By Charles Scheiner, Dili, Timor-Leste

Jakarta – Attorney General Hendarman Supandji, National Police chief Gen. Sutanto and Chief of the State Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP) Didi Widayadi signed Friday an agreement to better handle corruption cases and to work together. "There have been frequent incidents...

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – Following the recent release of 13 Navy officials involved in the May shooting spree of villagers in Pasuruan, East Java, Indonesia's main NGO human rights group Imparsial has demanded the case be re-opened.

The 13 Navy officials held as suspects were freed on September 17 by the Navy Military Police due to an expired detention period.

Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara – Indonesia and Timor Leste still have to settle the cases of 81 children who were separated from their parents after the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) handed them over in 2005, a social services official said.

Garry Maddox – Anthony LaPaglia will star in a film telling the story of the five newsmen who were shot dead in East Timor in 1975.

Jakarta – The AGO handed over Thursday the dossiers of former Garuda Indonesia president Indra Setiawan and former secretary to Garuda's chief pilot Rohainil Aini to the Jakarta Central District Court. Both men are suspects in the 2004 murder of rights activist Munir Said Thalib.

Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – The National Commission for Human Rights last week established a new ad hoc team to investigate the 1989 shooting at Talangsari village, Lampung, a commission member said Thursday.

Jakarta – Constitutional Court chairman Jimly Asshiddiqie said Thursday people should not expect too much regarding the UN and World Bank's scheme to uproot former president Soeharto's alleged illegal assets kept at banks overseas.

We accept the reality that our economic development lags behind Asian peers such as Malaysia, Thailand and China. We often joke around that we might have been overtaken by "new kids on the block" like Vietnam and Cambodia.

Jakarta/Yogyakarta – Constitutional Court President Jimly Asshiddiqie said Wednesday's arrest of Judicial Commission member Irawady Joenoes on bribery allegations was a reminder of the constant need to guard against corruption.

Jakarta – Strong commodity exports and an influx of foreign funds into the local capital markets pushed Indonesia's balance of payments during the second quarter to a surplus of US$3.63 billion, the central bank reported Thursday.

Jakarta – More than 500 residents blockaded the entrance to Koja container terminal in North Jakarta on Thursday, hampering activities at the terminal owned by state port operator PT Pelindo II.

The residents demanded compensation from the state enterprise for land acquired in 1994 to build the terminal.

Jakarta – Senior education expert Mochtar Buchori told the Central Jakarta District Court on Thursday the city administration failed to help residents during February's flood disaster and in the aftermath.

David Crawshaw – Australia broke international law and endangered the lives of five Papuan asylum seekers by secretly sending the men back to Papua New Guinea, refugee advocates say.

Ninin Damayanti/Sutarto, Jakarta – As many as 13 trade unions have sent letters rejecting the Government Draft Bill on Severance Pay being passed, to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Vice President Jusuf Kalla and Manpower Minister Erman Soeparno.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Indonesia's richest man last week lost a drawn-out legal tussle over his 40% ownership claim to the country's second-largest coal-mining company, PT Adaro Indonesia (Adaro). This comes crucially at a time when the energy commodity is enjoying its biggest boom ever.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Deputy Governor of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Muhammad Nazar is upbeat regarding the implementation of sharia law in Aceh, denying it hindered reconstruction efforts and development in the region.

Jakarta – Laws that permit polygamy for a man experiencing an infertile marriage or insist on the arrest of a woman seen outside after 7 p.m. because she is considered a prostitute are just two of 29 gender-biased laws Indonesia has been asked to revoke by an international anti-discrimination convention in New York.

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – Indonesia scored worse on the latest Corruption Perception Index (CPI), but the figure is still better than five years ago, an annual global survey by Transparency International revealed Wednesday.

Of the 180 countries in the survey, Indonesia placed 143 with a CPI of 2.3, a slight decline from 2.4 in the 2006 survey, which featured 163 countries.

Rob Taylor, Canberra – Australia secretly deported five separatist asylum seekers from Indonesia's Papua province, in what rights groups said on Thursday was an attempt to appease Jakarta and avoid embarrassing its powerful military.

Jakarta – The terrorisation of the Papuan chief representative of the National Human Rights Commission or Komnas HAM, Albert Rumbekwan, could have an impact on Indonesia's image as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Moreover, Amnesty International has sent a letter to the president raising questions about the case.

New York – A joint mission of the World Bank and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) will visit Indonesia in December to set up specific programs under the new Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) initiative.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Tuesday met World Bank President Robert Zoellick on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

It will be a miracle if, in the next five to 10 years, Indonesian school children can learn about another Timor Leste story.

Ninin Damayanti, Jakarta – The Committee to Eliminate Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) urged Indonesia to regulate that the female circumcision ban be included in a state decree.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Another survey – this time from the World Bank – has confirmed that starting a business in Indonesia has become more difficult due to additional red tape, despite the country having improved its overall business and investment climate.

Jakarta – Indonesia's local television stations have been accused of airing "indecent elements" in programs during Ramadhan and the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) has asked them to stop it.

Ati Nurbaiti, Dili – A former pro-integration leader told a public hearing here Wednesday that many Timorese civilians were forced by poverty to join pro-Indonesian militias.

Agung Yudhawiranata, Jakarta – The Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) involving Timor Leste and Indonesia is organizing the fifth in its series of public hearings in Dili from Sept. 24-27.

Dili – An East Timorese who was a pro-Indonesia activist during the tiny nation's 1999 independence vote said Wednesday that Indonesia's military should be held responsible for violence occurring then.

Indonesia was responsible for the bloodshed surrounding East Timor's independence vote in 1999, a former pro-Jakarta militia chief told a commission set up to investigate the violence at a hearing.

Pro-Indonesian militiamen went on a violent rampage before and after the UN-sponsored vote that ended 24 years of Jakarta rule in the former Portuguese colony.

Ati Nurbaiti, Dili – A Timor Leste government official who said he was once a "double agent" in East Timor's resistance movement and the Indonesian Military, claimed offers of financial aid and weapons were made by Indonesian generals to "pro-integration" Timorese.

Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta – During the fasting month of Ramadhan in Indonesia, it seems everything is focused on the country's Muslim population.

Malls and hotels run with Ramadhan themes all month and make sure their services cater to the needs of Muslims. Television stations broadcast Islam-themed programs all day and all night, including music shows and comedies.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – The effort to speed up the registration of businesses by delegating powers to the local level appear to have backfired, as the process of starting a business in the regions is now slower, costlier and more difficult, reveals a survey published Tuesday.

Markus Makur, Timika – More than half of the population of Mimika regency, Papua, live below the poverty line and lack access to health care, education, proper clothing and food, an official said Tuesday.

Jakarta – Non-governmental organization International Animal Rescue held a demonstration in front of the Japanese Embassy on Tuesday, urging its government to protect the dolphin.

In observance of International Dolphin Day, around 20 members of the group protested outside the embassy against the killing of dolphins for food.

Jakarta – Transsexuals are opposing the Jakarta regional government bylaw on public order that will soon be coming into effect. They say that the bylaw is discriminative and will criminalise the poor and particular social groups, including transsexuals.

Jakarta – In relation to his duties and responsibilities as a representative of the National Human Rights Commission or Komnas HAM in Papua, Albert Rumbekwan is a state official and cannot be harassed when carrying out his duties.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The deliberation of the bill on legislative elections at the House of Representatives turned into a tense situation when the special committee assigned to read the bill and the government began discussing strategic issues Monday.

Jakarta – The Home Affairs Ministry says it will study the newly endorsed contentious public order bylaw which, among others, bans beggars and buskers from working the city's streets.

Janirudin of the ministry's legal bureau said Monday his office would examine whether the bylaw contradicted a higher law, the Constitution or public interest.

The manner in which the Supreme Court and the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) resolved their dispute through President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's mediation on Saturday does not bode well for the development of public finance management, which unfortunately remains weak and infested with corruption.

Jakarta – An organization of scholarship recipients filed Monday a lawsuit intervening in a current civil suit against former president Soeharto over the alleged misappropriation of Supersemar Foundation funds.

Jakarta – Former President Megawati Soekarnoputri tops the list of Indonesia's 99 Most Powerful Women, according to the October edition of GlobeAsia business magazine.

Jon Lamb – On September 12, the new East Timorese government led by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, tabled the Government Program for 2007-12. The coalition Parliamentary Majority Alliance (AMP) believes the program will help alleviate poverty and resolve internal unrest and security issues.

Dili – About 50 people demonstrated in East Timor's capital today, calling for an international tribunal to try individuals who committed atrocities during the vote for independence from Indonesia in 1999.

Paul Cleary – For a country controlling a maritime region of 15 million square kilometres – more than twice the size of its landmass – Australia has limited powers to stop unlawful exploitation of creatures such as endangered whales and fish, and the resources found underneath the seabed.

Chad Bouchard, Jakarta – Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao testified behind closed doors Monday on what he knew about the unrest that accompanied East Timor's vote to separate from Indonesian rule in 1999.

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – The joint Indonesia-Timor Leste Truth and Friendship Commission (CTF) is scheduled to hold its final hearing today, which could see Timor Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao testify, along with several other key witnesses.

East Timor's government fears a jailed former minister, allowed to leave the country for medical care, won't return to serve his sentence for arming hit squads during last year's unrest.

The government has also flagged a possible corruption inquiry related to the case of the former Fretilin government's interior minister Rogerio Lobato.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – An Aceh-linked organization that advocates for environmental issues demanded that the Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) apologize for implicitly blaming the slow reconstruction work on sharia in Aceh province.

Ramadhian Fadillah, Jakarta – Opposition to Draft Bylaw No. 8/2007 on Public Order established by the Jakarta provincial government is continuing. Around 200 buskers, beggars, transsexuals, street peddlers and 3 in 1 jockeys descended upon the Department of Home Affairs building on Monday September 24.