Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Punctuality is one thing that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has enforced during his first month in office, unlike his predecessors.

After having a career in the military, Susilo is demanding that Cabinet members, presidential staff and even journalists covering his activities be punctual.

Jakarta – The Central Sulawesi Police seized more than 500 weapons including homemade firearms in two days of raids over the weekend following a bombing in the restive regency of Poso on November 13 that killed six people.

Jakarta – The wife and colleagues of human rights activist Munir who died of arsenic poisoning aboard a plane flight in September vowed on Sunday not to be silenced by intimidation and to continue voicing their demands for justice.

The widow of a murdered Indonesian rights activist has vowed not to be silenced by death threats, including a dismembered chicken sent to her with a warning to stop blaming the military for her husband's death.

Human Rights Watch has warned that Malaysia's plan to arrest and deport hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants could spark rights abuses and harm legitimate refugees and victims of human trafficking.

The expulsion plan "may result in widespread rights abuses," the New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement released Tuesday.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The majority of illegal Indonesian migrants working in Malaysia have chosen to ignore the amnesty offer from Kuala Lumpur.

Jakarta – The wife of an Indonesian human rights activist who was fatally poisoned was sent a dismembered chicken, media reports said yesterday. It came with a death threat, warning her not to publicly blame the military for her husband's death.

Dili – Eight East Timorese anti-independence militiamen have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from four to eight years for crimes against humanity committed in 1999, Dili's UN- backed Serious Crimes Unit (SCU) announced Monday.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Local non-governmental organizations, churches and student organizations urged the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to set up a fact-finding team to investigate the recent series of shootings in the province.

Endy M. Bayuni, Santiago – Indonesia remains committed to the goals of free trade but it will also exercise its right to protect its industries and workers as far as allowed under the World Trade Organization (WTO), chief economics minister Aburizal Bakrie says.

Ambassador Marie T. Huhtala, Washington DC – Indonesia has experienced a dizzying series of changes since the fall of President Soeharto in 1998, representing rather amazing progress in the country's democratization. With a vast, multi-ethnic nation and little history of democracy, Indonesia has faced a steep learning curve, but the results so far have been impressive.

It is now already a month after the inauguration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's United Indonesia Cabinet and the market is still waiting for what has long been promoted as Susilo's first 100-day action plan to fully restore investor confidence.

Jakarta – Soldiers shot and killed eight suspected rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province, the military said Monday, in the worst violence in the rebellious region for weeks.

The killings occurred during a gunbattle Sunday in the northern village of Krueng Aji, military spokesman Ari Mulya Asnawi said. Troops recovered four assault rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

Hopes that an end was in sight to nearly three decades of conflict in the Indonesian province of Aceh are fading. There was more violence over the weekend, just after the Indonesian president had announced a six month extension of the civil emergency in the province.

Blontank Poer, Nusakambangan, Central Java – It rained at dawn on Idul Fitri and 188 inmates at the Permisan penitentiary on Nusakambangan island were forced to crowd into the mosque to perform their Ied prayers.

After the prayers, 31 of them, aged from 25 to 40, hugged each other, some shedding tears. It was their first time to observe Idul Fitri without their families.

Aceh police chief Insp. Gen. Bahrumsyah Kasman has been appointed head of the Aceh Civil Emergency replacing Governor Abdullah Puteh, who has to answer a summons by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) over corruption charges. The Jakarta Post's Nani Farida talked with Bahrumsyah for two hours about the weaknesses of the previous civil emergency and his future plans.

The US Congress agreed yesterday to renew bans on International Military Education and Training (IMET) and foreign military financing (FMF) for Indonesia.

Arin Widiyanti, Jakarta – The executive director of Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial), Rachlan Nashidik, says that the person or persons threatening Munir's family want to send a message that it was the TNI (armed forces) who killed the human rights activist. Imparsial does not want to be provoked by the perpetrator into joining in with accusing the TNI.

Arin Widiyanti, Jakarta – Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial) and the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) are urging the government and police to investigate threats which have been made against the family of the late Munir.

Arin Widiyanti, Jakarta Munir's widow, Suciwati, says that the threats against her indicate that the death of her husband was politically motivated. She has asked that the investigation not be directed at Munir's closest friends as suspects in the murder.

An Indonesian police team, accompanied by a human rights activist, is visiting the Netherlands to seek more information about the death of outspoken human rights crusader Munir, after a Dutch autopsy concluded that arsenic poisoning killed him on a flight to Amsterdam.

Endy Bayuni, Santiago – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Australian Prime Minister John Howard agreed on Friday to address concerns about defense and security matters to prevent possible misunderstandings in the future.

Fedhly Averouss Bey, Jakarta – The extension of the civil emergency in Aceh will not resolve the problems in the province. On the contrary it is an a-historical policy.

Endy M. Bayuni, Santiago – Building infrastructure will be the bedrock of the government's economic strategy for the next five years, and that means raising no less than US$72 billion, or around Rp 600 trillion to finance related projects, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Friday.

For a newcomer, a simple drive across town can be a heart-stopping experience. A lack of discipline, ignorance of traffic regulations and the plain absence of courtesy among motorists make our streets a hazard. Compounding this is the deficient road infrastructure and the flagrant inconsistency of traffic officers in enforcing the law.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued a regulation on Thursday to extend the state of civil emergency in Aceh for another six months. Criticism loomed even before the decision was taken, with many questioning the new government's commitment to a more comprehensive solution to the long-standing problems in the natural resource-rich province.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – The acting civil emergency administrator in Aceh has asked the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to verify reports of malfeasance in the use of Rp 6 trillion (US$6.8 billion) in state funds allocated for the first six months of the state of civil emergency in the province.

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – Some 21 traffic police officers are facing possible demotion or dismissal for extorting money from motorists traveling through the province during the week-long Idul Fitri holiday.

Jakarta – Non-government organisations (NGOs) say that the policy decision by the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to extend the state of civil emergency in Aceh is disappointing.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Pipit Subakir, 40, holds his two children tightly by the hand while his wife, Tuti, 35, and his brother-in-law, Sofyan, 19, follow behind as the family walk out of the Senen railway station in Central Jakarta on Friday.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's call for a moderate and simple lifestyle seems to have fallen on deaf ears in the case of Vice President Jusuf Kalla and several Cabinet ministers.

Jayapura – An alliance of 20 political parties that participated in the April 5 legislative election in Mimika, Papua protested the recent inauguration of 25 councillors for the Mimika regency legislature, saying it was against Decree No. 44/2004 issued by the General Election Commission (KPU).

Nethy Dharma Somba and Apriadi Gunawan, Jayapura/Medan – The nationwide drive against illegal logging continued as the police apprehended a foreign ship carrying illegal logs in Papua and a minister revealed that a number of officials were allegedly involved in the rampant illegal logging.

The Acehnese will have to endure yet another six months of suffering after the new government this week extended the state of civil emergency until May 2005. It's appalling to see a golden opportunity slip through the fingers of former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and prove to the nation that he is true to his word.

Aguswandi, London – An interesting opinion article appeared in this newspaper, which drew a comparison between the plight of the Palestinians and the Acehnese. (The Jakarta Post, November 8). This is maybe the first time an Indonesian has connected the two conflicts.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Despite a thawing in the once icy relationship between the government and the House of Representatives, the administration's plan to revise several assumptions in the 2005 state budget could still face challenges from legislators.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – A long-time friend from the army and a group of young technocrats form the inner circle in Merdeka palace.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Police are finalizing the case files of six executives of mining firm PT Newmont Minahasa Raya before returning them to prosecutors, hoping that the files will be accepted as sufficient evidence to take the six to court.

Sari P. Setiogi, Jakarta – Despite its enforcement, the controversy surrounding Law No. 23/2002 on child protection is not subsiding at all, and it may have contributed to an increase in child trafficking, a leading activist says.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ruled out on Thursday a foreign role in Aceh, while also offering amnesty to rebels who gave up their armed struggle.

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – Law enforcers in the conflict-prone Central Sulawesi town of Poso have committed human rights violations by omission for allowing a string of violent events to occur in the past three weeks, the National Commission on Human Rights announced on Thursday.

Damien Kingsbury, Melbourne – Since Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono assumed the presidency, there has been growing talk about the possibility of moving towards a resolution of the conflict in Aceh. Susilo said it was a goal of his presidency to find peace in Aceh, even if his initial proposal of the Free Aceh Movement effectively surrendering was not a meaningful contribution.

Eugene Low, Washington – The United States is optimistic that bilateral ties with Indonesia will improve under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a top State Department official has said.

Have successive Australian governments been lapdogs to the Indonesian military in their assessment of the impact of East Timorese independence on the interests of Indonesia? Clinton Fernandes, a former military intelligence officer and now a historian, certainly thinks so.

Tiarma Siboro and Nani Afrida, Jakarta/Banda Aceh – Acehnese responded coldly to the government's decision on Thursday to extend the state of civil emergency in the province, complaining that they were not involved in the process that led to the decision.

Matt Moore – More than 60 previous winners of the Right Livelihood award, also known as the "alternative Nobel" prize, on Friday called for a complete investigation into the poisoning death of an Indonesian human rights activist.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – A month after he was sworn in, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has delivered his keenly awaited first speech to the Indonesian nation.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – One hundred days are not enough to solve all of Indonesia's problems.

That was President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's message in a nationwide television address – his first since taking power on October 20 – that was widely expected to provide a detailed road map of his administration.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – As part of the major restructuring of all state-owned enterprises (SOEs), the new government plans to sell or close those considered to be in bad shape and with no business prospects, according to a senior official.

Jakarta – Police believe the perpetrators of last Saturday's bombing in the Central Sulawesi town of Poso came from the same group that slayed a prosecutor and killed a Protestant minister in the provincial capital of Palu a few months earlier.