Sian Powell and Mark Dodd – From his post high in the misty Indonesian hills of Manusasi, Indonesian First Lieutenant Sujatmin keeps watch on the international border with East Timor.

It's an increasingly important – and potentially dangerous – job. In the past six weeks, there have been nine violent incursions over the border, spurring a flurry of international diplomacy.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Despite considerable progress, the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (BRR) for Aceh and Nias has been facing numerous technical and administrative obstacles that make the reconstruction and rehabilitation work slow in the disaster-devastated region.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The central government's plan to appoint all 42 members of the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) is against the law, undemocratic, and will create a puppet government of Jakarta, protesters in Jayapura say.

Jakarta – After one year in power, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his economics team have so far failed to live up to expectations, with the economy – both macro and micro – showing little sign of improvement, revealed a study by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).

Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta – Police said on Friday they had named eight followers of a little-known religious sect in Central Sulawesi as suspects for the killings of three police officers.

Tomi Soetjipto, Jakarta – Indonesia, criticised for slow reconstruction in tsunami-hit areas, has set up a special trust fund to speed rebuilding as the disaster's anniversary approaches, the agency in charge of rebuilding said on Friday.

Lloyd Jones – Hundreds of people have rallied in Port Moresby to urge Pacific leaders meeting there to take West Papua's case for independence from Indonesia to the United Nations.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The government insisted on Thursday that the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) should submit the names of its 3,000 former fighters as part of their integration process into society after a peace deal to end 29 years of separatist fighting.

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – The fishing village of Kuala Penet, situated at the estuary of Way Kambas National Park in Lampung, might be just a small dot on the map, but for environmentalists it is notorious as the center of illegal logging in southern Sumatra.

Jakarta – Poor coordination has been blamed for the slow rehabilitation and reconstruction process in tsunami-struck Aceh, particularly in the areas of housing and economic recovery, a study reveals.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Though there has been no singularly mind-boggling achievement in his first year in office, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's bold decision to slash fuel subsidies not once, but twice, puts him in a different class to any of the three Indonesian presidents since Suharto.

Jakarta – The number of mentally ill people in Jakarta has risen dramatically over the past month, so much so that four government mental institutions in Jakarta were overwhelmed, Tempo Interaktif reported on Thursday.

Adi Warsidi, Banda Aceh – The number of cases of human rights violations in Aceh following the signing of the Helsinki agreement between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has declined.

Banda Aceh – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has decided not to submit a list of names of some 3,000 former GAM fighters as requested by the Indonesian government as part of efforts to accelerate the reintegration process of the ex-rebels into the society.

Somewhere in the dark a child cries, someone dies and humanity hides.

These prophetic words perfectly capture the contradictions that prevail in our daily lives; the sense of betrayal felt toward those whom we once held in high esteem. Of broken promises, and deceptive oaths.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Ministry of Defense says it will ban servicemen from being involved in the management of businesses owned by the Indonesian Military (TNI) in order to achieve the goal of creating a professional defense force.

Indonesian police say a shadowy sect known as Mahdi is becoming a threat to national security after three officers died in a bloody clash. But others say the sect doesn't exist.

Presenter/Interviewer: Linda LoPresti

Speakers: Dr Thamrin Amal Tomagola, sociologist at the University of Indonesia.

In Papua New Guinea, hundreds of people have rallied in the capital Port Moresby to call for independence for the Indonesian province of Papua.

Some Papuans have been campaigning for self rule since Indonesia's annexation in 1969 under the vote of free choice.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Increasing the allocation in the state budget for the Office of the State Minister of Environment would not help much, an environmentalist claimed on Wednesday, responding to the state minister for environment's complaint about having the lowest budget in Southeast Asia.

A rally will be held in the PNG capital Port Moresby tomorrow to highlight the push for independence in the Indonesian province of Papua. Papua was annexed by Indonesia in 1969 following the controversial act of free choice, and some Papuans have been fighting ever since for self rule.

Fadli, Batam – Some 90 percent of a total of 221,163 electronics factory workers surveyed in Batam are contract workers; a situation that makes them vulnerable to layoffs.

The figure was revealed by a survey carried out in August by the Association of Batam Human Resource Professionals.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – House of Representatives lawmakers have warned that the government's plan to revive the military's territorial function in the fight against terrorism would undermine internal reform within the armed forces and put democracy in jeopardy.

Jakarta – A plan to revive a community-based intelligence system run by the Indonesian army as an anti-terrorism measure threatens to harm democracy and lead to human rights abuses, analysts warn.

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono may be leading the nationwide fight against corruption but a survey reveals that more people now perceive his deputy, Jusuf Kalla, plays an equal or more important role in running the country.

M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – If President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's favorite soap opera show is "Judgement Day is Nigh", what is former President Suharto's favorite television show? Apparently Suharto isn't very interested in soap opera. In his twilight years he prefers the quiz show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire".

The government has yet to approve a formal resumption of counter-terrorism training and exercises between Australian troops and Indonesia's controversial special force, Kopassus.

But Defence Minister Robert Hill indicated that the government was moving in that direction.

Fitraya Ramadhanny, Jakarta – The presence of militia in Aceh post the peace negotiations in Helsinki still lays the grounds for the potential eruption of new forms of violence. It is because of this that the government is being urged to disband the militia, which still exist.

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar – Fallout from the October 1 Bali bombings put a damper on the local Hindu Galungan and Kuningan holidays celebrating the triumph of good over evil in heroic times.

Jakarta – A clash between police and machete-wielding members of a shadowy Islamic sect on Indonesia's eastern Sulawesi island has killed four people, three of them police officers, a senior policeman said on Wednesday.

James Balowski, Jakarta – Attending a ceremony to mark the 60th anniversary of the Indonesian military (TNI) on October 5, just days after the deadly bombing in Bali, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono instructed the TNI to "take part in effectively curbing, preventing and acting against terrorism".

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The controversial decision to provide a new additional monthly allowance for members of the House of Representatives would not guarantee any improvement in the performance of the lawmakers, critics have said.

John Aglionby – The peace process begun two months ago by the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (Gam) is developing in a way virtually no observer predicted.

Simon Montlake, Leupung – Most days Farid Maulidi spends patching up a makeshift highway – filling in holes, repairing culverts, shoveling sand, directing traffic. As civil engineering jobs go, it's far from prestigious.

Mark Dodd – A notorious Indonesian army battalion implicated in mass killings, torture and mutilation – including the 1999 murder of a Dutch journalist – is in charge of security along the border with East Timor.

The UN Serious Crimes Unit in East Timor charged Indonesian battalion 745 with the 1999 murders of 21 civilians, including journalist Sander Thoenes.

Jakarta – Over 70,000 workers have been laid off in Indonesia since the government hiked fuel prices on Oct. 1, local media reported on Tuesday.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Several factions in the House of Representatives have urged the government to review its fuel price hike policy, which they said had created a huge burden for the majority of people in the country.

Tomi Soetjipto, Jakarta – It was billed as a way to cushion the blow for Indonesia's poorest of the poor. But efforts to compensate 15.5 million families with cash to offset steep hikes in fuel prices have instead triggered violence.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The House of Representatives may claim it empathized with people who are facing increased economic hardship as prices for many goods rise, but almost all of its 550 members appeared to stick with their recent decision to raise their monthly incomes by up to 30 percent.

In Indonesia calls for greater government supervision of Islamic schools have been rejected by the country's leading Muslim groups. Vice President Jusus Kalla has made it clear he wants a small number of schools he suspects of extremist religious teaching to be closely watched.

Presenter/Interviewer: Karon Snowdon

Blontank Poer, Surakarta – Tension heightened in the Central Java town of Surakarta as hundreds of supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Surakarta Islam Followers Coalition ready to stage protests against each other on Sunday.

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The Democrat Party and the Golkar Party, both main supporters of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla, seem to be at loggerheads over a Cabinet reshuffle that many pundits have been demanding to improve what they say is the government's poor performance.

Jakarta – The move by the House of Representatives to provide a new monthly allowance of Rp 10 million (about US$1,000) for fellow lawmakers drew strong criticism on Friday.

All 550 House members will receive the new allowances for six months starting in November, reportedly as compensation for the recent fuel price hike.

The Australia West Papua Association (Sydney) believes it is now time for West Papua to be granted observer status at the upcoming Pacific Islands Forum in PNG.

AWPA congratulates the Forum leaders for admitting French Polynesia as a Forum observer at last year's meeting in Apia, Samoa

West Papua has always been considered part of the Pacific Community.

Jakarta – The governments of Indonesia and Timor Leste have agreed that neither country should use the land around disputed borders at present to avoid possible clashes among people living in the areas, an official said on Friday.

Jakarta – Lawmakers have turned a cold shoulder to the Constitutional Court's ruling that obliges the government to increase the education budget, citing financial constraints as their rationale.

Emir Moeis, who heads the House of Representative's state budgetary committee, said the issue had to be viewed pragmatically as the funds simply were not there.

Jakarta – Murdered rights campaigner Munir had requested stomach medication from the Garuda crew prior to takeoff at Changi airport, and began to complain about an upset stomach about an hour after the plane took off, a witness said.

Ati Nurbaiti, Jakarta – Karen P. Hughes, a leading US image builder and deputy to US secretary of state Condoleeza Rice, told students here on Friday that she hoped to get to know their hopes for their country, and about how Indonesian-US ties could be improved. But hardly anyone was interested.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – After the government raised fuel prices early this month, Bandung textile businessman Satya Natapura could only pray for a miracle for his business to survive.

Previously, his business suffered a 35 percent increase in production costs following the government's decision to raise fuel prices in March as well as power rates and road tolls.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The government's intention of introducing draconian legislation to fight terrorism appears likely to face a long hard slog after politicians and human rights campaigners roundly criticized the proposal.

Theresia Sufa, Bogor – As demand for firewood increases following the 200 percent price hike on kerosene, hundreds of low-income people living in the vicinity of the Gunung Walat research forest in Cicantayan – an hour south of Bogor – have begun cutting down trees for firewood to cook with or sell.