Hamish McDonald – Alongside the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summitry last weekend, there was an impressive roadshow from an Asian country that once dominated our regional outlook, but whose story has more recently been drowned out by the big-budget epics of China and India.

Depok – The Jakarta suburb of Depok might have lost tens of billions of rupiah from building permits, as money that should have gone to the city administration was allegedly directed to officers' personal accounts instead, a watchdog said Friday.

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – The Attorney General's Office (AGO) said Friday it is ready to use "strong evidence" to prove Soeharto illegally channeled funds from his Supersemar Foundation to his family and confidants, instead of giving the money to recipients of the scholarship scheme.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Press Council condemned Friday state-owned telecommunication services provider PT Telkom for giving the text messaging records of a journalist to law enforcement official.

The outcome of Timor Leste's parliamentary election could be seen as a political victory for former President and now Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao. Some factors are running in his favour; but there are substantial challenges.

Maryann Keady – The current situation in East Timor makes me think of my first year American Politics essay: 'The American President as Actor; the American Actor as President: Discuss'. With Ronald Reagan at the helm, it wasn't difficult to write 10,000 words.

Avid East Timor-watchers of the past few years can be summed up in three ways:

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Malang – Malang regency public order officers have banned sex workers from operating during Ramadhan and are making efforts to secure them jobs in cigarette factories as an alternative means of income.

M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – Jreng... jreng.... Dung... dung... dung... Buskers and street children strumming guitars and pounding drums. The buskers in front of the office of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) were not there to protest the commission, but to call for the bylaw on public order to be revoked.

Jakarta – Former vice presidential candidate Salahuddin "Gus Solah" Wahid said Wednesday it would be difficult for former president Megawati Soekarnoputri to win the 2009 presidential election.

"I think Megawati is unlikely to win the election since she does not serve as president and she once lost the presidency in the 2004 election," Gus Solah told detik.com.

Jakarta – Former President Soeharto is pleased with the Supreme Court's ruling of his lawsuit against Time magazine, his lawyer said Wednesday.

"He was happy with the ruling and thanked his lawyers," M. Assegaf, one of Soeharto's lawyers told detik.com.

Assegaf said Soeharto was informed by his family and his other lawyers, Denny Kailimang and Juan Felix Tampubolon.

Presi Mandari, Bengkulu – Huge aftershocks rumbled across Indonesia's Sumatra island on Thursday but officials said damage from a massive quake that killed 10 people was not as bad as first feared.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Humans remained the number one cause of disasters in Indonesia in 2006, according to the government's environmental report released Wednesday.

The fifth edition of the report named forest fires, the mudflow in East Java and flooding in several regions as the country's worst disasters.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Army has proposed a third infantry division for their Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) in Papua, which would see more guards made available to patrol Papua border areas and other conflict-prone regions.

The Army needs financial assistance from the government however before its proposal can be realized.

Soeharto repeatedly won condemnation from media organizations around the world for muzzling journalists during much of his time as president. More than nine years after he was forced to step down, the ailing and aging former president is still taunting the media.

Jakarta – Poor communication by the government with its people and its neighbors has seen the birth of an unfavorable national security agreement and massive protests against a fuel conversion program, a university-based communication expert said Wednesday.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's visit to Bandung on Wednesday was marked by two separate protests attended by hundreds of people.

Yudhoyono was in Bandung to deliver a speech at the 51st anniversary of Padjadjaran University (Unpad) at its campus on Jl Dipatiukur.

Jakarta – The Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) has urged the Home Ministry not to endorse the new bylaw on public order that bans donating money to beggars, buskers and street children.

Dili – East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao pledged to prioritise security as he read out his plans for governingthe tiny nation over the next five years to parliament on Thursday.

Tito Belo, Dili – East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao pledged on Thursday to improve security and use funds earned from rich energy reserves to tackle poverty as he set out his new government's priorities for the tiny nation.

Alice Coster, Jakarta – The ruling Timor Leste government is "illegitimate" and "illegal", said former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, but building stronger relations with Indonesia based on truth was crucial.

Jakarta – East Timor's new government will not last beyond two years because of mounting friction among its coalition parties, ex-prime minister Mari Alkatiri said in an interview published here Wednesday.

Andi Saputra, Jakarta – The poor will be the ones who will put up the strongest resistance to the new bylaw on public order. The Jakarta Poor People's Alliance (ARM), which is made up of scores of non-government organisations from across Greater Jakarta is calling for the bylaw to be revoked.

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – The newly endorsed bylaw on public order that bans donating money to beggars, buskers and street children has been called "absurd" and "ridiculous" by academics and observers.

Jakarta – Indonesia's Press Council described the Supreme Court's decision ordering Time magazine to pay former president Soeharto Rp 1 trillion (US$106 million) as an "evil omen" for local journalists covering corruption stories.

Ed Davies and Ahmad Pathoni, Jakarta – Indonesian human rights activist Munir Thalib, who died in agony of arsenic poisoning on a Garuda flight in 2004, made plenty of enemies in his career – including from the ranks of the country's powerful security forces.

Indra Harsaputra, Surabaya – Despite numerous government poverty-alleviation programs, the number of low-income people continues rising, underlining the difficulty of eradicating poverty in the country.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Rising prices and uncertain job prospects are still dampening the confidence of Indonesia's consumers, although there are hopes of clearer skies ahead, the latest surveys show.

Imanuddin Razak, Jakarta – Internal reforms for Indonesia's police force have been put on hold because President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has not officially inaugurated the body responsible for implementing change, police experts and observers said.

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – The City Council endorsed a new bylaw on public order on Monday, replacing a 19-year-old ordinance and banning donating money to beggars, buskers and street children.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Former president Megawati Soekarnoputri has accepted a nomination by her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to run for the presidential election in 2009.

Jakarta – Indonesia's political parties have to do more and talk less to improve their public image, the Reform Institute said.

Executive director of the institute Yudi Latif said political parties had to improve social welfare and avoid establishing any more "just for show" wing organizations.

Jakarta – A lawyer for Time magazine in Indonesia vowed Tuesday to fight a Supreme Court decision awarding former dictator Suharto 106 million dollars in a defamation suit he filed against the publication in 1999.

Palembang, South Sumatra – The Sriwijaya Military District Command in South Sumatra is overseeing a pilot project on the utilization of peat land for agricultural purposes.

The project, on 50 hectares of land in Kayu Agung district, Ogan Komering Ilir regency, was inaugurated by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Joko Santoso on Saturday.

Yuli Tri Suwarni and Andi Hajramurni, Bandung/Makassar – Despite opposition to the Commercial Court's verdict declaring state-owned aircraft company PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) bankrupt, moves to execute the decision are proceeding.

Evelyn Leopold, United Nations – The UN Security Council called on East Timor to refrain from further violence after mayhem erupted when independence leader Xanana Gusmao became prime minister last month.

Jakarta – Secretary General of Timor Leste's Fretilin Party Mari Alkatiri visited the Prosperous and Justice Party (PKS) headquarters Monday in an attempt to foster relationships between the two parties.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – A recent study has predicted less rainwater will flow to the Citarum river basin in West Java as a result of warmer temperatures and vast changes in land use.

Citarum, the largest water basin on the island of Java, is the key source of water for both West Java and Jakarta.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – In order to face the 2009 legislative elections, minority parties unable to secure at least 3 percent of public support in the parliament should not dissolve – they should join a major party or merge to form a new one, legislators said.

Jakarta – The government has failed to reach its 2007 forest rehabilitation target due to financial issues and poor coordination, said a senior forestry ministry official.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Plans to renovate the House of Representatives and its buildings to the sum of more than US$4 million have come under fire from Indonesia's corruption watch group and various party members.

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – With the emergence of new evidence in the murder case of Munir Said Thalib, pressure is mounting for a thorough and rapid investigation of the circumstances surrounding the human rights activist's poisoning death.

The former head of the Defence Intelligence Organisation falsely claimed he did not know the flow of intelligence to Australian troops in East Timor had been deliberately cut, the ACT Supreme Court was told yesterday.

Bandung – Thousands of students in Bandung city, from elementary to senior high school levels, are at risk of being dropped out of school because they cannot afford to buy textbooks, an education official said Thursday.

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – A group of around 200 protesters blockaded the Pondok Pinang-Serpong turnpike all day Thursday to demand long-delayed land compensation from toll road operator PT Jasa Marga.

Jakarta – There remains a low rate of reform in the Supreme Court and the mafia still exists within its ranks, experts said Thursday.

Mahfud MD, a legislator from Commission III with the House of Representatives, said the court's reform process had failed because of judicial corruption and the court's mafia.

Jakarta – The government defended its stance Thursday to exclude public access to state enterprises, saying there existed already several regulations around the transparency of state-owned companies.

Aboeprijadi Santoso, Amsterdam – The third anniversary of the assassination of Indonesia's most well-known human rights activist, Munir Said Thalib, has seen the public at home and abroad still guessing how the fatal poisoning happened and was planned.

Anwar Khumaini, Jakarta – Exactly three years since Munir's death, one thousand people from the Solidarity Alliance for Munir and Democracy (Asumsi) gathered at the Proclamation Monument on Jl. Proklamasi in Central Jakarta on Friday September 7.

Anwar Khumaini, Jakarta – Three years have passed without any progress being made on who murdered human rights activist Munir. In a speech, Munir's widow Suciwati demanded that the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) be "cleansed" of Munir's killers.

Anwar Khumaini, Jakarta – A bunch of roses and a wreath of flowers symbolising the death of Munir was handed to officials on guard in front of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) offices. Not one of them however wanted to accept them.