Paul Dyer – The $7 billion Greater Sunrise gas project in the Timor Sea has been shelved by project operator Woodside Petroleum.
Woodside has halted funds and reassigned project employees because a border dispute between Australia and East Timor remains unresolved.
Michael Vatikiotism Meulaboh – Indonesia Almost a month after the tsunami, the town of Meulaboh still reeks of death and misery. As I drove down the main street, named after the great Acehnese leader Teuku Umar, images of Dresden and Tokyo after the firebombings sprang to mind, even after some intensive cleanup.
Matthew Moore reports – It is more than 13 years since Max Stahl shot his famous footage of Indonesian troops massacring East Timorese at the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili. Hiding behind gravestones, Stahl stayed calm as he filmed hundreds of Timorese fleeing a relentless spray of automatic fire, some reaching safety, many falling dead or wounded before his lens.
In the first weeks of the aftermath of the tsunami of December 26, we were stunned by the severity of the destruction, and thankful for the many small miracles of survival told by enduring residents.
Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – High profile corruption suspects will surely have difficult times ahead as a new anti-graft ruling currently being drafted by the government will not only allow authorities to detain them from the start of probe, but also will allow the state to immediately confiscate their personal assets.
Jakarta – The city administration plan to triple the price of on-street parking is aimed at encouraging motorists to keep their vehicles at home in order to ease traffic congestion in the city, an official says.
Jakarta – The fact-finding team formed to assist the police investigation into the death of rights activist Munir had its first coordinating meeting with the police at the National Police Headquarters on Thursday.
Ian Fisher, Calang – This town was not just destroyed. It vanished. After almost three weeks, only 323 bodies have been found. Before December 26, when the tsunami swept in from both sides of the pretty tropical peninsula that once cradled Calang, 7,300 people lived here.
Bill Guerin, Jakarta – As the United States rides its sudden wave of popularity in the world's most populous Muslim country, Indonesia, the secular government there has been handed a very hot political potato.
Banda Aceh – Indonesia wants the United States to lift a long-standing ban on weapon sales to its military, arguing that it could respond more effectively to disasters such as last month's tsunami if its forces were better equipped.
Jakarta – Hundreds of squatters evicted from a three-hectare land owned by PT Kereta Api Indonesia (PT KAI) in Tanah Abang district, Central Jakarta have set up tents along the banks of West Flood Canal.
As if the people of Aceh, where at least 108,000 died in the tsunami, didn't have enough problems already. Now the Indonesian government – and especially its military – is putting obstacles in the way of international efforts to aid survivors in the devastated province.
Amy Goodman: We're joined by journalist and activist, Allan Nairn.
Stephen Fitzpatrick, Montasik – Acehnese rebels fighting for an independent homeland have descended from the isolation of northern Sumatra's mountains to restock and regroup after the tsunami that killed 100,000 on the Indonesian island.
Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – The labor union of state-controlled cement producer PT Semen Gresik (SG) will launch a massive strike if the government decides to hand over the company's Tuban, Java plants to Mexican cement giant Cemex SA.
Matthew Moore in Banda Aceh and Cynthia Banham – The acting governor of Aceh has asked foreign troops and aid workers to stay and provide "long-term support" for victims of the tsunami despite growing pressure from the Indonesian Government for all foreign troops to leave by the end of March.
Andrew Burrell, Banda Aceh – The acting governor of Aceh said yesterday he was "frightened" of being abandoned by the thousands of foreign troops and aid workers involved in the massive humanitarian mission in his tsunami-battered province.
Norbert Vollertsen, Banda Aceh – I feel almost as if I am back in North Korea again. The military road blocks, heavily armed police tanks at every street corner and thousands of soldiers everywhere all remind me of the 18 months I spent in the Stalinist state.
Raymond Bonner, New York Times, Jakarta – The US ambassador here said on Thursday that the United States was not troubled by the demands by the Indonesian government that aid workers in Aceh Province register and that all foreign troops be gone by the end of March.
Dili – It was announced on 21 December 2004 that the governments of East Timor and Indonesia had agreed on the formation of a Truth and Friendship Commission to look into the Referendum-related violence which took place in East Timor in 1999, however, the precise details as to how this will be achieved remain unclear.
Prospects for peace in Indonesia's war-torn and tsunami-hit Aceh province were lifted by an offer of talks from separatist rebels, but tensions continued to overshadow efforts to aid disaster victims.
Banda Aceh (Agencies) – Indonesia wants a lasting truce with separatists in tsunami-ravaged Aceh province, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on Friday, as both sides expressed a willingness for talks to end the 28-year rebellion.
Marianne Kearney, Darussalam – Dozens of Muslim and Christian groups are exploiting the chaos wrought by the tsunami in the Indonesian province of Aceh to spread their message and compete for influence, secular aid workers said yesterday.
Ellen Nakashima, Banda Aceh – An Islamic cleric and political organizer, Azmi Fajri Usman, pulled up at a camp of about 200 tsunami survivors stranded in a city park.
"Asalaam alaikum!" Peace be with you, he said, hopping off his motorbike and approaching a few of the survivors as the sun neared its zenith Wednesday. "Is there anyone here who's organized the place?"
Bandung – At least 1,000 workers and former workers from state aircraft maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) held a protest on Wednesday in response to the PTDI directors' plan to sell the company's subsidiary PT Nusantara Turbine Propulsion (NTP) to private investors.
Bangkok – SEAPA is dismayed by Jakarta's stated intent to restrict the movement of aid workers and journalists in Aceh. In the wake of the devastation wrought by the 26 December 2004 tsunami on the province, SEAPA said the latest statements of the Indonesian government and military run against a need to ensure transparency and access to information in Aceh.
Matthew Moore in Banda Aceh and agencies – Indonesia's Vice-President, Jusuf Kalla, said yesterday that foreigners should get out of Aceh as soon as possible. "Three months are enough. The sooner [they leave], the better," he said.
Banda Aceh – Indonesia bore the brunt of the tsunami, suffering 100,000 of the 150,000 fatalities. The world's response has been generous, but is already causing tensions
Petaling Jaya – A team of Malaysian volunteers was forced to bribe its way through a military check point at the Medan-Aceh border yesterday during its journey to deliver medicine and other supplies to the tsunami victims.
Raymond Bonner, Jakarta – As the United States and other world governments prepare to channel hundreds of millions of aid dollars to the tsunami-ravaged regions of Aceh, Indonesia's culture of corruption has emerged as a major concern.
The Indonesian military will send thousands more soldiers into Aceh to help tsunami relief efforts, bringing the total troop deployment there close to 50,000, a military spokesman said.
Yeoh En-Lai, Lhoknga – All that remains of the barracks that housed 2,000 Indonesian soldiers in this village is a huge mound of rubble, crushed in seconds by last month's tsunami. The commander died when his quarters were washed away.
Banda Aceh – Wanting to visit Sigli to report on the activities of Doctors without Borders here, Bruno Bonamigo, producer of Radio Canada Information, reported to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs desk at the governor's house in Banda Aceh.
An official at the desk told Bonamigo that he could go to Meulaboh on the west coast, but not to Sigli, a town on the east coast.
Manila – Two radical Islamic groups that have moved into Indonesia's tsunami-stricken Aceh province aren't likely to attack foreigners or relief workers, but may raise tensions by fostering anti-Western sentiments, said an expert in Manila Thursday.
The leadership of a rebel movement fighting for independence in the tsunami-hit Indonesian province of Aceh has called for ceasefire talks with the government.
Rebel prime minister Malik Mahmud said in the statement that his men were willing to sit down for discussions with Jakarta to ease fears over the safety of foreign humanitarian workers operating in Aceh.
Suherdjoko and Slamet Susanto, Temanggung – About 10,000 people took to the streets of Temanggung regency, Central Java, on Wednesday to demand the resignation of Regent Totok Ary Prabowo for corruption and arrogance.
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Legal experts urged the government to scrap an existing ruling, which requires law enforcers to obtain approval from the President in probing state officials in graft cases, arguing that the regulation has only hampered the investigation process.
Jakarta – The often crippling traffic jams and a prolonged economic crisis have not stopped Jakartans from buying new cars.
The Jakarta administration reported on Tuesday the number of new cars on the city's streets has soared over the past four years.
Tangerang – Hundreds of workers and students staged on Wednesday a joint rally at the Tangerang Municipal Council to protest the central government's plan to increase fuel prices as well as to demand a Rp 735,000 minimum wage for 2005.
Mikad, a student at Tangerang Syeh Yusuf University (Unis), said people across the country should oppose the fuel hike.
On Wednesday morning, a major radio station in Jakarta invited its listeners to comment on the Indonesian Military's (TNI) decision to restrict the movements of international aid workers and foreign military personnel while in Aceh.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Two Papua opposition leaders went on trial separately on Wednesday at the Jayapura District Court for treason.
Prosecutor Maskel Rambolangi said defendant Yusak Pakage, 26, led a ceremony to commemorate the self-declared Papua independence day on December 1 last year.
New York – The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by Indonesian government restrictions on reporting in the province of Aceh, which was devastated in the December tsunami. CPJ called on the government today to lift the limitations immediately so independent journalists can fully document the massive international humanitarian effort.
The East Timor Action Network (ETAN) today urged Congress and the Bush administration to maintain restrictions on US military assistance to Indonesia. Congress has limited US weapons and training support for the Indonesian military (TNI) for more than a decade because of human rights violations and other atrocities committed by Indonesia's armed forces.
Jane Perlez, Banda Aceh – The Indonesian military on Tuesday ordered restrictions on foreign aid workers, limiting their free operation to the two main cities hit by the tsunami in an effort to assert control over international relief operations here.
The commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI), General Endriartono Sutarto, announced Tuesday that foreign aid agencies wishing to distribute relief to people in Aceh would be restricted to two cities, Banda Aceh and Meulaboh. Special permission would be needed to go anywere else. All agencies will now be required to tell the military where they intend to deliver aid.
Bill Guerin – Indonesia's economy, the biggest in Southeast Asia, may not be badly hit by the devastating tsunami disaster. "Given that the energy [mainly oil and natural gas] production facilities in Aceh or Northern Sumatra have survived the tsunami, the overall damage to Indonesia's economy appears to be minimal," United States investment bank Morgan Stanley said last week.
New York – The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by Indonesian government restrictions on reporting in the province of Aceh, which was devastated in the December tsunami. CPJ called on the government today to lift the limitations immediately so independent journalists can fully document the massive international humanitarian effort.
The desire by the government of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to create an opportunity for a peace agreement and end the armed conflict with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) should be welcomed all elements of society. This positive signal should also be welcomed by GAM.
Damien Kingsbury – The arrival in Aceh of militant Islamic fundamentalist groups has raised the prospect of conflict with foreign aid workers and troops, including Australians, who are helping the tsunami relief operation.
Canberra – Australia's prime minister on Wednesday supported the Indonesian government's demand that foreign aid workers and journalists report their movements outside tsunami-battered Aceh's provincial capital.