Dili – Jose Ramos-Horta, the Nobel peace laureate who spent decades campaigning for East Timor's independence from Indonesia, was appointed the nation's prime minister Saturday.

Jakarta – Indonesian maids working overseas are still unaware of their right to report cases of abuse and other grievances to local authorities, activists say.

Mark Forbes, Jakarta – Kartika Gunawan is not a typical Playboy playmate, but neither are her centrefold shots.

Jakarta – Members of the Unity in Diversity Alliance came away disappointed Friday after trying to persuade the Islamic Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) faction to stop the passage of the controversial pornography bill and enforcement of sharia bylaws.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Seven suspects set to stand trial over the killing of two American teachers and their Indonesian colleague in Timika, Papua province have refused to stand trial in Jakarta, their lawyer said Thursday.

Jakarta – A student reported a security guard at the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) office to the Jakarta Police on Thursday for allegedly beating him and an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver last month.

Jakarta – The business community is unimpressed with the newly launched financial policy package and doubts the seriousness of the authorities in implementing the contents of the policy aimed at reviving business activities in the country.

Abdul Khalik and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The resumption of nearly full military ties with the United States has been prompted by economic and security concerns rather than the improving human rights record of the Indonesian Military (TNI), experts say.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Legislators have accused Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono of a half-hearted commitment to effecting internal reform of the military, evidenced by a lack of accountability in arms procurement and a recent illegal arms scandal.

Bandung – Fifty-two former workers of state aircraft maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia began a long march from Bandung to the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday to demand the government honor its promise to pay part of their pensions in cash.

Other former workers and their family members saw off the marchers who began their trek from the West Java governor's office.

RR Ariyani, Jakarta – Entrepreneur groups consider that improvement to infrastructures is far more interesting to investors than the granting of fiscal incentives.

Jakarta – The government and Bank Indonesia (BI) have signed a joint decree to improve coordination between fiscal and monetary authorities and help reform financial markets.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Indonesia, hobbled by graft and slack bureaucratic coordination, has a long way to go before it can adopt a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) plan to offset the negative impact of the liberalized world trade order, economists say.

Jakarta – The House of Representatives has agreed to resolve internal friction over controversial sharia-inspired bylaws enacted by some regional administrations.

House Speaker Agung Laksono said lawmakers opposed to and those in support of the local government regulations had met with him and agreed to stop questioning these bylaws on gambling, prostitution and liquor.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – East Timor's deposed prime minister, Mari Alkatiri, last night lashed out at Australia, saying there was an attempt to demonise him in the media and that some government ministers and officials "don't like me".

Jakarta – Too many illegal logging suspects are being acquitted by the courts and others are receiving light sentences, say National Police chief Gen. Sutanto and Forestry Minister M.S. Kaban.

Speaking after a meeting at Kaban's office Wednesday, Sutanto and Kaban said the judgments would undermine people's faith in the justice system.

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Rendy Akhmad Witular, Jakarta – National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Syamsir Siregar said Tuesday that military police had found 35 more arms hoarded by late Army officer Brig. Gen. Koesmayadi.

Jon Lamb – The political crisis in East Timor has deepened following the resignation of East Timorese Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri on June 26. As pro and anti-government protests and gang violence continue, a resolution of the present crisis has been hamstrung by the internal political manoeuvres of the political elite.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – A criminologist believes the authorities must identify the root causes of the hatred and prejudice which fuel vigilantism amid renewed calls for a crackdown on thuggery.

Tim Anderson – "We did not expect that the elected leader of a party with an overwhelming mandate could be forced to stand down in this way in a democracy." – Fretilin press release, June 26, 2006.

Jakarta – Indonesian police said they had arrested a former army general and two company directors for alleged involvement in illegal logging on Borneo island.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Lawmakers here Tuesday lashed out at the management of state-owned labor insurance firm PT Jamsostek for failing to boost transparency and professionalism in carrying out social security programs for workers.

Andy Mukherjee – In Siti Maimunah's Jakarta office, on the wall behind her spartan desk, hangs a placard.

"Decolonize Freeport's imperium in Papua," the poster says, its ire targeted at Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.'s Grasberg gold mine, the world's largest, in eastern Indonesia. "Thirty five years is enough."

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Environmental activists are calling on the government and the public to halt the degradation of marine resources in order to prevent the kinds of disasters that have already caused suffering for millions of people.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The rehashed bill on citizenship has been criticized by a coalition of non-governmental organizations for allowing discrimination against women and endangering their rights.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Military analysts believe a probe into the recent discovery of a huge arms stash at a deceased Army officer's residence will not offer full disclosure of its findings.

Banda Aceh – A former separatist rebel was killed and a policeman wounded in an attack witnessed by members of a foreign peace monitoring mission in Indonesia's Aceh province, police said Tuesday.

Lindsay Murdoch in Dili and agencies – East Timor's ruling Fretilin party has moved to restructure the office of the country's top prosecutor in a move seen by opposition MPs as an attempt to protect the deposed prime minister Mari Alkatiri from criminal prosecution.

As ceremonies marked the National Police's 60th anniversary Saturday, Papuans observed the moment uniquely, holding a bakar batu, or "burning the stone" thanksgiving ritual.

Residents from 42 villages in Jayawijaya regency's three districts prepared a communal meal, cooking it with hot stones before sharing it together.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – Nobel laureate Jose Ramos Horta, who has taken control of East Timor's crippled Government, has called for Australia to lead a UN peacekeeping force for at least 12 months.

Jakarta – The discovery of a large arms stash in a deceased Army officer's home last week underscores problems of transparency and accountability in weapons procurement in the Indonesian Military (TNI), experts said.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Bowing to demands from a number of groups, the House of Representatives has decided to halt discussions on an anti-discrimination bill that was already in the pipeline.

The decision was made by the House's special committee tasked with deliberating the bill to eradicate ethnic and racial discrimination.

Hasrul, Kendari – The mood in Pasarwajo city, the capital of Buton Regency in Southeast Sulawesi, was tense Sunday following the shooting of people protesting against the regental election plan.

Ruslan Sangadji, Poso – A bomb believed to be homemade exploded Saturday night at a church in the Central Sulawesi regency of Poso, but no casualties were reported.

Whit Mason – In the past few weeks, two Australian dreams have come crashing to earth. First, there was chaos in East Timor and then the Socceroos' defeat by Italy. Notwithstanding some dubious officiating in the latter, both disappointments stemmed from much the same shortcoming.

Jakarta – Some 10,000 Indonesians have massed in front of the US embassy, to support the Palestinian people and condemn Israel's deadly offensive and the arrest of Palestinian officials.

John McBeth – A descendant of Islamic-proselytising Yemeni traders, educated in the then-Marxist-ruled states of Angola and Mozambique, the newly deposed prime minister of Timor Leste Mari Alkatiri is a complex and enigmatic figure who has easily worn the image of the villain in the months of unrest that has wracked Asia's newest country.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – A meeting of East Timor's parliament tomorrow will underline the surreal political world in which the troubled fledgling nation is now existing.

"One, two, three, heave!" men shout as they strain against a wooden motor boat used to catch green mussels just a few hours before.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The joint Indonesia-Timor Leste Truth and Friendship Commission said Friday it received backing of Indonesian Military (TNI) and government officials to query all those allegedly involved in human rights abuses following the 1999 independence referendum.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The House of Representatives is scheduled to endorse the long-awaited and much-debated Aceh governance bill on July 11, with the main focus then on holding the first direct gubernatorial election in the province.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – A study on the economic impact of building six new inner-city turnpikes has fleshed out the reality of the income gap between the rich and the poor.

Tangerang – Dozens of residents of Sukamanah village in Jambi district ran amok Friday, beating up the village secretary and destroying the village administration office after the administration failed to explain the cut in government direct cash aid.

Jakarta – Lawmakers are dragging their feet on the witness protection bill, legislation that is expected to help root out major cases of corruption and rights violations, a human rights group says.

Jakarta – The Central Jakarta District Court jailed the leader of a minority religious sect for two years Thursday for blasphemy against Islam, a judgment quickly condemned by her lawyers and moderate religious leaders.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Military police discovered almost 30,000 bullets, grenades and 145 rifles and pistols at the home of a high-ranking Army officer who died last week.

Kenneth Davidson – The chief criticism of John Howard's decision to reinstitute the Pacific Solution to deal with the threat of hundreds of Papuans fleeing military persecution and economic dispossession is that, in his desperation for a friendly personal relationship with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, he is dealing with the symptoms of the problem, not the substance.

Jakarta – Indonesia plans to deport two US citizens after they were caught attending a meeting with separatist sympathizers in the country's eastern Papua province, an immigration official said Wednesday.

Jakarta – The People's Coalition Against Land Evictions (KRTP) opposes Presidential Regulation Number 36/2005 on the Acquisition of Land for the Purpose of Development in the Public Interest as well as revisions to the regulation that flow out of Presidential Regulation Number 65/2006.

Jakarta – The wife of the late Munir, Suciwati, accompanied by representatives of the Solidarity Action Committee for Munir and senior legal practitioner Adnan Buyung Nasution, met with the head of the Supreme Court, Bagir Manan, on Monday June 26. They were asking the Chief Justice to reexamine the evidence in the Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto case.