Aboeprijadi Santoso, Helsinki – The third round of the Helsinki negotiations between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to find "a comprehensive and permanent solution with dignity for all" was just concluded with new hope for a peaceful breakthrough.

Jane Perlez, Jakarta – After a long delay, Indonesia announced a new body to oversee the reconstruction of Aceh, but it will start work without the help of a UN agency that had planned to spend $60 million on more than 35,000 houses.

Riyadi Suparno, Tanjung Benoa (Bali) – Australian and Indonesian businesspeople are of the view that investment opportunities in Indonesia are abundant – especially in the infrastructure sector – but that equally risks are still high, and to some extent this keeps them at bay – unless the returns are attractive.

James Crafti, Canberra – "Over the years our relations have experienced many twists and turns, highs and lows ... Prime Minister Howard and I are heralding a new era of Indonesia-Australia bilateral relations ... the security, prosperity and stability of Indonesia and Australia are interconnected."

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – More than three million school-aged children in the country work in numerous sectors to help support their family.

According to the recent national labor survey conducted by the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, of the 4.5 child workers, more than three million work voluntarily for economic reasons, while 1.5 million are forced to work.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Environmentalists testified on Tuesday before the Constitutional Court about the devastating effects of open-pit mining in protected forests as they attempted to have a controversial law permitting that practice annulled.

Max Lane, Sydney – Indonesian left-wing publisher Joesoef Isak attended the Third Asia Pacific International Solidarity Conference (APISC) in Sydney over the Easter weekend.

Jakarta – The State Intelligence Agency (BIN) is hindering the investigation into the murder of rights activist Munir, and the President and the National Police need to help, the government fact-finding team says.

Dian Intannia, Jakarta – Around 30 student activists, rural workers and urban-poor activists from the United People's Alliance (Aliansi Rakyat Bersatu, ARB) are demanding that the government apply the concept of national industrialisation.

Jakarta – Activists have called on the government to reconsider its plan to construct a nuclear power plant given the possible hazardous effects of such technology and the need for public transparency concerning the project.

They also demanded that the government review its own efforts to conserve energy and use alternative sources other than nuclear.

Suadi Sulaiman Laweueng, the Free Aceh Movement's (GAM) spokesperson for the Pidie regency in north Aceh, spoke to Green Left Weekly's Jes Abek about the struggle in Aceh. The interview was translated by James Balowski.

Can you explain the situation there?

Less than four months after the big wave hit, villagers in Nusa have cleared tonnes of debris and will soon start rebuilding homes and cultivating land.

But in the third visit to the Indonesian village, whose reconstruction the Guardian is monitoring this year, John Aglionby also finds creeping tensions.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The "positive and constructive" results achieved during the third round of peace talks between the government of Indonesia and leaders of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) will be worthless if violence prevails in the province, a senior GAM official has said.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Some 800 students from the United West Papua Democratic Students Front demanded on Monday that two police officers charged for their roles in human rights abuses four years ago in Abepura, Papua be imprisoned.

Rosa Garcia, Dili – East Timor's influential Catholic clergy on Tuesday rallied thousands to protest against Dili's "dictatorship regime" in the latest sign of a growing rift between church and state in the fledgling country.

Dili – Hundreds of East Timorese Catholics, angered by moves to demote religion classes in public schools, gathered in front of Dili's government building Tuesday to protest what they call "dictatorial" policies by Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.

Samarinda (East Kalimantan) – The East Kalimantan Manpower Office estimated that some 5,000 timber workers in the province would lose their jobs following the government's recent decision to restrict logging.

In the last three months, four timber companies have stopped production.

Indonesian authorities have given the go ahead to build the country's first nuclear power plant on the densely-populated island of Java with the aim of producing electricity by 2016, an official said.

"The project will be tendered in 2008 for start of construction in 2010 and production in 2016," Atomic and Nuclear Energy Agency spokesman Deddy Harsono told AFP.

Dili – The struggle between East Timor's government and influential Roman Catholic Church intensified Monday with the church hierarchy accusing Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri's cabinet of being secret Marxists who endanger democracy.

Astrid Felicia Lim, Jakarta – The People's Representative Assembly (DPR) is disappointed over the military's domination of Echelon I level positions in the Department of Defense. They believe that the large number of government officials from the military is a step backward for the ministry.

Comments made by Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, regarding advertisements featuring World War Two veterans criticising the Government's theft of East Timor's oil and gas resources, were today branded as ludicrous and disappointing by the Timor Sea Justice Campaign.

Paris – The immediate nutritional needs of areas in Aceh hit by the December tsunami have been met, but more than a third of children under the age of five are showing signs of stunted growth linked to chronic poverty, a UNICEF report says.

Dili – Police in East Timor prevented about 200 people entering Dili late Monday to attend a demonstration in the capital called by supporters of the country's powerful Roman Catholic Church against a government trial to end compulsory religion classes in schools.

Vincent Lingga, Jakarta – Is the government so strapped for cash that it failed to pay Pertamina Rp 23 trillion (US$2.42 billion) in fuel subsidies for the first quarter? "No, we are by no means facing a liquidity crisis. In fact, the state budget thus far has booked a surplus of some Rp 10 trillion," asserted State Treasury Director General Mulia P Nasution last week.

Nick Lenaghan – A group of Australian World War II veterans have weathered criticism from the RSL and Canberra over an advertising campaign condemning the federal government's stance on East Timor's oil and gas rights.

M. Azis Tunny and Yemris Fointuna, Wawasa/Kupang – Hunger and malaria have claimed 22 lives in Wawasa hamlet in Amarsekaru village, Gorom island district in East Seram regency, Maluku in the last three months, officials say.

According to the Maluku provincial health agency, starvation weakens the residents and makes them less resistant to malaria.

Tens of thousands of Muslim Indonesians held a peaceful anti-Israel protest and rallied outside the US embassy in what police said appeared to be the largest demonstration the city has seen in years.

Muhammad Nafik and Blontank Poer, Surakarta – Former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid looks set to retain power as chief patron of the National Awakening Party (PKB) he founded six years ago after the 1988 downfall of strongman Soeharto.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – After seven hours of questioning, four foreigners participating in a trauma counseling workshop in Medan will soon be deported for visa violations. Syarief O. Ahimsa, the chief of Medan Polonia Immigration Office, said on Friday that they would be deported on Saturday through Polonia Airport.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono vowed on Friday to raise the wages of civil servants and military and police personnel as part of efforts to boost their professionalism and reduce corruption within the bureaucracy.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono wanted civilians, not military officers, to produce defense policies that would help reform the Indonesian Military (TNI), he says.

Tony Hotland and Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – The decision to pay bribe money to an audit office official was a collective decision made by top General Elections Commission officials (KPU), corruption suspect Mulyana W. Kusumah says.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – Muslim clerics continue to be one of the major stumbling blocks in gender equality in Indonesia, the world's biggest Muslim country, hence moderate Muslim leaders need to do more to change the conservative mind-set.

[The first court hearing of a class action by representatives of millions of victims of 1965 took place in a Jakarta district court on 13 April. Because of the absence of the five defendants, with the exception of one who Was represented by an attorney, the case was postponed until 23 April.

Helsinki – Aceh rebels and Indonesian government delegates have made a "breakthrough" at peace talks on the tsunami-ravaged province, and will continue negotiations in Finland May 26-31, the Finnish mediator said Saturday.

Jakarta – The City Police said that protest demonstrations by students or community groups may be as harmful as terror bombings to the security during the Asian-African Summit (AAS), which will be held in Jakarta and Bandung next week.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Ministry of Defense announced on Thursday a major reshuffle that has seen Indonesian Military (TNI) spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin take up the key post of secretary-general.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – The Indonesian military (TNI) will not seek financial compensation in return for the relinquishment of its businesses to the state, but has asked the government to improve the welfare of soldiers.

The illegal logging trade in Indonesia is estimated to be costing the government about four billion Australian dollars a year in lost tax revenues. Over the past few weeks authorities have had some success in cracking down on the trade, but environmental groups say putting a stop to illegal logging in the long term is a major test for Indonesia's new President.

Soraya Permatasari, Jakarta – Three Indonesian soldiers were injured in a clash with Aceh rebels, as peace talks aimed at ending three decades of conflict continued near Helsinki.

Optimism prevailed as Jakarta and Aceh separatists sat down for a third day of peace talks in Helsinki, but on the ground war-weary Acehnese expressed less confidence in the negotiations as the Indonesian military sent in more troops to hunt down rebels.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government will not accept the option of a cease-fire offered by GAM [Free Aceh Movement]. The coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, Widodo AS, has said that the Indonesian government's mission is fixed, namely the acceptance of special autonomy for Aceh and the complete and permanent termination of conflict.

Soraya Permatasari, Jakarta – Malnutrition was found in almost 12 percent of children in Indonesia's Aceh region who were displaced by the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami, according to a survey by the government and aid agencies.

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono insisted Friday Jakarta would never allow Aceh province to separate from the rest of Indonesia, but said a government plan to give the region a greater say in running its affairs must be implemented.

Aceh rebels fighting for the independence of Indonesia's northernmost province have told the Indonesian government in peace talks that they see Bougainville in Papua New Guinea as a model for self-government, a rebel spokesman said Friday.

Jakarta - Indonesian non-government human rights organizations have asked the government to cooperate with the United Nations' Commission of Experts.

[Excerpt from report by Indonesian newspaper Media Indonesia web site on 14 April.]

Jakarta – KSAD (Chief of Army Staff) Lt-Gen Djoko Santoso said that the army was readying seven additional battalions to restore stability in conflict areas, namely Aceh, Poso and Papua [Irian Jaya].

Jakarta – The Army has started its investigation into officers allegedly involved in illegal logging in Papua province.

Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Djoko Santoso said on Wednesday a middle-ranking military officer, Capt. Kaspar, had been named a suspect, while two other officers were currently undergoing interrogation by a joint military-police investigation team.

Jakarta – Patience, they say, is a virtue. And that's probably more true for former members (and their families) of the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), than anyone else.

Indonesia is to reinforce its military presence in the tsunami-ravaged province of Aceh, even as peace talks with separatist rebels in the province make progress, an army spokesman said.