Trisha Sertori/J.B. Djwan, Contributors, Bima and Flores – Daily there are dozens of stories of Indonesia's female migrant workers (TKW) in the news. Some have been abused, some are in other countries illegally, some are murdered, others murderers.

Alfian and Apriadi Gunawan, Jakarta/Medan – Forestry minister M.S. Kaban has said he had nothing to do with the Medan District Court's recent ruling – in which businessman Adelin Lis was acquitted of all charges – and blamed the prosecutors for indicting the logging boss with weak charges that ended in his acquittal.

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – The Supreme Court has sentenced senior member of the Lia Eden sect Abdul Rachman to three years in prison for blasphemy, a Jakarta Legal Aid Institute representative said.

Hermawanto, a lawyer from the institute working on Abdul's case, said his team was informed of the verdict by the Supreme Court on Friday.

The National Human Rights Commission is planning to re-open the case of the disappearance of Aristoteles Masoka, the chauffeur of Theys Hiyo Eluay, the chairman of the Papuan Presidium Council, even though case of Theys himself has been closed.

The report from a coronial inquest into the Balibo Five deaths is handed down next week. Mal Walden recounts the gut-wrenching day he heard the news.

October 15, 1975, late in the day, and the shrill ringing of a telephone shattered the silence of Channel Seven's almost-empty newsroom.

Jakarta – Rights groups demanded Thursday the government provide full access to a UN special rapporteur on torture and cruelty slated to begin a visit this weekend.

Rohman Taufiq, Sidoarjo – The uncontrolled emissions (spurt) of water mixed with flammable gas occurred again near the Lapindo mudflow in Porong, Sidoarjo, East Java.

Jakarta – It was another exhausting day for Sukarti as she waited in line at the Cipto Mangunkusno General Hospital in Central Jakarta.

Her two-year-old son Bagus had been suffering from a liver disease and malnutrition for several months, meaning trips to the hospital were a regular occurrence.

Jakarta – Former State Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi, a suspect in the controversial 2004 sale of two very large crude carriers (VLCC) belonging to state oil company Pertamina, has broken his silence on the identity of other state officials involved in the case.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Irked by the customs service's long-tainted image as a hotbed of corruption and poor service, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati took herself down to the docks to see how things have improved – or worsened, as the case may be.

Jakarta – Chairman of the House of Representatives (DPR), Agung Laksono, asked President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to warn Forestry Minister M. S. Kaban, who is suspected of intervening in the judicial process of Adelin Lis, Finance Director of PT Keang Nam Development Indonesia, yesterday (8/11).

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – Constitutional law experts have recommended improvements to the legislature's system of checks and balances between the House and Regional Representatives Council (DPD).

Alfian, Jakarta – The government has announced it will allocate Rp 10.4 trillion (US$1.14 billion) to finance the 2009 general election, half the budget proposed by the General Elections Commission (KPU).

Jakarta – Political parties in Indonesia have failed in their role as the key providers of political education for their members as well as the general public, said a politician Thursday.

Bogor – Four members of the banned al-Qiyadah al-Islamiyah sect turned themselves in to police Thursday.

Adj. Comr. Sarjiman, the chief of the Ciomas police station where the four Sukajaya subdistrict residents turned themselves in, said they had signed promises of repentance.

Andi Haswidi, Jakarta – Hit by rising oil prices, many factory-gate prices will have to rise by up to 10 percent early next year unless the government can reduce its chronic red tape so as to bring down the cost of doing business, says an association.

Jakarta – Some 300 people blockaded the Pondok Pinang-Serpong turnpike Wednesday to demand compensation from toll road operator PT Jasa Marga. The blockade caused extensive traffic congestion on the expressway for more than three hours.

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – The Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) said Wednesday it was optimistic it would win the Buyat Bay civil lawsuit against giant mining company PT Newmont Minahasa Raya following the court's decision to cancel an on-site investigation.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Police are still looking for logging boss Adelin Lis, whose whereabouts have been unknown since he was acquitted of corruption by a court here on Monday.

His acquittal has caused a furor among environment and legal activists across the nation, while the Medan Police want to question him in relation to a new set of charges.

Ahmed Mushaddeq leads the new Al Qiyadah Al Islamiyah sect. The sect has been described as deviant and blasphemous by the country's powerful Muslim organisation, the Indonesian Ulema Council because it promotes an alternative view of Islam.

Presenter: Linda LoPresti. Speaker: Professor Azyumardi Azra, President of Indonesia's State Islamic University

Jakarta – Consumers in the country are getting jittery from a possible domino effect from the lately pick-up in inflation to growth and beyond, putting their confidence on the economy at a down again, said a recent survey from the Danareksa Research Institute.

The Jakarta Post, Pelalawan, Riau – Forestry companies are generally still reluctant to adopt sustainable management practices because most do not see the benefits for their businesses.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A House of Representatives commission and an alliance of non-government organizations have slammed the government for resisting the inclusion of state enterprises into the bill on free flow of information.

The group accused President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of lacking commitment to establish good governance and combat corruption.

Aqida Swamurti, Jakarta – Soldiers, civil servants and children are allowed to participate in campaigns.

The goal is to change the atmosphere of campaigns from their current image of being frightening, brutal and threatening. It's also political education," said Patrialis Akbar, a member of the General Election working committee, Thursday (8/11).

Jakarta – The Munir murder case took a new turn Wednesday when three key witnesses testified in the murder conspiracy trial of former Garuda Indonesia chief Indra Setiawan, saying the presence of off-duty pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto on Munir's flight was out of line with procedure.

Aqida Swamurti, Jakarta – The Working Committee of the Draft Political Parties Bill has decided that the quota of women's representation in political parties be raised from 30 percent to 35 percent.

The Steering Team at the House of Representatives (DPR) was asked to adjust this provision together with other articles in the Political Party Bill.

New York – The United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) today released a report showing progress in promoting human rights in the nascent country while calling for further measures to help displaced persons and prevent impunity.

Dan Box – Whitlam era foreign minister Don Willesee believed the Balibo Five were "murdered" by Indonesian soldiers and in his dying days told his daughter the Australian government had conspired to keep news of the deaths from the victims' families.

Geraldine Willesee – The nightmare of East Timor followed my father to his deathbed. "Two hundred thousand dead... 200,000." A lifetime of politics poured into a single nugget of horror. "Two hundred thousand dead."

Sydney – A telegram sent from a minister just days after the Balibo Five were killed in East Timor revealed they had been murdered, and proved the government was engaged in a cover-up, one of their widows says.

Jakarta – Indonesia insists the Balibo Five case is closed, despite fresh reports that a telegram sent by an Australian Government minister revealed the five journalists were murdered in East Timor.

The truth about the murder of five journalists at Balibo on October 16, 1975, in the lead-up to the Indonesian invasion of East Timor is one of the longest and saddest cases of government abuse of Australians' right to know.

Tony Iltis – In 1975, when Indonesia invaded East Timor, beginning a 24-year occupation that cost over 200,000 Timorese lives (over a third of the population), Australia's support for this genocidal occupation was predicated on a policy outlined in the infamous "Woolcott telegram": that Australia's interest in East Timor was derived from the oil and gas resources in the Timor Sea.

Ary Hermawan, Denpasar – The Bali-chapter of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Institute (PBHI) said the government needed to take action on the prevailing local customary laws because it said they violated human rights.

Jakarta – Following the controversy over the al-Qiyadah al-Islamiyah sect, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) announced Tuesday 10 criteria that indicated an Islamic sect was "misguided".

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – A house thought to have been a place where "deviant" Islamic teachings were disseminated was set alight by residents from Enclek Sebrang village in Tangerang, police said Tuesday.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Logging boss Adelin Lis walked away from court free of all charges Monday after the Medan District Court acquitted him of illegal logging activities.

The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) and its sister organization the Asian Human Rights Commission welcome the proposed visit by the Special Rapporteur for Torture, Dr. Manfred Novak.

Irawaty Wardany, Nusa Dua, Bali – Procurement bribery at government offices makes up the bulk of graft cases in Indonesia and reportedly costs it Rp 36 trillion (US$3.9 billion) a year, a top anticorruption official said Monday.

Neles Tebay, Abepura, Papua – In the wake of civil society's efforts to transform Papua into a land of peace, the Indonesian Military (TNI) has been growing both in strength and numbers in the province, as reported by the International Crisis Group in September last year.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The top priorities for the last sitting of the legislature this year are the bills on political parties and on general elections, which are needed to smooth the way to the 2009 polls.

The bills are among 11 targeted for completion by the House of Representatives in the 33-day sitting period, which was officially opened on Monday.

Peter Ker, Sydney – East Timor President Jose Ramos Horta has weighed into the 2007 federal election campaign by passionately endorsing a direct opponent of Prime Minister John Howard in the Sydney electorate of Bennelong.

A man of 23 years died after being struck several times by a soldier attached to the district command Korem 172/PWY. The soldier has been identified only by his initials Sergeant YK.

The incident leading to the death of Rudi Pagawak, who worked for Sinar Mas Plantation occurred outside the TNI Post in Lereh, Jayapura on Thursday.

Jakarta – One person was killed in Indonesia's restive Papua province in tribal fighting as villagers burned houses and attacked a police station close to a US-owned gold mine, a police officer said Sunday.

Riot police and soldiers fired warning shots on Sunday after tribesmen in Indonesia's Papua province set several homes on fire in unrest triggered by the death of a former local police chief.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Indonesia's economy is expected to wrap up the year on track in line with the government's forecasts, despite risks to inflation and growth from the recent rise in global oil prices, the latest market confidence survey from the central bank shows.

Yuli Tri Suwarni and Rizal Harahap, Bandung/Pekanbaru – In the wake of controversy surrounding the al-Qiyadah Islamic sect, authorities and residents are focusing their attention on religious sects in their own backyards.

In Bandung, West Java, authorities responded to public demand by beginning an investigation of the Al Quran Suci sect.

Banda Aceh – Acehnese civil activists from the Aceh Anti-Corruption Coalition (KAAA) say they regret Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf has given his blessing to amnesty for former Aceh governor Abdullah Puteh, who was jailed over his involvement in a corruption case when he was still governor of Aceh.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The joint Indonesia-Timor Leste Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF) will ignore UN criticism and focus on finalizing its report without testimonials from officials of the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET).

A former diplomat has slammed public servants' "willingness to lie", after an investigation into claims he was pressured to break the law ended because of a lack of evidence.

The Greens have used the case to push for a whistleblowers' authority independent from the bureaucracy.