This year is critical for democracy, with roughly half of the world’s population living in countries holding elections. These contests are being held at a time when international migration is at a record high and has emerged as a central topic in electoral campaigns.

To better understand the role of migration in democratic politics, we invited a small group of scholars to reflect on how migration is influencing elections and democratic institutions in their country or region, with particular focus on Asia and Latin America.

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), which oversees U.S. military operations in the Indo-Pacific region, requested an additional $11 billion for programs not included in the Pentagon’s official budget request for fiscal year 2025, according to a report obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

In a matter of days more than 190 million Indonesians will head to the polls to pick their next president.

The race has been heating up between the two presidential candidates, Prabowo Subianto and Joko Widodo.

The contest has, understandably, generated immense media attention in Indonesia - but critics say the majority of Indonesian media is deeply biased and is influencing voters rather than informing them.

The BBC's Indonesia Editor, Karishma Vaswani reports from Jakarta.

A shallow earthquake shook Indonesia’s easternmost province of Papua on Thursday, killing four people who were unable to escape when a floating restaurant collapsed into the sea.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 5.1 earthquake hit residential areas in Jayapura, near Papua’s northern coast and was centered at a depth of 22 kilometers (13 miles). Shallow quakes often cause more damage on the Earth’s surface.

Indonesia's parliament has approved a new criminal code that bans anyone in the country from having extramarital sex and restricts political freedoms.

Sex outside marriage will carry a jail term of up to a year under the new laws, which take effect in three years.

The raft of changes come after a rise in religious conservatism in the Muslim-majority country.

Critics see the laws as a "disaster" for human rights, and a potential blow to tourism and investment.

Many of those killed and injured in a major earthquake on the Indonesian island of Java were children, rescuers say, as the death toll soars to 268.

Aprizal Mulyadi, 14, was at school when the quake hit, saying he was trapped after "the room collapsed and my legs were buried under the rubble".

He said he was pulled to safety by his friend Zulfikar, who later died after himself becoming trapped.

More than 1,000 people were wounded, officials say.