DITA ALANGKARA

Yahya Edward Hendrawan, who is also known as 'Yahya the Clown', gives an Islamic religious class during a Ramadan event at an elementary school in Tangerang, Indonesia, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
AP PHOTOS: Indonesian sharia clown teaches Islamic values to children
He started out working birthday parties as a side hustle.
 
Workers filter patchouli oil at a refinery in Simboro, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Growing demand for patchouli oil is driving the industry in Indonesia, but at what cost?
Demand for the patchouli plant’s oils has skyrocketed in recent years, and so too has the number of farmers in the region who now grow and process it.
 
Rusli Paraili, a crocodile handler, feeds a rescued crocodile kept inside an enclosure in Budong-Budong, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Crocodile attacks in Indonesia are on the rise. It’s left residents on edge
In the Central Mamuju district of Indonesia’s West Sulawesi, where the Budong-Budong River meets the sea, people have long feared crocodiles. There were nearly 180 recorded crocodile attack victims in Indonesia in 2024.
 
A farmer holds an opened cocoa pod at a plantation in Tanjung Rejo, Lampung province, Indonesia, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Indonesia’s cocoa farmers work with businesses to fight the bitter impact of climate change
Thousands of cocoa farmers across Indonesia are working with businesses and other organizations to protect their crops against the bitter impacts of climate change.
 
A member of dragon dance club Naga Merah Putih (Red White Dragon) which is named after Indonesian national colors, holds the head of a dragon puppet prepared for a performance in a Lunar New Year celebration, in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
AP PHOTOS: Indonesia welcomes the Year of the Snake with dragon puppets and drum displays
Asian communities across the world will begin ringing in the Lunar New Year on Jan. 29, with 2025 designated as the Year of the Snake in the Chinese zodiac. Fireworks, parades and other Lunar New Year rituals are centered around removing bad luck and welcoming prosperity.
 
Students have their meals during the kick off of President Prabowo Subianto's ambitious free meal program to feed children and pregnant women nationwide despite critics saying that its required logistics could hurt Indonesia's state finances and economy, at an elementary school in Depok, West Java, Indonesia, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Indonesia launches free meals program to feed children and pregnant women to fight malnutrition
Indonesia’s new government has begun an ambitious project to fight malnutrition by feeding nearly 90 million children and pregnant women that is expected to cost $28 billion through 2029, although critics question whether the program is affordable.
 
Let's Adopt Indonesia volunteer Serefanus Melvin, center, put a stray cat into a container during a "Trap, Neuter and Return" project aimed at reducing stray cat population, in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
AP PHOTOS: Jakarta TNR effort aims to help stray cats like lively Hitam and feisty Aing Maung
The nimble feline is part of an estimated whopping 700,000 stray cats that roam Jakarta. Trap-neuter-return programs, or TNR, have been spearheaded by community-based groups including Let’s Adopt Indonesia that advocate humane methods to control the cat population.
 
New Day New Chef launches Season 4 with celebrity chefs & dazzling dishes.
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Protesters attempt to storm Indonesia's parliament during a protest against controversial changes to election laws that could further enhance the political influence of outgoing President Joko Widodo, in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Ratification of Indonesian election law changes delayed as protesters try to storm parliament
The deputy speaker of Parliament says Indonesian lawmakers have canceled plans to ratify revisions to the election laws after thousands of protesters rallied in front of the parliament building.
 
Nagad Daoud Abdallah, right, and Majdah Ishag, both from Sudan, sit on a bed in Ishag's room at a hotel turned into a shelter for refugees in Batam, an island in northwestern Indonesia, Thursday, May 16, 2024. Both have been at the community housing for eight years while waiting for resettlement in a third country. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Thousands of refugees in Indonesia have spent years awaiting resettlement. Their future is unclear
Hundreds of refugees are living in community housing on an island in northwestern Indonesia while waiting for resettlement in a third country.
 
Sumini, a leader of a female ranger group, uses a machete to clear the way along a stream during a forest patrol in Damaran Baru, Aceh province, Indonesia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. The patrol group was started by Sumini, who witnessed the devastating effects of deforestation on her local village. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
In Indonesia, women ranger teams go on patrol to slow deforestation
A female-led group of forest rangers in Indonesia are defying social norms to lead patrols in the jungle to combat deforestation.
 
A pair of maleos look for a spot to lay an egg in Mamuju, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. With their habitat dwindling and nesting grounds facing encroachment from human activities, the journey of a maleo pair for egg laying grows ever more precarious and uncertain. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Indonesian maleo conservation faced setbacks due to development and plans for a new capital city
A critically endangered bird that only exists on a few Indonesian islands is facing a new threat as the country builds a new capital hundreds of miles away.
 
A worker in a protective suit pokes a metal rod to tap slag from a smelting furnace at PT Vale Indonesia's nickel processing plant in Sorowako, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. As demand for materials needed for batteries, solar panels and other components vital for cutting global emissions rises, carbon emissions by miners and refiners will likewise rise unless companies actively work to decarbonize. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Facing increasing pressure from customers, some miners are switching to renewable energy
Demand for critical minerals like nickel and cobalt is surging as climate change hastens a transition to renewable energy, boosting carbon emissions by miners and processors of such materials.
 
AP PHOTOS: Indonesia shelter sees surge in abandoned dogs
Located on half a hectare (1.2 acres) of land in Indonesia’s capital, the shelter is now home to 1,400 dogs.