Kenneth Roth, New York – Following the spate of recent business scandals in the United States, President George W. Bush called for "a new ethic of personal responsibility in the business world." Yet the State Department has recommended dismissal of a lawsuit alleging corporate complicity in violent human rights abuse in Indonesia.

More than 50 prisoners who escaped from Dili's main prison Friday, after a riot apparently provoked by anger at hold-ups in the processing of inmates' cases, remained on the run Monday.

The Australian Government has been told it has an obligation to support the establishment of an international tribunal to prosecute those Indonesians involved in the 1999 bloodshed in East Timor.

The acquittal of six members of Indonesia's security forces on charges arising from the horrific massacre of three East Timorese priests and the scores of civilians they were sheltering implies, incorrectly, a credible defence.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Disillusioned Indonesians are paying tribute to one of the nation's forgotten heroes and founding fathers, the late Mohammad Hatta.

The media has been retelling the tale of his political struggle, strong leadership and modest lifestyle to mark his 100th birth anniversary which fell on August 12.

Jakarta – Indonesia's national assembly chairman Amien Rais yesterday slammed Malaysia over what he called the "inhumane" caning of several illegal Indonesian migrant workers.

Jakarta – Relations with the US will not be affected by the acquittal of six defendants allegedly involved in the violence that engulfed East Timor in 1999, Indonesia's foreign minister said Monday.

Muklis Ali and Dean Yates, Jakarta – Indonesia on Monday gave rebels in Aceh province until December to resume peace talks, backing away from the threat of an intensified military crackdown to crush their decades-old fight for independence.

M. Munab Islah Ahyani, Bandung – A demonstration by workers in Bandung [West Java] has resulted in a worker being shot. At the time a number of workers were ganging up on a Bandung police officer Ipda Hotman Gultom. The workers [were trying to] take Hotman's pistol but the pistol suddently discharged and hit a worker in the leg.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI)'s surrender of its seats in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) has been applauded by many, but one analyst says the retreat is symbolic, noting that much of the TNI's political clout lies outside the MPR.

Jakarta – Economists said the government was being too optimistic with its economic growth target of 5 percent for next year, as stated in its 2003 state budget draft, as they argued that the future course of the global economy remained uncertain.

Nani Farida and Apriadi Gunawan, Banda Aceh/Medan – A series of bomb explosions punctuated the celebration of Independence Day in conflict-torn Aceh, as another bomb explosion rocked a hotel in Medan, capital of North Sumatra. It was believed to be connected with the shooting dead of two members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in the city on Friday.

A new upsurge in violence in the Poso region of Central Sulawesi is believed to be not only a conflict between Muslims and Christians but more a struggle between local elites.

Tommy Suharto is among more than 35,000 prisoners – almost half of all Indonesian inmates – who have had their sentences cut to mark the country's 57th independence day.

Efforts to stem or halt the rapid disappearance of Indonesia's rich and sprawling forests are stumbling in the face of weak law enforcement in this vast and corruption-prone archipelago.

[Bitter Dawn: East Timor, A People's Story; by Irena Cristalis; ZED Books, London, 2002; 286 pages. Reviewed by Carmel Budiardjo, Contributor, London.]

[As the fledgling nation of East Timor finds its feet, Maree Curtis talks to Kirsty Sword, the Australian-born former spy playing first lady to a legend. And photographer Nicole Cleary takes her camera on a road trip through the aftermath of independence.]

We are in the back of an old Toyota Ute, heading for the hillside village of Ermera. It is only about 100km from the East Timorese capital, Dili, but the road is rough and winding. Wild dogs sleep by the warm road or run out in front of us as we dodge enormous potholes.

A thick haze caused by fires in Indonesia has disrupted internal air services and forced flight cancellations in Malaysia's Sarawak state on Borneo island, an airport official said.

At least 10 people were wounded when a bomb exploded among a crowd of civil servants preparing to celebrate Indonesia's independence day in the Acehnese capital, officals said.

Bernarda Rurit, Jakarta – TNI did not force the Acehnese to display the Red-and-White flag to celebrate Indonesian Independence Day on August 17, according to Indonesian Army spokesperson Brigadier General Ratyono.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – The ethnically distinct and mostly conflict-free districts of central Aceh want Jakarta to let them break free from Aceh and establish a new province, preferably before next week.

They want to avoid being drawn into violent conflict when tougher military operations against separatist rebels are launched.

R.K. Nugroho, Jayapura – Hundreds of former Papuan political prisoners and their relatives demanded independence from Indonesia during a peaceful protest in the provincial legislative council compound on Thursday.

Matthew Moore – The man who ran the United Nations mission that oversaw East Timor's referendum has branded the trials of alleged Indonesian war criminals a complete failure and said it was time for the UN to set up its own tribunal to investigate atrocities before and after the 1999 vote.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – Almost the entire population of East Timor's main jail broke out yesterday in protest against the long delays in processing their cases.

One prisoner was shot in the shoulder and two guards were injured when about 300 prisoners escaped during visiting hours at Becora prison on the outskirts of Dili. By last night, about 200 had been recaptured.

About 60 human rights activists have demonstrated in the East Timorese capital Dili demanding an international tribunal into the 1999 violence that devastated the former Indonesian province.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – As he stood in the courtroom and hugged his wife on hearing his not guilty verdict, a hand reached out to Brigadier General Timbul Silaen.

Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta – East Timor's president, who has asked Indonesia's human rights court not to single out scapegoats for killings during the territory's 1999 independence vote, is neither upset nor angry with the court verdicts so far.

Fitri Wulandari and Lela E. Madjiah, Jakarta – Indonesia is mobs burning alive criminals, would-be criminals and even the innocent – and taking great delight in doing so.

Indonesia is a country that frees tycoons charged with embezzling trillions of rupiah belonging to the state and the people.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – A major shake-up of courts in Jakarta and other big cities is in the offing. Judges and prosecutors will be reshuffled as public pressure builds up to wipe out corruption in the legal system.

Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta – Poor service at public health centers in West Kalimantan has been blamed for the province's high mortality rate among babies and their mothers.

A survey conducted by the provincial health office shows that as many as 6,000 new-born babies die every year. The survey said there were 46 deaths for every 1,000 newborn babies.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Jafaar Umar Thalib, who heads one of Indonesia's top militant groups that is allegedly involved in bloody sectarian clashes in the Malukus and Sulawesi, went on trial yesterday.

Dressed in white robes, Jafaar was trailed by over 150 supporters who demonstrated outside the south Jakarta courtroom, chanting "God is great".

[The Indonesian Government is refusing to act on requests from Singapore, Malaysia and the US for one of its leading Islamic clerics to be arrrested because of his alleged links to the al Qaeda terrorist network.

Jakarta – The top United States military officer in the Pacific yesterday urged Indonesia to avoid bloodshed in Aceh, where there are increasing signs that the government is preparing to launch a major offensive against separatist rebels.

Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund praised Indonesia's 2003 draft budget on Friday, describing it as "sound" and saying it made big headway in reducing the country's hefty debt burden.

Jakarta – More than 700 Achenese demanded independence from Indonesia during a demonstration in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh on Thursday, just two days before the anniversary of Indonesia's independence.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – The sentencing of their former governor, Abilio Soares, to three years in prison for failing to stop the 1999 violence drew a mixed response from the people of East Timor yesterday.

East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta expressed fears that only East Timorese, such as Soares, would be punished for the violence.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Indonesia's human rights court yesterday acquitted four mid-ranking soldiers and two policemen, including the former East Timor police chief, of charges they were involved in war crimes that resulted in about 1000 East Timorese being massacred before and after the vote on independence three years ago.

The United States has called on the Indonesian government to redouble efforts to prosecute human rights abuses by its security forces in East Timor.

The call follows the acquittal of a police chief and five others on such charges.

Dennis Schulz and Fernando de Freitas report – Opposite the clerk in the Government's Office of Foreign Affairs, Maria Gutierrez stares blankly at the official application, mouth agape. It is written in Portuguese. Like most young East Timorese, she is a speaker of Bahasa Indonesia. "What is this?" she asks in her native tongue.

Victor Tjahjadi, Jakarta – A conspiracy between the military and the Indonesian government was likely behind the acquittal of six military and police officers for gross human rights violations in East Timor, analysts said Friday.

East Timor is preparing a "joint position" on the verdicts of the Jakarta court, currently trying those deemed responsible for the violence in Timor in 1999, and Dili will examine all options to rectify shortcomings in Indonesia's judicial system, Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta said Friday.

Jane Perlez, Unukan – Bent with the strain of balancing 12 years' of belongings, Zainal, a migrant worker who had just been expelled from Malaysia, struggled to board a navy boat that would take him back to his village. His long run of work abroad had abruptly come to an end. Two of his three children tottered along with him, clutching at his arms, their faces tight with fear.

[Pro-independence activists from Indonesia's Papua province, formerly known as Irian Jaya, are still agitating for a task force to investigate human rights abuses. Indonesia says human rights is improving in Papua, because of a special autonomy law. But Papuan human rights groups don't share the government's optimism.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Hundreds of hoodlums, gambling bosses and prostitutes grouped under the The Poor People's Union (SKM) went on strike on Wednesday in Kupang, capital of East Nusa Tenggara province, demanding the city administration and legislative council legalize gambling and prostitution.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The government refuted on Wednesday a report which detailed the Indonesian Military's (TNI) involvement in establishing terrorist groups in the country, and branded it as baseless.

Jakarta/Palu – Armed assailants involved in attacks in the Central Sulawesi town of Poso remain a mystery, but the authorities' failure to capture them or uncover their identities and whereabouts has sparked speculation that security forces may have played a role in a recent spate of attacks there.

Joaquim Fonseca's anger is clear as he recalls the massacre at a police station in the East Timor town of Maliana and the cold-blooded shooting of a young man by police in the capital, Dili.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – The Dutch Government has promised to continue pressing Jakarta to prosecute the alleged killer of Dutch journalist Sander Thoenes, despite Indonesian authorities saying there is insufficient evidence.

Jane Perlez, Jakarta – An Indonesian human rights court today acquitted six military and police officials of crimes against humanity in East Timor after a pro-independence vote three years ago, a verdict that did not please the Bush administration as it seeks to rebuild military ties here.