Jakarta – The International Crisis Group (ICG) has warned Indonesia of potential communal conflict in the country's easternmost province due to strained relations between Muslims and Christians.

Novia D. Rulistia, Jakarta – Domestic investment in the January-May period dropped by 68.3 percent from a year earlier because of uncertainty before and after the fuel price rises, the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) says.

Domestic investment in the first five months declined to US$660 million from $2.07 billion in the same period last year.

Jakarta – The Corruption Court questioned Monday the role of presidential advisor Adnan Buyung Nasution, a former lawyer for Sjamsul Nursalim, in helping the tycoon evade a graft inquiry at the Attorney General's Office (AGO).

Jakarta – Indonesia's high rate of inflation will not be quelled by the central bank's decision to increase its benchmark rate earlier this month, an economist says.

Independent commissioner at state owned Bank BRI Aviliani said inflation was not the result of excess money supply, but rather due to high global oil and food prices.

Mark Forbes, Jakarta – Rising tensions between hardline Islamic groups moving into Indonesia's Papuan and Christian communities could erupt into violent conflict, the International Crisis Group warns.

Jesse Wright – The United Nations, called in two years ago in the wake of a breakdown of East Timor's security forces that led to dozens of deaths, appears set to end its training of local police, many of whom are still unfit to be in uniform, leading to fears that carnage will begin again in a country ill-prepared for it.

Indonesia is refusing to give a date for the publication of a Truth Commission report on rights abuses during East Timor's 1999 independence vote, despite growing criticism of the delay.

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – A coalition of civil society groups is pressing the governments of Indonesia and Timor Leste to accept the final report from the Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) on human rights violations during the 1999 referendum in East Timor.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Lawmakers are joining the calls for the government to rid the Attorney General's Office (AGO) of corrupt prosecutors in a move to build up the institution's credibility.

Jakarta – Human rights organisations the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) and Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial) have called on the Indonesia-East Timor Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) to immediately hand over the results of its work and those that the institution found liable for prosecution to t

Jakarta – The government has been "dragging its feet" and "lacking seriousness" in solving the murder of human rights campaigner Munir Said Thalib, his widow said, but she gave two thumbs-up to the National Police for their work.

"It's been four years now, and the government has yet to resolve it," Munir's widow, Suciwati, told The Jakarta Post recently.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Lhokseumawe – Residents in a North Aceh village almost cut off a thief's hand late Saturday, in what was the first known attempt at sharia-style punishment of its kind in the province.

Jakarta – Around 4,000 activists nationwide will gather at the Proclamation Monument in Central Jakarta between June 23 and 25 to discuss their position on government policies.

The event, which will bring together activists from all generations, will be larger than the university student movement of 1998, activist Adian Napitupulu said in a press conference on Sunday.

Rika Panda, Jakarta – Starting from today, Monday June 16, the planned schedule for protest actions or demonstrations by the public in and around Jakarta will no longer be published though the interactive media to the broader public.

Syaipul Bakhori, Jambi – The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) is predicting that forests in Sumatra will be gone within five years as a result of being exploited and changed into plantation areas.

The forests will be gone unless the government immediately takes the appropriate measures.

A joint ministerial decree banning the Jamaah Ahmadiyah sect from spreading its beliefs has sparked debate across the country.

Jakarta/Brussels – Conflict between Muslim and Christian communities in Papua could erupt unless rising tensions are effectively managed.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – An activist and a councillor have lambasted the East Nusa Tenggara government, saying it did nothing to address widespread malnutrition that has contributed to the deaths of 22 children over the past six months.

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Blitar, East Java – For 54-year-old Sugito, owning a plot of land with a yard and a field in his village was previously just a dream.

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – A coalition of civil society groups is seeking help from the Constitutional Court to put pressure on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the House of Representatives to speed up the enactment of a Corruption Court bill.

Jakarta – Pressure is mounting for the President to dismiss Attorney General Hendarman Supandji for the latter's alleged failure to fight corruption in his office and boost its credibility.

Jakarta – Prosecutors have again rejected the dossier of a mud volcano case because police insist human error, not an earthquake, was behind the disaster that has been devastating Sidoarjo, East Java, for more than two years.

Marie Leadbeater – Indonesia is trying to build an international reputation as a nascent democracy and is proud of having been re-elected in 2007 to the United Nations Human Rights Council for a three-year term. But the problems in West Papua1 make this democratic reform story questionable.

Jakarta – Activists throughout Indonesia will change their strategy in the war against the government, which they say is issuing policies that bring suffering to the people. They will no longer wage war in a spontaneous manner, but unit to fight against government policies that fail to side with the poor.

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – "Awas, ada orang Islam!" (Watch out, Muslims are coming!) is now a joke among activists after the brutal attack by members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) on participants of a peaceful rally organized by the National Alliance for the Freedom of Faith and Religion (AKKBB).

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – UN police in East Timor will hand over responsibility to the national force sooner than expected, despite a high-level report casting doubt on Timorese policing capacity.

Lucy Williamson, Dili – Lily's wide, gentle face crumples when I ask her why she is doing it.

Sitting outside the corrugated tin walls of her temporary home, she holds my gaze as she wipes away tears, and explains that she wants her children to have a better life than the one they have now. She wants them to have qualifications, she says, to sleep easy at night.

Jakarta – Owing in part to the relative strength of Indonesia's economy, last month's on-average 28.7 percent fuel price increase will have a softer impact compared that caused by the 2005 fuel hike, two bankers predict.

Jakarta – Public consumption of illegal textile imports rose to 70.6 percent last year from 49.9 percent in 2006, costing the local industry billions of US dollars, an industry leader said Friday.

Dicky Christanto, Denpasar – Victims of the June 1 National Monument (Monas) attack have said demands for the Ahmadiyah sect to be banned are part of a systematic attempt to deflect public attention away from the violence that took place.

Jakarta – PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP) paid at least Rp 6.4 billion (US$684,800) to exploit forests using illegal permits issued by Pelalawan Regent Tengku Azmun Jaafar, a court heard Friday.

Jakarta – State Minister for State Enterprises Sofyan Djalil said Friday there is nothing wrong with state officials holding commissioner positions in state enterprises, since they are needed to voice the interests of the people and government.

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) today said the promotion of Brigadier General Pramono Edhie Wibowo to chief of Kopassus, Indonesia's notorious Special Forces unit, the latest example of Indonesia's failure to deal with its military's sordid past.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Despite tougher measures to combat graft, Indonesia remains at the top of the corruption index in the East Asia region, the latest UN Development Program report says.

Jakarta – Most factions at the House of Representatives gave their support on Thursday to the controversial decree restricting the activities of Ahmadiyah sect followers.

Brig. Gen. Pramono Edhie Wibowo, now appointed chief of the Indonesian Army's notorious Special Forces (Kopassus) by his father-in-law, President Yudhoyono, is accused of training and directing pro-Indonesian militias in East Timor in 1999.

West Bandung – The investigation into the murder of human rights fighter Munir continues to roll along. A new suspect linked with the case has emerged although the national police are keeping the individual's identity confidential.

Jakarta – The National Police has adequate evidence to arrest the mastermind of the September 2004 murder of rights activist Munir Said Thalib.

Chief of detective directorate Comr. Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said Thursday the new suspect had ordered and provided the opportunity for the assassination.

Reh Atemalem S., Jakarta – Head of the National Child Protection Commission, Seto Mulyadi, said 6.5 million children have to work due to poverty. "The number rises by 30-80 percent every year, aligned with the number of children who drop out of school and violence to children," he said yesterday.

Jakarta – As new information emerges about the links between bribery suspect Artalyta Suryani and top officials at the Attorney General's Office, more questions are being asked about the commitment of prosecutors to the war on corruption.

Desy Nurhayati and Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, the paramount leader of the National Awakening Party (PKB), lost two legal battles against his political foes on Thursday.

One of the widows of the Balibo Five has expressed surprise at Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's decision to visit the cemetery where veterans of the Indonesian national revolution are buried.

Shirley Shackleton's husband Greg Shackleton was one of five journalists who were deliberately killed by Indonesian forces at Balibo in East Timor in 1975.

Stephen Coates, Jakarta – Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Friday promised a "new phase of cooperation" with Indonesia on disaster response and the environment during his first state visit to Jakarta.

Rudd praised the "very strong friendship" between the two neighbours after he met President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and senior ministers at the presidential palace.

A former general and a successful entrepreneur once sounded like the perfect partnership to lead this vast archipelagic country given their diverse socioeconomic and sociocultural backgrounds.

The widow of one of the Balibo Five killed in East Timor says she is offended Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is visiting an Indonesian cemetery for war heroes.

Mr Rudd is to lay a wreath later on Friday at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery, the resting place of Indonesian military veterans and other prominent people.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Twenty-one children under the age of five have died from malnutrition in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) during the past six months of this year, more than double the figure recorded last year, according to a local health office.

"Poverty is the main cause of malnutrition," Taopan, head of food affairs at the provincial health office, said Wednesday.

Jakarta – Public health care in Indonesia has improved, but it still needs more efficient regulations, greater private sector involvement and better financing, a World Bank report says.

Harry Bhaskara, Jakarta – A prominent Catholic priest said Wednesday that the June 1 attack by Muslim hard-liners on a peaceful rally in Jakarta could lead to global misperceptions about Islam in Indonesia.

Hamish McDonald – Senior Indonesian political leaders are looking to Kevin Rudd to restore the warmth in bilateral relations felt under the previous Labor prime ministers Gough Whitlam and Paul Keating, but they expect Canberra to keep repeating the mantra that Papua is an intrinsic part of the Indonesian Republic.