Banda Aceh – Political parties in Indonesia's Aceh province pledged peace Friday for the first national elections since government and rebel forces signed a deal to end decades of war.

Their declaration came shortly after a report by the International Crisis Group (ICG) said Aceh is tense ahead of the elections, and the current peace should not be taken for granted.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Fatimah Azzahra, the daughter of a 1984 Tanjung Priok massacre victim, shook hands with Paramadina University rector Anies Baswedan after being awarded a scholarship from the university.

Repeated gunshots were heard seven hours before the blasts on Thursday night at a road in Timika, Papua, leading to a massive mine operated by Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., the police said.

Dili – Australia must help East Timor deal with an exploding cane toad population, President Jose Ramos Horta says.

Australian troops have been accused of introducing the cane toad into East Timor when they arrived in 1999 to stop the violence triggered by a vote for independence from Indonesia.

Sydney – The Australian military may have deployed more than just soldiers in East Timor – reports said Tuesday it could also have inadvertently introduced the pesky cane toad to the fledgling nation.

Niniek Karmini, Jakarta – Two small bombs exploded early Friday on a road leading to a massive copper and gold mine in eastern Indonesia and a third unexploded mortar was found nearby, police said. No one was injured and there was little damage.

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – Red tape delayed Australian soldiers pursuing rebels involved in the February 11 attacks on East Timor's two most senior political leaders, a confidential UN investigation has found.

Aubrey Belford, Jakarta – The old faces of Indonesia's elite look set to dominate next year's presidential election but new blood is needed to end the poverty and corruption plaguing the country, outsider presidential hopefuls said on Thursday.

The Australian NGO, the Mineral Policy Institute, has welcomed the Norwegian Government's decision to cut its links with the multi national mining company, Rio Tinto, over concerns about the Grasberg mine in Papua in Indonesia.

Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund has sold its shares after failing to persuade Rio Tinto to improve operations at the gold and copper mine.

Jakarta – The Talangsari incident in Lampung regency in February 1989 is threatened with the same fate as other cases of gross human rights violations. Although it has yet to receive the results of the investigation by the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) for the Talangsari incident, the Attorney General's Office has stated that it cannot investigate the case.

Jakarta – The Legal Aid Institute Foundation (YLBHI) and its 14 subsidiaries have expressed concern that rampant violence by hard-liner groups is threatening freedom of religion in the country.

They went on to say the state had not done enough to uphold the law and protect the rights and freedom of its citizens.

Senator Bob Brown made the call after claims that Australia's INTERFET troops introduced the pest to East Timor in 1999.

The Australian Defence Force says vehicles and equipment from a range of organisations have been transported from Australian ports to East Timor, but it would be difficult to pinpoint the source of any introduced species.

Ni Komang Erviani, Contributor, Denpasar – As of August this year up to 10.16 million or 6.22 percent of the Indonesian population aged over 15 years old are still illiterate despite the success of the government's illiteracy eradication program, Minister of National Education Bambang Sudibyo said.

Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – Despite progress in certain areas, Indonesia overall is worse off now than the year before when it comes to doing business, a survey revealed Wednesday.

The 2009 Doing Business Report showed the time needed to set up a business here had been cut from 105 days to 76 days.

Jakarta – The government published a statement on Thursday debating a conclusion of a survey by the World Bank's investment arm, International Finance Corporation, on Indonesia's investment climate.

The IFC survey, Doing Business 2009, ranks Indonesia as the 129th out of 181 surveyed in terms of ease of doing business, down two notches from 127 in last year's survey.

Mark Colvin: The wrong security force may be getting the blame for introducing cane toads into East Timor.

This week the Australian-led INTERFET force was accused of carrying hitch-hiking cane toads on equipment and trucks from Australia to Timor in 1999.

In East Timor a group claiming to represent 200 former resistance fighters is demanding financial recognition for its contribution to the country's independence struggle. They say they shouldn't have to wait until next year for government action.

Trial by the press, or the press on trial? Those were two viewpoints that emerged when the Central Jakarta District Court ruled Tuesday that Tempo magazine had defamed Asian Agri in a January report that accused the agribusiness giant of tax evasion.

Judges called the Tempo report "malicious and unbalanced", describing it as trial by the press.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – A financial watchdog has submitted data on more than 400 traveler's checks allegedly belonging to Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor Miranda Swaray Gultom as evidence in a bribery case implicating scores of legislators.

Ignas Kleden, Jakarta – A political party is there, first of all, to transpose the needs and aspirations of its constituents into a political program. This is a minimum rationale for its existence.

Some analysts have again expressed serious concern over increasing foreign ownership of banks in Indonesia, arguing this makes it more difficult for Bank Indonesia (the central bank) to guide monetary policies and bank lending for national economic development.

Dian Kuswandini, Jakarta – The South Jakarta District Court on Tuesday ruled it would continue with the trial of former top intelligence official Muchdi Purwopranjono, charged with premeditating the murder of a prominent human rights campaigner.

The court dismissed pleas by the defendant, a former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) deputy chief, and his lawyers.

Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono defended on Tuesday "brutal" actions committed by the military against insurgents in Talangsari village, Lampung, in 1989.

The actions have been called gross violations by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

Dian Kuswandini, Jakarta – In what is being denounced as a major blow to press freedom in the country, a court – dubbed "the graveyard for press freedom" – on Tuesday found Tempo guilty of defaming agribusiness giant Asian Agri.

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a long-awaited bill aimed at strengthening the authority of the National Ombudsman Commission (KON) in its supervision of public services at state institutions.

Timika, Papua – Hundreds of workers at heavy equipment maker PT Trakindo Utama staged a protest at the Timika Transmigration and Manpower Agency office on Tuesday.

The workers demanded the agency withdraw a letter issued on April 15 preventing them from striking.

Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – Improved tax collection by extending the tax base and modernizing the tax system have boosted tax proceeds by 46 percent during the first eight months of this year, Finance Ministry's director general of taxation Darmin Nasution says.

Ika Krismantari and Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – The Indonesian Composite Index slumped Tuesday to its lowest level in 17 months as investors pulled out their money over jitters that lower global commodity prices could slash economic growth.

The commodity-heavy Index dropped by 3.9 percent to 1,958.75 – the first time it fell below the 2,000 mark since April 23, 2007.

Suherdjoko and Desy Nurhayati, Semarang, Jakarta – National Awakening Party (PKB) members affiliated with Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid have besieged a local elections commission office for the second day in a row in protest against the registration of legislative candidates from Muhaimin Iskandar's rival camp.

By Budi Wardoyo¹

Jakarta – Indonesia and Australia have agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in defense field based on mutual trust to create a regional stability.

Aceh – Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Special Detachment anti-terror squad (Densus 88) will investigate the bombing of former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) leader Muzakkir Manaf's residence in Aceh.

"We are still investigating and checking the type of grenade used," Densus 88 head Sutry Hamdani told Antara in Aceh Besar on Tuesday.

Benget Besalicto Tnb., Contributor, Palangka Raya – Pressures are mounting to save endangered orangutans in Central Kalimantan, where most of the world's only great ape lives under increasingly bleak conditions due to declining forests – their habitat.

Blamed for pushing orangutans out of their habitat, palm oil companies are being urged to help conserve the endangered species in Kalimantan.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Attorney General Hendarman Supandji continues to defy public pressure to reopen a probe into a huge loan scandal, following the imprisonment of prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan, who led the investigation, last week.

Skepticism has mounted over whether the Corruption Court bill will benefit the country's fight against white collar crime as some House of Representatives legislators debating it are implicated in graft cases.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – A number of non-governmental organizations in Bandung announced Monday an "anti-rotten" politician campaign, asking people not to vote for politicians who had been certified as bad in the 2009 general election.

Denpasar – In the campaign to eradicate illiteracy, women need special priority because the illiteracy rate among women is more than twice as high as men.

Suwardiman – The image presented by elite leaders and a political party appears to be the main consideration that will increasingly be taken into account by prospective voters in the 2009 general elections.

Australia's military may be responsible for introducing into East Timor the nation's worst pest – the cane toad.

The resilient and toxic toads, which have wreaked havoc across Australia, are believed to have hitched a ride on military vehicles.

For millions of ordinary Indonesian people, it is difficult to understand how President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the holder of a doctorate degree in agricultural economics from a prestigious state university, could be so easily lured by his advisor Heru Lelono into believing that seawater could be converted into fuel and that the production of an untested new rice variety could yie

Reports are coming in from all around East Timor that the country's poorest people are missing out on a government rice subsidy aimed at relieving the pressure of the global food crisis.

The government policy is to import rice and sell it for $16 per 32kg bag, regardless of the market price, but much of that rice has not been reaching those who live in rural areas.

Jakarta – The national banking industry appears to be controlled by foreign interests. The proportion of foreign ownership has steadily risen to almost half of the total capacity of the banking industry.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – The Aceh Independent Election Committee (KIP) emphasized Sunday that the planned Koran proficiency test for legislative candidates in the province would determine each candidate's eligibility to contest the election.

Suwardiman – The geo-political map in the 2009 general elections could be very different from previous elections. Shifts in regional control may be largely coloured by the growth in the self-confidence of political parties following the election of regional heads (pilkada).

Aditya Suharmoko and Alfian, Jakarta – Businesses have praised the newly endorsed income tax law, saying it will boost the competitiveness of Indonesia's economy amid tougher global competition.

Dili – The East Timor government on Monday began emptying the largest displacement camp left in the capital in the first step in helping 2,000 displaced people return home. The government also launched a new dialogue team to help the displaced sort out their differences with their former neighbors in the strife-torn country, which became independent in 2002.

Last week's passage of the income tax law is the best Idul Fitri gift the country could provide to our businesses and fellow taxpayers. The law provides a real incentive for investors to do business and for people to work harder.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – At least two development projects linked to the presidential office, which appear to have been hoaxes, have revealed nepotism and cronyism among President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's inner circle.

Lilian Budianto, Jakarta – Public diplomacy used to introduce Indonesia as a democratic Muslim nation overseas had been hampered by the domestic social crisis with radical groups overshadowing the moderate, a seminar heard recently.