Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's claim that his administration has made substantial inroads against unemployment is misleading and fails to recognize the urgent need for job creation, an analyst said Friday.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Foreign investment still appears to be in the doldrums, with the second half of the year starting off to a 24 percent decline in direct foreign investment compared with the same period last year.

A.J. Susmana – It has been 61 years since Indonesia declared itself as an independent nation. But the question so often asked by the cynical is: "Are we really free?".

Marlina MS, Jakarta – The government is targeting state revenue of privatization activities to reach Rp3 trillion by next year.

Politicians may consider President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's state budget proposal for 2007 a boring document, devoid of bold fiscal measures and without any frills at all.

But it is precisely the conservative assumptions used in the planned budget that will reassure the market that there are unlikely to be any painful amendments midway through the next fiscal year.

Jerry Norton, Dili – An agreement critical to advancing development of the Timor Sea's biggest gas resource could go to East Timor's parliament in September or October, and would likely be approved, the country's prime minister said.

Endy M. Bayuni, Jakarta – The real state of the nation, supposedly the content of Tuesday's speech by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, could have been summarized in just 10 words: Over 40 million people in Indonesia are out of work.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Palangkaraya – While millions of people celebrated the country's 61st Independence Day on Thursday, firefighters were busy battling flames in Central Kalimantan. Firefighter Aliansyah said it was worth missing the holiday so that he and around 200 others in the province could try to contain the blazes, which reached the capital, Palangkaraya.

Indra Manenda Rossi, Jakarta – The Department of Health has reported that until 2006 14 provinces have been classified as 'leprosy endemic' based on the high rate of death caused by the chronic disease. However, funds for handling the disease are said to be insufficient.

A terrorism researcher has warned of a new "bombing season" in Indonesia, as Islamic militants seek to repeat a pattern established since October 2002 of attacking Western targets between August and October.

Jerry Norton, Dili – During the day, Fernanda Gomez stands at her tiny roadside kiosk selling canned goods and sundries in front of the blackened remains of burned-out houses in her village near Dili.

Houses of worship are an important topic of discussion for many people, as the recent debate over them showed. The impression was that people put more importance on the buildings themselves than on practicing the good deeds taught inside them.

Jakarta – Although the central government has identified human trafficking as one of Indonesia's most serious problems, the trade continues to flourish here.

Arist Merdeka Sirait of the National Commission on Child Protection (Komnas PA) said that the situation was being aggravated by the way police treated the victims.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Forest fires on Sumatra and Borneo are sending a toxic haze across the skies of Southeast Asia, raising air pollution levels on the two islands and in neighboring Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

Indra Harsaputra, Sidoarjo – Workers whose companies are affected by hot mudflow in Porong, Sidoarjo, East Java, said Tuesday they were not being properly compensated for their loss of income.

Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara – Residents of a village in West Lombok protested Tuesday outside the provincial forestry office in Mataram.

They accused police and forest rangers of wrongful arrest and false accusations during a joint operation two weeks ago in the forest near their village in Sambik Bangkol, Gangga district.

Jakarta – A coalition of environmental groups on Tuesday accused leading European flooring manufacturers of using wood stolen from Indonesia's last remaining rainforests.

On behalf of the Australia West Papua Association (Sydney), I am writing to you concerning the issue of West Papua. It was disappointing that concern for the human rights situation in West Papua was not mentioned in last years PIF Communique, as it has been in previous years.

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Thousands of Tangerang residents living along the Cisadane river are at risk of various illnesses due to the increasing level of pollution in the river, a report says.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – It is rare to get a behind-the-scenes look at historic events. But Tuesday's conference commemorating one year of the Aceh peace accord provided a rare glimpse into the process and gave the actors involved a chance to publicly pat themselves on the back.

Michael Morfit, Jakarta – The Free Aceh Movement, known locally as the Gerakan Acheh Merdeka (GAM), and Indonesia's government on Monday marked the first anniversary of a peace agreement that ended nearly 30 years of armed conflict in the resource-rich and historically turbulent province of Aceh at the northern tip of Sumatra.

Mark Dodd – East Timor's highest court has declared legal the controversial "show of hands" vote that endorsed the leadership of then prime minister Mari Alkatiri at a national party congress in May.

Nurdin Hassan, Banda Aceh – Tens of thousands have rallied in Indonesia's Aceh, celebrating a full year of peace but calling on Jakarta to honour the pact which ended three decades of separatist warfare.

Fakhurradzie M. Gade, Banda Aceh – Thousands of protesters accused Indonesia's government Tuesday of failing to deliver on promises made when separatist rebels signed an agreement a year ago to end decades of fighting in Aceh province.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The formerly rebellious Free Aceh Movement(GAM) is dissatisfied with several articles in the newly enacted law on Aceh governance, but its leaders say the group will wait to see how the law is put into practice, and work through normal channels to amend it.

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – The government should take all the necessary measures to prevent Indonesian jihadis from leaving for Lebanon or they will only create more problems when they return home, Muslim scholars say.

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – Five-year-old Trimo is placed in an old babywalker every now and then. Although his feet can touch the ground, he isn't able to get it moving as other children usually can.

The boy, blind at birth, was playing alone in front of his 12-square-meter house with plaited bamboo walls and a dirt floor.

Adisti Sukma Sawitri, Depok – Suci Islamiyah will never forget the fact that her mother died in one of the leading government hospitals in Central Jakarta, deprived of proper medical treatment.

Cath Hart and Samantha Maiden – John Howard has pulled the plug on his controversial migration bill to avoid facing a defeat in the Senate.

Jakarta – For more than two decades, the brutal military occupation of East Timor, a distant, impoverished, peripheral territory, brought Indonesia little but disdain and dishonor on the world stage.

Hasballah Saad and Michael Shank, Washington DC – The United States Congress recently passed a contentious bill that allocates over US$6 million to Indonesia for military equipment and training in 2007. Two checks will be issued: $4.5 million under Congress' Foreign Military Financing program and $1.28 million under Congress' International Military Education and Training program.

Titis Setianingtyas, Jakarta – The First Minister of GAM (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka) Malik Mahmud Al Haytar has declared that the introduction of Syariat Islam in Aceh is not welcomed by the Acehnese.

Banda Aceh – Thousands of people from various regions of Aceh have began arriving in Banda Aceh to commemorated one year since the Helsinki agreement that falls on August 15 tomorrow. They plan to hold a peaceful action and joint prayers in at several locations in Banda Aceh.

Refugee and Free West Papua supporters this afternoon welcomed the Prime Minister's decision to scuttle the Migration Amendment (Designated Unauthorised Arrivals) Bill and

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – A rosier economic picture is expected to emerge in the second half of the year, with increased growth forecast after a recent easing of inflation and interest rates.

Tom Hyland – The Indonesian Army manipulated the voyage to Australia of 43 West Papuan asylum seekers in a secret pyschological warfare operation that gave Jakarta a diplomatic and strategic victory over the Howard Government, a former intelligence analyst says.

Jakarta – Thick and acrid haze from fires set to clear land is blanketing parts of the Indonesian section of Borneo island, a meteorology official said.

Tiro – Eyes red with tears, Alamsyah Mahmud recalls how in 2001, Indonesian paramilitaries swooped on his village in Tiro, the birthplace of Aceh's rebel movement, rounding up people and torching homes.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – The National AIDS Commission is running a trial on the use of female condoms in Papua to reduce the rate of new HIV infections.

Arvin Fikriansyah, Palu – A last-minute reprieve for three Indonesian Christians on death row has been welcomed by activists and relatives as they geared up to fight for a commutation of their sentences.

Jakarta/Surabaya – Permanent effects from the huge mudflow engulfing Sidoarjo, East Java, may keep thousands of displaced residents from ever returning to their homes, officials warn.

Panca Nugraha, Mataram – The National Commission on Human Rights has asked the government to guarantee the security of Ahmadiyah followers to ensure members of the religious sect can live in peace and worship freely.

Jakarta – The Jakarta administration will have to rethink its plan to increase public awareness about paying taxes in an SMS reward program after the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) declared it prohibited by Islam.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) is coming under fire for allocating funds to security and intelligence operations by the Indonesian Military (TNI) in Aceh.

Rendi Akhmad Witular, Jakarta – The delays in the spending of development funds by many local administrations are believed to be partly the result of rent-seeking practices involving collusion between a number of national legislators and local administrations, a minister says.

Yemris Fointuna and Ruslan Sangadji, Kupang/Palu – Large rallies were held across East Nusa Tenggara on Thursday to protest the impending executions of Fabianus Tibo, Marianus Riwu and Dominggus da Silva for their roles in violence between Christians and Muslims in Central Sulawesi's Poso district.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) has replaced the chiefs of three military commands and of the Army Special Forces (Kopassus) as part of a major reshuffle of its 79 senior officers.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Military analysts Thursday blasted the military probe into an arms stash scandal as neither transparent nor credible, and urged the House of Representatives to launch an immediate inquiry into the case.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Residents of Mane village in Pidie, Aceh, who lost family members and homes during the 30-year conflict between the government and the Free Aceh Movement have occupied the Aceh Reintegration Agency (BRA) office to press their compensation demands.

The following are the tangible impacts of the hot, toxic mud that has flooded part of the East Java town of Sidoarjo since the end of May: nearly 8,000 people have been displaced, more than 190 hectares of farmland have been flooded, at least 15 factories have been shut down and a section of the Surabaya-Gempol turnpike has been closed.