Asia's EVolution: Indonesia’s nickel powers global electric vehicle boom but at what cost to the country?
CNA
As cities with high EV adoption cut emissions, the villages supplying the batteries bear the burden of environmental damage. CNA travels to Indonesia’s North Maluku province to find out more in this latest part of a series on EVs in Asia.
WEDA BAY, North Maluku: After decades of working on foreign fishing vessels, Abdullah Ambar returned home 10 years ago to Lelilef Sawai, a village in the remote Indonesian island of Halmahera, North Maluku hoping to settle into a quiet life.
He built a small fleet of three fishing boats, each capable of hauling up to half a tonne of skipjack tuna and mackerel for every 12-hour trip out at sea.
“You can find fish just 10m from shore,” said the 64-year-old. “If people were hungry, they could take a small canoe, go out for an hour or two, come back home, and eat. But now?”
That dream did not last.
The rapid expansion of nickel refineries in Indonesia has transformed some rural areas into major production hubs. CNA travelled to Weda Bay in North Maluku — the world's largest nickel production hub, to find out more about the environmental impact of this development.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) last provided an update in March 2024 and victims' relatives remain in the dark about what caused the plane to nosedive from cruising altitude rather than land in Guangzhou as planned.
The rapid expansion of nickel refineries in Indonesia has transformed some rural areas into major production hubs. CNA travelled to Weda Bay in North Maluku — the world's largest nickel production hub, to find out more about the environmental impact of this development.
TEHRAN: Iran threatened on Sunday (Mar 22) to attack key infrastructure across the Middle East if US President Donald Trump follows through on his vow to "obliterate" the Islamic republic's power plants
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) last provided an update in March 2024 and victims' relatives remain in the dark about what caused the plane to nosedive from cruising altitude rather than land in Guangzhou as planned.
The United States in 2019 approved an $8 billion sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan but the project has been hit by issues including software problems.
Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the war launched by the US and Israel.
As cities with high EV adoption cut emissions, the villages supplying the batteries bear the burden of environmental damage. CNA travels to Indonesia’s North Maluku province to find out more in this latest part of a series on EVs in Asia.
In March 2026 alone, the police arrested eight Malaysians for similar cases.
Videos and photos from the scene showed thick gray smoke billowing from the complex and some workers jumping from a building.
“You know you don't do a ceasefire when you're literally obliterating the other side,” says US President Donald Trump.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier said that Kyiv wanted money and technology in return for its help in the Middle East, although this still had to be agreed.
The meeting appeared carefully choreographed to avoid open disagreements – apart from a brief awkward moment when Trump made a joke about Pearl Harbor.