Indonesia

Hundreds of soldiers have been deployed and a prominent independence campaigner arrested while internet has been cut following the death of a high ranking military general.

Regenvanu said Pacific Island countries must now ramp up pressure on Indonesia to allow a visit by the UN Human Rights High Commissioner to assess the situation there.

“What we're getting is two sides of a story, we need to get an independent assessment of what's happening,” he said.

Up to 9,000 passengers at an airport in Medan may have been tested with the reused swab sticks, say police.

State-owned company Kimia Farma is now reportedly facing a potential lawsuit launched on behalf of the travellers.

Covid nasal swab testing has become routine in many countries hit by the global pandemic.

Police said they believed the scam had been happening since last December at Kualanamu airport in Medan, North Sumatra.

Brigadier General Gusti Putu Danny, the head of Papua's Intelligence Agency was shot near Dambet Village in the Puncak District on Sunday.

The Indonesia's president has ordered a crackdown on what he calls armed criminal groups.

The Indonesian media has also reported the chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly in Papua, Bambang Soesatyo, urging the government to deploy forces at full strength to crush the Papuan rebellion.

He is quoted saying "destroy them first. We will discuss human rights matters later."

The video, filmed a few weeks ago, shows the sailors singing an Indonesian hit called Sampai Jumpa (see you later).

Officials confirmed on Sunday that the KRI Nanggala - which sank off the coast of Bali on Wednesday - had been found split into three pieces on the sea bed.

All 53 crew were confirmed as dead.

The submarine had been taking part in a torpedo drill just before it disappeared and the reason for its sinking is not yet clear.

The video shows the vessel's commander, Heri Oktavian, among those gathered around a crew member playing an acoustic guitar.

All the vessel's 53 crew have been confirmed dead.

Navy officials said they had received signals from the sub's location more than 800m (2,600ft) deep early on Sunday.

An underwater rescue vehicle loaned by Singapore was sent down to get visual confirmation of the wreckage.

The KRI Nanggala disappeared after requesting permission to dive during a torpedo drill. The reason for its sinking is not yet clear.

There are fears the vessel carrying 53 crew may already have sunk to a depth where it might have been crushed.

The KRI Nanggala 402 disappeared on Wednesday during exercises off the coast of Bali, sparking a frantic search to locate the stricken vessel.

Australia, India, Malaysia and Singapore have so far sent assistance. A US Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft landed in Bali early on Saturday morning.

Torrential rain sparked widespread destruction, with flood water from overflowing dams submerging thousands of homes on the islands.

The affected area stretched from Flores island in eastern Indonesia to the neighbouring nation of Timor Leste.

Rescuers are still attempting to find survivors, and officials warned the death toll could rise further.

"Four sub-districts and seven villages have been impacted," Indonesian Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesperson Raditya Jati told reporters.

The death toll has now risen to 73, including five members of one family.

Thousands of people left homeless are living in makeshift shelters, and there are fears of a Covid outbreak there.

In recent days Indonesia has endured deadly landslides, the loss of a Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737 with 62 people on board, and a volcanic eruption.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where tectonic plates collide, and the country has a history of devastating earthquakes and tsunamis. More than 2,000 people were killed in a quake in Sulawesi in 2018.

The Sriwijaya Air disappeared from radars four minutes into its journey to Pontianak in West Kalimantan province.

It is thought to have dropped more than 3000m in less than a minute, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24.com.

Witnesses said they had seen and heard at least one explosion.

Fisherman Solihin, who goes by one name, told the BBC Indonesian service he had witnessed a crash and his captain decided to return to land.

"The plane fell like lightning into the sea and exploded in the water," he said.

Police said the crew discovered 64 live parrots and 10 dead birds after hearing noises coming from inside a large box.

Indonesia is home to the highest number of threatened bird species in Asia and a rampant illegal trade in birds.

Birds are sold domestically in giant avian markets or smuggled abroad.

The destination of the parrots found on Thursday morning in the port town of Fakfak was unclear, local police spokesman Dodik Junaidi told AFP news agency.