Indonesia to close more than 750 state-owned enterprises

Jakarta (AFP) – Indonesia's president mulled the possibility of a special court on Friday to investigate "unproductive" boards reporting "made up" profits, as he vowed to close 750 state-owned enterprises by year end.


Issued on: 14/08/2026 - FRANCE24

Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto has vowed a crackdown on 'uproductive' state-owned enterprises © BAY ISMOYO / AFP

Southeast Asia's biggest economy has long battled corruption in its public and private sectors despite strengthening anti-graft laws, creating special investigative commissions and arresting several high profile people.

"There are far too many unproductive state-owned enterprises, always reporting losses while claiming profits -- those profits are just made up," Prabowo said in his state of the nation address to parliament.

With the establishment last year of Indonesia's Danantara sovereign wealth fund to manage state assets, "we discovered that there are 1,074 state-owned enterprises," the president told lawmakers.

"I had thought there were 300 or 400 state-owned enterprises, but it turns out there are 1,074. And these state-owned enterprises sometimes operate as they please, with no sense of responsibility to the nation, to the state."

So far, 290 have been closed, Prabowo added, and by December 31, there should be no more than 300 left.

"We will close more than 750 enterprises and retain only those that are productive, those that create added value for the people," the president added, in what "may be the largest corporate restructuring in the world."

The drive has already saved about 50 trillion rupiah (more than $2.8 billion) in overhead costs, including directors' and commissioners' salaries, building and car rentals and business travel, said Prabowo.

The target for this year was to save more than 70 trillion rupiah.

Thanks to "improvements" in how state-owned enterprises are managed, profits rose more than 75 percent from 2024 to 326 trillion rupiah last year, the president said.
'Improvements and efficiency'

Prabowo mooted the creation of "a special ad hoc court to investigate the management and boards" of state-owned enterprises "going back 30 years, maybe."

But he also asked lawmakers to consider a kind of "special amnesty for those who repent."

Indonesia scored a low 34 out of 100 on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index for 2025.

Graft has also been a rallying cry for protesters decrying rising living costs as Indonesia and the region reels from high oil prices caused by the Middle East war.

One project that comes in for particular criticism is the costly free school meals programme, Prabowo's signature project which he vowed Friday to pursue "but with improvements and efficiency."

"We cannot accept that one in four Indonesian children suffer from stunting," the president said.

Despite global uncertainty, Prabowo insisted the country was food and energy secure and said he was "confident" economic growth would reach 6.0 percent by the end of 2026.

GDP came in at 5.3 percent in the second quarter of the year, following on 5.6 percent in the first, though analysts have repeatedly expressed scepticism about Indonesia's official growth data.

"Growth and investment are not the ultimate goal," Prabowo said Friday.

"Our goal is the prosperity of our people... Every rupiah of investment must create jobs and improve the quality of life of our people, especially those at the bottom."

© 2026 AFP

Brazilian police recover Matisse works stolen in 2025

Sao Paulo (AFP) – Police in Brazil have recovered eight engravings by French artist Henri Matisse that were stolen from a Sao Paulo library last year by an organized gang of thieves, officials said on Thursday.


Issued on: 14/08/2026 - FRANCE24

Sau Paulo police say thieves overpowered a security guard at the library before grabbing the Matisse engravings and fleeing © Handout / SAO PAULO'S POLICE PRESS OFFICE/AFP

Vividly colored artwork from Matisse's limited-edition art book "Jazz" were laid out on a table alongside a handgun, in an image released by police.

The works, estimated to be worth $200,000, were found at a home in the town of Sao Bernardo do Campo, near Sao Paulo.

Officers arrested a man who was keeping the works for the mastermind of the heist, police said, adding that he will face charges of receiving stolen goods and illegal weapon possession.

The alleged mastermind was apprehended in April and a woman has also been arrested in the case.

Police said the gang behind the robbery was highly organized and structured, with specific tasks assigned to members as it stole artworks in Brazil and sold them on the black market.

In the Matisse robbery last year, police say thieves overpowered a security guard and an elderly couple visiting the Mario de Andrade Library, grabbed the engravings and other items from a glass dome where they were kept, and fled.

They also stole five works by the Brazilian artist Candido Portinari, but these have not been recovered and may have already been sold.

One of the suspects was arrested the day after the theft via the use of the city's facial recognition system.

As part of the investigation, police conducted operations targeting "establishments related to the auction market and the sale of artworks" in municipalities such as Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

The Matisse engravings were part of a modern art exhibition highlighting a collaboration between the library and the Museum of Modern Art of Sao Paulo.

"Jazz" was published in France in 1947 and there are 250 copies signed by the artist, according to auction house Christie's.

© 2026 AFP

Earthquake in Colombia: Nearly 300 people trapped in rubbles

Issued on: 14/08/2026 - 

In Colombia, hopes are fading of finding survivors after Monday’s powerful earthquake. Rescue teams are now turning their focus to recovering bodies, but families are still holding out hope of finding their loved ones alive beneath the rubble. Many have taken matters into their own hands, as our reporters found when they visited Cali, a city near the quake’s epicentre.

 

18-year-olds spend more and more time online, especially on social media

Copyright Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

By Ana Filipa Palma & Euronews

Published on 14/08/2026 - 

Internet use was the focus of a study by the Institute for Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies (ICAD) carried out among young people on National Defence Day 2025.

A study by Portugal's Institute for Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies (ICAD) has found that 18-year-olds are spending more time on the internet, especially on social media.

The findings are based on a survey of young people taking part in the 2025 National Defence Day.

Most young people (60%) use the internet for an average of four or more hours a day, with intensive use (five hours or more) on the rise compared with previous years.

"In itself, this indicator is not necessarily a sign of problems, but rather of a life lived both physically and virtually, often intertwined, with new ways of behaving, acting and being," the study concludes.

Social networks are the platforms most used by young people, who prefer to access them via their mobile phone. But most of those surveyed, almost 45%, say they spend around two to three hours on platforms such as TikTok, Facebook and Instagram. Thirteen percent of young people said they spend around six or more hours on social media.

Besides social media, online searches - for reading or studying - gaming (including betting) and watching films, videos and tutorials are other reasons contributing to the increase in the time young people spend on the internet.

It was also striking that in 2025, 99% of young respondents said they had started using the internet before the age of 16 and 39% said they started before the age of 10.

This is a particularly important figure, as this proportion has been increasing, showing that the internet is entering people's lives at an ever earlier age. The study stresses that this rise is slightly more marked among young women than among young men.

Young women seem to spend more time on social media or searching online, while young men appear to spend more time gaming.

In the case of online gambling, the level of use among young people also seems striking: 17% of 18-year-olds (30% of young men and 5% of young women) place bets online.

Problems linked to internet use

Excessive internet use is associated with a range of problems, especially among adolescents. ICAD's study therefore set out to find out whether its sample had already experienced any of these, such as poor performance at school or work; health problems requiring medical care; behavioural problems at home; financial difficulties; incidents of violence or disorderly conduct; unprotected sex; and episodes of emotional distress.

Overall, 35% of young people said they had experienced at least one of these seven problems in the 12 months prior to the survey.

The most frequently mentioned problem (20%) was emotional distress (lack of motivation, sadness, dissatisfaction, loneliness, anxiety), followed by poorer performance at school or work (17%).

Relate

This study ties in with one of the big issues being debated in EU policymaking on young people's and children's use of social media.

A World Health Organization (WHO) report published at the start of last year identified the dominance of the digital world in young people's lives as one of the main drivers of loneliness worldwide.

Excessive screen time has been linked to lower levels of physical activity and poorer sleep, as well as anxiety, depression, stress and social isolation.

The United Kingdom's plans to ban teenagers from accessing social media have reignited a debate that is playing out across Europe. Countries such as France, Spain, Austria, Greece and Denmark are discussing measures to restrict minors' access, amid concerns ranging from cyberbullying and the addictive design of platforms to tragedies such as suicide and self-harm.

Swedish lawmakers cut age of criminal responsibility to 14 ahead of general election

Copyright AP Photo

By Gavin Blackburn

Published on 13/08/2026 - EURONEWS

The Scandinavian country has been rocked by gang battles for more than a decade, particularly for control of the drug market.

The Swedish parliament voted to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 14 on Thursday as the right-wing government heads toward a national election, vowing to clamp down on crime.

The government had wanted to lower the age at which children could be sent to prison to 13, but it had to withdraw the proposal in June because it could not secure a majority in parliament.

Some 281 lawmakers voted in favour of lowering the age to 14, including the opposition Social Democrats, with 66 voting against.

The Scandinavian country has been rocked by gang battles for more than a decade, particularly for control of the drug market.

Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson speaks as he arrives for the NATO summit in Ankara, 8 July, 2026 AP Photo

The minority conservative government, led by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, survives with the backing of the far-right Sweden Democrats party.

It had made the battle against crime a centrepiece of its policy platform after taking office in 2022.

A government-appointed commissioner had recommended lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 14.

The government decided to propose 13, but most of the 126 groups consulted on the proposal, including the police and prison service, opposed such a low age.

Parliament also voted to cut the reduction in prison terms for young people. Youths aged under 18 can now be jailed for up to 18 years.

Police on the street in central Uppsala, 29 April, 2025 AP Photo

The law will come into force on 10 September, three days before the country holds a general election.

A Demoskop poll for the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper put the centre-left opposition ahead of the right-wing parties but with the gap narrowing.

The poll said the governing parties and far right would get 47% of the vote and the opposition parties 51%.

German Court Issues Arrest Warrant For Far-Right Lawmaker


Maximilian Krah at an AfD campaign in Nordhausen, Thuringia in 2023. Photo Credit: Vincent Eisfeld, Wikipedia Commons


August 14, 2026
EurActiv

By Magnus Lund Nielsen

Key Takeaways

A German court has issued a civil arrest warrant for sitting AfD lawmaker Maximilian Krah after he failed to appear at a bailiff’s appointment over unpaid legal costs stemming from a failed lawsuit against satirist Jan Böhmermann.

The dispute arose when Böhmermann repeated a claim that Krah had ordered a large quantity of champagne at Oktoberfest; the court dismissed Krah’s injunction request and ordered him to pay costs, of which a small outstanding sum remains.

Because Krah holds a Bundestag seat, the warrant cannot be enforced without parliamentary authorization; he states he paid the main amount earlier and was unaware of the appointment.


(EurActiv) — A German court has issued a civil arrest warrant for sitting AfD lawmaker and former MEP Maximilian Krah after he failed to attend a bailiff’s appointment concerning unpaid legal costs, German media reported on Thursday.

The dispute began after German satirist Jan Böhmermann read out a claim on a podcast that Krah had ordered 200 bottles of champagne at Munich’s Oktoberfest in 2024. Böhmermann subsequently said research suggested the number was closer to 50.


Krah sought an injunction, arguing that the allegation violated his personal rights because it could portray him as boastful and self-important. However, the Düsseldorf regional court dismissed the case, noting that Böhmermann had presented the allegation as a submission from a listener, and later corrected the claim. It ordered Krah to cover the legal costs of the case.

Böhmermann’s lawyers subsequently recovered around €5,000 in costs through enforcement proceedings. A further €296.26 reportedly remains outstanding. Krah said he had paid the main amount in January, was unaware of the bailiff’s appointment and would pay any additional costs verified by his lawyer.

Krah served in the European Parliament from 2019 to 2025. In 2025, he was elected to the German Bundestag. His current mandate means the warrant cannot be enforced without authorisation from the Bundestag.

Krah caught headlines in 2024 when he said that not everybody serving in Nazi-Germany’s SS elite unit was “automatically a criminal”. The comments threw the AfD into disarray and led French political allies in Rassemblement National to distance themselves from the AfD.

Survivors tell of horror of Zimbabwe ferry sinking as police say death toll hits 46

Copyright AP Photo

By Gavin Blackburn

Published on 13/08/2026 - EURONEWS

The overloaded government ferry, a vital link for villagers and fish traders around the vast Lake Kariba, overturned in choppy waters on Tuesday in one of the country's worst passenger boat disasters.

A man who survived a ferry disaster that claimed at least 46 lives on Zimbabwe's Lake Kariba told the AFP news agency on Thursday how he watched helplessly as people tried to save themselves, with his best friend and seven of his relatives among the dead.

The overloaded government ferry, a vital link for villagers and fish traders around the vast lake, overturned in choppy waters on Tuesday in one of the country's worst passenger boat disasters.

"Thank God that a wave pushed the sinking vessel and we managed to climb on top," Chance Siyamavhu said at a memorial service in the lakeside town of Kariba close to the border with Zambia.

Perched on the upended boat, he watched as passengers struggled to survive, unable to save them.

Mourners gather for a memorial service for the victims of a ferry capsized on lake Kariba in Kariba, 13 August, 2026 AP Photo

"When the boat capsized, most of the people scrambled to get the life jackets but most of them did not even know how to use them," the 45-year-old told AFP. "Most people could not make it."

"Our relatives were swept in another direction and they sank because we were not in a position to help them," he said.

Dozens of mourners gathered in front of 44 coffins at the emotional service, as police announced that the death toll had risen to 46.

"The names of the victims who perished in the accident will be released in due course," a police statement said.

Officials say the boat was authorised to carry 90 people but was packed with 114 adults, five crew members and an unspecified number of children.

A view of Kariba Port where a ferry capsized, 13 August, 2026 AP Photo

The civil protection unit said 77 people were rescued and there were fears that other passengers may be unaccounted for.

Survivors said they had pleaded for the captain to turn back as the boat took on water.

Anymore Chambati, who had been a security official on the vessel, told AFP he had tried to hand out life jackets as the boat began to sink.

"I managed to only give not more than 10," he said. "The ferry engines were filled with water because of the heavy winds and eventually they failed, save for one."

Ceremony held in Zimbabwe to pay tribute to capsized ferry victims

Cover image: EYE ON AFRICA © FRANCE 24
Issued on: 13/08/2026 
13:47 min  From the show

In tonight's programme: Mourners gather in memory of the 44 people killed in Tuesday's ferry accident on Zimbabwe's Lake Kariba. Also, ballot counting has started in Zambia, where President Hakainde Hichilema is expected to win a second term. Finally, researchers believe that the rising cost of living and changing societal expectations is behind a marked drop in birthrates across North African countries.

BY:

Hélène Daouphars

Georja Calvin-Smith

Laurent BERSTECHER

UN Letter Warns Nigeria Of Violence Risk To Christian Women, Girls




August 14, 2026
EWTN News
By Madalaine Elhabbal

Key Takeaways

A joint letter from five UN human rights experts, made public after Nigeria failed to respond within 60 days, warns of heightened risks of religiously motivated violence against Christian women and girls in northern Nigeria and the Middle Belt.

The experts cite patterns of killings, abductions, sexual violence, forced conversion and forced marriage attributed to groups such as Boko Haram, ISWAP and Fulani herder militias, along with alleged official inaction, negligence or complicity.

They call on Nigerian authorities to investigate the reported cases, protect religious minorities, review laws affecting freedom of religion and expression (including blasphemy laws), implement interim protective measures for victims, and hold perpetrators accountable.

A joint letter from U.N. human rights experts warning Nigerian officials of the heightened risk of violence against Christian women and girls in the country has been made public after the government failed to respond within 60 days.

The June 1 letter cited attacks against Christian women and girls in northern Nigeria and the Middle Belt region, including killings, forced conversion, and sexual violence. The letter was signed by Reem Alsalem, U.N. special rapporteur on violence against women and girls; Gabriella Citroni, chair-rapporteur of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances; Morris Tidball-Binz, U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions; Nicolas Levrat, U.N. special rapporteur on minority issues; and Alice Jill Edwards, U.N. special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.


“With respect to the situation of religious or belief minorities, we wish to raise serious concern regarding patterns of religiously motivated violence and persecution or otherwise disproportionately targeting persons belonging to religious minority communities within affected federated states or local areas, especially Christians, including women and girls,” the letter said.

The U.N. experts attributed the rising violence to armed extremist groups such as Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and Fulani herder militias operating across the north and Middle Belt region and pointed to “acquiescence” and “negligence” on the part of Nigerian officials to counter them.

The letter cited the abduction and sexual assault of two women by armed militants, the forced conversion and marriage of a 13-year-old girl, and the abduction of a pastor’s two daughters along with several members of a church by Boko Haram, as well as a 16-year-old girl whose hand was cut off after her family refused a marriage proposal by armed militants.

“While we do not wish to prejudge the accuracy of these allegations reported to us, we would like to especially express our grave concern regarding the alleged abduction and sexual assault of girls, the intimidation by armed groups and subsequent abduction and acts tantamount to enforced disappearance of the church members in Shikarkir,” the U.N. experts said.

“We are also disturbed by reports of the inaction and complicity of government officials in the face of these abuses, the slowness of investigations and search actions aimed at determining the fate and whereabouts of abducted girls,” they said.

The letter further called on Nigerian officials to respond to the allegations and to provide status updates on investigations and measures taken to combat violence against women and girls. They also asked for status updates on “any laws that affect the exercise of freedom of religion or belief and freedom of opinion and expression, including so-called ‘blasphemy’ laws.”


The letter asked the Nigerian government to provide information on measures taken to protect the rights of religious minorities, particularly in northern states, and urged authorities to take immediate steps to halt violence against women and girls.

The experts concluded by calling for interim measures to protect abductees, victims of sexual violence, and victims of forced conversion and forced marriage, particularly minors and those who have not been reunited with their families. The experts also urged Nigerian officials to prevent further violations and hold accountable those responsible if the allegations are substantiated.

UN urges faster action as world falls behind on nature protection

The world is falling behind on its commitments to protect nature, the UN’s biodiversity chief has warned, ahead of a major international conference in Armenia aimed at accelerating action.


Issued on: 14/08/2026 - RFI

A dead fish floats in the Mediterranean Sea in the Gador sea reserve, northern Israel, on 29 October, 2022. Climate change, invasive species and human activity are threatening what remains of the eastern Mediterranean's severely impacted ecosystems. © AP Photo/Ariel Schalit

Four years ago, nearly all the world's countries agreed to protect 30 percent of the planet’s land and seas by 2030, while wealthy nations pledged to provide developing countries with $30 billion (€26 billion) a year to help safeguard biodiversity.

But Astrid Schomaker, executive secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, said progress was still too slow to meet those goals.

“Implementation is not yet happening at the pace and scale needed to achieve [the targets]," Schomaker said in a statement, following nearly three weeks of preparatory negotiations in Nairobi, Kenya.

Representatives from the 196 countries that agreed to the biodiversity framework are due to meet in the Armenian capital Yerevan in October for the COP17 biodiversity conference, where they will assess progress and discuss how to step up their efforts.

“The task awaiting us in Yerevan in nine weeks will take all the stamina and determination that parties can summon,” Schomaker said.

France must speed up climate action, as watchdog warns current efforts fall short
Conservation gains

The Convention on Biological Diversity stated that governments had recognised that the world was not currently on track to achieve its biodiversity targets.

While there had been “promising efforts on conservation targets”, it said progress had been slower in areas including raising finance, redirecting environmentally harmful subsidies and ensuring more inclusive decision making.

Countries have nevertheless laid out an ambitious framework for halting the destruction of ecosystems and reversing biodiversity loss by the end of the decade.

At the centre of the agreement is a target of conserving at least 30 percent of the world’s land, inland waters and seas by 2030 – widely known as the 30 by 30 goal.

Governments are also under pressure to reduce incentives and subsidies that encourage activities harmful to nature, while significantly increasing financial support for biodiversity protection in developing countries.

However, the Convention said differences remained over how countries should strengthen implementation, including during “intense discussions around the Cali Fund”.

Created during the COP16 biodiversity talks in Colombia, the fund is intended to channel a share of the profits made by companies using genetic information derived from plants and animals towards countries and communities that help conserve those resources.

Almost all UN member states are parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. The most notable exception is the United States.

Five major threats

Scientists and international organisations have repeatedly warned that human activity is driving a rapid decline in wildlife and ecosystems around the world.

The UN identifies five main human-induced causes of the biodiversity crisis – sometimes referred to as the “Five Horsemen of the Apocalypse”.

They are the destruction and alteration of natural habitats, the over-exploitation of resources such as water and wildlife, climate change, pollution and the spread of invasive species.

Agriculture, urban expansion, deforestation, industrial development and the extraction of natural resources have transformed large areas of the planet, while rising temperatures are placing additional pressure on already vulnerable ecosystems.

More than a quarter of the world’s animal and plant species are threatened with extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The Yerevan conference will be closely observed as governments seek to demonstrate that the biodiversity commitments agreed four years ago can still be translated into concrete action before the 2030 deadline.

Despite the slow progress so far, the UN says existing conservation efforts show that countries do have the tools to reverse some of the damage – provided governments can increase funding and turn their pledges into action quickly enough.

Vietnam discovers more than a tonne of concealed ivory illegally shipped from Africa

Copyright AP Photo

By Gavin Blackburn

Published on 13/08/2026  EURONEWS

Most trade in ivory from elephants and other endangered animals is banned by international agreement under CITES, a treaty to which almost all UN member countries are parties.

Authorities in Vietnam have announced a major seizure of ivory they say was illegally shipped from Africa, Vietnamese media reported on Thursday.

The haul of 221 pieces of elephant ivory weighing 1,193 kilograms was announced and displayed to the media at Quy Nhơn port in the central province of Gia Lai, said reports by the Vietnam News Agency and other news outlets.

Vietnam is a major hub for the illicit trade of wildlife, both dead and alive.

Much of the contraband is transhipped to China, but there is also demand in Vietnam itself and other Southeast Asian countries.

Thursday’s reports said inspections last week discovered the ivory hidden in sawn timber that was in a shipment of three containers that arrived on 9 July.

Police inspect a log that was being used to conceal 1.2-tonness of trafficked ivory at Quy Nhon port, 12 August, 2026 Nguyen Sy Thang/VNA

The illegal cargo also contained 79.3 kilograms of animal bones that reports said came from animals in the category of big cats, such as tigers.

Crushed animal bones are used in traditional Chinese medicine.

The website of the Tuoi Tre newspaper said that Gia Lai Provincial Police announced that the shipment had been transported from the Republic of the Congo.

It also said that after the contraband's discovery during customs clearance, a criminal investigation was launched for violation of regulations regarding protected animals.

Related

• €11 million worth of ivory crushed in Singapore to stop illegal elephant trade
• How elephant DNA is being used to disrupt the ivory trade

Most trade in ivory from elephants and other endangered animals is banned by international agreement under CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, a treaty to which almost all UN member countries are parties.

While the ivory shipment was reported to be the biggest ever at Quy Nhơn, it has been dwarfed by several others in the past decade of more than seven tons each in the central port city of Danang and the northern port of Haiphong.