Indonesia

Lion Air crash: Investigators say plane was 'not airworthy'

The Boeing 737 Max plane crashed into the Java Sea shortly after departing from Jakarta on 29 October.

A preliminary report has found technical problems had been reported on previous flights.

The 737 Max is a new version of Boeing's original 737 and has become its fastest selling plane.

The preliminary report details what is known by authorities about the short time the plane was in the air, but investigators said it did not give a definitive cause for the accident.

What's in the report?

Boeing 737 plane crashes in sea off Jakarta

Flight JT 610 was on a scheduled flight to Pangkal Pinang, the main town in the Bangka Belitung Islands.

It lost contact with ground control a few minutes after take-off, and was last tracked crossing the sea - it is unclear if there are any survivors.

The plane was a Boeing 737 MAX 8, a brand new type of aircraft.

Flight JT 610 took off from Jakarta at 06:20 local time on Monday morning (23:30 GMT on Sunday).

20 people killed when flooding wipes out part of school in Indonesia

At least 11 of those who died in the flooding Friday were students, according to Sutopo Purwo Nugroho of the disaster mitigation agency. Some students are still missing. The flooding was in Mandailing Natal, North Sumatra.

Some of the students were buried under debris and mud after the Aek Saladi river overflowed, according to state media.

Seven Papuans killed in Indonesian military operation

The remote Highlands area has been the focus of efforts by the Indonesian military, or TNI, to hunt down members of the West Papua Liberation Army.

Five civilians, including two young children, were killed according to local human rights workers as the TNI mounted land and air attacks on the Liberation Army in Tingginambut District.

Two members of the Liberation Army were also reportedly killed in the incident which happened earlier this week.

How warning system failed Indonesia’s earthquake and tsunami victims

A tsunami warning was sent out - lasting just over 30 minutes - but it appears to have drastically underestimated the scale of the tsunami that would follow. So what went wrong?

A 7.5 magnitude earthquake occurred just off the island of Sulawesi at 18:03 local time (10:03 GMT) on Friday, triggering dozens of aftershocks.

Indonesia's meteorological and geophysics agency BMKG issued a tsunami warning just after the initial quake, warning of potential waves of 0.5 to three metres.

But it lifted the warning just over 30 minutes later.

Governor of Indonesia's Papua province visits PNG capital

Lukas Enembe travelled to Port Moresby to attend celebrations to mark PNG's 43rd anniversary of independence.

Mr Enembe, who was recently re-elected as governor of Indonesia's eastern-most province, led a delegation of 21 people to Port Moresby.

He was invited by the governor of PNG's National Capital District, Powes Parkop.

Mr Parkop has this month spoken out about human rights abuses in Indonesia's Papua region, widely known as West Papua.

He was critical of both PNG and Indonesian governments for not confronting the West Papuan rights issue openly.

Scores die as quake again hits Indonesian island

Hundreds of people have been wounded by the quake, disaster management officials added.

The 7 magnitude tremor damaged thousands of buildings and triggered power cuts.

On the neighbouring island of Bali, video footage showed people running from their homes screaming.

It comes a week after another quake hit Lombok, a popular tourist site for its beaches and hiking trails, killing at least 16 people.

The US Geological Survey said the latest quake, off the north coast of Lombok, struck 10km (6.21 miles) underground.

Indonesian influence in the Pacific grows, despite Papua disquiet

The West Papuan independence movement has significant traction in the region, where it continues to push for its self-determination aspirations to be addressed by the international community.

Considering Papua's political status as non-negotiable, Indonesia has been busy strengthening ties with a number of countries in the three Pacific Islands regions of Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia.

Indonesia yet to allow UN Commissioner into Papua

Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein told a meeting of the Human Rights Council he was concerned the government's invitation to visit Papua had still not been honoured.

In his global update on human rights issues, Mr Al Hussein said he had been invited to visit Papua during his visit to Indonesia in February.

There had been positive engagement by the Indonesian authorities in many other respects, Mr Al Hussein said.

 

     

Western leaders ‘Look West’

The Member for North Fly, James Donald, outlined this when talking about the efforts in place to build up infrastructure along the border.

Mr Donald says that he has spoken with the relevant authorities to begin preparation work on sorting out key areas along the border to pursue connections with Indonesia.

The member explains that this preliminary arrangements and negotiations have been ongoing for a while now with several decisions being made as a result of the numerous dialogues that have taken place to date.