Andi Widjajanto, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has nominated Air Marshal Djoko Suyanto to be the next Indonesian Military (TNI) commander. There are several explanations as to why the President picked Suyanto as his sole candidate.

Tiarma Siboro and Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Reorganizing the military and reviewing the Army-focused national defense concept will be the main tasks for the new military chief, analysts said on Wednesday.

Jakarta – Vice President Jusuf Kalla expressed disappointment Wednesday after the political parties supporting his government failed to block a petition by the House of Representatives to look into a controversial plan to import rice.

Tantri Yuliandini, Jakarta – A bus stopped, took on passengers, then quickly departed in a choking cloud of smoke. People on the sidewalk scrambled for a handkerchief or piece of tissue to cover their noses from the black trail of fumes.

Jakarta – Ever wondered why big-time graft criminals frequently avoid prison and jet out of the country, to spend their days and ill-gotten gains in "safe" countries like Singapore or the United States.

One could point to the lax efforts by the police, or the nation's prosecutors, in ensuring these criminals escape justice.

Rendi Akhmad Witular, Jakarta – "Jono" is a junior official in an East Jakarta tax office, and regularly parks his silver BMW sedan, which he drives from his luxury home in Cibubur, Bogor, at his friend's house in Jakarta before riding a Honda scooter on the last leg of his journey to work.

The city of Probolinggo is one of the poorest areas on the north coast of East Java, with the municipal administration only taking in Rp 16.31 billion (US$1.73 million) in revenue in 2003 and the average monthly income being less than Rp 500,000 per capita.

A report prepared by the newly established investigative division of the Finance Ministry's Inspectorate General shows that there are various methods regularly used by tax officials to pillage potential tax revenue.

The report, a copy of which was obtained by The Jakarta Post, is based on an investigation conducted in 2005 in response to public complaints.

Duncan Graham, Surabaya – The treaty now being negotiated between Australia and Indonesia raises some interesting questions: The foremost is – who benefits?

According to Australian media reports the long discussed document will cover counter-terrorism, fish poaching, people smuggling, disaster response and humanitarian assistance.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Three Christian women jailed in the West Java town of Indramayu for inviting Muslim children to their Sunday school last year will stay in prison for three more years, after the Constitutional Court rejected a legal challenge to the ruling.

An American teacher has survived a traumatic experience in Papua in which her husband was killed, and has returned here in a bid to speed up the search for justice for herself and the other victims of the shooting incident in 2002.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – Although they deny the claims they are a breeding ground for terrorists, pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) are a fertile spot for conservative, intolerant views of other faiths, a new study reveals.

Tiarma Siboro and Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Although the nomination of the first Air Force chief to head the military has been hailed as a fresh start in reform efforts, an analyst fears it may be a shortlived window of change before the Army's resurgence.

Jakarta – A total of 1,099 people died of dengue fever in Indonesia in 2005, a health ministry official said here on Tuesday.

"The number is higher than last year's 957," said Rita Kusriastuti, head of the subdirectorate of arboviruses of the directorate general of disease control and environmental health.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Had the New Order leader Soeharto – a former Army general – not been deposed, few Indonesian Air Force officers would likely hold important roles within the Indonesian Military (TNI).

Tom McCawley, Jakarta – A security pact expected to be signed this year between Indonesia and Australia will mark a formal end to a six-year rift over violence in East Timor and signals just how far the world's most populous Muslim nation has come in relations with its southern neighbor as well as the United States.

Jakarta – A petition signed by more than 100 legislators calling on the House of Representatives to investigate the government's plan to import rice from Vietnam has suffered a blow.

The House's consultative committee failed Monday to get a quorum to discuss whether the request could be taken to a House plenary session for approval.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Most of the social welfare programs created by the government following the fuel subsidy cuts are missing their proper targets, a report released by a group of social workers says.

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – Three Army soldiers involved in a violent attack last November on a village in Jeneponto regency, South Sulawesi, were each given 10-week jail sentences and fined Rp 5,000 (53 US cents) by a Makassar military court Monday.

ID Nugroho, Surabaya – A clash erupted between thousands of protesting workers demanding the minimum wage be raised and police in the East Java capital Surabaya on Monday, with dozens of workers injured and eight others arrested.

Tiarma Siboro and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – As widely expected, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has nominated Air Marshall Djoko Suyanto to lead the Indonesian Military (TNI), an appointment that is expected to prevent dissent among the armed forces.

Jakarta – With the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations on freer trade of non-agricultural products to be finalized in April, local industries must immediately make preparations to compete with future increases in imported products, business players have said.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – An internal rift is again threatening the work of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), flatteringly dubbed the "locomotive of democracy" during the authoritarian rule of Soeharto.

This time the conflict pits executive chairman Munarman against senior lawyer Daniel Panjaitan, who heads the foundation's legal advocacy department.

M. Azis Tunny, Ambon – Dressed in distinctive attire of turbans and white robes, hundreds of former members of Muslim hardline group Laskar Jihad filed into the Al-Fatah Grand Mosque here.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's dream to have a corruption-free and efficient immigration office, which does not embarrass him at international forums, will not come easy.

His intention to totally reform the office is being challenged by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, which does not want to lose its primary revenue stream.

[Gerakan-gerakan Rakyat Dunia Ketiga (Mass movements in the third world). Noer Fauzi, ed. Resist Book Yogyakarta, September 2005. xvi + 304 pp.]

Tb. Arie Rukmantara and Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Local governments are balking at the controversial plan to import 110,000 tons of rice from Vietnam, a move they say will devastate the livelihood of local farmers.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – An event in the remote Indonesian province of Papua, thousands of kilometers from Washington, seems certain to result in a much stronger position for Jakarta within the already fast-improving relationship between the two countries.

Jakarta – A study into a graft case involving a prominent businessman and politician shows the strange and shoddy way the law is applied in the country, two judicial watchdogs say.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Like their counterparts on countless streets throughout the nation, the children on the corner in Pejompongan, Central Jakarta, regularly show up every day to beg for money from motorists. But they have been absent from school for years, if they ever attended.

Yuli Tri Suwarni and Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandung/Bandarlampung – Members of the West Java Legislative Council charged on Friday rice was being hoarded at production centers in West Java, including the provincial capital Bandung, amid public outcries over the scarcity of the staple food.

Blontank Poer, Surakarta – A thick cloud of suspicion hangs over the country's pesantren (Islamic boarding schools), with many convinced they are a breeding ground for terrorists.

Adianto P Simamora, Jakarta – There are no floods in the city for months and then they happen all at once. In Jakarta, when it rains, it does indeed pour.

The rain over the past week alerted people living on the banks of Ciliwung River to the possibility of floods.

Jakarta – The promise of free education for many elementary and junior high school students in Jakarta and the Thousands Islands regency from late January onward has been welcomed by parents.

The administration has upped the 2006 provincial budget allocation for development in education to Rp 689 billion from Rp 500 billion.

Dwi Atmanta, Jakarta – Lawmakers from the House of Representatives resumed their sitting on Thursday, with their wish for a prosperous New Year fulfilled.

Suherdjoko and Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung/Semarang – A number of cities across the country are experiencing rice shortages, pushing up prices by 25 percent and raising suspicions over hoarding by traders.

As reported in this paper, hundreds of containers containing goods meant for Aceh tsunami survivors have been languishing in Indonesian ports for at least nine months.

Jakarta – When it comes to the forestry industry, development and conservation always seem to be at loggerheads. While the government is happy to see that investment in the timber-consuming pulp and paper industry is on the rise, environmentalists warn that it should be more prudent in giving new concession rights to industry players.

Jakarta – An alliance of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) urged the government on Thursday to take serious measures to protect citizens from natural disasters. The NGOs, grouped in the People's Coalition for Disaster Prevention, said government agencies had designed several disaster prevention schemes, but the plans were rarely implemented.

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – By now most Jakartans have either seen or heard about the special report on TransTV on meatballs made from rats. The report aired on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, and many people have stopped eating meatball soup, or bakso, as a result.

Jakarta – A group of legislators urged the House of Representatives leadership on Thursday to revive a probe into the killings of student demonstrators in Jakarta between 1998 and 1999.

"House Commission II (on home affairs) recommended last year that the investigation be resumed. Why hasn't the House leadership followed this up?" legislator Nursyahbani Katjasungkana said.

Jakarta – Chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Megawati Soekarnoputri has vowed to be the voice of opposition in keeping the government in check.

The current furor over rice imports flared up when late last year the trade minister gave clearance to the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) to import over 70,000 tons of rice to supplement its buffer stock.

Tedi Hikmah, Jakarta – A non-government organisation concerned with upholding human rights, Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial), believes the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has taken a selective approach and has not supported efforts to uphold human rights. Moreover, excessive violence that violates the basic rights of citizens continues to take place.

Luhur Hertanto, Jakarta – There is cause for concern. The level of work-related incidents in Indonesia appears to still be high. Data from the state insurance company PT Jamsostek notes that between 2004-2005 there were 95,418 work-related accidents. Of this total, 1,336 were fatal.

Triono Wahyu Sudibyo, Semarang – Fuel price increases at the end of last year are still resulting in "casualties". Based on 2006 data from the Surabaya Social Revelation Foundation (Yawas), at least 2,786 workers in Central Java are threaded with dismissal.

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandar Lampung – Ten-year-old Sururi helped his father unload empty containers and dozens of kilograms of fresh fish caught during two nights at sea. The empty containers had held formaldehyde.

A recent public scare over the use of formaldehyde in food has not deterred fishermen from using the dangerous chemical to keep their catches looking fresh longer.

Jakarta – A "procedural error" meant the government lost up to Rp 1.7 trillion (about US$180 million) in unpaid rent from the Hilton Hotel, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) was told on Wednesday.

Jakarta – A lawyer apologized to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday for publicly accusing his son and aides of receiving Jaguar cars as gifts from a business tycoon.

"(The story) was merely a rumor and untrue. It has been made into a political commodity by certain parties. I extend my apology to the President," Eggy Sudjana said in a statement.