Gunawan Mashar, Makassar The perpetual internal conflicts in West Papua has prompted students originating from Papua who are studying in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar to demonstrate on at the provincial parliament on Jalan Urip Sumohardjo.

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – As the environment on several islands in Kepulauan Seribu regency continues to deteriorate, the Jakarta Police have yet to show significant progress in their ongoing 10-month investigation of a serious oil spill in the regency.

Aguswandi, London – Aceh will be the best place to judge whether the new government will be any different from previous regimes in Indonesia. One of the biggest challenges for Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono's government is to resolve the conflict in Aceh peacefully.

RR Ariyani, Jakarta – A grouping of non-government organisations (NGOs) who are handling the Buyat Bay pollution case including the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) and the Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam) hope that an integrated technical team will be able to act independently.

Bill Guerin – Indonesia's new president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, dubbed the "the thinking general", has been hard at work making the rounds of key ministries to lay down the law, as it were.

Abdul Khalik and Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, Jakarta/Padang – After several dozen local legislators across the country were convicted for corruption, police and prosecutors were currently targeting local administration heads in their fight against endemic corruption.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Sri Wahyuni, Jakarta/Yogyakarta – An education expert warned on Sunday that extensive liberalization of education would threaten the existence of local universities.

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been urged to reconsider his idea to appoint an Army chief as the new Indonesian Military (TNI) chief, and instead choose the Air Force chief.

Karen Orenstein - November 2 has come and gone. As we ponder the results, we must gear up for four more years of a Bush administration and Congress that will lean farther to the right than before the election.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Noted observers have criticized the two opposing coalitions in the House of Representatives on Sunday for placing short-term, party gain over and above the public's interest in the election of leaders of House commissions and auxiliary bodies.

Jakarta – While details remain sketchy, the newly unveiled 100-day national economic program has apparently met the expectations many people have, by showing that the government literally means business when it comes to improving the country's investment climate and economy.

Pekanbaru – Plantation workers and tribe members clashed on Saturday at an oil palm plantation in Balam Jaya subdistrict, Rokan Hilir regency, Riau province.

No fatalities were reported in the incident, Riau Police chief Brig. Gen. Deddy Komaruddin said on Saturday.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The country's commercial banks have booked strong third quarter profits, thanks mainly to low cost of funds that allowed them to enjoy fat net interest margins.

On 7 September, the Indonesian House of Representatives passed a long-awaited Law on the Commission on Truth and Reconciliation ("the Truth Commission").

Banda Aceh – Indonesian troops killed seven men they claimed were separatist rebels in the country's oil-and-gas rich Aceh province, the military said Sunday.

The Chief of Army has admitted more than 1300 troops who served in East Timor were given an anti-malarial drug with potentially devastating side effects.

It also has been revealed hundreds of our soldiers in Timor were used to test an unauthorised drug being developed by the US Army.

Dan Kingsley, Jakarta – We have read quite a bit recently about how Indonesia's non-oil manufacturing exports have been decreasing. In fact, there has actually been negative investment in this sector if the number of international trading companies (export manufacturing, retail buyers, international investors) that have left the country is taken into account.

Tony Hotland and Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta – The World Bank urged the new government on Friday to fix the country's adverse investment climate in a bid to accelerate economic growth and create jobs.

The Jakarta Post, Denpasar – The visa-on-arrival policy has discouraged foreigners from traveling to Bali, the country's main tourist destination, a recent survey revealed. From the responses of 10,000 people, the survey found that more than 50 percent of those interviewed would not return to Bali due to the new policy.

Ben Harkness, Jakarta – As of July, 2004 the official number of HIV/AIDS infections in Indonesia recorded by the Indonesian Department of Health was 4,389. However, a widely accepted estimate of the true number of cases is between 100 000 and 150 000.

Palembang – The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) disclosed on Friday that it had discovered at least nine high-profile pollution cases over the past year.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – An international housing rights protection organization called on the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to put a stop to forced evictions in Indonesia.

Matthew Moore and Karuni Rompies, Jakarta – In the months before he was swept to office, Indonesia's new president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, promised a 100-day plan as a way of breaking through the malaise of President Megawati Soekaroputri's administration.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – House of Representative speakers and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met for the first time on Friday amid tension between the two sides over who should lead the Indonesian Military (TNI).

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – None of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Cabinet members had submitted a wealth report to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) as of Friday, a commission member stated.

As part of efforts to create a clean government, Susilo told his new ministers last Friday to submit their reports to the commission within a week.

Batam/Samarinda/Jakarta – Hundreds of Indonesian workers in Malaysia began returning home on Friday, marking the first day of the 17-day amnesty program for illegal workers offered by the Malaysian government.

Cunding Levi and Lita Oetomo, Jayapura – Thousands of demonstrators from the Papua People's Anti-Militarism Front (Front Rakyat Papua Anti Militerisme, FRPAM) led by Jefrison A. Pagawak demonstrated again on Friday October 29.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – A group of armed men shot dead an elementary school teacher and injured his son and a neighbor in Sawang district, South Aceh regency, according to an official military account on Friday.

Jakarta – Two Acehnese non-government organisations, the Acehnese Popular Democratic Resistance Front (Front Perlawanan Demokratik Rakyat Aceh, FPDRA) and the Acehnese Democratic Women's Organisation (Organisasi Perempuan Aceh Demokrati, ORPAD) are demanding the fulfillment of President Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono's promise during the election campaign that there would be changes in Ac

Jakarta – The two opposing factions in the House of Representatives remained locked in their respective positions on Friday, raising the possibility of a lengthy deadlock in the legislative body.

As the nation clamors for change, the conduct currently being exhibited by the honorable members of our national legislature, the House of Representatives, does not bode well for the immediate future of democracy in Indonesia.

Nigel Wilson – East Timor is demanding the Australian Government pay more than $2.6 billion in compensation for oil produced from Timor Sea fields since 1999.

Kornelius Purba, Jakarta – When asked about the decision of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to oblige his ministers to sign a "political contract" before their appointments, a senior government official who has served three presidents replied, "You remember president Habibie?" According to the official, top government officials from the central government down to the lowest tier

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Responding to the war on corruption launched by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the National Police and the Attorney General's Office (AGO) have decided to prioritize several graft cases in the first 100 days of the new administration.

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Oyos Saroso, Jakarta/Lampung – Pardede, a truck driver, had just eaten a meal at a busy roadside Begadang Restaurant, Bandarlampung. But while his stomach was full, his wallet was not.

Jakarta – A number of non-government organisations (NGOs) who are concerned with issues of human rights are supporting the Indonesian government's nomination as the head of the United Nations Human Rights Commission on the condition that the government must first resolve cases of human rights violations which have occurred in the country.

East Timor on Friday indicted eight Indonesian soldiers and two militiamen for allegedly killing two UN election workers and attacking independence supporters during the country's bloody break from Indonesian rule in 1999.

Nala Edwin, Jakarta – The Committee to Monitor the New Order (Komite Waspada Orde Baru, Tewas Orba) says that the Indonesian Cabinet of Unity is ridden with people from former President Suharto's New Order regime. There are indications that 34.21 per cent of the members in the cabinet of newly installed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) have links with the New Order.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The absence of clear-cut domestic regulations sanctioning the debt-for-nature-swap (DNS) scheme has hampered the way for its full-fledged implementation, a non-governmental organization says.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Smack in the middle of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, hordes of international and local reporters have descended on a makeshift courtroom here to witness the long-awaited and pivotal trial that pits the state against one of its people, 66-year-old militant cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir.

Agus R/Supriyantho/Dian Y/Mahbub, Surabaya – Commemorations of Youth Pledge Day in various parts of the country yesterday were enlivened by a number of demonstrations. In the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya, around 20 activists from the Left Democratic Force (LDF) held a demonstration at the State Grahadi Building wearing bamboo hats traditionally worn by farmers.

Newly-elected Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he would consider becoming a globe-trotting advocate for moderate Islam, promoting peace in hotspots such as the Middle East.

Yudhoyono said he wanted Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, to be a model for moderate Islamic democracy.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Employers can no longer dismiss striking workers or those implicated in crimes without due process of law, the Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday.

The press in our former colony, the tiny East Timor, is much more free than ours; the new nation ranks number 57 together with Ghana and a notch above Thailand on a newly released list that ranks 167 countries.

Ivy Susanti, Jakarta – The Indonesian government will review the visa procedures for foreign diplomats to facilitate their travel to Indonesia, particularly Aceh, foreign affairs minister Hassan Wirayuda said on Thursday.

Hassan was commenting on an appeal by the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the European Union (EU).

[The following report was filed by the Aceh Working Group on 18 October, following their investigation of three places of detention, in Aceh and Java. The Group investigated 71 cases of persons who were repeatedly beaten and subjected to torture, both during interrogation as well as after having been tried in court, on charges of involvement in GAM, the Free Aceh Movement.]

Muninggar Sri Saraswati – Press freedom in Indonesia remains under serious threat due to the existence of outdated laws, and killings and physical attacks targeting journalists, an international press organization has said in a report.

Radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Baasyir says charges that he was behind the deadly Bali and Marriott Hotel bombings were trumped up by US President George W. Bush and his "slave" Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

Flamboyan, Jakarta – The head of the European Union's Troika Delegation, Bernard Bot, said on Thursday October 28 that they were interested in visiting Aceh and West Papua.

Meriam Debora, Jakarta – Moves to nominate Indonesia as the head of the United Nations Human Rights Commission and as a permanent member of the Security Council are presumptuous because of the many cases of human rights violations in Indonesia which have yet to be resolved.