An Indonesian Islamic court has sentenced two young men to 85 strokes of a cane each for having sexual relations, marking the first time the penalty for homosexuality has been used in the conservative Aceh province. The couple, aged 20 and 23, will both face the strokes in a public caning after being found guilty for breaking strict Sharia regulations against homosexuality. “The defendants are proven... 

Hundreds of people gathered outside the mosque in Banda Aceh to watch the caning, with some spectators holding up cameras. Hundreds of people gathered outside a mosque in Indonesia to see a woman scream out in agony after being caned as a punishment for being in ‘close proximity’ to a man she wasn’t married to. Nur Elita was marched to the yard of Baiturrahumim Mosque in Banda Aceh... 

Indonesia’s Geophysical Agency has registered an 8.9 magnitude earthquake in the Aceh region, off the coast of northern Sumatra. A tsunami warning has been issued, the US Geological Survey reports. Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency is sending a rescue team to Aceh, after the quake knocked out the province’s electricity and sent locals scrambling for higher ground, Reuters reports. Waves...