The filmmakers behind the political thriller Balibo have been awarded East Timor's Presidential Medal of Merit in recognition for their contribution to the country.

Amir Tejo, Surabaya – Irresponsibility on the part of PT Lapindo Brantas may again cause more misery for the people of Sidoarjo.

Rachmadin Ismail, Jakarta – There has been no significant change in the handling of cases of missing person or human rights violations since President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been in office. Over the next period therefore, Yudhoyono is being urged to show more courage.

Rachmadin Ismail, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) visited the Directorate General of Human Rights at the Department of Justice and Human Rights on Tuesday September 1.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Executive members of political parties in coalition with President-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party will remain strong potential candidates for the next Cabinet, experts predict.

To Ex. Dr. Longuinos Monteiro,
General Commander of the Timor-Leste National Police

1 September 2009

Camelia Pasandaran – The potential power of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party-led coalition in the House of Representatives could pose a threat to democracy, the Indonesian Civic Network said on Tuesday.

Max Lane – On August 6, Wahyu Sulaiman Rendra, Indonesia's greatest dramatist and most influential poet, died in Jakarta, aged 74. More than a thousand people, mostly villagers but also intellectuals, attended his funeral on August 7 at his home and theatre group centre, Bengkel Teater, outside Jakarta.

After a mass hacking attack on more than 120 Malaysian Web sites, dozens of students ambushed the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta on Tuesday and pelted it with rotten eggs.

The rally outside the embassy at Jalan Rasuna Said, South Jakarta, was heavily guarded by police, but no demonstrators were stopped or arrested.

Jakarta – The Indonesia Military (TNI) says the export of weaponry to the Philippines has been done in accordance with procedural administrative requirements.

Sam King – The National Network for Women's Liberation (Jaringan Nasional Perempuan Mahardika – JNPM) is an Indonesian women's liberation organisation consisting of local women's committees, coordinating bodies and women's sections of labour, student, peasant and urban poor organisations committed to the liberation of women.

[The following is an extended version of a presentation by Carmel Budiardjo at a conference in Dili, Timor-Leste in August 2009 on the theme: Strengthening Solidarity: The Struggle for Justice Continues.]

Geoff Thompson, Indonesia – As East Timor celebrates a decade of self-rule, President Jose Ramos-Horta has called for an end to all United Nations-led investigations into the serious crimes committed along the nation's road to independence.

But it is a controversial stance, and a victim of the violence in 1999 says she is now ashamed of her country's head of state.

Arientha Primanita – Jakarta residents who haven't made the adjustment already had better learn to live with the annual floods because the problem will continue to exist for the foreseeable future, experts say.

At least 600 army officers will help secure the working areas of the PT Freeport Indonesia mine in Timika, Papua, starting on September 2, following a number of armed attacks on the site.

A conference in Dili to mark the tenth anniversary of East Timor's independence from Indonesia has demanded an end to impunity for the perpetrators of the killings of Papuan political leaders and human rights activists.

Bogor – Bogor Police took 30 unmarried couples from several hotels in Parung, Bogor, on Friday evening and brought them to police headquarters for questioning.

A senior detective with the Bogor Police, Adj Comr Luky B Irawan, said that the arrest of the couples was part of campaign to honor the holy month of Ramadan in the area that has predominantly Muslim residents.

Pandaya and Yemris Fointuna, Dili – Timor Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta asked Indonesia on Sunday to return the remains of its independence fighters who died in Indonesia.

Jakarta – State Secretary Hatta Radjasa said Saturday the whereabouts of a 1966 document that marked a transfer of power from founding president Sukarno to Army general Soeharto remained uncertain.

Mark Dodd – The first act in the birth of the world's newest nation – its 1999 vote for independence – began for me before daybreak in East Timor's western border town of Maliana.

East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta is out of touch with the people over his refusal to accept an international tribunal to try perpetrators of past atrocities, the opposition said Monday.

The kiosks at the Mercado Market tell the whole story: almost everything here, from toothpaste and household appliances, to clothing to seasoning commodities like turmeric, comes from Indonesia.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – The President of East Timor, Jose Ramos-Horta, has called on the United Nations to stop gathering evidence against the killers of hundreds of Timorese, saying his people must put the past behind them.

Dili – An Indonesian man allegedly involved in crimes against humanity in East Timor when the country voted for independence has been released from a Dili prison, the United Nations said.

Indah Setiawati, Jakarta – In 2004, the Home Ministry announced to the public that Indonesia would give each citizen a Single Identity Number (SIN) for use in various administrative systems records and documents.

Ismira Lutfia – In an effort to scoop audience ratings during the holy month, broadcasters have been serving up a banquet of Islamic-oriented shows for Muslim viewers, ranging from televised sermons to Ramadan specials and religious soap operas.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Public opinion is needed to push the government to act to mitigate climate change, but a new survey shows that many of the nation's students believe climate change is God's will and that humans can do nothing to stop it.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Eight years after the introduction of "special autonomy" scheme developed by the central government for Papua and West Papua, major problems remain, with much of the regions population yet to see intended improvements to their social welfare, a discussion concluded recently.

Indah Setiawati – Loopholes in the process of making an identity card (KTP) in the city and its surrounding areas means many people can get, and indeed do have multiple KTPs.

Wedhatama, a resident of Tangerang, says he knew he ought to have handed his old KTP over to the subdistrict office when he made a new KTP at his new residence, also in Tangerang.

Kafil Yamin – Since the beginning of last year, the heads of no fewer than 29 provincial, district and municipal administrations have been arrested on corruption charges, with 19 being convicted in court. In Indonesia's push toward eradicating corruption, they likely will not be the last.

Nurfika Osman – Nongovernmental organizations on Sunday urged the government to ratify the 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers, warning the country could lose face with the international community if it further delayed legal protection for its citizens overseas.

The man who led President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's campaign team in Papua for the July presidential election urged the government on Sunday to pay more attention to the province, where he said conditions were becoming "more and more precarious."

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – East Timor is under pressure to release an Indonesian citizen accused of leading one of the country's worst massacres, as hundreds of East Timorese attended a ceremony yesterday remembering those who died in the fight for independence.

A decade after the devastation that surrounded the vote for independence, there are some promising signs.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – A lawmaker said on Sunday that the House of Representatives was likely to adopt a controversial article in the State Secrecy Bill that would allow media outlets to face fines of as much as Rp 100 billion ($10 million) for publishing state secrets.

Febriamy Hutapea – Members of the corruption-plagued House of Representatives (DPR) have been blasted for their poor performances during their 2004-09 term after managing to pass less than 60 percent of targeted legislation.

Yemris Fointuna, Dili – After 10 years of independence, two presidents and two prime ministers, Timor Leste has not changed much, at least on the surface.

Except for the new construction of the president's office and national parliament, almost all government buildings are still housed in the structures left by Indonesian and Portuguese rule.

Sunanda Creagh, Dili – As a student activist in Jakarta, Avelino Coelho da Silva sought refuge in the Austrian embassy to avoid capture by Indonesian troops. Now as East Timor's Secretary of State for Energy Policy, he installs solar power in villages.

Yemris Fointuna – On Saturday, Dili's main streets and spotless government office complexes overlooking the touristy Dili beach were awash with colorful flags and banners. Cars roamed the streets with small fluttering Timor Leste flags.

Camelia Pasandaran – A House of Representatives committee on Sunday denied it had dragged its feet on a bill to set up a new Anti-Corruption Court.

Dewi Asmara, the head of the committee, said that the House had to be methodical in its consideration of the bill. "We don't want to pass it without thorough deliberations," she said.

Ten years ago tomorrow, the people of East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia in a popular referendum sanctioned by the United Nations.

Sara Everingham, Dili – East Timor's President says Australia should spend more of its aid money helping educate East Timorese.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Scores of residents seeking compensation for land they claim was taken away from them, closed down the Sentani Airport in Jayapura on Friday, suspending flights for about two hours.

Ezki Suyanto – As East Timorese celebrate the 10th anniversary of the referendum that led to the country's independence, the Jakarta Globe presents contributor Ezki Suyanto's interview with the nation's first prime minister, Mari Alkatiri, 59, at his residence in Farol, Dili, at the end of last month.

Jakarta – Aspiring Golkar Party chairman Yuddy Chrisnandi met with former president Soeharto's eldest daughter, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, after meeting with her younger brother, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra.

Febriamy Hutapea – Analysts said on Friday that the irrepressible Suharto family was courting its former bedfellow, the troubled Golkar Party, for a possible comeback.

A string of recent political events involving the two amounts to a "testing of the waters" for possible re-entry into politics, analysts said.

Ezki Suyanto – History might show that for more than two decades, the fates of East Timor and its giant neighbor Indonesia were inextricably woven together, but for many from both nations, that history has two opposing faces.

Joe Kelly – Ten years ago East Timor voted for its independence, triggering a contentious Australian military intervention that transformed the nation's regional profile and provoked hostility from Indonesia.

Ten years after voting for independence, the Timorese have little to show for supposed freedom. Lindsay Murdoch paid a visit.

Australia is still atoning for East Timor's suffering 10 years after the independence vote. No nation has paid a higher price for independence than East Timor.