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Search and rescue officers search for victims amidst the rubble of a crumbled building after a hall collapsed while students were praying at the Al-Khoziny Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia, on September 29, 2025.

REUTERS/Stringer

Hard Numbers: Indonesian school collapses, Americans sour on Israel, YouTube pays Trump, Brothers rock in Italian election

3: A school in East Java, Indonesia, collapsed on Monday, killing three people and injuring many more. At least 38 others – many of them teenage boys – remain trapped. The rescue mission was halted on Tuesday over concerns that the building would collapse further. This disaster comes atop a growing list of challenges that President Prabowo Subianto now faces.

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Police officers disperse protesters during riots in front of the House of Representatives building in Jakarta, Indonesia, on August 30, 2025.

Claudio Pramana/ZUMA Press Wire

Why Asia’s “Gen Z” revolts matter

Across South and Southeast Asia, something unusual is brewing.

Massive economic protests in Indonesia were inflamed in late August when a police car rammed into a taxi and killed the young driver. “Gen Z” demonstrators in Nepal earlier this month burned the parliament and forced the prime minister to resign. And this week in Timor-Leste, protestors – including many students – set cars ablaze in objection to a government plan to buy vehicles for politicians.

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Protesters carry an Indonesian flag and a flag from Japanese anime 'One Piece' during a protest outside Jakarta police headquarters, in Jakarta, Indonesia, on August 29, 2025.

REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

What We’re Watching: Killing further inflames Indonesian protests, India and Canada mend ties, El Salvador continues authoritarian drift

Protests erupt further in Indonesia

Demonstrations in the capital Jakarta have intensified after a police vehicle rammed into a taxi there on Thursday, killing the driver. The protests, which have now spread across the country, first came following reports that lawmakers had been receiving a monthly housing allowance of 50 million rupiah ($3,075) in addition to their salaries. This was especially irksome for Indonesia’s 280-million-plus population as many have been struggling to find jobs. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, who has faced political challenges since coming into office last year, apologized for the excessive violence and urged calm.

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Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN (L) and U.S. President DONALD TRUMP (right) during a bilateral meeting at the Group of 20 (G20) leaders summit in 2019.

ZUMA Press Wire via REUTERS

Hard Numbers: Ukrainian refugees in Alaska brace for Putin’s arrival, Migrant ship capsizes, No such thing as food poisoning free lunch, and the Kremlin cracks down on messaging platforms

1,000: Around 1,000 Ukrainian refugees in Alaska will be watching closely when Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives on Friday to meet with US President Donald Trump. Those Alaskan refugees are just a small percentage of the 240,000 Ukrainian refugees who came to the US under Biden’s Uniting for Ukraine program, which was suspended after Trump took office earlier this year.

26: At least 26 migrants died and others remain missing after an overloaded boat from Libya capsized off Italy’s Lampedusa. The tragedy comes amid a 16% rise in Mediterranean crossings this year — a deadly reminder that Europe’s migration crisis shows no sign of easing.

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A demonstrator burns mock dollar bills with the face of US President Donald Trump during a protest against the US tariffs imposed on Brazilian products, in front of the United States Embassy in Brasilia, Brazil, on August 1, 2025.

REUTERS/Mateus Bonomi

What We’re Watching: Another US tariff announcement, El Salvador leader can now rule indefinitely, Indonesian president pardons opponents

US hits the world with fresh wave of tariffs

US President Donald Trump slapped new tariffs on 92 countries, including key allies. Canada, the US’s number two trade partner, was hit with a 35% rate. Taiwan, a critical semiconductor supplier, also faces fresh levies that could ripple through global tech supply chains, and India now faces a 25% rate. For some countries, Trump’s latest threats are actually a reprieve, as he lowered previously threatened rates: tiny Lesotho, which Trump once said “nobody has ever heard of,” will now face a 15% duty, down from 50%. The new levies take effect on Aug. 9, but Mexico, the US’s largest trade partner, won a 90-day extension. Trump reached a deal with the EU earlier this week, and is still negotiating with China.

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Smoke rises after Israeli strikes on Syria’s defense ministry, according to Al Jazeera TV, in Damascus, Syria, on July 16, 2025.

REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

What We’re Watching: Israel hits Syria’s military HQ, Trump rings up trade wins, Cuban minister resigns over denial

Israel strikes Damascus as feud escalates

Israel struck Syria’s military headquarters in Damascus on Wednesday and continued to bomb areas of southern Syria where the Israel-backed Druze minority group is clashing with Bedouin tribes whom Israel says are being supported by the Syrian regime. The escalation risks further undermining Syria’s fragile post-Assad stability. Meanwhile, Israel also launched its deadliest strike on Lebanon since last year’s ceasefire, killing five Hezbollah fighters as it tries to pressure the militant group to disarm. For more on whether that could ever happen, see here.

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Survivors of the KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya ferry sinking wait to be identified by officers at Gilimanuk port, after the ferry carrying 65 people sank near the Indonesian island of Bali, in Bali, Indonesia, July 3, 2025.

REUTERS

HARD NUMBERS: Indonesian ferry sinks, Mercosur discusses long-stalled EU deal, Liverpool striker dies in car accident, French air traffic controllers walk off the job

65: A ferry carrying 65 people sank near the island of Bali, Indonesia, late on Wednesday. Six people have died as a result, and authorities have now ceased the search for another 30 passengers. The remaining 29 have been rescued. Ferries are a major mode of transport in the Indonesian archipelago, but safety standards are notoriously lax.

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Human rights activists hold a placard reading 'Military is a Killer of Women' during Aksi Kamisan, or Thursday's Protest, in front of the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, on March 20, 2025.

Afriadi Hikmal/NurPhoto via Reuters

Indonesians protest new military laws

Indonesian activists are protesting a new law allowing active-duty military members to serve an expanded role in the civilian government — a move they warn could bring back the days of military repression under strongman leader Suharto.

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