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.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Rivers awash in chemical pollutants and untreated sewage, denuded forests and smog-choked cities are putting the Indonesian public at risk in an increasingly toxic environment, a new government report says.

Jakarta – A number of Islamic social organisations from the Islamic Community Forum (FUI) have visited the offices of the Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs to ask that the government be on guard against foreign intervention that could divide the nation. The FUI also asked the government to audit the funds of non-government organisations (NGOs).

Sarah Smiles, Canberra – Nearly $1 million of Australia's foreign aid budget is feared to have been used fraudulently in the past four years.

Much of the money was part of AusAID's tsunami aid program in Indonesia, according to an audit report released yesterday. AusAID's total budget for the period was $7 billion.

Patrick Walters – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has pledged to intensify his country's counter-terrorism fight, promising close surveillance and pre-emptive measures against suspected terrorists.

Michelle Grattan – John Howard put on a late-night party for Australian officials and travelling media who wanted to watch the soccer. Those in the little Aussie enclave on the fifth floor of a middling resort hotel at Batam, in Indonesia's far west, clutched stress balls as they cheered and groaned their way through the match.

Jakarta/Batam – The government plans to relax the implementation of the labor legislation in the newly declared special economic zones (SEZs) on three major islands in Riau Island province, says the head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM).

Nick Everett – East Timor's current political crisis began when a group of soldiers from the country's west – which grew from 140 to 591 – signed a petition claiming discrimination inside the 1300-strong East Timorese Defence Force (FDTL).

Singapore – Petty regional divisions have been stirred up for political gain in East Timor which is still struggling to define its identity after centuries of foreign domination, analysts say.

The worst crisis since Southeast Asia's poorest nation gained independence four years ago reached its peak Monday when unpopular Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri resigned.

Cynthia Banham in Paris and Phillip Coorey on Bantam Island – The Prime Minister says he welcomes the resignation of the East Timorese Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri, if it meant an end to instability in that country.

Jane Perlez, Tangerang – To a passer-by, the dress and demeanor of Lilis Lindawati would have attracted little attention as she waited in the dark in this busy industrial city for a ride home. Lilis Lindawati, a waitress in Tangerang, Indonesia, was convicted of lewd behavior under a new local law.

James Dunn – The reluctant resignation of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri yesterday may have eased the crisis in East Timor, but the situation will remain very unsettled until the underlying issues have been resolved.

Jakarta – The government wants the new state secrets bill to restrict foreigners access to information that could threaten national security, the information minister said Monday.