K.T. Arasu, Jakarta – The effects of the El Nino-induced drought hitting Indonesia could worsen sharply in the coming months, causing disease and hunger in many parts of the country, experts say.

Jakarta – The number of cities covered by the thick haze from rampant forest and bush fires nearly doubled yesterday, amid uncertainty over when the annual monsoon rains would arrive.

Meteorologists said the number of cities covered by the haze rose from 22 to 41 as at yesterday morning, while at least four airports shut down because of poor visibility.

Michael Shari in Jakarta, with Joyce Barnathan in Hong Kong – The 60 Indonesian blue-chip company executives summoned to Bank Indonesia, the country's central bank, on Oct. 10 all had something in common.

Jakarta – Outspoken Muslim scholar Amien Rais has suggested a national poll be held to determine whether the majority of Indonesians want President Suharto re-elected next year for a record seventh five-year term, the Jakarta Post reported yesterday.

Lewa Pardomuan, Jakarta – Thick smog from rampant forest and bush fires spread to more cities in Indonesia on Sunday while uncertainties over the start of the annual monsoon rains lingered, meteorologists said.

Chris Johnson, Singapore – Choking yellow-grey smog over Southeast Asia has already closed factories, cancelled flights and lengthened queues in doctors' waiting-rooms.

But much worse could be in store if the raging forest fires across Indonesia are not put out soon – and for good.

Jakarta – The worst drought in half a century has devastated crop harvests by as much as 40 percent, the government said Friday. Officials had earlier warned of rice harvest failures in some drought-ravaged areas.

Stephen Spencer, Canberra – The federal ALP has moved to dramatically recast major areas of its foreign policy, in what it frankly admits is a recognition that some areas, in particular Indonesia and land mines, could have been handled better in government.

Lewa Pardomuan, Jakarta – Indonesia's state-owned aircraft manufacturer Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN) said on Thursday it had found counter-trade deals beneficial and denied the bartering option had been taken because of difficulty in selling its planes.

John McBeth with Fanny Lioe in Jakarta – On October 10, two days after Indonesia announced it was going to seek the International Monetary Fund's help in salvaging its economy, Jakarta newspapers carried pictures of a smiling President Suharto playing golf with his industrialist friend, Muhammad "Bob" Hasan.

Karen Polglaze, Jakarta – Indonesia's military has tried to link Nobel Peace Prize co-recipient Jose Ramos Horta with an alleged terrorist group.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – The Indonesian Government has warned that forest fires and smoke haze are getting worse, and monsoon rains are expected to be further delayed, while another fatal haze-related shipping accident was reported in Kalimantan.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – In a new effort to arrest the slide of the rupiah, Indonesia's Central Bank has announced that commercial banks may lend hundreds of millions of US dollars from their reserves.

Karen Polglaze, Jakarta – East Timorese independence advocate and Nobel Peace laureate Jose Ramos Horta today rejected accusations by the Indonesian military that he was linked to a clandestine group accused of making bombs.

The East Timor Human Rights Centre (ETHRC) is concerned for the safety of Manuel Afonso and Lino Xavier Nunes who are currently in detention at POLRES (Regional Police Headquarters) in Dili, following their arrests in July and September 1997.

Trevor Royle – Traditionally Britain's foreign interests have been dominated by a mixture of strategic initiatives to protect national interests and direct action, as the Foreign Office puts it, "to promote Britain's interests overseas" and "to enhance the prosperity of the United Kingdom".

Canberra – Nobel peace laureate Jose Ramos Horta Tuesday accused the Australian government of covering up Indonesia's involvement in the deaths of five Australian journalists in East Timor 22 years ago.

Australia's 1996 investigation into the killings was seriously flawed, the leading East Timorese independence activist said, joining calls into a fresh inquiry.

Lewa Pardomuan, Jakarta – Military helicopters flew rice and noodles to famine-stricken areas in Indonesia's remote Irian Jaya province on Monday as government officials said food shortages had also spread to Sumatra island.

Sydney – The president of the Timorese Democratic Party (UDT) said here Sunday he was asked by the Indonesian military to kill Australian journalist Hamish McDonald in 1975.

McDonald is now foreign editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.

Don Greenlees – The Federal Government is facing a political contest over human rights after a decision by the ALP to call for the first time for a "right of self-determination" for East Timor in its new foreign affairs policy.

With Indonesia's President Soeharto nominated by his Golkar party this week for a seventh five-year term, his unopposed re-election by a largely hand-picked assembly seems certain, barring ill-health. But as Herald correspondent Louise Williams reports from Jakarta, many opinion leaders are looking for more openness in the tightly controlled New Order political system.

Jacqui Birchall, East Timor – The path of most despair - Site of death and oppression since 1975, East Timor had little to offer one intrepid traveller – except perhaps the satisfying knowledge that her very presence was a burr in the side of the authorities.

A report into the death of five Australia-based journalists at Balibo in East Timor 22 years ago will be examined today at a seminar at the University of NSW Law School. One man who knows just what happened at Balibo, writes Asia Editor David Jenkins, is Lieutenant-General Yunus Yosfiah, leader of the attacking force and now one of Indonesia's most influential generals.

Jakarta – President Soeharto denied press reports yesterday that a food shortage has forced people in Lampung and Java to eat cassava for their daily meals.

The President described how farmers in some regencies in Java prefered to consume tiwul (foodstuff made of cassava) or mixed it with rice because they believed it would give them extra strength to work in the field.

Jakarta – Another 17 people have died in drought stricken Irian Jaya, taking the toll to 462, a report says.

On the other hands, another 90,000 people are now facing serious food ortages, the report added.

Jim Della-Giacoma, Jakarta – Indonesia's ruling Golkar party has predictably nominated ageing President Suharto to lead the country into the next century, but the question of who will succeed him remains, analysts say.

Sydney – The Indonesian army has arrested in the last days dozens of youths, in several raids to villages aimed at discredit the armed rebel movement, a resistance leader told Lusa on Thursday.

President Suharto has earned plaudits for deregulating various aspects of Indonesia's economy. But he can't complete the job without challenging some powerful vested interests.

There will be many redundancies in the industrial sector if businesses are forced to close down because of the present tight money policy, said Adi Putra Tahir, who heads the Organisation Dept of the business association, KADIN. He said that the first thing businesses do when facing cash-flow problems is to lay off employees.

James Dunn – Timor watchers would have detected a touch of irony in a news item from Jakarta earlier this week.

Jakarta – At least 416 people in Indonesia's remote Irian Jaya province have died of famine and disease and nearly 90,000 face serious food shortages because of a severe drought, relief officials said on Thursday.

Sander Thoenes and Quentin Peel, Jakarta – Indonesia may walk out of talks with Portugal over the status of East Timor unless progress is made soon, Ali Alatas, Indonesia's foreign minister, has said.

Sydney – Five Australian journalists killed in East Timor were deliberately targeted by Indonesian troops and not caught in crossfire as had been thought, a report said on the 22nd anniversary of the incident.

I see this strike as the first action in a wave of actions that could hit the Suharto regime as a direct result of the crisis engulfing the Indonesian economy. Now that the IMF has been called in, new demands will be made on the regime with regard to pet projects of the Suharto Family and cronies.

Jenny Grant, Jakarta – Popular Muslim figures have criticised the Government for failing to provide moral leadership in a time of economic and social crisis and warned it could face mass demonstrations if it does not listen to the people.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – Rising prices, cutbacks in health services and lay-offs resulting from economic reforms to be pushed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will hit Indonesia's poor and could fuel social unrest, a group of non-government organisations said yesterday.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – Hot, dry winds across Indonesia have caused a dramatic fourfold increase in forest fires and new smog warnings, after last week's light rains and initial successes in fighting the fires on the ground.

Four thousand five hundred workers at PT Prima Buana Tex which is located in Anggadita, Klari sub-district, West Java held a protest demonstration Monday to complain of inhumane treatment by their employers and the fact that the local branch of the SPSI (the official union) is not functioning.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – Thousands of workers from Indonesia's state aircraft manufacturer held mass demonstrations yesterday, following rumours of impending lay-offs, as an International Monetary Fund team continued talks on rescuing Indonesia's ailing currency.

Craig Skehan and Louise Williams – In an attempt to secure political asylum for a colleague, jailed East Timorese independence leader Xanana Gusmao has written a letter acknowledging that he authorised the making of bombs to attack military targets.

Quentin Peel and Sander Thoenes, Jakarta –

Western diplomats in Jakarta are urging the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to co-ordinate a largescale rescue package for Indonesia - worth at least $12bn (=A37.4bn) - provided President ' Suharto accepts tough conditions to curb corruption.

Military authorities in East Timor have seized a cache of 20 homemade bombs and detained two rebels accused of planning to destroy the territory's capital, Dili, an Indonesian newspaper reported yesterday.

President Soeharto and his family are the most reluctant to make the necessary sacrifices because of their business interests, contends George J. Aditjondro.

Up to thirteen East Timorese men are believed to be still in detention in Semarang and Dili following two recent incidents involving home-made bombs.

A number of hotels in Kuta tourist complex, Bali, were burned down in a series of fires that engulfed four hotels and a group of tourist cottages. The fires took hold at around 2.30pm and were not put out until about four hours later. Fire engines had difficulty reaching the locations because of the narrow roads.

[Media Indonesia, 10 October 1997, Summary only]

[From Media Indonesia 10 Ooctober and Kompas 11 October 1997, Summarised.]

Jakarta – An Indonesian military official has accused two East Timorese sheltering in the Austrian embassy in Jakarta of being terrorists.

Events in modern Indonesia bear an eerie resemblance to the calamities foretold in an ancient prophecy by a Javanese king. Herald Correspondent Louise Williams in Jakarta traces the connections - and the consequences.

What is life like under the asphyxiating pall created by the burning forests of Sumatra? Australian radio and television journalist Andrea Thomson visited the town of Jambi, in the center of the island. From inside the ring of fire, she filed this eyewitness report: