Jakarta – Indonesia's armed forces chief dismissed Thursday a US federal court judge's ruling that ExxonMobil must face a lawsuit over alleged killings and torture by troops in Aceh province.

Indra Harsaputra, Sidoarjo – Mudflow victims on Wednesday protested the dumping of mud into the Porong River for a second time, saying the buildup of sediment had produced a pungent stench and increased the risk of rainy season flooding along the East Java river.

Indonesia's ambassador to Papua New Guinea has praised PNG's Government for blocking the West Papua issue from being raised in recent meetings of the Melanesian Spearhead Group and Pacific Islands Forum.

Bom Soerjanto made these remarks at a reception to celebrate Indonesia's 63 years of independence.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Sri Sultan Hamengkubowono X has been deemed the country's most competent presidential candidate, defeating both President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his predecessor, Megawati Soekarnoputri, according to a study released here Tuesday.

Hamish McDonald – Xanana Gusmao has had many difficult roles in his 62 years: as rural teacher, guerilla leader, political prisoner, symbolic president of a raw and traumatised new nation.

Havana – A farewell ceremony for a group of six Cuban healthcare service providers in East Timor was held at that country's Health Ministry (MINSA).

Washington – ExxonMobil must face a lawsuit filed by Indonesian villagers alleging that the US oil giant is liable for killings and torture committed by military security forces, a federal judge said Wednesday.

"Plaintiffs have provided sufficient evidence, at this stage, for their allegations of serious abuse," said US Judge Louis Oberdorfer in Washington.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Palm oil companies operating in Indonesia have opposed any moratorium on forest and peat land conversions, saying it will play havoc with the industry and the national economy.

Indra Harsaputra, Sidoarjo – Hundreds of mudflow victims blockaded a reconstruction site at the Porong mudflow area Monday, demanding mining company Lapindo Brantas Inc. pay the remaining 80 percent compensation as regulated by a presidential instruction.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – A weak and corrupt government, rather than a lower defense budget, will one day lure the military back into politics, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono says.

Marcellus Hernowo – As well as celebrities and family members of core political party leaders, the provisional list of legislative candidates that will take part in the 2009 general elections also contains a number of 1998 student movement activists.

Politicians in the House of Representatives and leaders of the major political parties are very diligent to criticize the government for dragging its heels while eradicating corruption in this country.

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – Seven Lampung gubernatorial candidate pairs took part in a live televised debate organized by Lampung's General Elections Commission (KPUD) and Metro TV in Bandarlampung on Friday evening.

Chris McCall, Sydney – East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao says he believes his country has turned the corner, and divisions in the military that triggered several years of civil unrest should not recur.

Marianne Kearney, Dili – Plans to build a massive new power station in East Timor have stirred debate over the use of the tiny and impoverished country's oil profits amid fears the government is squandering its hard-won oil and gas wealth.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The country's two biggest political parties are reviving attempts to establish a coalition for the 2009 presidential race.

Key figures from the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) held a rare meeting here Monday to explore the possibility of temporarily linking forces.

The Munir murder case is entering a new stage. These coming weeks Maj. Gen. (ret) Muchdi Pr is standing trial. The former deputy of the State Intelligence Agency will be accused of having ordered the killing of rights activist Munir. If proven, Muchdi is liable to a death sentence or life imprisonment.

Saul Salavador – Thousands of Internally displaced refugees in Timor Leste are finally going home.

For the last two years, they have been living in makeshift tent camps. Their homes were destroyed when the tiny nation descended into communal violence sparked by divisions in the military and police.

Hayley J. Campbell, Jayapura – A New Zealand MP along with Human Rights Groups are calling on Pacific countries to confront Indonesia on human rights abuses in West Papua.

Last week, the Forum leaders summit met in Niue to address key issues among the Pacific island countries. Absent from those issues, was the continuing unrest and protests taking place in West Papua.

New Zealand Green party MP Keith Locke says Pacific Islands Forum countries like New Zealand could do more to push dialogue with Indonesia about West Papua.

This follows the apparent absence of any discussion about the troubled Indonesian region at last week's Forum leaders summit in Niue. The Papua problem has featured at most recent summits, including last year in Tonga.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The enforcement of many sharia-based ordinances in the country has been denounced by several legal experts as a violation of basic human rights.

Jessica Mahar, West Timor – All Charles Meluk wants is a better future for refugees in West Timor. The 22-year-old East Timorese man has been living in the Noelbaki refugee camp since 1999, when more than 286,000 of his countrymen fled across the border away from the chaos after the vote for independence.

Khairul Saleh, Palembang – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) planned to turn its attention to the public service sector, said KPK deputy head Haryono Umar in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Thursday.

Public services has been the locus of public complaints due to well-publicized corruption cases which have left public services mired in red tape.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – In an effort to shed its tarnished image as a violent and abusive institution, the Indonesian Military (TNI) on Friday began a three-day training program for senior officers on human rights and the Constitution.

Judicial authorities in East Timor are investigating more than 40 allegations that armed forces have used violence, intimidation, and death threats against civilians.

A United Nations report documents a litany of human rights abuses by local police and army officers in the course of their work.

Triwik Kurniasari, Jakarta – International environmental activist group Greenpeace has called on the government to immediately develop renewable energy sources to end the need for rotating blackouts resulting from the country's energy deficit.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Less than 24 hours after being sworn in as the new head of the Constitutional Court, Moh. Mahfud M.D. on Friday slammed regional administrations for enacting sharia-inspired bylaws.

Dian Kuswandini, Jakarta – Former top intelligence official Muchdi Purwopranjono premeditated the 2004 murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib out of ill will and revenge, a court heard Thursday.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Commander of the Wirasakti Military Command in Kupang Col. Winston Pardamean Simanjuntak concluded Thursday that public protests against the planned construction of two battalion command posts in West Timor, East Nusa Tenggara, involved foreign interests opposed to their presence.

Didi Syafirdi, Jakarta – Around 20 West Papuans from the United West Papua Popular Struggle Front (Pepera) held an action at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout in Central Jakarta on Friday August 22.

Sara Schonhardt, Jakarta – Hundreds of Christian theology students have been living in tents since a mob of angry Muslim neighbors stormed their campus last month wielding bamboo spears and hurling Molotov cocktails.

The incident comes amid growing concern that Indonesia's tradition of religious tolerance is under threat from Islamic hard-liners.

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Some 7,000 workers from PT Hardaya Aneka Shoe Industry (HASI), a former Nike supplier, began striking Thursday in Tangerang to protest company policy on Idul Fitri allowances (THR).

"The management has announced this year all workers will receive less money for THR," Agus Widodo, the chair of HASI's workers union (SPN), told The Jakarta Post.

Ben Doherty and Sarah Smiles – A new guest worker scheme, this one to bring East Timorese workers to the labour-starved Kimberley region of Western Australia, appears likely to be announced as soon as next week.

The Pacific Island Forum (PIF) has been urged to raise the human rights situation in West Papua with Indonesia.

Joe Collins of the Sydney-based Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) told the Fiji Daily Post yesterday that the human rights situation in the Indonesian-ruled territory should be raised with Indonesia at the Post- Forum Dialogue.

Paul Toohey – A secret recording of the last meeting between East Timor's President Jose Ramos Horta and rebel leader Alfredo Reinado reveals that the two men had run out of ways to end a stalemate that had held the country moribund for almost two years.

Alfian, Jakarta – A lawmaker inquiry over the country's oil and gas management kicked off Thursday with the BPK disclosing a letter it sent to police on indications of graft in the distribution of subsidized fuel.

The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) sent the letter to the National Police on July 28 after making an audit on the distribution of subsidized fuel early this year.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The General Elections Commission (KPU) on Thursday deflected criticism over findings that more than 36 million eligible voters nationwide were still not registered, six days before the registration deadline.

Jakarta – A former top Indonesian spy could face the death penalty after he was charged Thursday with orchestrating the poisoning murder of a celebrated rights activist who had exposed military abuses.

The human rights situation in West Papua should be raised with Indonesia at the Post-Forum Dialogue in Niue, Joe Collins of AWPA said. Indonesia is a Post- Forum Dialogue partner and here is a chance for the pacific island countries to express their concerns about the human rights situation in West Papua with Indonesia.

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) and the West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) today welcomed the removal of Col. Burhanuddin Siagian from his command in West Papua. Siagian faces two indictments in East Timor for crimes against humanity committed in 1999.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – With history showing many cases of leaders who failed to groom quality successors among their kin, the recruitment of legislative candidates through bloodlines has raised concern over future legislative bodies.

Lucy Williamson, Jakarta – The UN in East Timor has rejected claims by the country's president that it was slow to act in the aftermath of his shooting earlier this year.

President Ramos-Horta said that international forces had not moved quickly enough to give him medical aid, and to arrest the perpetrators. But in a confidential report the UN says its response was swift.

Jakarta – The government needs to place decent and productive employment at the center of its socio-economic policies to ensure a link between economic growth and job creation, the International Labor Organization said in its latest report.

Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – The government has not supported the steady growth of labor-intensive industries over the last six quarters, missing a vital opportunity to reduce unemployment and poverty, several lawmakers say.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – More than 36 million voting-age citizens might be staying at home for the 2009 legislative election, as a recent survey shows their names are not included in the official preliminary list of eligible voters (DPS).

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network, or ETAN, has welcomed the removal of Colonel Burhanuddin Siagian from his command in Papua.

Jakarta – Indonesian prosecutors demanded more than five years' jail Thursday for an Islamist hardliner accused of inciting an armed attack on a moderate rally, as his trial opened amid tight security.

Jakarta Post – Wilson just had his first birthday last weekend and his mother was busy not only preparing for his party but also entertaining formula milk marketers.

Complaints of human rights abuses by East Timor's fledgling national police have shown a "notable increase" over the past year, the United Nations says.

The UN report said East Timor was at a crossroads in terms of rights, with progress since independence from Indonesia in 2002 tempered by abuses by the security forces and judicial shortcomings.

Brian Rudman – We ban trawling off wide stretches of the coast to save rare dolphins. We ban the trade in ivory, whale meat and tiger penises to try to protect various endangered beasts.

So why are we pussy-footing around when it comes to kwila imports, most of which, apparently, are illegally stripped from the ancient rain forests of West Papua.