Inking the deal
The week's news at a glance.
Helsinki, Finland
Indonesian officials signed a peace deal with Aceh rebels in Helsinki this week, officially ending a three-decade separatist insurrection. The Free Aceh Movement agreed to hand over its weapons and drop its demand for independence, while the government agreed to give the Acehnese local self-rule and control over most of their oil and gas reserves. The ceremony took place in Finland because the chief mediator was Martti Ahtisaari, a former Finnish prime minister. But both sides agreed that much of the credit goes to the shared tragedy of last December’s tsunami, which killed 150,000 people in the province and forced rebels and soldiers to work together on rescue missions.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Zohran Mamdani: the young progressive likely to be New York City's next mayor
In The Spotlight The policies and experience that led to his meteoric rise
-
The best film reboots of all time
The Week Recommends Creativity and imagination are often required to breathe fresh life into old material
-
'More must be done'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day