Reporter: Geoff Thompson

Tony Eastley: One of Indonesia's most senior officials has said that his country ran East Timor like a police state and used bribes and allowed militia violence in a failed attempt to defeat the 1999 referendum on independence.

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Tony Hotland, Jakarta – A military police investigation found the massive arms hoard of a deceased Army officer was for his personal collection and not politically linked, with the probe zeroing in on low-ranking servicemen and civilians suspected of supplying the weapons.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Hundreds of residents of Cipanjalu village in Bandung regency, who have been struggling to survive since 90 percent of them lost their jobs three years ago, have turned down food aid, saying it is jobs they want.

East Timor's parliament has passed the 2006-7 fiscal year budget, the young nation's largest ever at 315 million dollars, after a delay caused by violence and political upheaval in May.

Andy Alcock – For those who have supported the independence of Timor Leste (TL) for over 30 years, Timorese and others, the events occurring there over the past few months are heartbreaking.

Gary LaMoshi, Bali – Another high season after another bomb attack, and another struggle to recover for Bali's tourism-driven economy.

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – Lawyers for seven men charged with the 2002 killings of two Americans and one Indonesian in Papua province entered a not guilty plea for their clients Tuesday, saying the indictments were obscure or baseless.

Pip Hinman – Refugee-rights campaigners and supporters of a free West Papua welcomed the Refugee Review Tribunal's (RRT) ruling on July 31 to overturn the government's decision not to grant a temporary visa to the last of the 43 West Papuan asylum seekers who landed on Cape York in January.

Jakarta – An Indonesian appeal court has ruled that a corruption case against former dictator Suharto should be dropped, overruling a lower court's order to reopen the case.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's recent visit to Papua marked the government's renewed commitment to addressing the multitude of problems facing the local people. Papua University scholar Agus Sumule, who helped draft the law on special autonomy for Papua, shared with The Jakarta Post's Dwi Atmanta his views on the implementation of the law.

Lhokseumawe – Around 1000 women from the Inong Aceh League demonstrated in the North Acehnese city of Lhokseumawe on Monday August 7.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Police arrested at least 15 students Monday during a protest against Israeli military aggression in Palestine and Lebanon in front of the Sate Building on Jl. Diponegoro in Bandung.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas-HAM) has asked the Central Jakarta District Court to use its authority to grill 12 soldiers, including two generals, over their alleged involvement in the disappearance of 14 pro-democracy activists between 1997 and 1998.

Windoro Adi – It was just like the good old days when on the afternoon of Friday July 28, RMH Heroe Syswanto NS Soerio Soebagio, who is affectionately called Sys NS, appeared once again in an event at a hotel in Jakarta. Smelling seat, looking fetching and escorted by a young woman, he still prefers to appear in the style of a celebrity even though it was a political affair.

Jakarta – The House of Representatives speaker is refusing to submit the names of lawmakers accused of blackmailing government officials for disaster relief funds to the body's disciplinary committee.

Agung Laksono said he had received the names of the lawmakers from the Coordinating Ministry for the People's Welfare.

Andi Haswidi, Jakarta – The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) has urged the Finance Ministry to revoke the business licenses of a number of accounting and appraisal firms due to malpractice and misrepresentation.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – More than two months after hot toxic mud began to gush out of a gas well in Sidoarjo, East Java, experts warn that no technology may be able to stop it.

They urged the government Monday to consider evacuating and relocating people and businesses in the affected area.

Environmentalists have praised the government for issuing a transparent report on the state of the nation's environment, but have criticized it for failing to inform the public of the greater threats the environment is facing – weak regulations and the global economy.

A grim illustration of the rapid degradation of Indonesia's environment is recorded in 2005 State of Environment, a document published recently by the Office of the State Minister of the Environment.

The report looks at disasters that have ravaged parts of the archipelago and the even greater threats posed by sanitation shortcomings and increased economic globalization.

Despite sobering statistics about environmental degradation last year, the 2005 State of the Environment report also highlights some welcome news about the stratosphere above the archipelago and more findings of new species.

Victor Tjahjadi, Jakarta – Two Indonesian teenagers are confirmed to have died of bird flu, making the nation the world's worst-hit in terms of human fatalities with 44 deaths recognised by the World Health Organisation.

Aside from the increasing threat of natural disasters as a consequence of environmental degradation, the 2005 State of the Environment report also warns of a looming crisis in public health, health experts and environmentalists say.

Two human rights groups today commended the UN Secretary-General's continued attention to the need for accountability for past human rights crimes in Timor-Leste, but called his proposals to the Security Council "inadequate."

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – Critics are accusing the Indonesian media of encouraging intolerance by failing to cover issues thoroughly.

Violence erupted again in Dili at the weekend as gang members armed with slingshots and rocks roamed the streets. Several people are believed injured and up to six houses burnt down in the worst attacks in the city since the prime minister, Mari Alkatiri, was forced from office in June.

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – Tensions were running high Monday in Makassar, South Sulawesi, as dozens of university students held sometimes violent protests and threatened to expel ethnic Chinese from the city after a Chinese-Indonesian man was accused of attempting to rape his indigenous maid.

Jakarta – Indonesian deforestation has been so severe it would take 120 years to regain the 60 million hectares of lost forests, Forestry Minister M.S. Kaban says.

Kaban said in Padang, West Sumatra, on Saturday that 60 million hectares of pristine forests had been lost over the past 20 years due to over-exploitation, land conversion, natural disasters and forest fires.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Governor Sutiyoso's plan to push ahead with massive land reclamation project along 32 kilometers of the city's northern coastline will cause an ecological and economic disaster, the state environment ministry and green activists say.

Jakarta – Leaders of major religions came together Sunday in a united stance against Israeli attacks on Lebanon, with thousands bringing traffic to a standstill on main thoroughfares in Jakarta.

The rally and most of the ones held concurrently in Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Makassar and Medan were organized by the Muslim-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

Yogyakarta – A team of lawyers representing Yogyakarta earthquake victims plan to sue Vice President Jusuf Kalla for allegedly lying about the provision of relief aid.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – The government should halt all resource exploration on the densely-populated island of Java, since it does not have adequate safety measures to mitigate mining-related accidents, environmental groups say.

Telly Nathalia, Jakarta – Protesters from a wide ideological and religious spectrum demonstrated in cities across Indonesia on Sunday against Israeli actions in Lebanon, but a key rally in Jakarta drew far fewer participants than forecast.

Dave Hage, Jakarta – If you were an American president scanning the map for allies in the war on terror, sooner or later your finger would surely fall on Indonesia.

Jakarta – Thousands of Indonesians have held street rallies to condemn Israel's offensive in the Middle East as the capital Jakarta braced for a major protest.

The demonstration in the capital of the world's most populous Muslim nation, dubbed the "action of millions of believers," was to march through the city centre and end up at the US embassy here.

Hundreds of Papuan students on the run from the police following the clashes on 16 March this year are still hiding in the forests around Jayapura District and City, and the District of Keerom. They are too frightened to return home because they are being hunted by the TNI/Polri.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – The passing of the consumer protection law seven years ago was lauded as a landmark step toward allowing public recourse against poor and negligent service.

Jakarta – The National Movement to Prevent Smoking Problems has asked President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to stop the expansion of cigarette companies in the country.

Nelson da Cruz, Dili – More than two months after battalions of foreign troops arrived in East Timor to restore calm, tens of thousands of refugees are still living in grim camps, saying they are too terrified to return home.

Jephraim P Gundzik – Indonesian government officials and foreign analysts are excessively optimistic about the country's medium-term economic outlook. Economic growth in 2005 was much weaker than indicated by Indonesia's questionable national-accounts statistics. In 2006, economic growth will struggle to reach 3%, while an economic recession appears likely in 2007.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Muslim scholars are questioning a recent survey that suggested there is a relationship between Islam and violence in Indonesia, saying the survey was not based on a true understanding of Islamic doctrines and of economic and cultural factors in the country.

Lam Kabeue – Rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province are trading their guns for chain saws and cashing in on a logging binge that is jeopardizing the future of the world's third largest tropical forest reserves.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – House Speaker Agung Laksono joined growing calls Thursday for the immediate review of production-sharing contracts granted to multinational corporations to ensure they provided optimal benefits to the state and public.

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has asked foreign monitors in Aceh to stay on through the province's crucial elections, planned for later this year, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The recent major disasters have not only forced the government to review this year's budget, but have also tempted legislators at the House of Representatives to try to dip into a pot of additional relief aid.

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – Anticorruption activists are attacking the Supreme Court for what they call its strong resistance to internal judicial reforms being advocated by the independent Judicial Commission.

Andra Jackson – A Papuan asylum seeker whose visa refusal has been overturned says he believes the refusal was made on political grounds to appease Indonesia.

"It was like an international bargain," said David Wainggai, 28, the only one of 43 Papuan asylum seekers not granted a temporary protection visa in March.

Zely Ariane, Jakarta – On Monday, 31st July 2006, Indonesian Solidarity to Palestine and Lebanon held a solidarity action to protest Israel and America's war against Palestine and Lebanon. There were at least 200 protesters rallied toward US Embassy in Jl. Merdeka Jakarta.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has demanded the immediate revision of a number of articles of the Aceh Governance Law that are not in compliance with the Helsinki peace deal.

Jakarta – The judges in the Central Jakarta District Court have had to postpone the court hearing into the shooting of three PT Freeport employees. In addition to the defense attorney not being ready, Antonius Wamang and his six colleagues are still refusing to be tried in Jakarta.

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – Seven men charged with the 2002 murders of two American nationals and an Indonesian in Papua province said Tuesday they would rather die than stand trial in Jakarta.