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Indonesia's capital has just been relocated from Jakarta to a site within the jungle of Kalimantan on Borneo island after parliament approved the bill. The new city has a name chosen by President Jokowi - Nusantara, a Javanese term for the Indonesian archipelago. Indonesia is relocating its capital city from Jakarta to a site more than 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) away in the rainforests of Borneo Island. The project is set to launch at the end of President Joko Widodo's term in 2024. Here's why Southeast Asia's largest economy is moving its administrative centre to Nusantara. A lush, biodiverse region home to the world's oldest rainforests. Jakarta is a city struggling to keep its head above water. “It’s been attacked from both sides – from the river and from the land,” says Ek...

Indonesia’s Mount Merapi has erupted, spewing out smoke and ash that blanketed villages near the crater. And forcing authorities to halt tourism and mining activities on the slopes of the country’s most active volcano. Mount Merapi, located on the border between the Indonesian province of Central Java and the Special Region of Yogyakarta, erupted twice on Tuesday morning, spewing smoke and ash. The country's geological disaster institute BPPTKG in a written statement reported that the volcano spewed hot ash at 5.50 a.m. and 5.59 a.m. local time. Authorities have told nearby residents to avoid the area within a seven-kilometer radius of the crater. The status of Mount Merapi, the most active of Indonesia's 130 volcanoes. It has stayed unchanged at its second-highest level since Novem...

A large body of research shows that the brightness of a country’s nighttime lights. As seen from satellites, is highly correlated with GDP growth. The more money people have, the more likely they are to have lights on at night. Businesses will also stay open later, resulting in even more light. Satellite images of nighttime lights have contributed to our understanding of economic activity for more than a decade. For example, nighttime lights can help approximate GDP growth in small spatial units over time. Recent technological innovations have expanded potential applications. Data is now available at a monthly frequency, in a finer spatial grid. And with more sensitive measurement of low-light areas. These innovations allow nighttime light data to be used to study the short-run imp...