United Nations – Portugal and Indonesia reviewed proposals for autonomy for the disputed territory of East Timor but came to no decision during three days of talks ending on Thursday, a UN official said.

Jakarta – The National Police are to send officers to the United States to investigate the alleged forgery of promissory notes worth about US$3 billion by Ibnu Hartomo, former president Soeharto's brother-in-law.

Jakarta – Sixteen inmates escaped from an Indonesian prison in the troubled territory of East Timor today as the population of the main city of Dili launched a "silent protest" against the Jakarta-appointed governor.

Mike Head – Megawati Sukarnoputri, widely touted by the Western media as Indonesia's next president, pledged to uphold the "open market system" of global capitalism on Thursday, the opening day of the congress staged by her faction of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

Jakarta – Rights activists have said that the grisly murder spree that took place in East Java over the past two months has now claimed 157 victims and appears to have been perpetrated by an organized force.

Andrew Perrin, Dili – Tension was rising last night following accusations of a major military offensive against Timorese resistance forces in the past two weeks.

Richard Lloyd Parry, Jakarta – The Indonesian government is covertly sending thousands of combat troops into the occupied territory of East Timor in what looks alarmingly like a preparation for a military offensive, according to Western diplomats in Jakarta.

Muklis Ali, Jakarta – Indonesia said on Friday it had found evidence of corruption in deals between state oil firm Pertamina and 159 companies – most linked to the family and friends of former President Suharto – and may renegotiate them.

Louise Williams, Sanur – Tens of thousands of people descended on a dusty field in the tourist island of Bali yesterday as Indonesia's pro-democracy figurehead, Megawati Soekarnoputri, launched her bid for the presidency from a makeshift stage.

Jakarta – Thousands of villagers went on a rampage at a pineapple plantation in southern Sumatra in Lampung province, looting and burning warehouses and other facilities, sources and press reports said Thursday. Angry mobs from 10 villages in Padangratu district, Lampung province, began looting the plantation shortly after midnight Tuesday.

Banyuwangi – Police in Indonesia's East Java said on Wednesday there was mounting evidence that members of the military were involved in a mysterious murder spree that has claimed more than 100 lives.

Jakarta – Indonesia's beleaguered rupiah broke through the key target of 10,000 to the dollar on Wednesday, reaching its strongest levels since former President Suharto resigned in May amid economic turmoil and mass unrest.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI), in its first-ever public acknowledgement, has conceded that it was used as a political tool by former President Suharto to further his political and other interests when he was in power.

Jakarta – Thousands of villagers looted state owned shrimp ponds on the Indonesian island of Nusakambangan, a report said Wednesday. Around 2,000 people from southern Central Java crossed the narrow strait to Nusakambangan late Saturday and looted the local state cooperative shrimp ponds, the Republika daily said.

Jennifer Lin, Bantar Gebang – Nine-year-old Wasmin beamed with pride when he came home from school one recent day lugging a big bag of rice, cooking oil, and an armful of secondhand clothes.

Surabaya – East Java Police chief Maj. Gen. M. Dayat has said he suspected a mysterious murder spree in several East Java towns was the result of "organized crime". As many as 100 Islamic teachers and others accused of practicing "black magic" have been killed to date.

Jakarta – Rights activists alleged on Tuesday that military atrocities occurred in Central Aceh regency--in addition to those found recently in the regencies of Pidie, East and North Aceh – when the province was a military operation zone from 1989 to 1998.

Jakarta – The Indonesian economy slumped 17.4% in the third quarter of this year proving the sprawling country's downturn hasn't bottomed out yet. But analysts noted that gross domestic product and inflation data released Monday show the speed of Indonesia's economic slump has slowed markedly from earlier this year.

Allan Thompson, Vancouver – A government lawyer has denied that Canada offered favours to an Indonesian dictator or that demonstrators were dealt with improperly at last year's Asia-Pacific summit.

Jakarta – Hundreds of people protested in a town in South Sulawesi Tuesday after failing to get their money out of a financially troubled local savings agency.

Jakarta – Politicians, religious leaders and observers expressed alarm at the weekend over the stated support of the National Front – an association of retired generals, officials and ex-Golkar leaders – for Student activists' 40-day campaign to force President B.J. Habibie to resign.

Jakarta – Indonesian humanitarian workers Tuesday spoke of terror and pressure against them to stop their efforts in investigating violence during the May riots. "Terror against humanitarian workers have become rampant since the May riots," Ita Nadia from the Volunteers of Humanity told reporters at a joint press conference here with several human rights groups.

Jakarta – Police in the remote Indonesian province of Irian Jaya Tuesday arrested an alleged separatist leader, the Antara news agency said. The police in Jayapura, the main town of Irian Jaya, arrested Theys H. Eluay at his home in the Sentani area around 6am Antara said.

Jakarta – Tempo, Indonesia's leading weekly news magazine banned by the government of former president Suharto in 1994, hit the streets Tuesday with the issue of rapes during the May riots as its cover story. "There are so many stories and not too many facts about the rapes.

Jakarta – Indonesia said on Tuesday it would not allow a referendum on independence for East Timor, and a dispute over the restive province would remain deadlocked unless Portugal accepted Indonesia's proposals to settle the issue.

Jakarta – Thousands of students across Java greeted the Armed Forces' (ABRI) 53rd anniversary on Monday with street demonstrations to demand the military quit the country's political stage.

Kafil Yamin, Bandung – The small, filthy and foul-smelling canal in Cikuya village in West Java is the community's ticket to earning a livelihood. Soon after daybreak everyday, women, men and children troop to the waste-contaminated canal and wash load upon load of used plastic bags, then sell them to traders who in turn reap profits from selling them to reprocessing factories.

Jakarta – The Armed Forces (ABRI) celebrates its 53rd anniversary on Monday by taking a hard look at its image, pledging solutions to some rights violations, and pleading against being seen as "cruel murderers and destroyers" who inflicted suffering on people.

Jakarta – Hundreds of students and civilians on Monday staged two separate street protests here to demand that the Indonesian military end its law-accorded involvement in the country's politics, witnesses said Some 300 students from various universities converged on the parliament in central Jakarta to demand that the military's "dual function" be revoked.

Manila – Some 300 leftist activists and ethnic Chinese picketed the Indonesian embassy in the Philippines Monday, to protest alleged abuses against the ethnic Chinese minority in Indonesia. Waving banners saying "Justice for the rape victims" and assailing Indonesian President B.J.

Jakarta – The conflicting political pressures of post-Suharto Indonesia have left President B.J. Habibie teetering on a tightrope – too much reform could topple his precarious government, but so could too little.

Jakarta – Staff at Tempo, Indonesia's leading weekly news magazine when it was banned by the government of former president Suharto in 1994, announced Sunday they would return the publication to the newsstands this week.

Jakarta – Indonesia's armed forces mark their 53rd anniversary on Monday amid one of their toughest battles to date – the fight to restore their honour as a defender and not oppressor of the people.

Jakarta – Two people were injured as thousands of farmers in the Indonesian province of West Sumatra protested against a palm oil plantation firm which they said had polluted a local river, sources there said Sunday.

Jakarta – Indonesian Home Minister Syarwan Hamid on Saturday installed the head of an ancient local royal family as the governor of Yogyakarta, the first governor in the country to be spontaneously elected, newspaper reports said.

Jakarta – Police in the remote Indonesian province of Irian Jaya arrested five men including two officials and a priest for suspected separatism, including calling for a pro-independence rally, a report said Thursday.

Jakarta – The owner of a private Indonesian radio station has closed down a popular pro-reform radio talk show and fired the six staff operating the program, a human rights lawyer said Thursday.

Jakarta – The Japanese-born wife of Indonesia's first president Sukarno has accused former president Suharto of having prior knowledge of the 1965 coup attempt and doing nothing to prevent it, a report said Thursday

Jakarta – Separatist guerrillas and the military in the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya have agreed on an immediate ceasefire, the official Antara news agency on Wednesday quoted a local military chief as saying.

Jakarta – Over 2,000 Indonesian Moslems gathered at Jakarta's main Istiqlal Mosque here on Wednesday in what they said was a show of support for President B.J. Habibie and his reform programs.

Jakarta – After a recent storm of public condemnation over past alleged human rights violations, the Armed Forces (ABRI) took another blow on Monday when an independent survey found its public image wanting.

Jakarta – Thousands of Indonesians rallied on Wednesday, the 33rd anniversary of an attempted communist coup, warning that communism was still alive and responsible for riots and looting plaguing the country.

Jakarta – Indonesian authorities have approved in principle an opposition party congress held by popular politician Megawati Sukarnoputri in Bali next week, police chief Lieutenant General Rusmanhadi said Wednesday.

Jakarta – In its sternest warning yet, the Indonesian government said Wednesday that protesters who threaten its existence could be sentenced to life imprisonment under a harsh anti-subversion law enacted by ex-President Suharto.

Peter Waldman, Mount Jaya – At 13,000 feet up this remote crag, Steve Drake, operations chief of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.'s huge Grasberg mine, looks out uneasily across Lake Wanagon. The dazzling turquoise pool is loaded with copper leached from the mine's waste-rock dump, so much copper that Freeport intends to mine the lake water some day. Mr.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government Tuesday abandoned a proposed law to control protests and demonstrations that critics had said would curb newfound freedom of expression following the end of the authoritarian Suharto regime.

Jakarta – Thousands of soldiers and police remained on alert in the capital and other cities Tuesday as Indonesia prepared to mark the anniversary of what the government says was a failed communist coup 33 years ago. The military has warned that anti-government groups might use Wednesday's anniversary as an excuse to stage protests.

Jakarta – Some 100 Indonesian workers Tuesday held a rally to mark the launch of their Digging and Construction Labor Union (IKAPERGABIN).

"Stop perpetuating poverty. Use conglomerates money to better our fate. Stop slavery and opression," said some posters carried by the workers who gathered at a park.

Lisbon – East Timor guerrilla chief Taur Matan Ruak said on Tuesday that Indonesia's offer of autonomy could be a basis for talks but offered no ultimate solution to the future of the disputed territory.

"I accept (autonomy) but not as a final solution," Matan Ruak said in an interview with Portuguese state radio RDP-Internacional from his mountain hideout in Timor.

Lisbon – A leader of East Timor's guerillas said Tuesday that the armed struggle for independence would continue because Indonesia has refused to negotiate an end to Jakarta's rule in the half-island territory.