Widodo

Pope Francis appealed Wednesday for religious unity to counter extremism and intolerance, as the longest tour of the 87-year-old's papacy got into full swing in Muslim-majority Indonesia.

On the first full day of his four-nation trip to the Asia-Pacific, the pontiff zeroed in on the role all faiths can play on flashpoint security issues.

President Joe Biden is gearing up for a pivotal engagement with Chinese President Xi Jinping, emphasizing the pivotal goal of reestablishing normalized and consistent communication channels between the United States and China.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has said that his country would invest in the development of Indonesia's new capital on Borneo island, which both nations share.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said that the location of the country's new capital is already chosen, Reuters reported.

It is an area between the regions of Kutai Kartanegara and North Penajam Paser, near the port city of Balikpapan, a two-hour flight from Jakarta, Mr Widodo said.

AFP - Indonesian volunteers began burying bodies in a mass grave with space for more than a thousand people on Monday, victims of a quake and tsunami that devastated swathes of Sulawesi and left authorities struggling to deal with the sheer scale of the disaster.

Indonesia celebrated its 72nd Independence Day on Thursday with a flag hoisting ceremony and a cultural parade in capital Jakarta, Anadolu Agency reported. 

President Joko Widodo in traditional clothes led the flag-raising ceremony at the presidential palace.

It was attended by a large number of state officials, clerics, tribesmen and diplomats.

Indonesia's President Joko Widodo has ordered the police to shoot drug traffickers who resist arrest in the latest effort to eradicate drug use in the country.

In a speech to one of Indonesia's political parties late Friday, Widodo urged law enforcers to crackdown on drug dealers in Indonesia.  

Turkey's leading defense companies Aselsan and Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI, also known as TUSAŞ) signed a deal with the Indonesian companies PT Dirgantara and PT Len on July 6 to collaborate on defense products.

Tens of thousands of Muslims poured into central Jakarta on Dec. 2, to protest against the city's governor, a Christian accused of insulting the Koran, fuelling tension that has alarmed Indonesian President Joko Widodo.