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3 dead after mob sets fire to Indonesian regional parliament building

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — An angry mob set fire to a local parliament building in an Indonesian provincial capital, leaving at least three people dead and five others hospitalized, officials said.
The blaze in Makassar, the capital city of South Sulawesi province, began late Friday. Television reports showed the provincial council building ablaze overnight, causing the area to turn an eerie orange color.
Rescuers retrieved three bodies by Saturday morning, while five people were hospitalized with burns or with broken bones after jumping from the building, said Fadli Tahar, a local disaster official.
Protesters in West Java’s Bandung city also set a regional parliament ablaze on Friday, but no casualties were reported. In Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, protesters stormed the regional police headquarters after destroying fences and torching vehicles. Security forces fired tear gas and used water cannons, but demonstrators fought back with fireworks and wooden clubs.
Foreign embassies in Jakarta, including the U.S., Australia and Southeast Asian countries, have advised their citizens in Indonesia to avoid demonstration areas or large public gatherings.
Calm largely returned to Indonesia ‘s capital on Saturday as authorities cleaned up burned-out cars, police offices and bus shelters that were set ablaze by angry protesters.
Five days of protests began in Jakarta on Monday, sparked by reports that all 580 lawmakers receive a monthly housing allowance of 50 million rupiah ($3,075) in addition to their salaries. The allowance, introduced last year, is almost 10 times the Jakarta minimum wage.
Critics argue the new allowance is not only excessive but also insensitive at a time when most people are grappling with soaring living costs and taxes and rising unemployment.
The protests grew wider and more violent following the death of 21-year-old ride-hailing driver Affan Kurniawan. A video on social media apparently showing his death during a rally in the capital Jakarta on Thursday shocked the nation and spurred an outcry against the security forces.
Kurniawan was reportedly completing a food delivery order when he was caught in the clash. Witnesses told local television that the armored car from the National Police’s Mobile Brigade unit suddenly sped through the crowd of demonstrators and hit Kurniawan, causing him to fall. Instead of stopping, the car ran over him.
On Saturday, hundreds of ride-hailing drivers and students in Bali staged a solidarity demonstration over Kurniawan’s death in a rare protest on the tourist island. They called for police reform and the release of those arrested during the protests.
Protesters marched to Bali’s regional police headquarters and riot police fired rounds of tear gas at them to push back those who tried to reach the heavily guarded compound. Protesters responded by throwing rocks, bottles and flares.
Clashes between riot police and protesters erupted in multiple cities across Indonesia on Friday, including in Medan, Solo, Yogyakarta, Magelang, Malang, Bengkulu, Pekanbaru and Manokwari in easternmost Papua region.
Some 950 people were arrested in rallies in Jakarta alone by Thursday, according to the National Commission on Human Rights, or Komnas HAM.
Authorities said about 25 officers were hospitalized with serious injuries after being attacked by protesters in Jakarta. The Komnas HAM believed that the number of injured people on the community side is much bigger.
Amnesty International criticized Indonesia’s government Saturday, saying it suppresses free speech with crackdowns on public protests.
“No one should lose their lives for exercising their right to protest,” said Usman Hamid, the Executive Director of Amnesty International Indonesia. “The authorities must immediately and unconditionally release anyone detained solely for exercising their rights,” he said.
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Associated Press journalists Dita Alangkara and Achmad Ibrahim in Jakarta, contributed to this report.
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Israel identifies body of hostage retrieved from Gaza

Israel identified the body of hostage Idan Shtivi, recovered from the Gaza Strip in a military operation this week that retrieved the remains of two hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday.
Netanyahu’s office had announced on Friday the retrieval of Ilan Weiss’s body along with the remains of another hostage, whose identity is now known to be that of Shtivi but had not been disclosed at the time.
With Weiss and Shtivi‘s bodies recovered, Israel says 48 hostages remain in Gaza, of whom only 20 are believed to be alive.
“Idan Shtivi was abducted from the Tel Gama area and brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists after acting to rescue and evacuate others from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023. He was 28 years old at the time of his death,” the Israeli military said on Saturday in a statement.
Around 1,200 people were killed and about 251 taken hostage when the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israeli southern communities in October 2023, Israel’s tallies show.
Gaza’s health ministry says Israel’s subsequent military assault has killed over 63,000 Palestinians. The war has displaced nearly the enclave’s entire population, devastated infrastructure, and triggered a humanitarian crisis.
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Aid flotilla with Greta Thunberg set to sail for Gaza to ‘break illegal siege’ | Greta Thunberg

A flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and activists, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, is due to leave from Barcelona on Sunday to try to “break the illegal siege of Gaza”, organisers said.
The vessels will set off from the Spanish port city to “open a humanitarian corridor and end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people”, said the Global Sumud Flotilla.
They did not say how many ships would set sail or the exact time of departure.
The flotilla is expected to arrive at the war-ravaged coastal enclave in mid-September.
“This will be the largest solidarity mission in history, with more people and more boats than all previous attempts combined,” Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila told journalists in Barcelona last week.
Organisers say that dozens of other vessels are expected to leave Tunisian and other Mediterranean ports on 4 September.
Activists will also stage simultaneous demonstrations and other protests in 44 countries “in solidarity with the Palestinian people”, Thunberg, who is part of the flotilla’s steering committee, wrote on Instagram.
As well as Thunberg, the flotilla will include activists from several countries, European lawmakers and public figures such as former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau.
“We understand that this is a legal mission under international law,” leftwing Portuguese lawmaker Mariana Mortágua, who will join the mission, told journalists in Lisbon last week.
Israel has already blocked two attempts by activists to deliver aid by ship to Gaza, in June and July.
In June, 12 activists on board the sailboat Madleen were intercepted by Israeli forces 185km west of Gaza. Its passengers, who included Thunberg, were detained and eventually expelled.
In July, 21 activists from 10 countries were intercepted as they tried to approach Gaza in another vessel, the Handala.
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No. 9 LSU outlasts No. 4 Clemson as Garrett Nussmeier outduels Cade Klubnik in top-10 showdown

No. 9 LSU went on the road and shocked No. 4 Clemson 17-10 to pick up a crucial road victory and firmly cement its place in the national championship picture. The battle went down to the final minutes, but LSU coach Brian Kelly finally picked up his first season-opening victory as Tigers coach.
Tied 10-10 at the start of the fourth quarter, LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier put together a legacy drive. After he was roughed on a completion to Aaron Anderson, Nussmeier ran for a third-down conversion and then found tight end Trey’Dez Green for an 8-yard touchdown to give LSU a lead it would never surrender.
Clemson had three more chances to get back into the end zone, turning it over on downs once and going three-and-out to set up a pivotal final drive. Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik completed a big-time pass to T.J. Moore while taking a shot to lead a drive into the red zone. Facing fourth-and-4, LSU defender Harold Perkins brought pressure and forced an incompletion to end the game.
Playing against a phenomenal Clemson defense, Nussmeier stepped up big, completing 28 of 38 passes for 230 yards and a touchdown in the win. Anderson was his top target, catching six passes for 99 yards, including a 39-yarder. Running back Caden Durham went for 74 yards and a touchdown. Klubnik was strong, throwing for 230 yards, with four receivers hitting four catches. However, the lack of running game (20 carries for 31 yards) stood tall in the biggest moments.
Read on below for takeaways from LSU’s season-opening win over Clemson on Saturday.
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