Riyadi Suparno – The high-ranking officials gathered around a table at a ministry office in Jakarta literally divided Aceh's forests into a number of concessions, to be offered to the interested businesspeople with the deepest pockets.

Anissa S. Febrina, Jakarta – With the failure to properly address recurring transshipment and dumping allegations against Indonesian businesses, analysts say the government should learn that it's better to act now than pay later.

M. Azis Tunny, Ambon – Peace was shattered in conflict-torn Ambon in Maluku province when a soldier was stabbed to death Saturday and in a separate incident, a student was seriously injured when the police allegedly shot into a crowd of people.

Indonesia's Ambassador to Australia faced protests from Papuan and refugee activists on a visit to Brisbane.

A group of about 20 refugee and Papuan independence activists were held back by state and federal police at a function for the ambassador at the University of Queensland.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Following a visit by legislators to Bali, Batam and Papua to gauge public opinion on the pornography bill, it's still a guessing game whether there will be major changes to the controversial bill.

Jakarta – Observers of the country's judicial system have suggested a one-roof process under the Anticorruption Court, viewing the current system as failing in the prosecution of corruption cases.

A looming morality crackdown in Indonesia may spare Bali so bikini-clad tourists are not arrested on the beach.

A special committee in Indonesia's parliament is reviewing proposed laws to ban pornography, erotic dancing and even adults kissing in public across the mainly Muslim nation.

Triono Wahyu Sudibyo, Semarang – Among the convicts interned at the Nusakambangan Correctional Institution, it's likely that Hutomo Mandala Putra alias 'Tommy' Suharto is the most fortunate. Sentenced to 15 years jail, every year he consistently gets extraordinarily large remissions. But most surprising is that Tommy gets permission to leave the jail every month. Cool!

Indra Harsaputra, Surabaya – Household goods manufacturing company PT Maspion has been hit by the double blow of cheaper products from China and Vietnam, and a massive strike by workers demanding higher pay.

Aboeprijadi Santoso – Papua is a synonym for a fait accompli tragedy. It is frequently forced into situations by external forces which then become immutable.

Jakarta – Thousands of Muslims took to the streets of the Indonesian capital and marched towards the US embassy, denouncing Washington as the enemy of Islam and calling on Jakarta to embrace Sharia law.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The anti-discrimination bill currently before the House of Representatives is too narrow in scope and will do little to end unfavorable treatment against minority groups, say legislators, analysts and activists.

I Wayan Juniartha, Denpasar – About 1,000 protesters here greeted a visiting delegation of legislators deliberating the pornography bill by threatening to organize acts of civil disobedience if it becomes law.

As if to keep up with other regions in the campaign for moral values, the Tangerang municipality is promoting what it calls "morality building" by enforcing anti-alcohol and anti-prostitution regulations through a series of raids.

Luh Putu Trisna Wahyuni, Denpasar – Balinese involved in the tourist industry are increasingly worried about the imminent threat of massive layoffs due to the drastic drop in tourist arrivals on the island.

Four months after Bali was rocked by suicide bombings on Oct. 1, 2005, the tourist industry has yet to bounce back.

Mark Forbes, Jakarta – The Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has intervened in the growing controversy surrounding Papua's giant Freeport mine, warning that continuing, violent demonstrations could scare off investors, and questioning the protesters' motives.

Washington – Mobil Corp., the world's biggest oil company, must face a lawsuit by villagers in Indonesia who say the company contributed to human-rights abuses by government security forces.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – The Bandung Military Court sentenced Chief Pvt. Yuli Harsono on Thursday to four years in prison for illegal possession of explosives, which he was planning to give to a militant Muslim group, the Indonesian Mujahiddin Council (MMI).

The court also ordered that Yuli be dishonorably discharged from the Indonesian Military (TNI).

The stated motives behind the series of recent street demonstrations by Papuans in Jayapura, Jakarta, Semarang and Makassar, demanding the closure of Freeport's giant mine in Papua, are said to be because the mine does not benefit the local people. But such complaints are highly questionable, even mind-boggling.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – After many years when it was too dangerous for him to visit his Aceh family home, Muslim Ibrahim finally returned with last August's signing of a peace agreement between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Jakarta – The Jakarta administration conceded Thursday that high levels of overcrowding and low levels of staffing in city prisons may have left the door wide open for four inmates to escape from Cipinang Penitentiary on Tuesday.

Jakarta – A US envoy said that ongoing reform in Indonesia's powerful armed forces (TNI) was on the right path and the United States wanted to provide more support for the changes ahead.

Australia's decision to buy long-range stealth cruise missiles for the RAAF will make Jakarta "feel safer", a senior Indonesian defence official said. The comment was another sign of warming defence ties between the two neighbours.

Mark Forbes, Jakarta – A stone-age bow and arrow shoot-out between tribesmen and guards at the giant Freeport gold and copper mine in Papua has snowballed into a stand-off symbolising Papuans' push for independence and their belief that their province is being plundered.

Andi Hajramurni and Suherdjoko, Makassar/Semarang/Jakarta – Anger at PT Freeport Indonesia continued Wednesday, with protesters demanding the closure of the company's mine in Papua over allegations Freeport was stealing the wealth of Papuans and degrading the environment.

Sri Muninggar Saraswati and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Aceh leaders are optimistic that Jakarta will accommodate their people's political aspirations in the new bill on Aceh governance.

Dili – Around 200 more soldiers from East Timor's 1,500-strong army have joined a strike over poor conditions and selective promotions, officials said Thursday.

The troops walked out of their barracks to join the 400 who have been on strike since Feb. 8, said Gastao Salsinha, a coordinator of the strike.

The Indonesian government made the right decision to aggressively promote forest product certification, or ecolabeling, as a market-based instrument to curb illegal logging, because the traditional approach to protect forests through a regulatory system has failed miserably due to the corrupt system of governance and inadequate institutional capacity.

Jakarta – The government and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) came under fire Wednesday from legislators, legal experts and observers for their failures in the battle against corruption.

Ruslan Sangadji, Palu – Poso Regent Piet Ingkiriwang might be experiencing sleepless nights after residents and civil servants in the Central Sulawesi town continued protesting against him Wednesday following a report that his university degree was issued by a questionable institution.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – The 1958 Law on Citizenship is doing more to harm Indonesian families than it does to help or protect them, experts say.

Max Lane – The application for asylum by 43 West Papuan political activists and their families, who arrived on Australia's Cape York peninsula in January after a five-day voyage on a rickety boat, brought the political and social situation in the Indonesian province of Papua to the attention of the Australian public.

Tn. Arie Rukmantara and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The controversial bill on Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam governance would not make the tsunami-ravaged province into a federal state as some people feared, a group of constitutional law experts and political scientists told the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

Jakarta – Some banks in regencies have been involved in financing illegal logging, though the forestry industry has been regarded as a sunset industry and put in the negative list for the extension of bank credits, according to a researcher.

Iqbal Fadil, Jakarta – After arresting six activists during a demonstration at Plaza 89 in South Jakarta yesterday, police have renewed the hunt for activist they believe infiltrated the group of indigenous Papuans protesting against PT Freeport Indonesia.

Pekanbaru – Margarine, lipstick, ice cream, shampoo, chocolate – all use palm oil as a crucial ingredient but with booming demand, the plantations are swallowing up forests, a conference here heard.

We may have good reason to congratulate ourselves for the peace in Aceh, which has now lasted for six months, the longest in decades, but we must never forget the role played by our international friends in ending the violence.

Sonny Inbaraj – The current media landscape in East Timor, the world's newest nation, is not a pretty one.

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.