Jakarta – Former president Soeharto's long-time finance minister Ali Wardhana told a civil court hearing Tuesday he was coerced by Soeharto in 1976 to issue a decree requiring banks to siphon funds into the then president's foundation.

M. Azis Tunny, Maluku – Large expanses of dry rice fields stretch out over Pasahari plateau in North Seram district, Central Maluku regency, where farmers are not able to use their fields optimally due to problems with irrigation.

Jambi – Four of five people apprehended by Jambi Police, who have admitted to being members of a new sect, were named suspect for blasphemy Tuesday and could face up to five years jail under the Criminal Code. The fifth was only named a witness.

The suspects were allegedly responsible for setting up a new sect called the New Way of Islam.

Jakarta – With illegal logging of ever-increasing concern, the country's plywood industry has suffered an acute shortage of raw materials, threatening to close almost half of the companies involved in the business.

Vincent Lingga, Jakarta – The market may simply ignore the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU)'s ruling against Temasek, its subsidiaries and Telkomsel. It will most likely be business as usual for Telkomsel, which was found guilty of breaching the anti-monopoly law on Monday by a panel of KPPU judges.

Ali Darwin and Patrick Guntensperger, Jakarta – Considerable controversy has accompanied the Indonesian government's recent enactment of legislation requiring corporations to participate in mandatory corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs.

The United Nations police say the security situation in East Timor is generally calm, despite nine incidents in Dili this week alone.

Funeral records suggest the remains of only four of the five Australian newsmen killed in East Timor 32 years ago are in a grave bearing their names.

Both the Coalition and Labor have committed to repatriation of the bodies of the five men, known as the Balibo Five.

Damien Kingsbury – The finding by the NSW deputy state coroner that the five Australia-based newsmen killed at Balibo, East Timor, in 1975 were murdered by the Indonesian military has the potential to again derail Australia's often fraught relationship with Indonesia.

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Malang – Cleanup work to flush away mud deposits from the Porong River in Sidoarjo, East Java, to the sea during the rainy season would not cause problems, an official said.

The statement came from the new managing director of the East Java Jasa Tirta state river management agency (PJT), Tjoek Waluyo, who was recently appointed in Malang.

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – Critics said "more roads means more traffic" about Governor Fauzi Bowo's plan to expand driving space vertically, with elevated roadways stacked one above the other.

Experts say difficulty in purchasing land for new roads is behind the plan.

The antitrust body's questionable ruling against Singapore's Temasek Holdings, its subsidiaries and Telkomsel on Monday just added more evidence of the legal uncertainty that has kept most foreign investors away from Indonesia.

Jakarta – Presidential candidates for the Golkar Party will be decided through a convention, party officials said Monday – just as they were for the last presidential election.

Details of the convention will be determined in a national leaders' meeting held after the 2009 general election for the legislative members, Syamsul Mu'arif said.

The increasing number of diarrhea cases, blamed on poor sanitation, has stirred the government to conduct integrated efforts to improve sanitation in Indonesia.

State Minister for Development Planning Paskah Suzetta said diarrhea was generally caused by low quality drinking water and poor sanitation systems.

Jakarta – Pinching or slapping your child is not acceptable – and it's your responsibility to report others who do.

These messages make up part of the Stop Violence against Children Campaign launched in Jakarta on Monday by the State Ministry of Women's Empowerment and the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef).

Jakarta – The House of Representatives has been urged to review a number of laws relating to Bank Indonesia and other banking issues following allegations that funds had been transferred from the central bank to legislators.

Alfian, Jakarta – The requirements for independent candidates in regional elections are illogical and could lead to corruption, activists said Sunday.

Jakarta – Presidential hopeful Megawati Soekarnoputri has embarked on a tour to visit poor families across Java.

The five-day trip was organized after Megawati accepted her nomination as the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P)'s presidential candidate in the 2009 elections.

On Sunday she visited Karawang, Subang and Indramayu in West Java province.

Jakarta – The government should review the National Narcotics Agency (BNN)'s performance and its activities, which focus more on anti-drug campaigns rather than fighting drug syndicates, a legislator said Saturday.

Jakarta – A Dutch-based non-profit organization has offered the Indonesian government assistance in promoting safe sex among youth, to curb the spread of the HIV virus and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in Indonesia.

Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) decision to halt an investigation into non-budgetary funds in the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries shows that political power still comes into play in Indonesia's anti-corruption enforcement, law experts say.

Jakarta – A police officer in North Sumatra was replaced Friday for ignoring orders to arrest Adelin Lis, the fugitive acquitted of illegal logging and corruption, a high-ranking police official said.

As part of further investigations into the high-profile case, police are also planning to question several witnesses from Adelin's trial.

Jakarta – The so-called "partnership" between companies and farmers in the palm oil business needs to be reconsidered because it benefits big corporations, not farmers, say observers.

Nursuhud, a member of the House of Representatives' Commission IX overseeing social welfare, labor and transmigration affairs said the partnerships, established in 1977, were not equitable.

There is an almost palpable fear in the air of a repeat of the devastating floods that paralyzed almost all of Jakarta in February this year.

Floods have already inundated parts of Greater Jakarta that are known to be flood-prone, after almost daily heavy rain over the last few weeks.

Clinton Fernandes – The NSW Coroner's inquest concluded yesterday into the deaths of five journalists at the border town of Balibo in East Timor in October 1975 was the first independent judicial inquiry with the power to compel witnesses.

East Timor's leader has called on Indonesia to take responsibility for the 1975 killing of five foreign reporters.

East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta says Indonesia must assume with courage and responsibility what happened," claiming the reporters had been "captured alive and killed."

Hamish McDonald – In the blame game of Balibo, the state coronial inquest yesterday put responsibility onto the five journalist victims for refusing opportunities to escape their danger, and the Indonesian military for executing them.

Hamish McDonald – After 32 years of secrecy, the killing of the Balibo Five newsmen has been branded a war crime, and Australia may launch prosecutions against the Indonesian soldiers involved.

Saul Amaral – After seven years of independence, Timor Leste is still the poorest country in Asia and the 27th most impoverished country in the world. According to the 2007 Timor National Media Survey 82 percent of the population is still living in poverty.

Ramos-Horta said Thursday that his country would need international forces to maintain security for "another few years", after talks here with his Portuguese counterpart.

East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta said Thursday that his country would need international forces to maintain security for "another few years", after talks here with his Portuguese counterpart.

Amy Coopes, Sydney – As forces from West Timor spilled into the Balibo town square on the morning of October 16, 1975, two Australian-based newsmen looked on, their cameras fixed on a helicopter as it swooped overhead.

It was a piece of footage which may have sealed their fate – incontrovertible evidence that Indonesia was invading East Timor.

Prime Minister John Howard says he is taking advice on what the Government can do in relation to a coroner's finding that five Australian-based journalists were deliberately killed in East Timor 32 years ago.

Indonesia says the case of the Balibo Five is closed and insists an Australian coroner's claim its soldiers may have committed war crimes won't damage relations between the countries.

The NSW Coroner, Dorelle Pinch has just released her judgment in the inquest held earlier this year into the deaths of the five Australian based journalists at Balibo in East Timor in 1975. One of the five, photographer Gary Cunningham, was a New Zealander.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – A coalition of NGOs and local civil societies has asked developed countries to make drastic reductions in harmful gas emissions at a national level, rather than through carbon trading.

Next Australian prime minister urged to ensure murderers are tried in Australia

Jakarta – A tanker loaded with more than 30,000 tons of palm oil forced its way out of an Indonesian port after a nine-hour stand off with a Greenpeace ship, activists said Saturday.

Alfian and Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – Local parties are good for democracy and provide a vehicle to accommodate regional political aspirations – but their existence has been hampered, activists said Thursday.

From a total of 22 people employed by the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), 19 resigned Thursday in protest against the foundation's current leadership.

Jakarta – The information, defense and foreign affairs commission at the House of Representatives will likely bring back a bill on free flow of public information so it can be discussed by a special committee.

Legislators said it would bring back the bill for discussion because the government and the House were deadlocked on the status of state enterprises.

Andi Haswidi, Jakarta – The economy will remain resilient next year despite tough challenges ahead stemming from a predicted slowdown in the global economy as a result of high oil prices and the US subprime mortgage crisis, a World Bank report says.

Andi Haswidi, Jakarta – Indonesia improved its share of world trade last year thanks largely to a surge in the prices of the country's main commodities, according to the latest report from the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Fakhri, Banda Aceh – The Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) plans to form a local political party in Aceh soon. They will be sounding this out during an event titled Two Great Discussions (Duek Pakat Raya, DPR), which is being organised by the SIRA Preparatory Committee for the Establishment of a Local Political Party.

Jakarta – Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto, Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo and the governors and deputy governors of neighboring Banten and West Java met with lawmakers Thursday to discuss flood mitigation in the capital.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Islamic Saviors Movement or GPII is urging the Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI) to immediately find a solution to the various problems facing the Islamic religious community.

The current coroner's inquest into the death of an Australian-based journalist killed by Indonesian troops in October 1975 highlights "the need to pursue justice for the many tens of thousands killed during Indonesia's illegal invasion and occupation of East Timor," said John M. Miller, National Coordinator of the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN).

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – After a meeting in London this week, the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) has asked President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to ensure the state-owned train company PT KA avoids labor strikes planned by the train employee's union (SPKA).

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandar Lampung – Hundreds of the country's 746 local languages will disappear forever unless the central and local governments work together to preserve them, a symposium heard.

This warning was heard at the two-day Congress of Local Languages in Western Indonesia, held from Nov. 12-13 and attended by some 150 participants from across the country.

Jakarta – Corruption watchdogs and concerned citizens on Wednesday complained of weak policy, poor management and financial irregularities in the education sector.

Roy Salam of the Indonesian Forum for Budgetary Transparency (FITRA) said the 12 percent allocation for the education budget, taken out of the total 2008 national budget, failed to ensure free public education.

East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao began talks with former soldiers whose dismissal sparked protests that led to bloodshed in the tiny country last year.

In June 2006 the government of then-prime minister Mari Alkatiri sacked 600 soldiers, more than one third of the country's defence force, after they had lodged a petition alleging discrimination in the institution.