Some more cautiously hopeful news

Jakarta spurns Abbott's turn-back-boats plan: well, that headline doesn't tell us anything we didn't already know, but this is good news: "[Indonesian President] Dr Yudhoyono proposed in the meeting to call a conference of 'all parties' in the region, who he said must be jointly responsible for the increasing flow of asylum seekers and the power of people smugglers. The conference - which Mr Rudd endorsed - should be held by the end of this month. It would involve countries such as Afghanistan, Iran and Myanmar, where many refugees come from, countries such as Indonesia that they pass through and Australia, their destination."