Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Extortion and blackmail are commonplace in the police here against a backdrop of poor law enforcement and flourishing corruption, an independent police watchdog says.

Jakarta – The sale of counterfeit medicines not only threatens consumers but also the pharmaceutical industry as the distribution of such drugs is now out of control. Moreover, the country's inadequate legal infrastructure and weak law enforcement have allowed such counterfeit drugs to flood the market.

Jakarta – The annual choking haze has reached alert levels on mainland Riau, including the provincial capital of Pekanbaru, with authorities warning residents to stay indoors as much as possible.

Fitrian A. and Israr Ardiansyah, Jakarta – Indonesian forests constitute one of the world's megacenters of biological diversity. However, these forests – 10 percent of the world's remaining tropical forests, second largest to Brazil – are being increasingly degraded, leaving ever fewer natural resources and causing significant ecological damage.

Abdurrahman Wahid was president of Indonesia from 1999 to 2001. With his pluralistic style and attempts to implement frameworks to eliminate corruption, he perhaps came to the helm in Indonesia before the country or even his own administration was ready for his personal brand of reform.

Jakarta – Tarmidi Suhardjo, former chairman of the Jakarta chapter of the ruling party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), has officially thrown in his lot with the Pioneer Party (Partai Pelopor).

Jakarta – The Indonesian Women's Solidarity Alliance (Aliansi Solidaritas Perempuan Indonesia, ASPI) has called on warring parties in Aceh to immediately end the war and return to the negotiating table. According to ASPI, the war will achieve nothing, rather it will result in civilian deaths and tear apart the rights of the Acehnese people.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – The injured wife of a German tourist shot dead by Indonesian soldiers in war-torn Aceh province on Wednesday night wrote a letter the next day forgiving the military for the "misunderstanding".

Bernie K. Moestafa and Tiarma Siboro, Lhokseumawe – Frequent power blackouts have added to the suffering of the Acehnese as conflict and martial law, which will enter its fourth week, continued unabated.

Deborah Snow – "The downer was having to pick up two corpses (very smelly) We placed them inside our Land Rover Discovery and it was putrid ... In the evening I was called to see a detainee ... very agitated and trying to escape by any means, including self-harm. I therefore sedated him ... I confess I do not like being involved in the detention of people.'

Deborah Snow – Misconduct allegations against Australian troops during their 1999 deployment to East Timor included a claim of "unnecessary amputation" of a suspected militia member's arm, and suspicions about the reasons for the suicide of an Australian soldier.

Jakarta – All charges against a general accused of crimes against humanity in East Timor in 1999 were unexpectedly withdrawn yesterday.

Berni K. Moestafa and Tiarma Siboro, Lhokseumawe – Military prosecutors are seeking an eight-month sentence for three soldiers who allegedly assaulted civilians during a raid in Bireuen, Aceh regency, at the end of May.

Maire Leadbeater – A cartoon is circulating among human rights networks shows a finger-wagging Indonesian President Megawati exhorting one of her generals to "make sure you win their hearts and minds". The general, who holds a map of Aceh, reassures her: "Don't worry, we trained in East Timor."

Jakarta – British attempts to convince the Indonesian Air Force to abandon its use of the HS-Hawk warplane in the war in Aceh have been shot down in flames.

Air Force spokesman Eddy Hardjoko said Thursday that the British-made Hawks would remain part of its arsenal, saying the warplanes had only been used to provide air cover for soldiers, not combat.

Telly Nathalia, Jakarta – An Indonesian prosecutor yesterday demanded a court acquit a top general on trial over violence in East Timor in 1999, saying it had not been proved that he was guilty of committing crimes against humanity.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta and agencies – Indonesian politicians and military commanders were last night struggling to contain damaging fallout after soldiers in Aceh attacked two German tourists on a cycling holiday, killing a man and shooting his wife in the leg.

Geneva – East Timor, which became the newest nation on the planet in 2002, has joined the Geneva Conventions on human rights in time of war, Red Cross officials said Friday.

Major-General Adam Damiri was commander of the Bali-based military area, which included East Timor.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has noted that as of Thursday, as many as 16 civilians have been killed or have died of starvation in the ongoing military operation in the Papuan regency of Wamena, strong evidence that the military have committed crimes against humanity.

Natasha Bita, Florence and John Kerin – Starving East Timorese may be forced to eat rats, cats and dogs unless they receive food aid within six months, the UN warned in its first report on the food crisis on Australia's doorstep.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – For many Jakartans, being choked by highly polluted air while sitting in a seemingly endless traffic jam is daily occurrence and irritant.

And things are going to get worse, with air pollution set to increase in the future rather than improve mainly due to the growth in the number of motor vehicles.

Wayne Arnold (New York Times) – Between separatist rebellions, corrupt courts, slumping tourism and rising youth unemployment, Indonesia has plenty to worry about.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – Following an attack on the office of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) by the Pemuda Panca Marga (PPM) group last week, about 20 of the group's members paid a visit to the Tempo news magazine office on Wednesday to protest the way the weekly described the nationalistic group.

Indonesia's Golkar Party which was used by former President Suharto to impose decades of authoritarian rule, is undergoing a makeover. The party is even considering appointing one of Indonesia's most respected Islamic scholars, a man who played a central role in Suharto's overthrow, as its presidential candidate.

Presenter/Interviewer: Tricia Fitzgerald

The pathetic performance of Jakarta's special human rights court dealing with atrocities perpetrated by the military and its militia proxies in East Timor in 1999 will no doubt inspire the notoriously corrupt and brutal Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) to act with virtual impunity in Aceh province, where troops are waging a campaign to destroy separatist rebels.

Jakarta – Sony Electronics Indonesia Ltd has ended its Indonesian operations and is offering severance pay to its 884 workers.

Telly Nathalia, Jakarta – An Indonesian prosecutor demanded on Thursday a court acquit the top general on trial over violence in East Timor in 1999, saying he had not been proven guilty of committing crimes against humanity there.

Prosecutors had been expected to announce their sentencing demands for Major-General Adam Damiri on Thursday.

Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta – State-owned electricity company PT PLN said that power reserves on Java and Bali had been depleted, but stopped short of saying there could be more blackouts in the future.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Countrywide risk factors, legal risk, a weak banking sector and weak capital markets, community violence and the like, affect sentiment over doing business in Indonesia, but there are few factors more important on would-be investor's score cards than a regular and reliable supply of electrical power at an affordable price.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and A'an Suryana, Jakarta – A visiting British minister warned on Wednesday that the use of HS-Hawk warplanes in the current military offensive against rebels in Aceh could damage military cooperation between the two countries.

Moch. N. Kurniawan and Apriadi Gunawan, Jakarta/Medan – More provinces in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi islands are showing hot spots, a strong indication of forest fires, with haze already shrouding some areas of these provinces.

International environmental organisation Greenpeace says Indonesia has the world's highest rate of forest loss and may see much of its lowland forest disappear by 2010.

In a new report, 'Partners in Crime', Greenpeace has investigated the links between Britain and Indonesia's timber barons. The report says the findings are alarming.

Jakarta – Some 5,000 people from the group, "Society Concerned with National Education" staged a rally in front of the House of Representatives here on Thursday, rejecting a House plan to approve the bill on education.

Sari P. Setiogi, Jakarta – Indonesia is rated the world's third worst country in its commitment against and law enforcement on women and child trafficking, with an estimated population of 230,000 women and child sex workers trafficked throughout Indonesia.

Jakarta – Still smarting from the loss of Sipadan and Ligitan islands, the government plans to resettle people from densely populated areas to 88 uninhabited islands on borders with neighbouring countries.

With incentives such as subsidies to start fishing and palm oil businesses, Jakarta hopes to persuade 300,000 people over a period of five years to make the move.

Dili – Foreign donors have confirmed their support for the struggling new nation of East Timor, a World Bank spokesman said at the end of a semi-annual meeting here.

John Roberts – Despite attempts by the Indonesian government to block information on the military's activities, it is becoming clear that the offensive by the Indonesian armed forces (TNI) in the northern-most province of Aceh against the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) involves a deliberate campaign of mass terror against the civilian population.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Average incomes across Bali are down 40 per cent, one in five Balinese is out of work, and children are increasingly dropping out of school, according to the first surveys on the impact of last October's bombings on Bali and neighbouring East Java and Lombok.

Nick Everett, Jakarta – On May 19-21, more than 60 peace activists from 26 countries met at Hotel Wisata to assess the challenges faced by the global peace movement and to develop a plan of action. The conference coincided with the Indonesian government's resumption of its all-out war against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Robert Go, Jakarta – Tourist arrivals in Bali have recovered only to a third of the level that tourism experts had said it would. The monthly visitor figures for the resort stand at 60,000.

Pip Hinman, Sydney – Lesley McCulloch, who spent five months in an Acehnese prison last year, said the current level of repression against ordinary Acehnese by the Indonesian military and police is "extreme".

James Balowski, Jakarta – Amid mounting reports of civilian casualties and human rights violations by Indonesia's armed forces (TNI), the government is moving to suppress opposition to the so-called "restoration of security" operation in Aceh, Indonesia's northern-most province.

Jakarta – The martial law administrator in Aceh has decided to close off Aceh waters to foreign ships, but has failed to communicate the move to the public.

Jakarta – Governor Sutiyoso told Muslim preachers on Tuesday not to use mosques as a forum to rally people against the military operation now taking place in Aceh province.

Two-thirds of East Timorese asylum seekers living in Darwin have been told they can stay in Australia, subject to further checks.

Federal Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock indicated that more than 1,500 East Timorese asylum seekers were expected to be granted permanent residency in Australia by October.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Indonesia's military chiefs have accused seven soldiers of beating civilians in Aceh province, but say they have received no complaints and have no evidence of widely-reported killings of more than 20 unarmed villagers in the first week of a renewed offensive against pro-independence fighters.

Banda Aceh – Students and other activists who support separatist guerillas in Indonesia's Aceh province will face subversion charges that can carry the death penalty, police warned yesterday. The authorities said they have a list of activists who support or assist the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), as well as evidence against them.

More than 25,000 civilians are now living as refugees in Indonesia's Aceh province, where a major attack on separatist rebels continues, and the military said it may have forced some to quit their homes.

Indonesia's attack on Aceh separatist rebels and the imposition of martial law in the province have brought new dangers for human rights activists, Amnesty International said.