Nurul Hidayati, Jakarta – The Department of Justice and Human Rights has announced that 47 political parties have successfully completed their documentation and will undergo verification to be registered as legal entities. Not recorded among these are two that that have taken up the banner of the New Order regime and former President Suharto.

The British government will consult with the families of two of the Balibo Five about what action, if any, it should take over the killings of the British-born newsmen in East Timor in 1975.

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – A crime syndicate with links to former pro-Indonesian militias supplied drugs to youth gang members involved in violent attacks in East Timor.

Nograhany Widhi K, Jakarta – Political parties appealing to young people, which have been proliferating of late, arrived at the Department of Justice and Human Rights on the last day of registration to be verified as political entities. These parties are seeking to appeal to young people, the teenage social set and former activists who are still idealistic.

A plenary session of the National Human Rights Commission, Komnas HAM held on 27 February decided to set up an ad hoc team to investigate the 1965-1966 case for judicial purposes (pro justicia), as well as an ad hoc team to investigate the mysterious killings. The teams will work for three months, which can be extended if necessary.

Sofian, Jakarta – Activist from the group Falun Gong will hold a protest action in front of the Chinese Embassy the Mega Kuningan area of South Jakarta today, Thursday February 28. The action, which is planned to start at 10am, will be calling for an end to the torture and mass murder of those practicing Falun Gong in China.

Usman Hamid and Eko Waluyo, Jakarta/Sydney – The recent visit of Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda to Australia on February 7 aimed to re-enforce the framework for security cooperation between Australia and Indonesia, known as the Lombok Treaty. A draft of this agreement was signed on Nov.

Abdul Khalik, Sirikin, Serawak, Malaysia – While it is illegal to cross the West Kalimantan-Serawak border without permits, a flourishing international trade has been benefiting citizens on both sides of the border for years.

Irawaty Wardany, Denpasar, Bali – Despite the progress in economic development in Indonesia, sanitation has remained a major challenge facing the country, a World Bank executive says.

Frida Berrigan – Jakarta wants weapons. Lots of them. Right after Valentine's Day, Indonesian Air Force officials met with their US counterparts to discuss "bilateral defense cooperation." On their wish list were Lockheed Martin's F-16 fighters and C-130 Hercules tactical transport planes.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Human rights and anti-corruption activists lashed out at the House of Representatives on Tuesday for failing to make the government and Lapindo Brantas Inc. properly compensate victims of the mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java. They accused the House of "quiet conspiracy to defend corporate (interests)" in dealing with the problem.

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The government has been accused of inconsistency in its promotion of public transparency in its administration.

While President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono declared himself open to criticism, his ministers have attempted to close access to public information, a coalition of non-governmental organizations and press associations said here Tuesday.

Jakarta – Victims of the Trisakti incident have demanded the reopening of rights abuse cases, citing the Constitutional Court's recent decision the House of Representatives did not have authority to decide whether a case had legal weight.

The Trisakti University Student Organization sent a letter Tuesday asking the House to move on with human rights trials.

Reza M., Jakarta – The Metro Jaya regional police Traffic Management Center (TMC) is warning road users of the possibility of traffic jams as a result of protest actions that will colour Jakarta on Wednesday February 27. According to the TMC there will be no less than 13 demonstrations today, with the first starting at 9.30am.

Novia D. Rulistia, Jakarta – The state of land transportation is not only poor but seems to be getting worse, a seminar revealed, citing a global survey that put Indonesia's ranking in a worse position this year than last year.

From correspondents in London – Britain is being urged to order arrest warrants for two surviving former Indonesian military chiefs linked to the deliberate killing of the Balibo Five.

The British government is being called on to take action because two of the Australian-based newsmen killed in East Timor by Indonesian forces in 1975 were born in the UK.

Novia D. Rulistia, Jakarta – The banking sector needs to boost its lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) due to the sector's proven resilience and huge contribution to employment and the economy, a seminar determined Monday.

Even with so many laws and regulations already enacted to enforce the sustainable management of our forest resources, illegal logging has remained common throughout the country. So, we can only imagine what will happen with the broad license for the plundering of our protected forests as provided by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono through Government Regulation No. 2/2008.

Debnath Guharoy, Consultant – The runaway development of shopping malls in Jakarta is living proof of reckless greed, a monumental disaster in the offing. It is a good example of how poor information, bad planning and a lack of common sense is already hurting, and will continue to hurt, investors and workers alike.

Jakarta – Distribution of left-over votes, parliamentary and electoral thresholds and vote casting methods were among the issues argued by House of Representatives lawmakers and government officials debating the election bill Monday.

But despite the amount of time the bill has been under dispute, lawmakers said they were optimistic it would be passed Tuesday.

Joe Collins from the Australia West Papua Association said that "Mr. Debus is the 10th Federal Government Minister to visit Indonesia since the swearing in of the new Australian Government".

Michael Mckenna – A senior staff member of the East Timor Post newspaper was allegedly beaten and arrested at the weekend in the latest of a series of incidents pointing to a crackdown on press freedom across the troubled country.

Jakarta – The Food Resilience Council, working directly under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono since late 2006, has come under fire for handling recent food shortages ineffectively.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – University students in Medan on Monday rallied at the North Sumatra legislative council to protest against frequent blackouts in the province. The blackouts occur three times every day, each one lasting for up to four hours.

Adi Warsidi, Banda Aceh – The GAM Party, one of the local political parties in Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh, has officially changed its party name and symbol.

Arfi Bambani Amri, Jakarta – Two protest actions will be taking place in Jakarta today. The first protest will be at the Supreme Court building on Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara in Central Jakarta and the second at the Attorney General's Office on Jl. Sisingamangaraja in South Jakarta.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Environmental activists insisted Saturday on rejecting a regulation imposing a new scheme of forest exploitation fees on non-forestry firms, despite the government's assurance it was meant to save forests.

Kristin Roberts, Jakarta – US Defense Secretary Robert Gates landed in Jakarta on Monday, aiming to strengthen military ties with a country the Pentagon sees as a regional leader and secular model for Muslim states.

Reporters Without Borders condemns the action of the police in arresting and beating a Timor Post journalist on the night of 22 February as he was travelling to the location in Kaikoli, near Dili, where his daily is printed in order to help prepare the next issue. He was freed the next day.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Two senior campaigners of the Papua Free Movement (OPM) surrendered over the weekend with a statement praising the significant progress the province has achieved.

Jakarta – US Defence Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Indonesia Monday to discuss potential sales of military aircraft and deeper military ties, despite wariness on the part of both US lawmakers and Jakarta.

Timika, Papua – Army chief Lt. Gen. Agustadi Sasongko Purnomo says he would urge the government to upgrade its arsenal which has become outdated because of a limited defense budget.

Agustadi made the statement after inspecting Infantry Battalion 754 in Eme Neme Kangase in Timika last Friday.

Jakarta – The House of Representatives has agreed to adopt a parliamentary threshold system for political parties to obtain seats in the legislature following the 2009 elections.

However, lawmakers are still debating the percentage of the threshold for parties to be eligible to have representatives at the House.

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – One of the pioneer organizations of the United Development Party (PPP) has thrown its weight behind the incumbent president and vice president to run in the 2009 presidential election.

Jakarta – The House of Representatives officially announced Friday its special team would continue investigations into the mudflow disaster in Sidoarjo, East Java, while a move to question the government over the disaster remained a possibility. The announcement officially clarified confusion over a House plenary session decision on the disaster.

Diane Farsetta – In May 1998, when General Suharto was forced to step down as president of Indonesia, the members of the Madison chapter of the East Timor Action Network (ETAN) decided to have a little fun.

Dessy Nurhayati and Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono defended Friday a new regulation to impose fees on non-forestry firms to rehabilitate the country's deteriorating forests.

Surabaya – Muslims protested in two Indonesian cities Saturday over drawings in Denmark portraying the Prophet Muhammad, with some calling for the artist to be put to death.

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court has come under fire for a ruling that, critics say, encourages the government not to raise the education budget to levels mandated by the Constitution.

The decision was handed down Wednesday during the final court session reviewing the 2003 law on the national education system.

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, Padang – Two local leaders of the Al-Qidayah sect went on trial Thursday at the Padang District Court on charges of defaming Islam.

M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – Tubagus Noviarwan, an Indoglobal Mandiri University student in the South Sumatra city of Palembang, who died as a result of mistreatment by police adds one more name to the list violence committed by security personnel. The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) recorded 180 cases of violence by security personal in Indonesia over the last year.

Indra Subagja Jakarta – The investigation into the murder of human rights activists Munir continues. Now that Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto has been sentenced to 20 years in jail by the Supreme Court, police are now taking aim at other suspects – a number of which have already been questioned.

Novia D. Rulistia, Jakarta – An alliance of entrepreneurs and workers groups has established a bipartite forum to help settle industrial labor disputes and problems.

The establishment of the forum would effectively end an existing similar forum, called the tripartite forum, which incorporates the government, the alliances said Thursday.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The government said Thursday it would not license new mining companies to operate open-pit mining systems in protected forests.

"There will be no more open-pit mining permits in protected forests other than the 13 already-licensed firms," Yetti Rusli of the Forestry Ministry said.

Rizal Harahap, Pekanbaru – Members of the Indonesian Forest Protection Committee and the Riau chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) rallied Thursday at Riau Police Headquarters here demanding the immediate prosecution of illegal logging suspects.

Lilian Budianto, Jakarta – Civil society needs to play a bigger role in the fight against terrorism, an ASEAN forum heard here Thursday.

"The government can't do the task by itself. They should cooperate with civil society, including NGOs, to counter terrorist movements," said Sidney Jones, the Southeast Asia project director of the International Crisis Group (ICG).

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – An alliance of non-governmental organizations have voiced strong opposition to the planned straightening of the Deli River, which divides Medan in North Sumatra.

Erwida Maulia and ID Nugroho, Jakarta/Sidoarjo – A group on Thursday declared a movement to stop the mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java, while questioning the government's political will to end the disaster.

Jakarta – Press organizations will request the Constitutional Court to review defamation articles in the Criminal Code, following the district court's conviction of senior journalist Bersihar Lubis.

The Depok District Court sentenced Bersihar to one month in prison Wednesday, before suspending his sentence and requiring three month's probation.

Paul Toohey – Time reporter Rory Callinan has complained of heavy-handed treatment at the hands of Australian soldiers in East Timor after he and photographer John Wilson were detained for three hours at gunpoint outside of Dili.

Callinan says he and Wilson had driven up a steep, winding road aiming last week to get to the small village of Dare, just above Dili.