Jakarta – The government is doing almost nothing to support research and technology development in the country, investing less than half a percent of the nation's total gross domestic product in this important sector, scientists say.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – The country's often gloomy business and economic front received a much-welcome boost this week, with several positive reviews from international agencies.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – An organization has warned that the trafficking of women from Medan to Malaysia is increasing in intensity, with 16 new cases in the first two months of the year.

Jakarta – One of the hunger strikers who claim to have suffered health problems because of the ultra-high voltage electricity wires (Sutet) in their village was admitted to Cikini Hospital on Monday, his 18th day of fasting.

Kuswiyanto, 24, a resident of Langensari in Semarang, Central Java, is in critical condition. He was diagnosed with liver, kidney and bowel problems.

Jakarta – Indonesian demonstrators rallied for a third consecutive day Wednesday in front of the offices of a US mining giant demanding that it cease operations in Papua province.

Jayapura, Papua – Protests against the mining firm, Freeport, continued in Jayapura on Tuesday, with some protesters staging an overnight sit-in at the provincial legislative compound.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Ignoring Papuan protesters' demands, the government will maintain a military presence at PT Freeport Indonesia's mine in Papua.

The mine and its military guards have been at the center of a week-long protest by Papuans, who say they have benefited little from the development.

Tom Allard – The Indonesian Government is preventing human rights observers from monitoring the situation in Papua amid "worrying" reports of abuses in the troubled province, says the United Nations' special envoy on the prevention of genocide, Juan Mendez.

Indra Subagja, Jakarta – The Jakarta metropolitan police have finally released the six activists that took part in a demonstration at the offices of PT Freeport Indonesia at the Plaza 89 Building in Kuningan. They were released because police did not have sufficient grounds to charge them with being provocateurs or having intimidated security personnel.

Shawn Donnan, Jakarta – When hundreds of illegal miners last week blocked the access road to Freeport McMoRan's gold and copper mine in Indonesia's remote Papua province, it was tempting to describe the incident as just another clash between a multinational miner and its indigenous neighbours.

Muchamad Nafi, Jakarta – The Peoples' United Front Struggle of West Papuan proposed five demands regarding PT Freeport's continuation on their land. The proposal was read when the Front held a demonstration at the Plaza 89 building in Kuningan, South Jakarta, the office of Freeport's Rio Tinto.

Jakarta/Jayapura – Police used a water cannon and fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters who gathered in Jakarta on Monday to denounce US gold mining giant Freeport, saying its mine in Papua province had brought no benefits to local residents.

Iqbal Fadil, Jakarta – Apes. Perhaps this is what six demonstrators at Plaza 89 in Kuningan, South Jakarta, were thinking earlier this afternoon. Because it was precisely when the demonstration was ending that police arrested them.

Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta – Hundreds of native Papuans are demonstrating to demand the closure of a huge mine in Indonesia's Papua province run by the US company Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc, police and witnesses said on Tuesday.

Jakarta – A military tribunal in Indonesia's Papua province has jailed a soldier for eight months for his role in a shooting last month that left a student dead and two others wounded.

Jakarta – Indonesia's army special forces, Kopassus, has resumed a joint exercise with Australia's special forces SASR after the program was stopped in 2002.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The Aceh legislative council is displeased with an article on the bill on governance in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam that would give Jakarta broader powers to issue regulations in the province.

Zakki Hakim, Jakarta – Osama bin Laden's terror network helped fund suicide bombings in Indonesia over the past four years, a senior police official said Tuesday, highlighting links between al-Qaida and the regional militant group Jemaah Islamiyah.

Matt Wade – Government aid to the tsunami-devastated province of Aceh has been undermined by corruption, poor communication with locals and a failure to protect the environment, a report has found.

The document, by the aid-monitoring group Aidwatch, is critical of the Australian Government's assistance to Aceh, saying it has been painfully slow and excessively secretive.

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) today urged Congress to reject the Bush administration's request for increased Foreign Military Financing (FMF) funds for Indonesia. The group said Congress should "zero out" the greater than six-fold increase and re-impose conditions on military assistance to Indonesia.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – An alliance of environmental activists have called on the government to stop all mining operations in the country until their negative environmental, social and economic impacts are properly tackled.

Jakarta – The United States will undermine efforts to reform Indonesia's armed forces if it sharply increases military sales to the world's most populous Muslim nation next year, rights activists said Tuesday.

Jakarta – Legislators of the House of Representatives are moving to appease opponents of the pornography bill. They plan to approach Bali, Papua and Batam, regions where the strongest opposition to the bill has come from.

Fadli, Batam – Police in Batam, Riau Islands province, began trawling the city's malls Thursday looking for women wearing revealing clothes. However, police insist they are not out to punish the women, but to protect them from sex-related crimes.

Banda Aceh – The Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) has asked the Indonesian government to immediately conduct an investigation into the illegal groups that were behind the recent attack on the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) in Blang Pidie, West Aceh. This is because it smacks of the behaviour of an illegal group resembling a certain type of militia group.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Activists have slammed the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency for Aceh and Nias for failing to perform its duty, asserting that many of its working units are totally inactive.

The finding was disclosed by the Anticorruption Movement (Gerak) and several non-governmental organizations in Banda Aceh, Aceh.

Reporter: Karen Percy

Eleanor Hall: The Federal Labor Party says it fears there's a security risk right on our doorstep, with reports that hundreds of soldiers from the East Timorese army have left their posts.

In recent weeks the soldiers have been protesting against working conditions and promotion rules within the newly formed army.

Banda Aceh – European Union peace monitors in Indonesia's Aceh province said Monday the EU has extended their mission by another three months until June 15.

"The mission has been extended by another three months, although the official announcement will be made in Brussels," said Faye Belnis from the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM).

Mark Dodd – More than 400 mutinous East Timorese soldiers – a quarter of the country's army – will be dismissed for deserting after protesting over poor conditions and selective promotions.

The mass sacking is a great blow to the strength of East Timor's fledgling defence force and poses a potential security risk.

Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi – A rally was held at the Southeast Sulawesi provincial council Saturday to protest against the involvement of military personnel in a land eviction case in Korumba district, Kendari.

Patrick Walters – Alexander Downer will meet senior Indonesian officials today in a bid to calm Jakarta's concerns over Australia's handling of 43 Papuan asylum-seekers now on Christmas Island.

There is a growing expectation in Canberra that most, if not all, of the 43 could end up staying in Australia after having their cases examined by the Department of Immigration.

Jakarta – Some top Indonesian officials appear peeved over the latest assessment on the country's economy by the International Monetary Fund, which for six years after the monetary crisis had administered tough and painful medicine to get the country back on its feet.

Jakarta – Police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse hundreds of protestors outside the offices of Freeport Indonesia in the capital Jakarta, as demonstrators demanded the closure of its mine in Papua.

Jakarta – With activities resuming at PT Freeport Indonesia's mine in Papua, activists called for the release of Papuan students detained for vandalizing a Jakarta high-rise that is home to the gold and copper company's Jakarta office.

Indonesia complained that Australia's processing of asylum applications for 43 Papuans on Christmas Island was "dragging".

In Canberra, Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone said she was unable to confirm when a decision would be made about the asylum claims.

David Costello – If our leaders were to have a collective brain meltdown and press Jakarta over Papua, the regional fallout would be dramatic

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Hundreds of protesters ended their three-day roadblock at the entrance of PT Freeport's Grasberg mine in Timika, Papua, on Saturday with a traditional outdoor peace ceremony, officials said.

Rilis, Banda Aceh – A meeting of the Commission for Security Arrangements (COSA) on Saturday February 25 has discussed a number of crucial issues that have taken place in Aceh such as violence against members of the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) and the vandalism of the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) offices in Blang Pidie, West Aceh.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Twenty-seven Muslim activists, who were released by police in Bandung on Saturday after being detained for "disturbing" foreign nationals during a protest, vowed to continue with their actions.

[Saya Terbakar Amarah Sendirian! (I'm Enraged Alone!) Pramoedya Ananta Toer talks to Andre Vltchek & Rossie Indira. By Andre Vltchek & Rossie Indira Edited by: Chandra Gautama & Linda Chistanty. Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia (KPG) January 2006 xxix + 130 pp.]

[Di Balik Tragedi 1965 (Behind the 1965 Tragedy) Yayasan Pustaka Umat. Januari 2006. 179pp.]

Jakarta – A blockade by alleged illegal miners that has halted production at the world's largest gold and copper mine in Indonesia's Papua province has ended with an outdoor party for peace, a police spokesman said.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – The government was sending hundreds of troops Friday to safeguard PT Freeport Indonesia as a roadblock continued at the mine site in Papua province, halting its production for a third consecutive day.

Indonesia is expected to press Foreign Minister Alexander Downer for consular access to 43 Papuan asylum seekers when he visits Jakarta next week to discuss clemency for the Bali Nine and counter-terrorism.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The new bill on Aceh governance is in line with the Constitution and the Helsinki peace pact signed last August with rebel leaders, the government said in its briefing to the House of Representatives on Friday.

At a time of Globalisation and Modernisation we must also ask: To what extent will the foreign companies and the government uphold the principles of justice and equality to protect the Papuan people as owners of their traditional rights and to safeguard their prosperity.

Banda Aceh – If you happen to pass an alleyway in the Banda Aceh's Kuta Alam area at night, don't be surprised if you bump into beautiful, flirtatious and scantily dressed "women".

Imron Rosyid, Surakarta – Employers in the Central Java city of Surakarta (Solo) have threatened to send thousands of their workers onto the streets if the government goes ahead and increases electricity rates. Workers have agreed to hold joint actions with employers and students including launching a boycott on paying electricity bills.

Jakarta – Until a team of government workers sniffing out bird flu descended on his slum by a railtrack in the Indonesian capital, Setia Budi, 45, was the proud owner of a dozen preening turtledoves.

Jakarta – Members and supporters of a family blocked on Friday a section of the BSD turnpike linking Bintaro, South Jakarta, and the Bumi Serpong Damai satellite city (BSD), demanding payment for land acquired for the road's construction.