Depok – Employees of electronics manufacturer PT Sanyo Jaya Components Indonesia returned to work Friday after a two-day strike.

"The company agreed to give us a raise," said an executive of the workers union, Iswan Abdullah, as quoted by Tempointeraktif.

The work stoppage was in response to the delay of a Jan. 1 pay rise.

Jill Jolliffe – In October 1999, Indonesian troops filed silently through the smoldering remains of East Timor's capital, Dili, and on to its port. Their sullen embarkation signified the end of a bloody imperial adventure which began in the former Portuguese colony 24 years before.

Lindsay Murdoch – Dan Murphy says he used to "stack the bodies" in his clinic in Dili in 1999 when he was one of only a few doctors in then Indonesian controlled East Timor.

Four years after the tiny territory gained its independence, the American doctor says he has not seen much change in the health of the Timorese.

Denpasar – Legendary dangdut singer Rhoma Irama and others intent on beefing up the moral fiber of Indonesian society would probably have been scandalized by Friday's spectacle in downtown Denpasar.

Jakarta – Indonesia has described as "tasteless" a caricature in an Australian newspaper depicting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as a dog.

The publication of the cartoon in the Australian daily followed a similar drawing in an Indonesian daily portraying Prime Minister John Howard and his Foreign Minister Alexander Downer as copulating dingoes.

Jim Lobe, Washington – Moving with unusual speed, the administration of US President George W Bush officially normalized military relations with Indonesia on Wednesday when the State Department posted a formal notice permitting the sale of lethal military equipment to Jakarta for the first time in seven years.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The manpower and transmigration minister has appealed to workers not to stage massive strikes throughout the country to protest a draft labor law, which unions say will drastically reduce employee pay and conditions.

Erman Suparno said Wednesday the draft bill currently before the House of Representatives had yet to be finalized.

The announcement during British Prime Minister Tony Blair's visit to Indonesia yesterday that the two countries plan to strengthen military and anti-terror ties is a blow to Indonesian democracy and human rights, says TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which has been by far the most vocal party in its opposition to the pornography bill, is proposing revisions to the bill if pressure to drop the bill fails.

Jakarta – Indonesia's economy may grow more slowly this year than in 2005 as private investment remains sluggish and only likely to pick up during the second half of 2006, the World Bank said in a report released Thursday.

Indonesia has missed a deadline to pass a law granting autonomy to Aceh under a peace pact with separatists but both sides say the delay would not derail the process.

The pact signed last August by the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) called for a law granting Aceh partial self-rule by March 31.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – A recent graduate of Cendrawasih University in Papua was shot Tuesday evening by two unidentified assailants, in the latest incident following a bloody clash March 16 near the university that left five security officers dead.

Dili – East Timor's foreign minister said Thursday that recent street disturbances in the capital were not related to a military crisis in the new nation, criticizing media reporting of the violence as "irresponsible, alarmist and completely false".

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – Gastao Salsinha thought he would be a hero of East Timor's independence. "I fought the Indonesians in the bush but instead of being a hero I'm now being treated like a dog," he says.

Mr Salsinha became a lieutenant in the Australian-backed army that was formed after East Timor became the world's newest nation in 2002.

One of Indonesia's biggest-selling newspapers has depicted John Howard and Alexander Downer as a pair of sex-crazed dingoes, dragging media outrage over the Papua visa row down to a new low.

Shawn Donnan, Jakarta – British Prime Minister Tony Blair signalled on Thursday that London would normalise its defence ties with Indonesia, saying in Jakarta that the two countries were entering a "new relationship".

Lloyd Jones, East Awin, Papua New Guinea – At the age of five, Donatus Kaenop was carried through the jungle and across the border into Papua New Guinea by his refugee parents escaping violence and persecution in the Indonesian province of Papua.

Michael Vatikiotis, Singapore – It was a potentially sticky situation. There was Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda standing beside Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, on her recent visit to Jakarta, and the subject was Iran. The reporter asked: "Do you think the idea of an eventual Iranian nuclear bomb is inevitable?"

David Manne is a refugee advocate who has been a fierce critic of Australia's harsh policies towards asylum-seekers, someone the Howard Government would have dismissed not so long ago as a usual suspect.

Jakarta – More than 100 cases of sexual violence or harassment have been reported by Acehnese women living in camps and shelters after the 2004 tsunami, according to a report by an Indonesian women's commission released Thursday.

Sarah Stephen – On March 23, the immigration department announced that 42 of the 43 West Papuan asylum seekers who arrived in Australia on January 18 and have been held on Christmas Island since then, had been granted refugee status. They will be issued with three-year temporary protection visas.

Jakarta – About 100 Indonesian Muslim hardliners staged a protest outside the British embassy on Wednesday ahead of a visit by Prime Minister Tony Blair to the world's most populous Islamic nation.

Kerryn Williams – After police attacked a protest outside the Cendrawasih University in the West Papuan capital Jayapura on March 16, several police officers and an Indonesian military intelligence officer were killed. Many students and other citizens, including a five-year-old child, were injured in the conflict and more than 70 people were arrested.

Jakarta – Greenpeace Wednesday called on the leaders of Indonesia and Britain to adopt laws to help halt the destruction of Indonesia's last ancient forests, ahead of the arrival of Tony Blair for a one-day visit.

Jakarta – The revision of the labor law is vital to provide a more stable labor system that would lead to more jobs from the expected inflow of labor-intensive investment, an employers' group says.

Jakarta – The Constitutional Court ruled Tuesday that a law requiring migrant workers to have a minimum junior high school diploma qualification was against the law.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – Six months after the government and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) signed a peace deal, the Acehnese say they are feeling more secure but many still worry the accord could break down at any time, a survey says.

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) denounced today's formal notice that the Department of State will consider provision of lethal military equipment to Indonesia. ETAN called it a major step undermining military reform and justice for the people of Indonesia and East Timor.

Bhimanto Suwastoyo, Jakarta – Indonesia will miss a deadline Friday to pass a crucial law granting autonomy to Aceh but the province's peace process should remain on track if the two sides maintain open dialogue, analysts said.

Panca Nugraha, Mataram – Four suspects in an attack on an exploration camp run by US mining giant Newmont in Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara, are being treated at separate hospitals after being shot by police Sunday after they resisted arrest, police said Tuesday.

Raden Rachmadi, Jakarta – The result of the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) research in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province on March 8-18 shows that most of the people there yearn for the establishment of a local party.

James Balowski, Jakarta – On March 16, left-wing Acehnese political activists publicly launched the Acehnese Peoples Party Preparatory Committee (KP-PRA), which they hope will provide the basis for establishing the first local political party.

Wellington – About 10,000 houses built by international aid agencies for tsunami victims in Indonesia are unfit for human habitation and may have to be rebuilt, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Fears that Canberra is stoking support for Papua to break away from Indonesia sparked Jakarta's strong reaction last week to Australia granting visas to Papuan asylum-seekers, analysts said.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Legal experts have slammed the government for not taking legal action against PT Freeport Indonesia over its alleged violations of the country's environmental laws.

Andrew Steele, Jakarta – Islam maintains a more visible place in secular Indonesia than it has in years. New mosques are popping up everywhere, while more and more women wear jilbabs, or Islamic headscarves, than before.

Richard Chauvel – Indonesia's extreme sensitivity and depth of feeling about Papua is reflected in its decision to recall its ambassador.

Papua's economic importance to Indonesia is symbolised by the controversial Freeport gold and copper mine, which is Indonesia's largest corporate taxpayer, worth $US1.2 billion ($1.7 billion) last year.

Dili – East Timor's capital was under tight security Tuesday as shops shut, public transport dwindled and some people sought refuge in a church after mobs went on a weekend rampage.

Slobodan Lekic – The spotlight of international justice has shone on Saddam Hussein and Slobodan Milosevic to hold them accountable for alleged war crimes. But many are asking: what about Suharto?

Budiriza, Jakarta – Indonesian Police Chief, Sutanto has said he assumes that rumors spread by foreign parties are aimed at splitting Indonesia apart.

He called on all elements of the nation not to be provoked because this would only further the interests of the foreign parties.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The odds are stacked against non-Muslims who want to build places of worship because the new joint ministerial decree on their construction is actually more restrictive than its predecessor, a religious figure says.

Thousands of workers in a number of cities took to the streets Monday in opposition to a proposed amendment to the 2003 Labor Law.

Jakarta – Violence against religious freedom continued Sunday in West Java when a group of some 200 self-styled religious vigilantes forced Christians to close their church in Bogor.

Police were at the scene during the incident, but did not stop the angry mob, which purportedly consisted of residents from the Griya Bukit Jaya housing complex and other nearby residents.

Dili – Authorities expect to pacify tensions pitting East Timor's ethnic groups that led to rioting in Dili at the weekend within days, Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said Monday.

Authorities "will continue to manage the situation with calm", Alkatiri told Lusa, saying the government was encouraging people from the east who fled the capital to return home.

Joniansyah, Tangerang – About five thousand workers in Tangerang District this morning (27/3) took to the streets to rejecting the revision the State Decree13/2003 on Manpower Affairs.

Jakarta – The United States, Japan and the European Union (EU) are suspected are likely harboring forestry products from China, which came from illegally felled trees, a report by a coalition of international and Chinese organizations alleges.

Canberra – Australia tried to soothe ties with Indonesia on Monday after granting asylum to 42 boat people from the country's troubled Papua province and as media reported more Papuans were heading to Australia.

Harold Crouch – Indonesians have reacted with outrage at the Australian decision to grant temporary protection visas to 42 of the 43 Papuans who reached Cape York in an outrigger canoe two months ago.

Damian Kingsbury – Australia's decision to grant 42 West Papuan asylum seekers temporary protection has put the relationship with Indonesia under its most serious strain since the East Timor debacle of 1999. It has also highlighted contradictions in Australia's policy towards Indonesia.