Jakarta – Improving the economic welfare of communities living in forested areas would do little to reduce the widespread illegal logging across the country, environmentalists say.

Jakarta – Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who is being tried on charges of involvement in acts of terror, and his lawyers walked out of the courtroom on Wednesday in protest against the judges' decision to allow the prosecution to read out the sworn statements of four witnesses in their absence.

Ray Rangkuti, executive director of the Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP):

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Hundreds of Punclut residents, environmentalists and artists protested on the streets of Bandung on Thursday, rejecting the planned construction of a hotel and resort in Punclut, a water catchment area in North Bandung.

Jayapura – Papua police have arrested seven suspected Papuan rebels in the past five days in Tolikara regency, some 700 kilometers southwest of Jayapura, the Papuan capital.

Slobodan Lekic, Jakarta – The widow of an American schoolteacher killed in a 2002 attack initially blamed on Indonesian soldiers urged the Bush administration Friday not to lift a ban on military ties with Jakarta until the case if fully resolved.

There was little to talk about when the widely trumpeted first 100-day economic agenda of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government ended. It is not even an exaggeration to say that the government miserably failed to capitalize on its strong political mandate to launch bold, if unpopular, measures to accelerate the process of regaining foreign investor confidence.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said on Wednesday that any decision on the reshuffling of the military leadership rested solely with the President.

Leony Aurora, Jakarta – Major players in the banking industry have welcomed Bank Indonesia's effort to speed up the sector's consolidation through a new policy on the injection of funds into other banks, but urge for more incentives.

I Wayan Juniartha, Denpasar – It clearly was not an ordinary day. The morning sun radiated a warm glow that softly embraced the spacious patch of plush green grass in front of the office of the local education agency in Renon. At the same time, a light drizzle wet the ground while a strong breeze set the nearly pine trees swaying gently.

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – Permissiveness among youngsters abounds in big cities, with many of them having had sex at home without the knowledge of their parents, according to a study.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Activists slammed city councillors on Wednesday for requesting a monthly housing allowance of Rp 12.5 million each, saying they had broken their own election vows to live modestly.

Julian Lee – The organisers of an advertising campaign that ambushed the Australian Open to highlight disputed maritime boundaries in the Timor Sea have pledged to dog John Howard at public events to further their cause.

Since August 2004, the Indonesian army has been conducting military operations in Puncak Jaya, in the Central Highlands of West Papua. According to reports from the area, crack troops of the Indonesian armed forces, KOPASSUS, as well Mobile Brigade (Brimob) troops of the Indonesian Police have been used in the operations.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – In a bid to create a strong and modern military, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is contemplating up to a five fold increase in defense spending to an "ideal level" of 3-5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) compared to the current 1 percent.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Against a background of perhaps excessively high public expectations of sweeping change, the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been criticized by some analysts for failing to bring about significant progress in its first three months.

Meidyatama Suryodiningrat and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The wheels of diplomacy and bureaucracy are notoriously slow. Apparently not so in the case of this weekend's peace talks between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the government, in Helsinki.

Tony Hotland and Ruslan Sangadji, Banda Aceh – The Acehnese have long dreamed of peace and prosperity in their homeland, which has seen decades of conflict and, at the end of last year, tsunamis that left more than 166,000 people killed or missing and presumed dead.

Alan Sipress, Lhoknga – Ali, a scruffy Acehnese truck driver turned tsunami refugee, said he wasn't sure who provided him with a sack of rice, bottled water, a blanket and a few other meager provisions, just that they were foreigners.

Banda Aceh – Indonesia has buried more than 100,000 tsunami victims, mostly in mass graves, a month after the disaster, the government said on Thursday.

Nani Afrida and Dedy Ardiansyah, Banda Aceh/Meulaboh – As the sun rose over the devastated city of Banda Aceh on Wednesday morning, Maizul, a 40-year-old school teacher, was standing in front of a classroom at one of the city's schools.

Jakarta – Indonesia's president on Thursday offered concessions to separatist rebels in tsunami-devastated Aceh province if they agree to a cease-fire in upcoming peace talks.

Wellington – New Zealand said on Thursday it will ask Indonesia to investigate claims that its military officers have been accepting bribes to place wealthy people on refugee flights out of tsunami-ravaged Aceh.

Chitra Ramaswamy – Human rights activists and church organisations predict that, without international attention and intervention, West Papua is in danger of becoming the next East Timor.

Jakarta – Indonesian workers are unprepared for competition in regional labor markets among Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, a business expert says.

Prasetiya Mulya Business School Dean Sammy Kristamuljana told the first Indonesian Business Conference on Wednesday that on paper the concept of cross-border labor competition sounded great.

Sonny Inbaraj, Bangkok – East Timor's Nobel laureate Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo is appealing for peace to be given a chance in tsunami-hit Aceh as an Indonesian top-level team meets with Acehnese rebels later this week at talks in Finland.

An Indonesian ministerial team departs for Finland today to meet Free Aceh Movement or GAM's leadership-in-exile, but though both sides expressed optimism, there is scant hope the talks would end decades of conflict in the province.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he wants his country to have a stronger and better equipped military to be able to deal with events such as the tsunami disaster.

Jakarta – To enforce the new law on the military, the government will start taking over all military businesses in an endeavor to make the Indonesian Military (TNI) professional and help improve the welfare of its personnel.

M. Taufiqurrahman and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – A National Police disciplinary hearing has decided to suspend Brig. Gen. Samuel Ismoko, the national police operations chief, for one year for discriminatory practices against suspects under his investigation.

Bogor – The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the European Commission (EC) launched a joint program on Tuesday to preserve the country's rapidly shrinking tropical forests and improve the living standards of communities in forested areas.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The country's human rights record remained poor in 2004, with state-sponsored violence and the cycle of impunity still persisting, a rights group says.

Tiarma Siboro and Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – The government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) are ready to resume peace talks in Helsinki later this week, with both sides planning to send high-level officials, according to people familiar with the talks.

Many seats were left empty in badly damaged schools across Indonesia's Aceh province as children began lessons for the first time since the tsunami struck one month ago, killing thousands of their classmates.

Santi Soekanto, Aceh – Nina recounted her story to me in the Lamsujen refugee camp in Lhoong subdistrict, Aceh Besar, on January 3. This is what she said: "Assalam mualai'kum. My name is Nina Maulidia Rizka. Call me Nina. I am now 11 years old. I was born in a beautiful village, called Gleebruek, in the sub-district Lhoong, Aceh Besar District.

Meulaboh – The two-faced attitude of United States troops in the province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami has been revealed. Apart from carrying out humanitarian missions, the troops from the US have been caught out providing logistical aid to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Calang, the capital of Aceh Jaya District.

It has been exactly one month since the magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami devastated parts of Aceh and North Sumatra.

Such time should be sufficient for us to assess and absorb the implications of this unprecedented calamity, not only for those directly in the path of the disaster, but also for the rest of the nation.

Vincent Lingga, Jakarta – The President's lack of leadership to act firm and fast in resolving the government's four-year dispute with Cemex over the Mexican company's investment in the state-controlled Semen Gresik Group (SGG), could cost the government half a billion dollars and longer delays in the return of foreign direct investment.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – he government-sanctioned fact-finding team, which is "assisting" the police investigators over the alleged murder of human rights campaigner Munir, has asked for information from intelligence agencies about a Garuda pilot, who they suspect could be working on behalf of another state institution.

Iman D. Nugroho, Surabaya – Protected turtle species in East Java are on the brink of extinction due to the rampant poaching of their eggs, says an environmental expert.

"People are tempted to take the eggs due to their high price," said researcher Ninil R. Miftahuljannah.

Jakarta – Almost half a million Acehnese may suffer depression, anxiety and sleep disorders due to last month's tsunami disaster, but only five psychiatrists are on hand to treat them, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.

Jakarta – Convinced that mining company PT Newmont Minahasa Raya (NMR) is guilty of polluting Buyat Bay in North Sulawesi, the government aims to seek financial compensation from the US-based firm.

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta – The government said on Monday it would use some unconventional methods to cope with post-tsunami legal issues related to citizen documentation as well as for banking and court systems in Aceh and North Sumatra.

Jakarta – The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday that health conditions in the disaster area of Aceh were improving, and that no major epidemics were likely, but all parties involved in medical relief should remain alert to possible outbreaks.

Rebels fighting for the independence of Aceh province are willing to engage in peace talks with Indonesia but say the country is not serious about negotiations, a senior guerrilla said from his rural hideout.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Both the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) must capitalize on the outpouring of sympathy for the Acehnese in the post-tsunami aftermath to reach a peaceful solution to the protracted conflict, a former government negotiator said.

Jakarta – International financial institutions paid about $35 million in the late 1980s to build the highway that meanders from Jakarta's international airport to the city, crossing picturesque rice paddies and fish ponds.

Yogyakarta – Dozens of disabled people in Yogyakarta staged a protest on Monday to demand equal treatment and an end to discrimination by the authorities, and the enactment of special legislation to ensure their rights were protected.

Our correspondent from Mbaliem (Wamena) reported today of a military brutality against civilians in Wunin District, Wurineri Village, Tolikara Regency, Jayawijaya, West Papua by The Indonesian military.

Damien Kingsbury, Melbourne – It is a truism in politics that a cathartic experience can result in unrelated change. Conflict, chaos or natural disaster has been the handmaiden to many political changes, not least Indonesia's monetary crisis producing democratization.