Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri has rejected domestic and international criticism of a government amnesty and sentence reduction bill under discussion in the East Timorese legislature, saying the proposal aimed precisely to encourage "national debate".

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Ningsih, who is only 11 months old, cannot yet speak, but her eyes, which continually brim with tears, and her loud cry if her mother stops breastfeeding her, may indicate that life is too hard to bear.

The number of street children here has increased in the past few years. They can be found at every intersection in the city. When the traffic lights turn red, they approach the cars and beg. Some motorists say they take pity on the children, but others say they are annoying.

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandar Lampung – Following a violent clash with security personnel on Thursday, hundreds of striking workers from a PT Budi Dharma Godam Perkasa (BDGP)-owned oil palm plantation in North Lampung have threatened to take over the 2000-hectare plantation because of the management's failure to end a prolonged land dispute.

Arifin Asydhad, Jakarta – The Chairperson of the Achenese Women's Democratic Organisation (ORPAD), Reihan Diany, has been detained by the Aceh Besar district police since Sunday. The detention of the Achenese woman activist is considered to be an irrational act. Police are therefore being called on to release her.

Yogita Tahilramani and Edith Hartanto, Mojokerto – Rising at dawn everyday, 60-year-old grandfather Hardjo prays long and hard before he prepares himself for work in the dry, rock-hard fields of Suru village, in the drought-ravaged district of Dawarblandong, Mojokerto regency, East Java.

Jakarta – Governor Sutiyoso tried to sidestep blame for his administration's handling of Jakarta's problems by blaming poor public discipline in his accountability speech.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The House of Representatives (DPR) ended its session on Friday with House Speaker Akbar Tandjung blaming the public for its legislative shortcomings.

The house managed to approve only three out of 22 bills targeted to be completed during the sitting that started on May 13, Akbar acknowledged.

Poor countries should spend less money on weapons and seek to resolve their internal differences or differences with their neighbours via dialogue, says East Timor's President Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao.

The monies saved from weapons and huge standing armies should go to education and health care for the poorest of our societies, he said.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Indonesia's highest Islamic body is insisting that foster parents must be of the same faith as their adopted children to prevent forced religious conversions.

The demand, by the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI), has delayed the passage of a much-awaited child protection Bill.

Banda Aceh/Jakarta – Acehnese expressed disbelief on Friday over the government's insistence on imposing a state of emergency in the restive province, stressing that all social layers in Aceh had expressed their rejection to any state of emergency.

Blontank Poer, Semarang – Calls for compensation are being voiced, nearly two decades after the construction project of a reservoir in the Central Java district of Kedungombo.

In the latest rally, 250 people paid a visit to the provincial legislative council on Thursday to demand reasonable compensation for land and houses cleared for the project.

Max Lane – Two recent developments in the political scene underline clearly how the reformasi sector of society has become disenfranchised from the political process.

The US has eased restrictions on military aid to Indonesia, much to the dismay of human rights activists and at least one US senator, who say the Indonesian Army has shown no signs of reforming.

Jakarta – State Minister of Administrative Reforms Feisal Tamin has criticized the civil service, saying some 60 percent, or 3,000,000, of its five million staff are unproductive, unprofessional and corrupt.

Joanne Collins, Jakarta – A UN investigator examining Indonesia's judiciary said on Saturday the country's legal system was one of the worst he had seen and would take years to repair and raise to international standards.

Jacqueline Koch – Jakarta has again raised the stakes for the resource-rich and restive province of Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra, where Indonesia faces an entrenched independence movement.

Edith Hartanto and Yogita Tahilramani, Banda Aceh – Thousands of refugees in Aceh will completely lose access to aid and food supplies due to blocked lines of transportation if, as expected, a civilian emergency is imposed in this restive province.

The Indonesian military says it has killed four separatist rebels in troubled Aceh province.

Soldiers gunned down two Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels during a gunfight at Peusangan in Bireun district on Saturday, said provincial military spokesman Major Zaenal Muttaqin. Two other guerillas managed to escape.

[A new report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute says there's evidence that Al Qaeda members fleeing Afghanistan have moved to Indonesia and built links with Islamic groups. So what evidence is there of al-Qaeda presence in Indonesia?]

Presenter/Interviewer: Tom Fayle

Speakers: Dr Greg Fealy, of the Australian National University in Canberra.

[An Australian defence think tank says there's a growing risk of Indonesia reverting violently to an authoritarian government backed by the military. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute says that unlike the Suharto regime, such an Indonesian Government might be xenophobic and anti-Australian.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Facing a meltdown in its transportation system, the Jakarta government now dreams of a high-speed subway, elevated trains and modern buses to efficiently move its 12 million inhabitants.

Experts conducting a S$15-million study hope to ease the severe gridlock that often turns a 5-km trip into a half-hour crawl.

Indonesia's armed forces will put mothballed equipment back into operation following a funding increase.

The armed forces – battling a separatist insurgency in Aceh province and religious unrest in Central Sulawesi and the Malukus – have complained that budget limitations have forced many ships and aircraft out of service.

Berni K. Mustafa, Jakarta – Legal experts have welcomed the presence of the United Nations' special rapporteur on the Indonesian judicial system, saying it should increase the pressure for legal reform amid mounting criticism that the government is not doing enough.

East Timorese officials today told a United Nations meeting on children that the new nation was on the verge of adopting an international treaty that protects the rights of youngsters.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Thousands of people from all walks of life, from becak (pedicab) drivers and street vendors to bankers and stock exchange brokers, staged rallies in different parts of the city to object to Governor Sutiyoso's accountability speech, which was presented before the City Council on Thursday.

Retno Sulistyowati, Jakarta – Eurico Gutteres, former commander of East-Timorese Pro-Integration Fighters, came to National Police headquarters (HQ) in Jakarta on Friday (19/7) to meet with Laskar Jihad commander Jafar Umar Thalib.

"Yesterday's action by the Senate Appropriations Committee restoring full International Military Education and Training (IMET) for Indonesia sets back the pursuit of justice for East Timor, as well as military reform and democracy in Indonesia.

An Australian defence think-tank says there's a growing risk of Indonesia reverting violently to a military authoritarian government.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute says that unlike the Suharto regime, such an Indonesian Government might be xenophobic and anti-Australian.

Jakarta – A UN legal investigator looking into Indonesia's judiciary added his voice on Friday to criticism of how the trials into East Timor violence in 1999 were being handled.

But United Nations special rapporteur Param Cumaraswamy declined to specify the problems he had raised in a meeting on Friday with Indonesian Attorney-General Muhammad Abdul Rachman.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Hopes for East Timorese refugees to escape starvation went up in smoke in just 24 hours on Thursday as the East Nusa Tenggara administration announced it did not have enough rice for them.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – The British Government has told families of the two British journalists killed in Balibo, East Timor, in 1975 that it will soon release classified documents concerning the deaths.

Margaret Wilson, a cousin of Malcolm Rennie, one of the slain reporters, said she was surprised at the news. "We were always told there was nothing to release," she said.

Dili and a Portugal Telecom-led consortium signed a 15-year concession Friday for the Lisbon-headquartered company to establish and operate the new country's telecommunications systems.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Anti-corruption activists say widespread corruption in procurements of goods and services in most units of the city administration cannot be stopped due to the alleged involvement of the City Audit Agency (Bawasda).

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The government is still pursuing its plan to impose a state of emergency in the restive province of Aceh, ignoring strong opposition from the provincial administration, councillors and students as well as non-governmental organizations there.

Muhammad Nafik and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri, once a popular opposition leader, has developed authoritarian and aloof traits during her one year as the nation's leader, a tendency that could undermine democracy, say analysts.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri has come under fire for issuing a decree ordering members of her Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) to support controversial Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso's re-election. Those who defy her order could face severe sanctions from the party.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Confusion over the powers of local regents, or district heads, who have been empowered under Indonesia's messy autonomy laws, has finally come to a head with Jakarta delegating powers to governors.

Maria Ressa, Jakarta – An Indonesian man is being linked to the top echelons of the al Qaeda terrorist network with officials saying he allegedly helped bring hundreds of operatives from Europe to a training camp he set up in Indonesia.

Agus Dwikarna was arrested in March in the Philippines and sentenced last week to up to ten years in prison for possession of explosives.

John Aglionby – Since the fall of the dictator Suharto, Indonesia's reputation in the field of law enforcement has always been near the bottom of the scale – for instance a British police officer who was meant to stay for 18 months to help improve the local force left half way through his term in despair.

The East Timor Defense Force (ETDF) assumes responsibility next week for all aspects of security in part of the new nation, and the Dili government was informed Thursday of progress in transferring defense control into Timorese hands.

President Xanana Gusmao called Thursday to the nations of the North to grant debt relief to the countries in the South, who would, in their turn seek to implement "good governance" with transparency and responsibility.

Berni K. Moestafa, Jakarta – On his third day of his mission to investigate the independence of Indonesia's judiciary, a United Nations legal expert said on Wednesday that it had serious problems.

UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Dato' Param Cumaraswamy said his impression stemmed from the frequent corruption reports in the local media.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – After two months of hearings by the East Timor ad hoc human rights trial, held in the absence of eyewitnesses from East Timor, an East Timorese finally took the stand on Wednesday to testify about the military's support for pro-Jakarta militia groups at the time.

Jakarta – Indonesia's last governor of East Timor said on Thursday his trial for crimes against humanity during the territory's independence vote in 1999 was bogus and aimed only at deflecting international pressure.

New York – A proposed amnesty law in East Timor could undermine due process and equal protection of the law and allow those responsible for some of the most serious rights abuses to go unpunished, Human Rights Watch said today.

Jakarta – Sycophantic officials are getting on the Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri's nerves. Some of them, she complained yesterday, have developed a habit of asal ibu senang or "keeping Madam President happy".

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Anti-corruption campaigners questioned on Wednesday a demand from the House of Representatives (DPR) for additional funds for bill deliberations, arguing that the legislators' disappointing performance did not warrant a financial reward.

The Indonesian military said it has killed 12 separatist rebels in troubled Aceh province.

Soldiers killed eight Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members in a 30-minute encounter at Alam Jeumpa in West Aceh district on Wednesday, said provincial military spokesman Major Zaenal Muttaqin.

Jakarta – Most Indonesians and parliament would back the government if it imposed civil emergency status on the rebellious Aceh region, Indonesia's top security minister said on Thursday.