as a domestic shortage sparks panic hoarding among households, a sign of rising protectionism around the world as countries deal with record-high food prices, according to Bloomberg. Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi announced new rules Wednesday for palm oil exporters to increase domestic shipment volumes from 20% to 30% to ensure local consumers have access to affordable cooking oil. The move by the Indonesian government comes as dwindling cooking oil supplies has unleashed record high prices. Togar Sitanggang, vice chairman of the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (Gapki),...

Rights group calls 10-year term sought for Muhammad Kace over Islam insults harsh and discriminatoryProsecutors in Indonesia have demanded a 10-year jail term for a Christian YouTuber accused of insulting Islam. The move drew criticism from a rights group that said the demand was harsh and discriminatory considering a Muslim recently convicted of a similar offense against Christians received only five months. Muhammad Kace, a former Muslim who converted to Christianity, is on trial for uploading hundreds of videos insulting Islam on social media. He has been detained since last August after his arrest in Badung district of Bali province...

Road to MoscowBill Clinton’s Early Activism from Fulbright to Moscow By Fedora SummaryDuring the 1992 campaign, Bill Clinton’s student protests and Moscow trip generated much controversy, but few answers. While Clinton’s government files from that era seemingly remain unavailable even today, there is at least more information available than in 1992. The public record reveals that Clinton’s social network and views on Vietnam were influenced by a pattern of contact between Communist agents and sympathizers and Clinton’s academic and political associates. This pattern is documented here through an analysis of Clinton’s antiwar activity up through the time he left Oxford...

Indonesia’s parliament has approved a bill to relocate the nation’s capital from Jakarta to a jungled area of Kalimantan on Borneo island, the planning minister said on Tuesday. The new state capital law, which provides a legal framework for President Joko Widodo’s ambitious $32 billion mega project, stipulates how development of the capital will be funded and governed. The new center will be called “Nusantara”, a Javanese name for the Indonesian archipelago chosen by the president, Monoarfa announced on Monday. Plans to relocate the government from Jakarta, a bustling megacity of 10 million people that suffers from chronic congestion, floods...

An Indonesian woman has been flogged 100 times in Aceh province for adultery while the male involved, who denied the accusations, received just 15 lashes. Ivan Najjar Alavi, the head of the general investigation division at the East Aceh prosecutors’ office, said the court handed down a harsher sentence for the woman after she confessed to investigators she had sex outside of her marriage. Judges found it difficult to convict the man, who was then the head of the East Aceh fishery agency and also married, because he denied all wrongdoing, Alavi said. Aceh is the only region in Muslim-majority...

Indonesia has banned coal exports in January due to concerns that low supplies at domestic power plants could lead to widespread blackouts, a senior official at the energy ministry said on Saturday. The Southeast Asian country is the world's biggest exporter of thermal coal, exporting around 400 million tonnes in 2020. Its biggest customers are China, India, Japan and South Korea.

An Indonesian man recently claimed to have received 16 doses of Chinese coronavirus vaccines on behalf of 14 people for varying sums of money over the past three months, the online news site Coconuts Jakarta reported Tuesday. “My name is Abdul Rahim. I have been … vaccinated, and I have received vaccinations on behalf of 14 people. Therefore I have received 16 shots, for which I was paid IDR100K-800K [$7-$56 USD] each time,” the man said in an undated video clip reviewed by Coconuts Jakarta on December 21. The man’s video confession went viral among Indonesian social media users in...

<p>About the case: The Karawang District Court found 45-year-old housewife Nengsy Lim, alias Valencya, not guilty of her alleged crime on Dec. 3, reported South China Morning Post.</p><p>Lim was charged with domestic violence in January for allegedly causing her then husband psychological harm by “nagging” him.</p>