Jakarta – Haze resulting from bush and forest fires continues to prevail in Riau and Central Kalimantan, as the effects of prolonged drought hit farmers in other parts of the country.

People in the Riau capital of Pekanbaru woke to thick fog on Monday for the seventh straight day. The clouds prevailed till the afternoon but flights were not affected.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Indonesia's legal system has taken a severe knock with a United Nations official describing it as one of the worst he has seen.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – The result of the UN fact-finding mission on how pathetic the country's administration of justice and the judiciary have become has not come as a surprise to the judges and the country's legal circles, who describe corruption as rampant in courtrooms.

Jakarta – Indonesia's justice minister lashed out on Tuesday at a UN investigator examining the country's judiciary for branding the legal system as among the worst he had seen.

Berni K. Moestafa, Jakarta – Indonesia passed its first year under the rule of President Megawati Soekarnoputri relatively calmly, allowing the country a break from the restless years under her two predecessors.

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri completed a year in power as newspapers in the world's fourth most populous nation gave her a less than flattering report card.

Lesley McCulloch, Banda Aceh – He speaks in barely a whisper, his mind frozen in the moments of horror when he thought he would die.

Edith Hartanto and Yogita Tahilramani, Lhokseumawe – Local community members have joined the Aceh administration in opposing the central government's plan to impose a state of emergency in the restive province to stop decades of separatist fighting.

All international calls to a human rights group in the Indonesian province of Papua have been blocked by Telecom Indonesia.

Telecom Indonesia has confirmed all international calls to and from the Elsham Organisation have been blocked temporarily.

Debbie A. Lubis, Jakarta – Fourteen-year-old Santi plainly retold her life story at Monday's seminar organized by the International Labor Organization-International Program for the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC).

Jill Jolliffe, Darwin – Three Australian soldiers are being investigated over an alleged assault on a United Nations employee outside a bar at a military barracks in the East Timorese capital, Dili.

A UN police media officer, Antonio da Silva, said a complaint against the soldiers had been laid by an Irish civilian working for the UN administration.

Jakarta – The exiled former commander of militias in East Timor said Tuesday he and his followers are prepared to face justice after they return home, but only following a period of readjustment.

Yemris Fointuna, Atambua – As many as 1,175 East Timorese refugees, or 335 families, including 35 Indonesian soldiers and civil servants, left East Nusa Tenggara on Monday for their newly independent homeland.

The Indonesian commander of West Timor said Tuesday there were "one or two people" among his forces who "continued efforts" to derail the repatriation of East Timorese refugees, actions he would "not tolerate".

Jean Philippe Chauzy (Extract) – Yesterday some 1,100 East Timorese refugees returned home to East Timor from the towns of Soe and Atambua in West Timor.

The movement, organised by the Indonesian West Timor Refugee Taskforce (Satlak) and funded by IOM, followed successful reconciliation talks between refugee leaders and government of East Timor.

On 22 July more than a thousand East Timor refugees set off on their journey to cross the border from West Timor and return home.

Jakarta – East Timor's army on Tuesday replaced United Nations peacekeepers in one district of the new nation – the first step in a 20-month handover which will see the blue berets bow out.

The army took over responsibility for the Lautem district in the east, the UN said.

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.

Washington – East Timor, the world's youngest nation, was due to join the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank on Tuesday, the lending institutions said.

At a Washington ceremony, Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri was scheduled to sign the Articles of Agreement for the Asian country of 800,000 people to join the twin organizations.

Jakarta – Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea now admits that labor militancy has reached such a fever pitch that it is discouraging investors and undermining the overall business climate.

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".

An Indonesian general admitted on Monday that some soldiers and civilians have been trying to discourage the tens of thousands of East Timorese refugees in Indonesian West Timor from returning home.

Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Amien Rais says the government should not hesitate to take drastic measures against "troublemakers" in Aceh rebellious Aceh province.

"If necessary, cut off the hands of those troublemakers," he was quoted as saying by state news agency Antara on Monday.

Yogita Tahilramani and Edith Hartanto, Jakarta – Those living in strife-torn Aceh, particularly outside the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, have known fear all of their lives.

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.

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.

Darlis M, Palu – The forest damage in Lore Lindu National Park (TNLL), Central Sulawesi, has worsened, according to Indonesian Environment Katopassa Foundation deputy director Ir. Muh. Yamin.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Indonesia's two leading Muslim groups – the Muhammadiyah and the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) – have vowed to distance themselves from local politicking and instead speak up for the country's moderate Muslims.

Jakarta – The armed forces Monday welcomed a move by the US Congress to reinstate military ties with Indonesia, but human rights groups are calling it an endorsement of an abusive and undemocratic institution.

Jakarta – Jakarta police said yesterday they were following up a report that a man said to be carrying US$12 million in bogus cheques and with possible links to the Al-Qaeda terrorist network had travelled to Indonesia before arriving in the US.

Malcolm Maiden – Towards the end of 2000, Mark Carnegie, John Wylie and friends, including John Singleton's media group, STW, placed a large bet on the Indonesian television industry.

Kurniawan Hari and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The decision by the United States Senate Appropriations Committee to endorse the allocation of US$400,000 for the training of the Indonesian Military (TNI) will boost relations between the armed forces of the two countries, according to one military observer.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.