TERNATE, North Maluku (Antara): Publicly-listed oil palm company PT Astra Agro Lestari will invest Rp2 trillion in palm oil plantation which will be built on 50,000 hectares of land in West Halmahera district, a local official has said. "PT Astra has sent its officials for a survey before realizing its plan early 2008," the administration's spokesperson Kalbi Rasyid said here Friday.

The Regional Representatives Council (DPD) has backed the stance of most factions in the House of Representative in rejecting a government regulation in lieu of law (emergency regulation) on free trade zones (FTZ). "The DPD agrees that the substance of the government regulation actually needs to be enshrined in statutory form.

Acknowledging the existence of a flourishing software piracy industry here, PT Microsoft Indonesia has warned against any tampering with its Windows Vista operating system, saying that it is equipped with an advanced protection system.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Up to September 9 this year, Indonesia imported a total of 1.22 million kg of entrails, according to the Ministry of Agriculture here on Thursday. The ministry`s data showed the innards were imported from Australia and New Zealand by five companies. It was part of the 20.55 million kg Indonesia had planned to import based on permits isued by the Husbandry Directorate General.

Manado, N sulawesi (ANTARA News) - The number of foreign tourist arrivals in North Sulawesi last August increased sharply by 15.3 percent compared to the figure in the previous month, a local statistics official said. In August, 1,893 foreign tourists came to North Sulawesi whereas their number in July was only 1,642, Jasa Bangun, head of the North Sulawesi branch of the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) said here on Thursday.