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EXPLAINED: Aceh | Rare Historical Photos

Sex outside marriage, consuming alcohol: Indonesian couple caned 140 times for breaking Sharia law

In a stark display of Aceh's strict Sharia law, a couple endured 140 public canings each for extramarital sex and alcohol consumption. This severe punishment, witnessed by many, underscores the province's conservative Islamic regulations. Even a Sharia police officer faced lashes for a similar offense, highlighting the unwavering enforcement of…

The Times of India

Indonesian couple caned 140 times for sex outside marriage and drinking alcohol

The punishment, carried out before onlookers in Banda Aceh, is among the harshest imposed since the province adopted Islamic law in 2001

The Independent UK

Cyclone Senyar: Why hazards continue to turn into disasters in Indonesia

Weeks after Cyclone Senyar made landfall in northern Sumatra, Indonesia, the province of Aceh continues to struggle. The cyclone passed through the Strait of Malacca in late November, bringing heavy rains and causing widespread flooding in parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. More than 500 people were killed and 250,000…

The Conversation

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Aerial footage shows devastating aftermath of flooding in Indonesia

Drone video has shown the extent of the devastation in Aceh after Indonesia and parts of southeast Asia were hit by deadly flooding.

The Independent UK

Indonesia raises death toll to 753 after cyclone brings catastrophic flooding to Sumatra

Millions uprooted across South and Southeast Asia as rare cyclones and monsoon rains unleash deadly devastation

The Independent UK

Indonesia floods cause severe damage to infrastructure

Floods in East Aceh’s Idi Town have caused major damage to roads and public facilities, leaving residents without electricity, water and internet while emergency aid remains limited.

Euronews

Men charged with hugging and kissing are among group publicly caned by Indonesian Islamic court

Two men in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province have been publicly caned after an Islamic Shariah court convicted them of violating Islamic law

The Independent UK

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Islamic court in Indonesia sentences two men to public caning over homosexual acts

Monday's verdict was the fifth time that Aceh has sentenced people to public caning for homosexuality since strict Islamic law was implemented in the province.

Euronews

Islamic court in Indonesia sentences 2 men to public caning over sexual acts

An Islamic court in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province has sentenced two men to public caning, 80 times each, for what the court deemed were sexual acts: hugging and kissing

The Independent UK

Sharia court sentences men to public caning after they were caught kissing

Religious police broke into a public bathroom and found the men together

The Independent UK

Indonesian Couple Whipped 100 Times For Premarital Sex – And Other Sharia Law Punishments That Shock The West

On 4 June 2025, a young couple in Aceh, Indonesia, were publicly flogged 100 times after being found guilty of engaging in sex outside of marriage—a punishment carried out under local Sharia law. Aceh remains the only province in Indonesia that enforces Sharia-based criminal legislation, a policy that continues to…

International Business Times UK

2 college students were publicly caned for having gay sex in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh

Two men in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province were publicly caned after an Islamic Shariah court convicted them for having gay sex

The Independent UK

Men caught having gay sex to be lashed 80 times

The men were caught by vigilantes who broke into their room

The Independent UK

Over 100 Rohingya refugees fleeing persecution in Myanmar arrive in Indonesia's Aceh

A rickety wooden boat carrying more than 100 Rohingya Muslims landed Wednesday in Indonesia as the northernmost province of Aceh continued to receive the refugees fleeing persecution and political unrest in Myanmar

The Independent UK

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International Business Times

'We Couldn't Find Their Bodies': Indonesian Tsunami Survivors Mourn The Dead

Under the shade of trees at a mass grave in Indonesia's Aceh province, survivors and mourners recited Islamic prayers, commemorating the deaths of tens of thousands killed when a tsunami decimated the area two decades ago.

Top News

20Th Anniversary Of Indian Ocean Tsunami: Remembering The Victims

Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, survivors in Aceh and Thailand remember the devastating impact and ongoing recovery ef...

The Guardian - UK

Indian Ocean tsunami: how survivors found love after Boxing Day disaster

A rise in the number of remarriages and a baby boom in the years since 2004 gave hope to survivors and helped them cope with the tragedy

The Independent UK

Prayers and tears mark 20 years since the Indian Ocean tsunami that killed some 230,000 people

People have started gathering in prayer and are visiting mass graves in Indonesia’s Aceh province to mark 20 years since the massive Indian Ocean tsunami, one of modern history’s worst natural disasters

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The Guardian - AU

‘We were falling over bodies’: ABC journalist recalls horrors of 2004 Boxing Day tsunami

The first western reporter into severely damaged Indonesian region of Aceh in disaster’s aftermath witnessed the scale of the devastation firsthand

International Business Times

Catholics Hold Muted Christmas Mass In Indonesia's Sharia Stronghold

With flickering candles and the sound of organs, hundreds of Catholics held a muted Christmas Eve mass in Indonesia's Aceh province, the only one under ultraconservative Islamic law in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation.

The Independent UK

After 20 years, the post-tsunami generation stays vigilant for future disasters

Qurrata Ayuni, a 28-year-old survivor of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated her hometown two decades ago, has transformed her resilience into purpose

The Conversation

Aceh Tsunami: Monuments help to remember disasters - and forget them

20 years have passed since the Aceh tsunami, leaving deep scars on Indonesia, especially for those directly affected. Aceh was also recovering from a three-decade armed conflict between the Free Aceh Movement and the national government

Evening Standard

‘It was white water and chaos’, recalls Boxing Day tsunami survivor 20 years on

Daniel Poole was travelling in Sri Lanka when he was hit by the tsunami, whilst Rachel Harvey witnessed the devastation in Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

The Conversation

Acehnese women: Crucial role in peacebuilding overlooked, discriminated by local regulations

The Guardian - UK

‘If we die, we die together’: 20 years after the Boxing Day tsunami, are we better prepared?

Hundreds of thousands of people were killed in Aceh in 2004. Now warning systems are in place, but some feel more could be done

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