Kenji Hall, Jakarta – Human rights groups on Tuesday called on the United States not to ease restrictions on ties with Indonesia's military saying it continues to commit "brutal human rights violations."

Achmad Sukarsono, Banda Aceh – Aid groups, foreign armies and Indonesian officials have prevented disease and starvation from engulfing tsunami-hit Aceh province, but closer cooperation is needed to rebuild shattered livelihoods, government and aid officials said.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he was cautiously positive about reaching a deal with East Timor on how to share lucrative energy reserves beneath the Timor Sea.

Australia and East Timor have so far failed to reach agreement on how best to divide the estimated $A41 billion worth of oil and gas deposits lying beneath the sea between Australia and East Timor.

The public furor over the 8.14 percent increase in tap water rates charged by PAM Jaya could scare off investors intending to submit bids for 91 infrastructure projects over the next few months following the January 17 and January 18 Infrastructure Summit in Jakarta.

Tensions are rising between militant Islamic groups working in tsunami-struck Aceh and local residents as the outsiders seek to force hardline views on the traumatised local community.

The number of people believed killed in December's tsunami disaster rose to nearly 295,000, six weeks after the catastrophe, as Indonesia again increased its number of dead.

Indonesia was hardest-hit by the December 26 quake and tsunamis, with a total of 241,687 people listed as dead or missing, the health ministry said in its latest figures.

New York – The Indonesian government's plan in Aceh to register and relocate more than 100,000 people displaced by the tsunami to semi-permanent camps threatens their right to return home, Human Rights Watch and Human Rights First said today. The Indonesian government needs to ensure that any relocation program in the province fully respects the rights of the displaced people.

East Timor's new Catholic bishop has opposed a deal between Timorese and Indonesian leaders to drop trials over atrocities during the country's 1999 independence process, saying it lacks public support.

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – "I don't know what to say," novelist Pramoedya Ananta Toer, overwhelmed by the moment, finally uttered at his 80th birthday party with family and friends on Sunday afternoon. After giving a brief thank you to all the people who came to his birthday, he sat down and wiped the tears from his eyes.

After years of much talk and effectively no action at all, Jakarta's administrators seem at long last to have arrived at the realization that the problem of pollution in the Indonesian capital has reached the point where any further delay of action is no longer possible.

Rendi A. Witular and Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta – The government has decided to drop its plan to set up a special authority for Aceh since the tsunami-stricken areas in the province already had functioning local governments, according to Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – A group of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has condemned the central government for its failure to involve the public in drafting a master plan to rebuild Banda Aceh.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – After declaring that his declining popularity did not really matter to him, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono invited two chief editors to his office for talks on two separate occasions on Thursday evening and Friday morning.

Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – Opposing planned fuel (BBM) price increases by the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice-president Jusuf Kalla (SBY-JK), scores of demonstrators from the National Student League for Democracy (LMND) sealed off a petrol station (SPBU) and the offices of the state oil company Pertamina.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Armed Forces (Tentara Nasional Indonesia – TNI) is still failing to respect human rights enforcement. This is evident from the recent promotion of several officers who are still involved in cases of human rights abuses.

Rachland Nashidik, Executive Director of Imparsial, expressed this opinion at a press conference in Jakarta on Friday.

Theresia Sufa, Bogor – Three teachers for an entire elementary school could be considered a lot in Bogor, because many schools in the regency only have one teacher for over 200 students, said head of the administrative unit at the education agency, Bambang SP.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – Watch out all you lovebirds out there – there is now a chance that lip-locking in public could send you to jail for 10 years and cost you as much as Rp 300 million (US$32,800) in fines.

Public kissing and cohabitation may become crimes in Indonesia in future as the world's largest Muslim nation seeks to overhaul its Dutch-inherited criminal laws, an official said.

The drafting of a new criminal code has finally been completed after 25 years and parliament will soon debate it, justice ministry official Abdul Gani Abdullah told AFP Saturday.

Jane Perlez, Jakarta – After a 13-year break, the Bush administration is acting to mend relations with the Indonesian military, the largest in Southeast Asia and a potentially crucial player in its campaign against terrorism.

Leony Aurora, Jakarta – The World Bank expects investment in Indonesia to grow by 15 percent this year, but warns that further measures to improve the investment climate must be taken to maintain the momentum.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – The central bank is urging the government to immediately raise fuel prices to end uncertainty, since the issue has been used by some parties to speculate over the prices of goods, which then pushes up inflation.

Chris Brummitt, Banda Aceh – With the birth of her first child just one month away, Wadiana Wahab worries about the world her baby will enter.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – While the legal battle involving Total E&P Indonesie – a local affiliate of French oil giant Total SA – and its contractors is only in its early stages, it is already sending a bad signal about Indonesia's investment climate.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) Army headquarters (HQ) is to deploy 40 company units, amounting to around 6,000 personnel, in Aceh in order to carry out the program of "TNI Building Villages."

Their assignment there is to open areas that are difficult to reach," said Army chief of staff General Ryamizard Ryacudu

Jakarta – A prominent human rights group in Aceh on Friday criticized Finnish mediator Martti Ahtisaari for allegedly backing the Indonesian government's side and its proposal to resolve the decades-long independence struggle.

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed concern on Friday over internal bickering in the Democratic Party, one of the parties that supported him for the presidency.

"The President has showed his concern several times over the existence of signs of a split," presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said at the Presidential Palace.

M. Taufiqurrahman and Kornelius Purba, Jakarta – Clarly worried that she could face the same fate as former Golkar leader Akbar Tandjung, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) leader Megawati Soekarnoputri warned President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government not to try to oust her from her post at the party's congress next month.

Jakarta – Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda will host a meeting with his East Timor counterpart Ramos Horta to have talks on the planned establishment of the commission for truth and friendship, a foreign spokesman said Friday.

Jakarta – The first 100 days of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration have passed. But criticism of his government continues unabated, with most considering that he had so far failed to improve the country's investment and business climate.

Jakarta – Experts testified at the graft trial of suspended Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh on Thursday and stated that the defendant violated administrative procedures in the purchase of a Russian-made chopper and that the aircraft was indeed a used product.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Ministry of Defense is drafting a review of Defense Law No. 3/2002 and Indonesian Military (TNI) Law No. 34/2004 aimed at eliminating the intervention of the House of Representatives in the appointment of TNI commander.

Yenni Djahidin, Washington D.C. – A soon-to-be published study recommends that the United States remove its restrictions on the Indonesian military (TNI). The study, to be released in March, says that both countries would benefit from a restoration in military to military cooperation.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – The government will raise fuel prices by up to 30 percent in the first quarter of this year in a bid to lower the fuel subsidy.

To limit the inflationary impact, Bank Indonesia has indicated it will raise interest rates or absorb the circulation of base money.

Irwan Firdaus, Banda Aceh – An Indonesian anti-corruption activist detained on allegations of stealing aid in the tsunami-ravaged province of Aceh was hospitalized Friday after complaining of injuries sustained while in police custody.

Sarah Crichton – The Federal Court has ruled it cannot hear a US oil company's multi-billion dollar compensation claim against the Commonwealth for loss of rights to vast oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea.

Katherine Arie – Just weeks after the December 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami left over 230,000 people dead or missing in Indonesia's Aceh province, a decades-old conflict between government forces and Acehnese separatists flared up once again.

It all sounds very good, but what does it all mean? The government's recent announcement that it would "allocate" savings from the discontinuation of the fuel subsidy to provide free basic education and health care for the country's poor sounds wonderfully appealing.

Indonesia has rejected a suggestion by Singapore's mentor minister Lee Kuan Yew, that it considers an instrument such as the island's Internal Security Act, to fight terrorism. The controversial ISA, which is also present in neighbouring Malaysia, allows for the indefinite detention without trial or charge, of suspects.

Almost five months after the murder of acclaimed human rights campaigner Munir, police are yet to come up with a single suspect, increasing concerns of a high-level cover-up.

Chris Brummitt – Aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, Indonesia The United States wants to boost military ties with the Indonesian military on the back of the two countries' close cooperation in helping victims of the December 26 tsunami, America's ambassador to Indonesia said Thursday.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The government should offer a power-sharing arrangement to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in governing oil and gas-rich Aceh as part of an effort to end the decades-long conflict in the province, a number of experts have said.

Andreas Harsono, Banda Aceh – The Indonesian Red Crescent – claiming there is an oversupply of "do-gooders" who "do not speak the language" – has said it wants all foreign doctors helping the Indian Ocean tsunami survivors in Aceh to leave and hand over their emergency medical functions to local doctors instead.

Indonesia's vice president said he believed the current talks with Aceh separatist leaders will bring an end to decades of armed conflict in Indonesia's tsunami-hit province, a report said.

Urip Hudiono and Fadli, Banda Aceh – With the emergency relief stage in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam officially declared to have ended, the government will now commence with rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in the tsunami-stricken province, which includes the establishment of relocation barracks for refugees.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he was unperturbed by criticism of his early performance, indicating he was prepared to take unpopular measures to fix the sluggish economy.

"I don't care about my popularity. What matters is I will not stop working for the welfare of the people," he said in a speech opening a meeting of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce.

Letta Tayler, Bukit Barisan mountain range – The armed rebels huddled in the drizzle in their remote mountain hideout, a cluster of bamboo platforms and tattered tarps in a mosquito-infested jungle.

Under a makeshift canopy, two fighters who had been ambushed by the Indonesian army a few days earlier fretted that they had no fresh bandages for their gunshot wounds.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – The City Council is set to endorse the draft bylaw on air pollution on Friday, but clean air is still long way off in Jakarta, long listed as one of the world's most polluted cities.

Councillor Muhayar Rustamudin, chairman of the City Council's bylaw drafting committee, said on Wednesday that the bylaw would only come into effect next year.

Jakarta – The city administration has secretly increased tapwater rates by between 4 and 16 percent, depending on the level of water consumption and customer classification.

Jakarta – The Jakarta administration's decision to change three city hospitals into corporate entities in a bid to boost their professionalism, has received a negative reaction from several hospital staff and local residents.

Prime Minister John Howard has declared tension between Indonesia and Australia a thing of the past after he toured tsunami-struck Aceh, saying he was stunned by the scale of the devastation.