Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Indonesia's bountiful natural resources are generating massive corporate deals, a signal that one of the region's sickest post-Asian-financial-crisis economies is finally reviving. In the process, so too are some of the business families that ruled the roost under former president Suharto's New Order regime.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – While poor sanitation, inadequate housing and a lack of decent infrastructure all help infectious diseases spread throughout the country, environmentalists say global warming is beginning to play an increasing role in causing human illness.

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Malang – Over 32,000 contract teachers in East Java might have to let go of their dream of becoming civil servants.

Head of the East Java Education Office, Rasiyo, said after a meeting in Malang that based on a 2005 government regulation on the appointment of contract employees as civil servants, the contract teachers might not qualify.

Hera Diani and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The government is ready to publicize the revised ministerial decree on places of worship but Christian leaders still have reservations about the controversial law.

Religious Affairs Minister M. Maftuh Basyuni and Home Minister M. Ma'ruf signed the joint ministerial decree Tuesday, replacing the one issued in 1969.

Jakarta – If the general election was today, how would you cast your vote? The answer would be the same as in 2004, when the three biggest parties – the Golkar Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Democrat Party – took the lead, says a survey by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI).

Around 10,000 workers from the National Workers Union in Bandung regency staged a protest Thursday to reject the revision of a manpower law outside the regental administration office.

In their protest, the workers said the revised articles, including those on wages and severance pay, were advantageous to business interests and not to workers.

Bekasi – Thousands of workers grouped in the National Labor Union (SPN) and the Federation of Democratic Workers took to the streets Wednesday to protest the revised 2003 Manpower Law.

Staging their protest outside the Bekasi Council building, the workers demanded the councillors protect their rights.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Police have arrested a businessman and an immigration officer at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport as part of a crackdown on a human trafficking ring.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Truck drivers were back at work in Medan's Belawan port but only halfheartedly, saying they actually wanted to strike longer since the central government only promised to meet one of their many demands.

Rendi Akhmad Witular, Jakarta – Many legislators are not qualified for their jobs and continue to put their personal interests over national ones, Golkar Party leader Jusuf Kalla says.

The giant Freeport gold and copper mine is carving a scar so vast and deep into the remote forests of Papua that it will soon be visible from space. Downstream, a swelling bruise of a billion tonnes of mine waste has rendered wetlands inhospitable for aquatic life. The stupendous profits generated by the world's largest copper and gold mine largely pass the indigenous Papuans by.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – Many workers are displeased by the government regulating a joint furlough scheme for certain national holidays, saying it is infringing on their right to more time off from the grind of work.

While a few sought-after employees leapfrog from one company to another, reaping benefits along the way, many Indonesian workers are worried about holding on to the job they have right now.

Job cuts are often the first survival measure when market economies are flat or declining, and last year was no exception as the economy took a beating, a survey on employment found.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Truck drivers went back to work at four major seaports in the country on Tuesday after a massive wildcat strike a day earlier.

Jakarta – The House of Representatives passed two bills Tuesday, ratifying a United Nations convention on corruption and a bilateral agreement on transnational crimes with China.

During a plenary session led by House deputy speaker Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno, all 10 House factions agreed on the need to ratify the 2003 United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan, Karanganyar – Hundreds of participants in the public service exam in North Sumatra and Central Java staged protests Tuesday over the decision by regional administrations to annul the announcement declaring that they had passed the exam.

Chris Brummitt, Jakarta – A young Indonesian militant with close links to al-Qaida is now in charge of the Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, which remains dangerous despite more than 270 arrests since 2000, a top counterterrorism official said Wednesday.

The Indonesian government's commitment to ratify two key human rights instruments, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in May 2006, is a welcome step.

Jakarta – Activity at major ports in Jakarta, North Sumatra, Central and East Java ground to a halt Monday, with container truck owners and drivers going on strike over the imposition of value-added tax (VAT) on transportation services and of rampant extortion at the ports.

Jakarta – Hundreds of people have attacked and torched a mining camp run by a subsidiary of the US mining company Newmont on Indonesia's Sumbawa island.

The attack came days after deadly clashes in Indonesia's Papua province during protests to demand the closure of another gold and copper mine run by the US firm Freeport-McMoRan.

Emmy Fitri, Jakarta – The impending reward once the contentious bills on pornography and pornographic acts is endorsed, could be a division among the people – specifically the devout believers and the not-so-devout.

Jakarta – The widow of murdered human rights activist Munir plans to file a civil suit against national flag carrier Garuda Airlines for negligence leading to her husband's death.

Jakarta – None of the usual whirring of machinery, clanging of metal or shouts of workers sounded Monday at Tanjung Priok Port.

About 12,000 truck drivers from 151 transportation companies went on strike, refusing to deliver goods for export or pick up ones unloaded from destinations around the world.

Zaky Almubarok/Imron Rosyid, Boyolali – The government's plan to revise the Manpower Decree has been refused by many labor circles. About 3,000 members of Boyolali National Trade Union, yesterday (20/3) crowded the streets to refuse the decree revision.

Ahmad Dani, Jakarta – Although they have not found any presence of a communist threat, the TNI (Indonesian military) is still keeping on guard against the latent danger of communism in Jakarta.

Jakarta – Four hunger strikers from several Jakarta universities collapsed Sunday, six days into their strike.

They had their lips sewn up in a show of support for people claiming to be the victims of the construction of extra-high voltage electricity wires in their neighborhoods.

Suherdjoko and ID Nugroho, Bojonegoro – Protests over the Cepu oil block continued in Central Java on Monday, with 250 residents demanding to be involved in the project while other protesters rejected ExxonMobil Corp.'s involvement in the oil block's operation.

Jakarta – Victims of human rights abuses have called for a review of the 2004 Law on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (KKR), which they say gives impunity to state officials implicated in a series of state crimes.

Chris Brummitt, Jakarta – The world's largest gold mining company suspended exploration on Indonesia's Sumbawa Island after unidentified people torched a camp for its workers, the company said Monday.

Bandung – State Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik has told legislators not to rush the deliberation of the pornography.

Jakarta – A government plan to prevent soldiers from being tried for crimes in civilian courts was a step backward and would further weaken the checks and balances against the powerful military, a panel of experts said.

Jakarta – Following the deadly anti-Freeport riot in Papua last week, at least two more serious incidents targeting foreign companies have taken place in different areas of the country.

Endy M. Bayuni, Jakarta – Something seems to be amiss in the current nationwide crackdown on prostitution.

Tangerang municipality is leading the charge by rounding up women walking alone in main streets past newly imposed curfew hours, but Jakarta and other major cities have also been raiding locations allegedly used as brothels.

Days after peaceful gubernatorial elections in the provinces of Papua and the newly established West Irian Jaya, three policemen and a member of the Air Force were killed in clashes with protesters demanding the closure of the Freeport gold and copper mine, the largest in the world.

Jakarta – The government is being pressured to reverse its publicly unpopular decision to drop criminal charges against eight former bank owners willing to settle their debts to the state.

Jakarta – Foreign ministry officials are advised to take over immigration duties at foreign consular offices to minimize cases of corruption, many of which have recently been revealed.

Legislator Djoko Susilo said that if getting rid of the immigration officers were impossible, then at least their number should be reduced and supervision tightened.

Richard C. Paddock, Malang – Yusman Roy, a former boxer and a convert to Islam, is serving two years in prison because he believes that Muslims should pray in a language they can understand.

Panca Nugraha, Mataram – A house belonging to an Ahmadiyah follower has been destroyed by his own neighbors in Central Lombok, but nobody was injured during the attack, a police officer said Saturday.

Jakarta – Hundreds of people have attacked and torched a mining camp run by a local subsidiary of US giant Newmont on Indonesia's Sumbawa island.

The attack on Sunday followed in the wake of deadly clashes in Indonesia's Papua province last week during protests to demand the closure of a gold and copper mine run by US firm Freeport-McMoRan.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Balkan Kaplale, the head of the deliberation of the controversial pornography bill, has been accused of misleading the public.

Legislators critical of the bill said Saturday Balkan misled the public when he announced last week that all members of the team deliberating the bill had agreed to drop its controversial elements.

Jakarta – The Supreme Court lost all credibility years ago and has long been corrupt and its judges unprofessional, a new book on the history of the institution says.

The Indonesian Supreme Court: A Study of Institutional Collapse blames the Sukarno and Soeharto regimes for undermining the power of the Supreme Court and using it as a political tool.

Rendi A. Witular and Anissa S. Febrina, Jakarta – Vice President Jusuf Kalla confirmed Friday the government would drop a planned increase in electricity rates this year amid widespread opposition.

Soeryo Winoto, Jakarta – Thank God! Finally, the government has made its position clear on the controversial pornography bill.

State Minister for Women's Empowerment Meutia Hatta Swasono said Wednesday the focus of the bill should be on limiting the distribution of obscene materials, not prosecuting personal conduct, especially the conduct of women.

Jakarta – The Foreign Ministry said Friday it had uncovered cases of corruption worth more than Rp 28 billion (US$3.1 million) at Indonesian missions in Malaysia and Japan.

Yemris Fointuna and Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Kupang, Bandarlampung At least 16 children in West Sumba Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, have died this year from complications caused by malnutrition.

Tantri Yuliandini, Jakarta – Activists and community groups plan to file a request for judicial review with the Supreme Court next week on a 2005 Tangerang mayoralty bylaw on prostitution, which they deem tramples on the rights of women.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Legislators should drop the controversial pornography bill because its implementation would only lead to human rights violations, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) says.

Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara – Dozens of students of Sakra No. 1 high school in Sakra district, East Lombok regency, were reportedly possessed by "evil spirits" Thursday and dropped into trances while in the classroom.

Jakarta – Over 500 fishermen from Kalam Muara, North Jakarta, held a rally at noon Thursday in front of the City Council, to protest land reclamation at their fishing grounds.

"We want the government to get rid of regulations that burden the people. Our fishing grounds are our only source of income," said one of the fishermen, Asep.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Islamic conservatism is a growing force to be reckoned with across the country, with research indicating about 40 percent of citizens would support the replacement of state laws with sharia and one in 10 consider suicide bombings justified in some circumstances.