Jakarta – The North Jakarta Health Agency recorded an increase in the number of residents receiving subsidized medical services through the Gakin insurance scheme, from 131,361 in 2006 to 136,633 in 2007.

Zakki Hakim, Jakarta – Indonesian courts declared the Southeast Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiyah a terrorist organization Monday and sentenced two of its leaders to 15 years behind bars.

Gunanto E.S./Ezther Lastania, Jakarta – The government will give fiscal incentive to 20 Industrial Timber Estate (HTI) companies.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Fifty tribal leaders from Merauke, Boven Digoel, Asmat and Mappi have demanded the Papua people's assembly (MRP) soon process the proposed development of the four regencies into a new province separate from Papua.

Agung Sedayu, Jakarta – Protest actions and parades across Central and South Jakarta will colour the capital today, Monday April 21. Based on information from the Metro Jaya regional police Traffic Management Centre (TMC), the actions take place between 9am and 4pm.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Golkar Party chairman Jusuf Kalla remains upbeat his party will win next year's general elections despite recent losses for party candidates in a number of gubernatorial elections.

Kalla, who is also the country's Vice President, pointed out Golkar has enjoyed much success in regional elections over the past three years.

Lindsay Murdoch – Three rebels involved in attacks on East Timor's top two political leaders have been arrested in Indonesian West Timor where they were staying at the invitation of Joao Tavares, a notorious former pro-Jakarta militia commander.

Jakarta – East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta denied on Sunday that he had linked Indonesia's army to an attack on him after Jakarta said such a suggestion could hurt ties between the countries.

Mariani Dewi, Jakarta – Indonesians believe domestic violence is the most serious problem for Indonesian women that authorities need to address urgently, a survey released here on Friday found.

The study found more than half of 2,500 respondents believed curbing domestic violence was the most urgent thing that needs to be done for women.

Jakarta – A government official has criticized a ban imposed by Tangerang and Bandung administrations on dangdut singer Dewi Persik, saying it amounts to criminalization of women.

"The action the local authorities have taken against Dewi Persik is, first, discrimination against women and, second, paints women as seductresses.

Timika, Papua – As many as 700 workers from PT Trakindo Utama went on strike in Timika on Friday to demand higher salaries.

The workers, grouped in the Confederation of All-Indonesian Workers Union (KSPSI), marched from their factory to the Mimika legislative council calling for their monthly salaries to be raised by 97 percent.

Yuli Tri Suwarni and Apriadi Gunawan, Bandung/Medan – Businesspeople in West Java and North Sumatra want new governors in the two provinces to retract business-unfriendly bylaws and repair damaged infrastructure blamed for the high-cost economy.

Jakarta – The director of an Indonesian radio station vowed Friday to stay on air following a demand to shut down, saying the government should not bow to external pressures.

Erabaru (New Era) Radio director Gatot Supriyanto said the station had received a letter from the government's broadcasting watchdog ordering it to close soon or "receive legal sanctions".

Ashleigh Wilson – Inadequate international laws are allowing an illegal timber trade worth more than $2 billion a year to flourish across the Asia-Pacific region, with 9 per cent of all timber imports to Australia coming from illicit sources.

Jakarta – Indonesia is the third most optimistic market in Asia after India and China, according to a quarterly investor survey by Dutch financial institution giant ING.

Here is an important announcement. Indonesia has officially stopped being the tolerant nation it has always proclaimed to be, especially when it comes to religion.

Indonesia's Attorney General has banned a controversial Islamic sect from practising in the country. But the government has stopped short of disbanding the Ahmadiyah sect altogether.

Presenter: Girish Sawlani

Speakers: Azyurmadi Azra, director, Graduate School, Islamic State University; Syafii Anwar, Executive director of International centre for Islam and Pluralism.

Pramono/Anton Septian, Jakarta – The National Awakening Party (PKB) might not take part in the election next year.

Jakarta – According to a senior government official and a high-ranking police officer on Thursday, reports from Amnesty International and other international organizations about rampant human rights abuses in Indonesia are unfair and based on double standards.

Panca Nugraha, Mataram – Fearing further persecution, some 190 followers of Jamaah Ahmadiyah in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, urged the UN Human Rights Commission pay attention to their endangered condition that has followed a recommendation to dissolve the sect.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Political analysts have said the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) has a chance of making a big leap in the 2009 legislative election due to its clean image and the failure of larger parties to deliver.

Jakarta – Torture and other human rights abuses are still rampant in Indonesia 10 years after the fall of Soeharto, Amnesty International said Wednesday.

Though the government ratified the UN Convention Against Torture and instituted key legal reforms after Soeharto's demise, Amnesty receives reports of abuse "on a regular basis," a briefing paper by the rights group said.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is under fire for what lawmakers and experts said was an apparent attempt to interfere in the work of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Ahmad Fikri, Bandung – Labour organisations have already started socialising May Day, which is due to fall on May 1, by protesting at the Gedung Sate building complex in the West Java provincial capital of Bandung.

Muhammad Nafik and Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Muslim scholars have warned extremist groups will renew attacks on Jamaah Ahmadiyah following a recommendation the government ban the "deviant" Islamic sect.

Jakarta – Based on data from the Metro Jaya regional police Traffic Management Centre (TMC) website, Jakarta and surrounding areas will be inundated by some 13 different protest actions today, Thursday April 17.

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – Jakarta's property management and control agency says land subsidence is occurring in the city, but there is no threat to buildings.

Marvel Comics fictional vigilante Frank Castle is dubbed The Punisher for justifying the use of violence to fight crime. His brutal nature and willingness to kill made him a novel character in mainstream American comic books in the 1970s, but a mediocre movie hero in films in 1989 and 2004.

Jakarta – Fresh from his acquittal of past human rights violation charges in East Timor, former pro-Indonesia militia leader Eurico Guterres said Thursday he would meet Timor Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao to push for reconciliation between the two countries. The reconciliatory talk is set for April 28 in Dili.

East Timor, tomorrow, that deeply troubled nation will welcome home its President, Jose Ramos-Horta, who has been hospitalised in Darwin after being gunned down near his home three months ago. On that quite extraordinary morning, the Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao was also attacked and rebel leader Alfredo Reinado shot dead.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – Rebels who attacked East Timor's top two political leaders had no instructions to kill them but had been ordered to Dili by their leader, Alfredo Reinado, for prearranged meetings, two rebels say.

Novia D. Rulistia, Jakarta – Unreliable and expensive road transportation is a growing constraint to Indonesia's economic development, with the country now having the highest logistics costs in the region, a joint study shows.

Iwan Setiyawan, Jakarta – Workers and employees in Indonesia are still not free to associate. This can be seen from the small number of trade unions in the workplace, that is around 5.8 percent out of a total of 189,000 companies in Indonesia.

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – An alliance of legal aid associations, the media, bloggers and non-governmental organizations is looking forward to filing judicial reviews of the newly endorsed law on electronic information and transaction.

Rini Kustiani/Titis Setyaningtyas, Jakarta – The Attorney of General's Office (AGO) is considered exceeding its authority by putting a halt to the cases of Trisakti, Semanggi I and II.

"The judge should make this statement," said a member of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), Yoseph Adhi Prasetyo, at his office yesterday.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – A review on Indonesia by the Human Rights Council has concluded in plaudits, with recommendations to eliminate impunity, legally define torture and ratify more rights-related UN conventions.

Rafiqa Qurrata A, Jakarta – Jakarta and nearby Bekasi will be coloured by protest actions today, Wednesday April 16, with six different groups of protesters voicing their aspirations between 7am and 5pm.

Mark Dodd – Impoverished East Timor has signed a $28 million deal with China to buy two advanced patrol boats in a move that will alarm Australia and Indonesia about increasing Chinese influence in the struggling nation.

Papuan Survivors need to build their own force to seek justice for themselves, so that they can become upholders of the truth even though the State still refuses to acknowledge their existence. However, the many documents available and testimonies of the survivors will be witness to their sufferings.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – The rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was involved in 47 telephone calls to or from Australia in the hours before he was shot dead at the home of East Timor's President, Jose Ramos-Horta, investigators have found.

Suwardiman – In the recent West Java election of regional heads, many respondents determined their choice just a week before voting. One out of five voters or around 20.4 percent only determined their choice on voting day itself and 22.2 percent only determined their choice 1-7 days beforehand.

Indah Surya Wardhani – The West Java election of regional heads, which looks set to be won by Ahmad Heryawan and Dede Yusuf, indicates that the voting patterns of traditional voters had changed significantly. The hope for the emergence of an alternative leadership is becoming a progressively stronger phenomenon and is more important than loyalty to a particular political party.

Jakarta – A suspected militant being held here after his arrest in Malaysia has admitted involvement in the beheading of three Christian schoolgirls in 2005, Indonesian police said Tuesday.

The brutal killing of the three girls came at the height of violence between Christians and Muslims in religiously divided Poso on Sulawesi island, and shocked the world.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Green activists unveiled Monday an ambitious plan to set up a political bloc which will pressure the government and lawmakers to take action against the country's ailing environment.

Jakarta – The government must provide protection to Indra Setiawan after his release from jail on Monday April 14. The reason, because during his court hearing, the former executive director of Garuda Indonesia airlines provided a great deal of key evidence in the case of the murder of human rights activist Munir.

Finally, hope for the forgotten Melanesians. And a chance for Prime Minister Derek Sikua and this country to try to help right one of the great wrongs of Melanesia.

It comes with Vanuatu's move to push the cause of the Indonesian-ruled West Papuans at next month's Melanesian Spearhead Group meeting. This is being held in the Vanuatu capital, Port Vila.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – According to unofficial "quick counts", Ahmad Heryawan and Dede Yusuf have pulled off an unexpected victory in Sunday's West Java gubernatorial election.

Most observers gave Ahmad and Dede, nominated by the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and National Mandate Party (PAN), little chance against their better funded opponents from major parties.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The Prosperous and Justice Party (PKS) has turned over Rp 1 billion (US$109,000) in cash to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) related to last week's bribery arrest of lawmaker Al Amin Nasution.

Indonesia has arrested two more members of Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), a senior police official told Reuters, which could lead to the arrest of other key militants wanted for attacks in Southeast Asia.

An activist for the Free West Papua Movement has expressed concern over the treatment of Papuans detained by Indonesian police over a series of demonstrations last month.

Nick Chesterfield says at least 70 Papuans have been detained for their involvement in the demonstrations against Special Autonomy status in main towns across the Papua region.