Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Cheap makeup, stilettos and condoms, sometimes. Perhaps it's time to go beyond the prettified Pretty Woman stereotypes of women on the make to lift the lid on the ugly reality of Indonesia's quietly thriving prostitution industry.

Vera Devai – The Australian Government was hampering the investigation into the death of a TV news cameraman in East Timor because of its political ties with Indonesia, NSW police said today.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Human rights activists have slammed legislators for being unwilling to create a law that would ensure soldiers and rebels are tried for past human rights abuses in Aceh.

M. Azis Tunny, Ambon – Despite its image as a conflict-torn city, Ambon's peaceful first direct election of its mayor last Monday suggests that its residents are politically mature.

Mark Forbes, Dili – Crowds danced to a cover version of Van Halen's Jump in the forecourt of East Timor's battered government headquarters on Saturday night – celebrating the anniversary of independence – the scene of last month's rampage by youths and rebel soldiers that left at least five civilians shot dead.

Annisa S. Febrina and Nichola Sarvangga Valero, Jakarta – This May, clothes fly from the shelves of a department store in Slipi, West Jakarta, as spring sale posters draw customers.

Eight years ago this month, clothes flew from the shelves as the mall was emptied by looters, before dozens of them were trapped and burned to death in the 1998 riot.

Jakarta – Reports that more regencies and cities around Indonesia are adopting shariah-style bylaws have caused grave concern among women activists, who worry that the trend will threaten not only their rights but also the nation's integrity.

Jakarta – Supporters of the much-debated porn bill came out en masse in a number of cities Sunday, urging lawmakers to immediately pass it into law to improve the country's morals.

Patience is thin, and memory short. Year in and year out, these factors have served very well for those who resist any attempts at change since Soeharto quit the presidency eight years ago on May 21.

Mataram, Lombok – Some 350 teachers in East Lombok staged a protest Saturday, threatening to boycott Monday's national final test in junior high schools if the administration failed to return money cut from their salary for the past 26 months.

Australia West Papua Association spokesperson Joe Collins expressed grave concerns at the proposed new security treaty with Indonesia and in particular at the Indonesian demand for a clause in the treaty urging Canberra to reject West Papuan claims for independence.

Chris Brummitt, Jakarta – Protesters wearing Suharto masks demanded the ailing former dictator face trial Sunday, the eighth anniversary of the massive pro-democracy demonstrations that ousted him.

Niniek Karmini, Jakarta – Tens of thousands of conservative Muslims rallied in the Indonesian capital Sunday in support of a proposed anti-pornography bill that critics say would chip away at the country's secular traditions.

[Soeharto File: Sisi Gelap Sejarah Indonesia (Soeharto File: The dark side of Indonesia's history) Asvi Warman Adam Ombak, Yogyakarta, March 2006 245 pp.]

[Yang Berlawan: Membongkar Tabir Pemalsuan Sejarah PKI (Those Who Fought: Lifting curtain on falsified history of the PKI) Imam Soedjono Resist Book, Yogyakarta, January 2006 469 pp.]

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili – Mari Alkatiri was so confident he had stitched up the leadership of East Timor's ruling Fretilin party that by morning tea at the party's national congress yesterday he was belting out a melancholy nationalist anthem over the PA system, accompanied by an organist with a push-button rhythm machine.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – East Timor's Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri avoided a leadership challenge this week but it is doubtful his rule will ensure any peace in the world's youngest nation.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said he will not intervene after prosecutors decided to drop corruption charges against ailing former dictator Suharto.

Yudhoyono's remarks came as hundreds of students held a protests in Indonesia's second-largest city Surabaya to demand Suharto be tried for corruption during his 32 years of autocratic rule.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The government plans to issue a new regulation to ensure the trillions of rupiah entering Papua under special autonomy is being spent properly, the President says.

Tiarma Siboro and M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) says it does not oppose soldiers being tried by an Aceh human rights court using principles of retroactive justice as mandated in the Aceh governance bill.

Max Lane, Jakarta – It was an amazing experience to translate the works of Pramoedya Ananta Toer, to have had to think deeply about what he wrote, to discuss with him the situation in Indonesia. I translated This Earth of Mankind, Child of All Nations, Footsteps and House of Glass in the 1980s.

Katrina Strickland – There is a scene in the ABC's new mini-series, Answered By Fire, in which a journalist tells a couple of United Nations police that the Australian government received intelligence ahead of East Timor's 1999 independence referendum about the likelihood of post-ballot violence.

Graeme Blundell – David Wenham and a cast of East Timorese amateurs are stunning in a new ABC drama about the bloody history of the world's newest nation

It has been easy not to remember the tragedy of East Timor, so overwhelmed did we become by September 11, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and terrorist bombings in Madrid, Bali and London.

Mark Forbes, Dili – East Timorese Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri's leadership has been overwhelmingly endorsed in raucous, joyous scenes at the ruling Fretilin party conference, after a challenge collapsed amid allegations of intimidation and bribery.

Endy M. Bayuni, Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund has revised upwards its forecast for Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP) growth to 5.2 percent for 2006 in another sign of growing international confidence about the direction of the government's policies.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) appears to be backing off on the proposed amendments to the 2003 Labor Law, saying that there are other more urgent ways in which the business climate can be improved.

Benget Simbolon Tnb., Jakarta – The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) has warned the government that enacting a new investment law and improving the macro economy would not be enough to generate sustained investment inflows.

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited Soeharto in the hospital Friday, saying it was his duty as the head of the state and a "humanitarian gesture" to the ailing former leader.

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was less than impressed Friday when he found his name had been spelled incorrectly in a handwritten invitation from the National Mandate Party (PAN), presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said.

Washington – A congressional panel that funds foreign operations has proposed dropping restrictions on aid to Indonesia's military, with the panel's Republican leader saying it was time to recognize the country's dramatic democratic turnaround.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – The foul smell emanating from rotting garbage piled up along Bandung's roadsides started to diminish Friday but it was still there.

Andi Abdussalam, Jakarta – While former president Soeharto is still going through a critical stage in his treatment at Pertamina hospital, a public controversy is raging outside the hospital about his fate as a leader accused of massive corruption.

On a day when he should have been celebrating, a flustered Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan was instead doing his best to escape a media ambush Thursday.

Solo, Kompas – The disagreement between the progressive-revolutionary forces that exist in Indonesia must be ended immediately. If not, these forces will be unable to weave together the cooperation needed to generate the energy to withstand the entry of neoliberalism into Indonesia that is becoming increasingly pervasive and visible.

Banda Aceh – Dozens of students from Student Solidarity for the People (SMUR) held a peaceful action at the Simpang Lima roundabout in the Acehnese provincial capital of Banda Aceh on May 19. The action was protesting the decision by the Attorney General to terminate the legal case against former President Suharto.

Amid reports that the health of Indonesia's former dictator Suharto is deteriorating, the Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh has announced that the corruption case against him has been closed while State Secretary Yusril Izha Mahendra has said that the government is likely to halt any further prosecution and will work to rehabilitate his name.

Mataram – A crowd of people stormed Sambelia Police station Wednesday to free a man detained for his alleged involvement in illegal logging in East Lombok district. No one was injured in the incident.

Malang – Hundreds of Malang Police officers moved in Thursday to break up a strike by workers at an auto body manufacturing plant in East Java.

Police detained 130 workers and named 28 as criminal suspects. The strikers had earlier sealed off the entrance to PT Adi Putro's factory.

Just eighteen months in office and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's approval rating has hit an all time low. A new survey released in Jakarta shows just 37 percent of the public is happy with the president's performance. The public's major concerns are the economy, unemployment, the rise in fuel and electricty prices and planned changes to the labor laws.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The two biggest factions in the House of Representatives have balked at applying a retroactive principle for a human rights tribunal for Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, which would effectively bar it from trying members of the military.

Loro Horta – It was a hauntingly familiar scene. Large-scale riots broke out in East Timor late last month, attended by looting, arson and the murder of five civilians. But rather than a rebellion against foreign occupation, the recent melee in the capital, Dili, was purely a domestic affair.

Wahyudin Fahmi, Jakarta – The majority of factions in the Special Committee for the Aceh Government Draft Bill have approved the establishment of a human rights court in Aceh, one a year after the state decree was enacted.

M. Azis Tunny, Ambon – Hundreds of angry supporters of losing candidates in Ambon city's first direct election staged a protest Wednesday at the Ambon General Elections Commission (KPUD) office, accusing that Monday's election results were invalid.

Mark Dodd and Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili – Police in East Timor have failed to restore law and order following last month's deadly violence because the Interior Minister is too preoccupied with his personal business interests, a damning UN cable has revealed.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – To reduce its arms imports, Indonesia plans to increase the production of its various military equipment to at least 16 percent of its total defense needs.

Human rights, religious and other organizations today urged a key congressional subcommittee to reinstate restrictions on US

military assistance to Indonesia as the best way "to influence positive change in Indonesia and to encourage justice for the people of Timor-Leste."

Jakarta (Agencies) – Protesters in Indonesia's capital demanded Thursday that prosecutors reinstate criminal charges against former president Soeharto, still hospitalized after colon surgery earlier this month.

Bandung – The West Java capital city, Bandung, is in the midst of a serious garbage crisis, with 200,000 cubic meters of trashed piled along its streets.

The problem, blamed on a lack of final dumping sites, has been going on for the past month. Residents living around the city's two temporary dumping sites in Cicabe and Pasir Impun are now rejecting incoming garbage.

Villagers in eastern Indonesia plan to sue Australian gold producer Newcrest Mining, accusing the company of environmental vandalism and failing to deliver on promises to improve their welfare.

Jakarta – Most of the labor supply companies operating in Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi (Jabotabek) are illegal, an association says.