East Timor's police force has begun returning to work in the capital Dili. It is the first time this has happened since the city descended into violence earlier this year.

Indra Harsaputra, Sidoarjo – The East Java Police have issued a shoot-on-sight order against anybody trying to disrupt activities of the National Mudflow Mitigation Team at the disaster site in Sidoarjo, East Java.

Khairul Saleh, Palembang – An ammonia gas leak Saturday at state fertilizer company PT Pusri in Palembang, South Sumatra, made residents living near the factory sick, an environmental group says.

Yemris Fointuna, Maumere – The National Police denied Tuesday accusations that one of three Catholic convicts, Dominggus da Silva, was tortured before being executed last week.

The family of da Silva, who was executed for inciting violence against Muslims in Central Sulawesi in 2000, insisted that his body be exhumed for a second time to check for evidence of torture.

Indonesia is investigating a possible cluster of bird flu cases after a man died and his brother and sister were hospitalised, one of them testing positive for bird flu, a doctor said yesterday.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Two-years after the establishment of the much-hyped Jakarta Transportation Board (DTK), there has been no breakthrough achieved to resolve the city's disorganized transportation system, a study shows.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The government and the House of Representatives once again engaged in heated debate Tuesday over whether to deliberate a bill on state secrecy.

Paul Alexander, United Nations – East Timor needs fair elections, reconciliation and a big injection of international aid to overcome the recent violence that battered the fledgling nation, Foreign Minister Jose Luis Guterres said Wednesday.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Vice President Jusuf Kalla is under fire for his statement that democracy is less important than political stability and security in attracting foreign investors to Indonesia.

This week The Australian published an opinion piece by Mark Aarons attacking journalist John Martinkus, and New Matilda, for articles we have published on the recent violence in East Timor.

Max Lane – Several prominent Indonesian historians have come under criminal investigation for writing an official history textbook in 2004 in which they no longer insisted that the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) was the mastermind of an attempted left-wing coup in September 1965.

Jakarta – Dozens of students protested at the South Jakarta District Court on Monday, demanding the release of a fellow student being tried for defaming President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Jakarta – A political activist arrested for defaming President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono filed a request Monday for the Constitutional Court to review the defamation article of the Criminal Code.

Tito Sianipar, Jakarta – Munir's widow, Suciwati, has filed a lawsuit against PT Garuda Indonesia Airlines for 13 billion rupiah. The civil lawsuit was heard at the Central Jakarta District Court yesterday.

Ari Saputra, Jakarta – Dozens of West Papuans demonstrated in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta on Tuesday September 26 demanding that Reverend Ishak Onawame, a defendant in the shooting case near PT Freeport Indonesia be released.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Muslims in Medan are blaming state power company PLN for recurring power cuts, which they say are disrupting special activities during the fasting month of Ramadhan.

The caretaker of Medan's main Al Ikwhan mosque, Asno Susanto, said the North Sumatra branch of PLN had broken its promise not to cut power during the month.

Jakarta – The government is initiating a program to send some 800,000 street children to school. Their parents, if they also live on the street, will be trained for work abroad or in other areas of the country.

The program will be jointly conducted by Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno and Social Affairs Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah.

Andi Haswidi, Jakarta – Three state agencies charged with combating corruption and money laundering signed agreements Monday to improve their coordination in the fight against white-collar crime.

Education Minister Bambang Sudibyo admitted Monday that irregularities occurred in the disbursement of this year's operational support fund for schools due to poor student registration and monitoring systems in some regions.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The management of state-owned insurance company PT Jamsostek has transferred two leaders of the Jamsostek Workers Union (SPJ) to far-flung branch offices as an internal battle rages on.

Jakarta – The Jakarta Parks Agency plans to relocate 34 banyan trees and cut down mahogany trees along one of the city's main thoroughfares to make room for an additional fast lane for motorists.

Bandung – Fires in West Java have decimated at least 3,000 hectares of protected forested land during the first nine months of this year, the head of West Java Forestry Office says.

Wawan Ridwan said Monday fires degraded the condition of about 300,000 hectares of vacant, farm or forested land, dropping from 580,000 ha in 2004.

A. Hamzah, Jakarta – "Pertamina calls on you to become a Pertamina gas station owner as a token of participation in national development." You may be puzzled by this call, which can be found on Pertamina's website.

A trial last week at the South Jakarta District Court passed largely unnoticed, although the court's decision indicated a seismic shift in the Indonesian judiciary.

Mark Aarons – East Timor remains unstable, although much calmer than in May and June when it was racked with civil strife. Non-aligned Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta has begun to put the Government on a stable course, given the shambles he inherited from Fretilin's Mari Alkatiri.

Ramdhan Muhaimin, Jakarta – Although the 2009 general elections are still three years away, 27 seven new political parties have already registered with the department of Justice and Human Rights. The new parties range from the New Order Party to the Satria Piningit Party.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jayapura – Computing science student Johannes Kurisi was shot in the back almost a week ago during an apparent Papuan gang conflict, but he and the friends tending to him in a Jayapura hospital don't expect the assailants to be caught.

Eleanor Hall: Two weeks ago Australia was bemused by the story of a Channel Seven crew's misadventure in the Indonesian province of Papua in search of a story about supposed cannibalism. The crew was deported for travelling to Papua without permits.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jayapura – The plot finally coalesced after years in and out of filthy Indonesian jail cells: equip a small outrigger for the long trip from Papua to Australia, fill it with people selected expressly for their likelihood of winning asylum and wait for the political fallout.

Jakarta – Politicians from different political parties are supporting a move to allow Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel to exercise their voting rights in the 2009 legislative and presidential elections.

Taufik Kiemas, the chief patron of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said there should be no reason to fear soldiers voting in the next elections.

Tangerang – Criticizing the poor performance of its civil administration and family planning agency, the Tangerang Municipal Council decided last week to cut the budget allocated for the provision of contraceptives.

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, Padang – The West Sumatra chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) plans to appeal the Padang District Court's decision refusing to hear its lawsuit against West Sumatra Governor Gamawan Fauzi.

Jakarta – Environmental activists are demanding the government do more to end the intimidation and violence against people who report illegal logging.

Dili – Violence erupted on the streets of the East Timorese capital today as two groups pelted each other with stones, forcing residents in the area to flee their homes.

The disturbance occurred between two groups of youths from different regions of East Timor near the Comoro market at about 2pm local time, witnesses said.

Indonesian army elements are reportedly behind a plan to attack a PNG office in retaliation for the killing of an Indonesian fisherman.

Jakarta – A nine-year-old boy has been confirmed as Indonesia's 51st human bird flu fatality, a health ministry official said.

The boy died on September 22 and test results from two laboratories confirmed he was infected with the H5N1 virus, a doctor on duty at the national bird flu center in Jakarta told AFP Sunday.

Jakarta – Hundreds of mourners in the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu prayed Saturday for three Catholic men executed the day earlier for leading a Christian militia that killed Muslims.

Some 500 mourners prayed at the Santa Maria Catholic church during a morning mass in Palu, Agence France-Presse reported.

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Hundreds of residents of the mainly Muslim Rawa Buntu village and Kencana Loka housing complex in Serpong staged a rally Friday to protest the construction of the St. John Catholic School in the area.

Adisti Sukma Sawitri, Jakarta – The involvement of non-governmental organizations and foreign donors in rebuilding the tsunami-ravaged province of Aceh has yet to provide women with a good standard of living, a new book argues.

It says widows are still struggling to feed themselves and their children without proper attention from either NGOs or the government.

Jakarta – Groups of Christians, angered by the overnight executions of three Catholic convicts, torched cars and government buildings in East Nusa Tenggara cities Friday.

Thousands mourned, while hundreds of other ran amok in East Nusa Tenggara on Friday over the execution of the three men convicted of leading attacks on Muslims during the 2000 sectarian violence in the Central Sulawesi town of Poso. Meanwhile, many also felt relieved by their deaths in the belief that justice was finally being upheld.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Major and minor parties are at loggerheads over whether an electoral threshold should be set for parties running in the legislative and presidential races in 2009.

Anissa S. Febrina, Jakarta – As soon as meatball vendor Ali Muthahirin heard from a neighbor that his subdistrict office in Pondok Labu, South Jakarta, was offering an attractive micro-credit scheme, he quickly followed it up.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is being accused of putting off long-awaited reforms of the powerful Indonesian Military (TNI).

The President still depends too much on the military for his political survival and possible reelection, said Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial).

Kampung Jawa – The tsunami of 2004 triggered the biggest humanitarian response in history, feeding the hungry, heading off epidemics and engendering the hope that out of a calamity that took 216,000 lives, a better Indian Ocean rim would emerge.

Prodita Sabarini, Jakarta – Lack of commitment from the government and private sector to end child labor has made Jakarta a hotbed for the exploitation of minors as prostitutes and domestic helpers, a discussion concluded Thursday.

Banda Aceh – Oxfam International's staff in Indonesia's Aceh province knew something was amiss last March when they started seeing inflated bills for construction supplies.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The government should create jobs by building infrastructure facilities at the provincial, regency and village level that can give work to local unemployed people rather than giving them cash, a noted economist has said.

Aguslia Hidayah, Jakarta – The Freedom of Information Coalition comprising elements including the SET Foundation, Institute for the Studies on the Free Flow of Information (ISAI), Institute for Press and Development Studies (LSPP) and Children of the Nation's Vision Institute urge the government and the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission for Defense to complete the Bill of Fr

Jakarta – An 11-year-old boy who died this week has been confirmed as Indonesia's 50th human bird flu fatality.

The boy died on on Monday and test results from two laboratories confirmed he was infected with the H5N1 virus, Nadirin – a doctor at the national bird flu information centre – told AFP.