Medan – Two soldiers and a staff official with the province's Bukit Barisan Military Command were dishonorably discharged from the military on Monday for their involvement in drug trafficking. Bukit Barisan military commander Maj. Gen.

It is easy to become increasingly pessimistic about the ability of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's economic team to continue economic reforms – especially when new evidence emerges indicating how incoherent the policy stance of his economics ministers is.

Paul Dalton and Fergus Kerrigan, Jakarta – Since 1998, foreign observers have followed with hope and concern the progress of Indonesia on its uneven path towards democracy, the rule of law and accountability in government. While the challenges are many, there have been impressive achievements, including significant reforms of the legal system.

John McBeth, Jakarta – Indonesia's elite have always preferred to bury unsavoury events, such as those from the bloody upheavals of the mid-1960s.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A new survey by the International Labor Organization (ILO) has revealed that 19 percent of Indonesia's school-aged children could not afford to attend school, the main factor contributing to the high number of child laborers in the country.

Reporter: Anne Barker

Eleanor Hall: In Indonesia's Aceh Province, bureaucratic delays and concerns about corruption have stymied efforts to rebuild the communities destroyed in last year's tsunami.

An inquest will be held into the death of Balibo Five cameraman Brian Peters, killed 30 years ago in East Timor.

Jakarta – More than 200 ex-separatist fighters have been freed in the tsunami-wracked province of Aceh after taking an oath of loyalty to a unified Indonesia, a local media report said Monday.

Jakarta – Indonesian lawmakers have objected to a controversial government anti-terror plan to revive a far-reaching intelligence network used to quell dissent during the dictatorial government of ex-President Suharto, a local newspaper said Monday.

Jakarta – Indonesia's foreign minister Monday defended peace talks between Jakarta and Aceh separatists amid growing criticism from lawmakers and the army, saying that other efforts to deal with the rebels had failed to bring peace to the province.

Jakarta – The government has defended the controversial presidential decree that allows the government to forcibly take over privately owned land that has been earmarked for development purposes, even when owners fail to agree on compensation offered to them.

On Thursday, US President George W. Bush announced that Congress would extend the government's surveillance and law enforcement powers to track down potential terrorists.

Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and the National Police signed an agreement on Friday on cooperation in handling human rights abuse cases.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – With its June 23 deadline looming, the Munir murder fact-finding team has yet to complete its task of identifying the killers of the noted human rights campaigner, and the government is being urged to extend the team's term and empower it so it can finish its job.

Erwin Dariyanto, Jakarta – On Thursday June 16 the Fact Finding Team (TPF) in the death of human rights activist Munir will again invite Abdullah Mahkmud Hendropriyono in for questioning. The former National Intelligence Agency (BIN) director's lawyer however has responded by challenging the team to a public debate.

An international relations academic says Australian peackeeping troops are being withdrawn from East Timor prematurely.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – After winning recognition from the government, the National Awakening Party (PKB) under Muhaimin Iskandar is mulling action against members of a rival camp.

PKB deputy secretary-general Zannuba Arifah Chafsoh, better known as Yenni Wahid, said on Saturday, however, that doors would stay open for the party's splinter group to rejoin.

Jakarta – It was a Tuesday morning when a group of women gathered to chat on a narrow veranda of the house of a subdistrict head in Pangkalan Jati Baru, Depok. One might think that they were there for an arisan (monthly social gathering) to catch up with the local gossip.

Only two months after John Howard pledged Australian government support For Indonesia's territorial integrity, Australians from the National Coalition of West Papua Solidarity Groups met in Brisbane to plan how to secure justice for people in the restive Indonesian colony of West Papua.

Meidyatama Suryodiningrat, Jakarta – We frequently shake our heads in frustration at the misconduct and profiteering of public officials.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – It is not exactly like a subtle rejection by a fellow who dutifully gives his number and asks you to call him but never picks up the phone.

Nevertheless those who phoned or sent text messages to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's private number on Sunday, were disappointed by the "busy" tone or undelivered messages.

John Aglionby, Jakarta – If the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, thought he could get closer to his people by giving out his mobile phone number and inviting complaints, then he seriously miscalculated the scale of the nation's discontent.

Timor Leste – Canberra will on Monday begin withdrawing its last peacekeeping troops from Timor Leste, signaling the end of a six-year mission that heralded a controversial new era of regional intervention for Australia and one of its largest military ventures since the Vietnam War.

Dan EatonSat – Fury in Australia over the jailing of a young woman in Bali for drugs smuggling has puzzled ordinary Indonesians, and given the world's most populous Muslim nation a chance to display a new maturity, analysts say.

Rendi Witular, PurwakartaWest Java – For those of you who find the notoriously inept bureaucracy is posing a stumbling block in seeking a solution to your problems, add 0811109949 to your phonebook and the President will lend a helping hand.

Jakarta – The need for wood in Aceh's rehabilitation in Aceh post tsunami waves will be supplied from domestic sources. Therefore, the government will not allow any wood to be purchased from foreign countries.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – The price of rebuilding houses demolished by the tsunami in Aceh province jumped 40 per cent in three months as labourers insisted they get paid for work traditionally done for free.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – At least 8,455 children under five in Jakarta are suffering from malnutrition, the City Health Agency reported on Friday.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Two members of the National Commission on Human Rights held an unannounced meeting with former Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto on Friday.

Banda Aceh – At least 35 women academics, legal practitioners, activists and students visited the Aceh Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD) at midday on Friday June 10.

Jakarta – A number of non-government organisations support the government's efforts to resolve the Aceh problem by continuing the dialogue with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Fabio Scarpello, Jakarta – While negotiations between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and Indonesian government officials in Helsinki, Finland, have given rise to a moderate optimism, fighting continues unabated in Aceh. At the same time, two bombs exploded in Central Sulawesi killing 22 people and threatening the fragile peace between Christians and Muslims in the province.

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Denpasar – In what pro-democracy activists are describing as a blow to freedom of expression, a court here jailed a university student on Friday for insulting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – The government's plan to revive its domestic spy agency, which former dictator Soeharto used to watch critics and stifle dissent, drew fire on Friday from human rights activists.

The rights campaigners expressed fear the agency would be misused by security forces, which they said enjoyed impunity despite their alleged rights abuses.

Jakarta – As malnutrition cases across the country hit the headlines, the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) has drawn attention to the government's failure to disburse the fund for the poor generated by slashing the fuel subsidy.

Jakarta – The government will soon negotiate an out-of-court settlement with PT Newmont Minahasa Raya (NMR), a local unit of a US-based gold mining company, which non-governmental organizations have accused of polluting Buyat Bay in North Sulawesi, State Minister of the Environment Rachmat Witoelar said on Thursday.

Jakarta – Caning was officially allowed Friday in Indonesia's troubled province of Aceh, with 20 law breakers set to be caned in the near future, a local government official said.

Rusman and Blontank Poer, Samarinda/Surakarta – Although East Kalimantan is popularly known as natural resource-rich province, malnutrition is still rampant in the area. Government data reveals that 174 infants, out of total 360,298 infants in the province, are currently suffering from malnutrition.

Dozens of East Timorese asylum seekers could be granted permanent visas after having their cases reviewed by Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone.

Senator Vanstone said she had reconsidered the cases of 53 of the asylum seekers. Six had been ruled out and not all of the remaining 47 were likely to gain a visa, she said.

Jakarta – Yesterday, Megawati Sukarnoputri inaugurated the Volunteers for Democratic Struggle (Relawan Perjuangan Demokrasi, Repdem), a social organisation affiliated with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). At the same time, the general chairperson of PDI-P also inaugurated Repdem members as members of her party.

Jakarta – Indonesia's military threw its backing on Friday behind a controversial government anti-terror plan to revive a far-reaching intelligence network used to quell dissent during the country's authoritarian past.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – In a bid to prevent future terrorist attacks, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered the country's governors on Thursday to revive a regional intelligence agency that once helped Soeharto's New Order regime silence opposition voices.

Bangil (East Java) – An Indonesian court on Thursday jailed for three years the wife of a top Malaysian terrorism suspect, wanted in connection with a string of deadly bombings, for hiding her husband.

David Adam – Another catastrophic giant earthquake similar to the one that caused carnage across the Indian Ocean on Boxing Day last year is lurking off Indonesia, say scientists.

Barry Neild, Jakarta – Hopes that talks between Indonesian leaders and separatists from tsunami-hit Aceh would end a long-running war were evaporating Thursday as rebels reacted with anger at Jakarta's refusal to compromise.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) rejected a cease-fire demand from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), and said it would continue to crush the rebel group until they fully surrender their arms.

"I did this so that we would not be a nation of coolies and a coolie among nations" - Indonesia's founding President Sukarno

Hera Diani, Jakarta – Indonesian Muslims donate about Rp 19.3 trillion (about US$2 billion) annually, but poor management prevents much of this money from really helping the poor, according to a researcher.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – A planned new antiterror agency is expected to have branches in regencies throughout the country gathering crucial information for the agency's counterterrorism work.

Alisa P, Jakarta – In a report on the results of the military operation over the two years that Aceh was under a state of emergency to members of the People's Representative Assembly's (DPR) Commission I, armed forces (TNI) chief General Endriartono Sutarto failed to mention the number of civilian casualties reporting only on the members of Free Acehnese Movement (GAM) who were kill