Bandung – At least 15 students in Bandung have begun a hunger strike on Wednesday, as prolonged street protests against the fuel price hike fall on deaf ears.

Jakarta – Around 50 percent of first echelon government officials are facing imminent reshuffle due to their poor performance, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said.

Kalla told The Jakarta Post in a special interview on Wednesday that the preparations for the reshuffle would take two or three months to complete.

Batam (Riau) – Some 2,000 hotel and entertainment workers in Riau Islands province staged a protest on Wednesday in Batam, demanding that the government raise the minimum wage in the area.

The increase in the minimum wage should follow on the increase of fuel price, the protesters said.

Jakarta – The fact that no single law exists to ensure the rights of domestic workers is endangering the rights of millions of maids across the country, activists said on Wednesday.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta/Mark Forbes, Canberra – The Federal Government rejects a plea to give Indonesia more control over international relief money pledged for the reconstruction of Aceh.

Rob Taylor – Australian companies exploiting huge oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea were destroying marine life and threatening its fragile environment, an Indonesian watchdog group said today.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – While the pace of reform of the tax system to prevent corruption is not yet in full swing, the government has revived a controversial idea for providing a tax amnesty for certain tax evaders.

Yuliawati, Jakarta – The Malaysian government has made complaints regarding demonstrations by Indonesians in front of the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta.

The Malaysian Ambassador to Indonesia said he hoped that the demonstrations would not get out of hand and lead to any form of anarchy.

Joseph Nevins – When I saw Paul Wolfowitz's smug grin in the January 17 issue of The New York Times, trouble was clearly on the horizon. The photo showed him in tsunami-stricken Indonesia, accompanying the country's defense minister, Juwono Sudarsono. His visit was under the guise of humanitarianism.

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.