Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – In the midst of increasing tension over the territorial dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia, it seems that the matter started as a business dispute between multinational oil giants.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – The recent dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia over territory and resources has rung alarm bells for the Indonesian military (TNI) to immediately increase spending to modernize its tattered war machines.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – Conservative religious understanding and cultural elements have hampered the development of the political role of women here, the Women's Research Institute (WRI) revealed on Thursday.

Yuliawati, Jakarta – The People's Representative Assembly's Natural Disaster Relief Monitoring Team in Aceh and North Sumatra is asking the government to reconsider the presence of foreign volunteers so that they can remain in Indonesia longer.

Leony Aurora, Lhokseumawe – The situation just outside Lhokseumawe in the northern part of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam is not as gloomy as you might imagine.

Students ride their bicycles home through green paddy fields. The landscape bears no scars, it is picture-perfect as though the tsunami had passed it by.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The head of the Papua forestry office, Marthen Kayoi, has been declared a suspect of illegal logging following a high-profile report on the smuggling of 300,000 cubic meters of timber per month from Indonesia – mostly Papua province – to China.

Niken Widya Yunita, Jakarta – Believing it will be commercialised, the People's Forum for Health Concerns (Forum Rakyat Peduli Kesehatan) held a demonstration opposing the privatisation of the local public hospitals (RSUD) and turning them into limited companies.

Yuliawati, Jakarta – A.M. Fatwa, a founder and the chairperson of the National Mandate Party (PAN), believes that the formation of the Muhammadiyah Mandate Party (PAM), which is to be launched this afternoon, is a warning for his party.

Atiek Nur Hidayati, Jakarta – A coalition of non-government organisations (NGOs) has agreed to take cases of human rights violations in Aceh and West Papua to the 61st session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva which will be held between March 14 and April 22.

Bandarlampung – Three Bandarlampung councillors have been sentenced to 18 months jail for corruption.

Vincent Lingga, Jakarta – So what! That may be the skeptical reaction of most people to the ruling by the Business Competition Supervisory Commission that state oil and gas company Pertamina and three of its business partners conspired to rig the tender for the sale of two very large crude carriers in mid-2004.

Today in Bali, the Presidents of Indonesia and Timor-Leste (also known as East Timor) are expected to formally agree to form a joint Commission of Truth and Friendship.

Jakarta/Makassar/Cirebon – While women in other parts of the world launched rallies to demand equal rights in commemorating International Women's Day on Tuesday, women here launched protests nationwide against the recent fuel price hike.

A lot is riding on the outcome of the negotiations between the Australian and East Timorese Governments over the resource rich Timor Sea which concludes today. Not least the Australian Government's reputation.

Medan – Severe chemical pollution threatens most lakes in the country and has the potential to create further environmental disasters, a state minister says.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – Prominent Muslim scholars threw their weight behind a demand for the revival of the alternative draft Islamic law code, which they say will encourage gender equality in the country.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Demonstrators held a noisy protest outside the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta on Monday, chanting slogans and asserting Indonesia's claim to a disputed area off the coast of Malaysia's Sabah state and Indonesia's East Kalimantan province in the first territorial dispute since Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took office last October.

Indonesia urged Malaysia to cease "aggressive" claims and negotiate a territory dispute that has seen warships and fighter jets deployed to oil-rich waters off the coast of Borneo.

Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta – Lack of investment in manpower skills, infrastructure and research and development in Indonesia's manufacturing industry over the past three decades have slowed down the country's industrialization process compared to its neighbors.

There is a common joke among government officials that attempts to explain the supposedly assertive nature of the Acehnese people: "When 10 Acehnese gather to work out a consensus, they will come up with at least 11 different opinions." That yarn reflects the impatience, and sometimes the frustration, that central government officials and other outsiders often endure when trying to

Indonesia and East Timor have agreed to set up a commission to deal with atrocities surrounding East Timor's 1999 vote for independence, despite criticism led by the United Nations.

Human rights activists have accused East Timor of putting diplomacy before justice after the fledgling nation agreed to drop charges against accused war criminals under a deal signed with Indonesia.

The United Nations, which oversaw East Timor's violent break away from Indonesian rule six years ago, has also criticised the accord.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – The Indonesian Government has decided staff of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees will be allowed to remain in Aceh province after March 26 to continue reconstruction work helping victims of the tsunami.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Hundreds of people from 14 villages in Aceh Besar regency and Banda Aceh municipality gathered in Lam Isiek village here on Tuesday to pledge to rebuild their homes, which were destroyed by the tsunami.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – What a parrot says can tell you something about its master. A parrot kept at former president Soeharto's home reportedly still greeted its owner with "Good morning, Mr. President" every single day.

Meanwhile, a certain parrot kept at a house in Bekasi, West Java, portrays a sad reality that sometimes occurs between a husband and a wife.

Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – On Tuesday March 8, dozens of students from a number of groups in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta held actions opposing fuel price increases. They also called on Yogyakarta people not to be influenced or provoked by the Ambalat dispute(1) between Indonesia and Malaysia to the point where the issue of fuel price increases disappears.

Ahmad Yunus, Bandung – Around 100 women and farmers from the People's Struggle Front (Front Perjuangan Rakyat) held an action commemorating International Women's Day. In their action, the demonstrators who originate from Pengalengan in West Java, also opposed fuel price increases.

Muchus Budi R., Solo – International Women's Day (IWD) which fell on March 8 was commemorated by demonstrations in the Central Java city of Solo. The actions was organised by two small groups with the same aims, opposing fuel price increases which they believe will further worsen the economic conditions of the people. Ambalat(1) was no included among the issues raised.

Wahyuana and Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta/Bekasi – Many residents of Bekasi had to take a day off work on Monday to clean thick mud from their houses following what is claimed to be the biggest ever flood in the municipality and upstream areas on Sunday.

The water in several areas had started to subside on Monday.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Evacuation of landslide victims at the Leuwigajah dump site in south Cimahi and Bandung regency ended on Monday, with 137 bodies being recovered and six more being left buried in the 25-hectare area affected by the disaster.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – Women activists are seeking to revive an alternative draft for an Islamic code of law (KHI), which they say would help reduce domestic violence cases.

They urged the government on Monday to revoke its decision to annul the controversial draft issued by the Ministry of Religious Affairs in October last year.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – A group of people, claiming to be representatives of the Aceh people, stepped up pressure on the government on Monday to review its blueprint on post-tsunami rehabilitation and reconstruction of Aceh.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The provincial offices of the General Elections Commission (KPUD) in Papua said they were unprepared to organize the direct elections for regional heads in June due to limited preparation time.

Indonesia is ranked as the most corrupt country in Asia by foreign businessmen in the region, raising fears about how billions of dollars in post-tsunami aid will end up, a new survey shows.

Reporter: Ian Melrose

Mark Colvin: Negotiations between Australia and East Timor on a seabed boundary resumed in Canberra this afternoon, with oil and gas reserves worth tens of billions of dollars at stake.

Australia is offering East Timor a cash-for-sovereignty deal – put aside a final boundary settlement and take an extra $3-billion.

Darlis M., Palu – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's warning not to act violently against demonstrations opposing fuel price increases appears to be only words. Police in the Central Sulawesi city of Palu were unable to restrain themselves, attacking and beating students who were demonstrating in the centre of the city. As a result, it caused traffic jams and chaos.

Jakarta – Despite the government ban, out-of-court adoptions of children living in refugee camps across tsunami-stricken Aceh remain a cause for concern and could actually be child smuggling, a children's commission says.

Canberra – Canberra and Dili entered a new round of negotiations – the third so far in a year – as Australian and East Timorese officials on Monday again deliberated on how to divide up oil and gas deposits under the Timor Sea.

Roy Eccleston – Senior members of the US Congress have stepped up pressure on the Howard Government to settle the dispute with East Timor over the rights to billions of dollars worth of sub-sea oil and gas between the two countries.

Dian Intannia, Jakarta – The executive director of Garuda airlines, Indra Setiawan, will be questioned by police next week as a witness in the case of Munir's death.

World War II veterans will appear in ads on Anzac Day aimed at embarrassing the federal government over the carve up of oil and gas reserves with East Timor.

East Timor has argued it is being cut out of billions of dollars through an incorrect understanding of the sea boundaries.

Palembang – Over 23 hectares of wetland in Palembang have been illegally reclaimed, the head of Palembang's public works office, Kira Tarigan, said on Friday. The wetland areas had been drained without permits, and many were being used for building purposes.

The government has cut fuel subsidies, but raised subsidies for other things including health and education for the country's poorest families. The Jakarta Post asked for comments from residents about the low-income assistance fund.

Indonesia's government will offer incentives for public transport operators to keep their fares down in an effort to quell widespread protests following major fuel price hikes, a report said.

Indonesia says its deployment of fighter jets and warships to an area of ocean close to Malaysia is not meant to worry its neighbour. The action preceded a visit by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to the joint border area of eastern Borneo.

About 30 members of the House of Representatives have asked the legislature to exercise its right of inquiry into the government decision to raise on March 1 fuel prices by an average of 29 percent.

Astrid Felicia Lim, Jakarta – Those traveling around the city of Jakarta need be ready to be held up by traffic jams because of actions opposing fuel price increases which are being organised by members of the public and activist groups. Actions in the capital city against price increases continued on Sunday March 6.

Agus Supriyanto, Jakarta – At a press conference in Jakarta on Sunday March 6, seven mass organisations declared that they are launching a class action against President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY). According to the plaintiffs, SBY has acted improperly in increasing the price of fuel.

Two men on a motorcycle threw a hand grenade at a crowd near a church in the restive eastern Indonesian city of Ambon, injuring three people, a report said.

The grenade was thrown in front of the Sejahtera Church in the village of Lateri in Ambon early on Saturday, Police Chief Leonidas Braskan was quoted by the Kompas newspaper as saying.

An Australian academic banned from Indonesia said yesterday that incorrect reports he had links to separatist rebels in Aceh province could have been the reason he was refused entry this week.