Jakarta – The Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Institute (YLBHI) told the government Friday to issue a decree for the immediate compensation of Sidoarjo mudflow victims from state coffers, with the funds to be repaid by PT Lapindo Brantas.

Jakarta – Legal activists suggested Thursday that court verdicts be made accessible to the public in a bid to curb the "court mafia" they say exists in the country's judicial system.

Jakarta – Two human rights violators – one convicted over the deadly 1999 East Timor riots and a former Indonesian Military major convicted for abducting activists – have made calls for equal treatment of all human rights violation cases.

Paris – The number of billionaires jumped drastically by 8.3 percent in 2006. According to the survey carried out by the financial firm, Capgemini SA and the United States investment bank, Merrill Lynch & Co., Indonesia is at the position of top four countries with the most newly wealthy.

Jakarta – Opposition is growing to Indonesia and Singapore's defense cooperation agreement (DCA), with a senior lawmaker and retired servicemen coming out against the pact.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Policies involving the national weather forecast agency and farmers must be enacted to enable Indonesia to adapt to the grave effects of global warming and evade disruptions in food provision, a climate change seminar has been told.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The government has announced it will increase the subsidy for higher education as of next year but admitted the funds will not reach poor parents wishing to send their children to university.

Max Lane, Sydney – On June 19 I attended a public forum in Jakarta with the theme "Is it time for the young leaders to come to power?" About 300 people attended the forum, cramming in to a rather smallish room in the Sahid Jaya Hotel.

Criminal charges should be laid over alleged corruption within a government ministry, East Timor's new independent watchdog said, on the eve of parliamentary elections.

The Office of the Provedor for Human Rights and Justice (PDHJ) said it had recommended that the Prosecutor General lay criminal charges over alleged corruption within the Ministry of State Administration.

Geoff Thompson

Mark Colvin: It's been a long year for East Timor. The crisis which erupted violently 12 months ago culminates tomorrow in a poll electing a new parliament and eventually a new Prime Minister.

Seth Mydans, Dili – During the past week, convoys of vans and trucks have wound through the streets of this tiny seaside capital loaded with chanting, cheering men and women. When people threw rocks at them, they ducked.

[In the first of a series on the issues surrounding East Timor's upcoming elections, Fabio Scarpello reports from Dili, examining the differing proposals on how to spend the nation's rich oil revenue.]

In East Timor, half a million people will cast their votes on Saturday to elect their second government since gaining independence just five years ago. If no single party emerges as a clear winner, it could take weeks to negotiate the coalitions needed to form government.

The only Indonesian jailed over the violence surrounding East Timor's 1999 vote for independence has launched a legal challenge against the court that convicted him.

Former militia leader Eurico Guterres has asked Indonesia's Constitutional Court to review the legality of the Indonesia Human Rights Tribunal which found him guilty of the violence.

Adisti Sukma Sawitri, Jakarta – Despite few residents turning up, the first day of extended voter registration caused headaches and mixed responses at the offices of the Jakarta Elections Commission (KPU Jakarta).

Andi Haswidi, Jakarta – With the public purse strings still tight and most government spending being used to cover day-to-day costs and servicing the country's sovereign debt, Indonesia will have to rely on the private sector to help reduce poverty and unemployment.

Step Vaessen, Papua – Culturally distinct Papua is rich in resources but home to some of the country's poorest people.

The governor of the remote Indonesian province of Papua is warning that the region could revive its push for independence. Barnabas Suebu has told Al Jazeera that the central government in Jakarta must act quickly to improve conditions in the province.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Wanting to prove the human rights situation in Papua province has improved, Jakarta is considering allowing US Congressman Eni Faleomavaega, a Democrat from American Samoa, to visit the province.

Erwin/Gunanto/Tomi, Jakarta – Akil Mochtar, a Golkar Party politician, has said that internal competition inside his party is heating up after the meeting between Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (DPI-P) leaders and cadres in Medan, North Sumatra, last week.

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Slamet Susanto, Jakarta/Yogyakarta – The National Awakening Party (PKB) said it will remain cautious when considering alliances with other parties over the deliberation of four political bills after the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) announced they had forged a coalition.

Crimes against humanity suspect a threat to Papuans

Indra Harsaputra and ID Nugroho, Sidoarjo – Mudflow victims greeted with reservation President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's latest instructions for the company at the center of disaster to pay up, saying they doubted Lapindo would really follow orders.

Jakarta – The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) has made several recommendations to stop the criminalization of the press, which include the issuance of a Supreme Court circular requiring that decisions in press cases follow jurisprudence.

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – A decision made by Lampung Governor Sjachroedin Z.P. to send journalists on an overseas tour has been slammed by the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and a coalition of non-governmental organizations.

Slobodan Lekic, Brussels – All Indonesian airlines and several from Russia, Ukraine and Angola will be banned from flying to the European Union due to safety concerns, the European Commission said Thursday.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – After a one-month break, the deliberation of a bill on military tribunals resumed Wednesday with the government proposing that officers from the Indonesian Military (TNI) and military police be allowed to interrogate soldiers for committing civilian crimes.

Indra Harsaputra and ID Nugroho, Sidoarjo – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has issued a series of instructions to speed up compensation for people displaced by the mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java.

Jakarta – Marijuana possession should remain a crime in Indonesia, but chefs who use the herb as a traditional way to season curries should not be arrested, the country's vice president told local reporters.

Cooks in parts of Indonesia – a nation that executes drug traffickers – say they use tiny amounts of crushed marijuana leaves or seeds as a spice in certain dishes.

Haryanto Kurniawan, Jakarta – Stipulations on the establishment of political parties contained in the draft law on political parties will make things more difficult and conflicts with the principles of freedom of association and assembly.

Further revisions should be made to the political party bill to increase accountability among political parties, anti-corruption activists have said.

Too much media hype has surrounded the gathering of the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politicians in Medan last week.

Nothing was certain at the meeting, which was heavily covered only because it involved the country's two largest political parties, one of which supports the government and one of which claims to be the opposition.

Tony Hotland and Imanuddin Razak, Jakarta – A fragile coalition between Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) is facing another challenge – this time from the outside.

Jakarta – Lawyers for hardline Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir on Wednesday filed a class action suit demanding the disbanding of the police's anti-terror unit, accusing it of rights violations.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Green activists renewed their calls Tuesday for more attention to be paid to environmental preservation and economic compensation for those whose lives have been affected by the exploitation of natural resources.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) on Tuesday criticized the President's tour of mudflow-affected Sidoarjo, East Java, saying it was a sign of the administration's failure to deal with the disaster.

Jakarta – Victims of a devastating "mud volcano" in Indonesia complained Wednesday that a fresh compensation scheme thrashed out by the president during a visit to the disaster area in East Java was not enough.

Tito Belo, Dili – A number of people were hurt in clashes between rival political supporters in East Timor on Wednesday as campaigning ended ahead of parliamentary elections in three days time, police and a politician said.

Jakarta – East Timor's top UN official warned Tuesday that it would take months to resolve the refugee crisis in the troubled nation, where an estimated 10 percent of the population remain in camps.

The media was vilified at rallies and one journalist was beaten during elections in East Timor this year, according to a report by observers from New Zealand that calls for criminal prosecutions of those attacking journalists.

Flaky-skinned Jenny is two weeks old. She was born in an East Timor refugee camp, adjacent to Dili's airport, that 6,000 people have been crammed into since the unrest of April and May last year. The violence prompted the return of international troops and the UN, only a few years after they had left the fledgling Southeast Asian nation.

Jakarta – Atul Khare, special envoy of the UN secretary general for East Timor, urged Jakarta and Dili on Tuesday to enhance the efficiency and credibility of a truth commission tasked with probing the bloodshed that marred East Timor's independence vote in 1999.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Political games and low wages have prevented the Indonesian Military (TNI) from achieving full reform, the head of the TNI's information division, Col. Ahmad Yani Basuki, said Monday.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Lawmakers have blamed mediocre coordination between the labor and foreign ministries for the increasing number of poorly protected Indonesians working abroad who suffer abuse from their employers.

Adisti Sukma Sawitri, Jakarta – The Javanese saying "you will learn to love someone if you see them every day" has been lost on Jakarta voters. Despite massive publicity campaigns by the two governor hopefuls, most residents are still weighing-up their choices for the August poll.

Telly Nathalia, Jakarta – Indonesian Muslim hardliners demanded on Tuesday the government disband an American trained special anti-terror unit, saying it was a tool of the United States to fight Islam.

Iqbal Fadil, Jakarta - The construction of the Muria nuclear power plant (PLTN) in Central Java continues to attract criticism from various circles who say the construction as bring a new catastrophe to the Indonesian ecology and a disaster to the environmental sustainability.

An Australian Parliamentary committee has recommended ratification of an broad security treaty with Indonesia – but emphasised what it calls "widespread concerns" about human rights in Indonesia.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Indonesia is taking steps to ramp up its Islamic banking sector, which some financial analysts believe has the potential of creating the largest sharia finance area in the world.

Indonesia has pulled nine small airlines from service as it intensifies safety efforts following a string of crashes.

Transport Department Directorate General for Aviation Budhi Muliawan Suyitno said the government had revoked the licences of four airlines, and suspended a further five from operation until they meet basic safety standards.

Jakarta – To address the core problems facing the educational system, the government must look beyond the national examination and address the root causes of the system's failures, an expert says.