Gillian Davey – Immigration minister Philip Ruddock's June 3 decision to grant 379 East Timorese asylum seekers permanent residency in Australia is a decision that all supporters of refugees' right should welcome. The decision ends more than a decade of waiting for the 379 people concerned.

Banda Aceh – Indonesia's Red Cross said on Wednesday it had taken 151 bodies to hospitals and morgues in Aceh since a fresh military offensive against rebels began, adding all victims had been wearing civilian clothes.

James Balowski – At around 9pm on June 4, two German tourists camping out near Lueng Gayo beach in the sub-district of Teunom in West Aceh were fired on by Indonesian troops (TNI). Lothar Heinrich Albert (54) died from a bullet wound to the chest and his wife, Elisabeth Engel (50), was shot in the knee. She is now being treated at the regional military command hospital.

Jill Jolliffe, Darwin – East Timor Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri is aiming to turn former bitter enemies into best friends and neighbours during his first official visit to Indonesia since his nation became independent.

James Balowski, Jakarta – Although coverage of Indonesia's brutal war in its northern-most province of Aceh has all but disappeared from the international media, it is still front-page news here.

Jill Joliff – East Timor's prime minister drew fire from Jakarta yesterday after resuming his call for an international tribunal to try Indonesian officers for alleged human rights abuses during his country's bloody fight for independence.

Vannessa Hearman, Melbourne – Fernando de Araujo heads the Democratic Party (PD) in East Timor, the second-largest party in the country's parliament. He also leads an eight-party parliamentary opposition to the Fretilin government. The opposition coalition includes parties from a diverse range of political perspectives.

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – The government is reviewing a presidential decree on public procurements to reduce corruption, but the effort has met with stiff resistance from various sides, including business associations.

Jakarta – The government team sent to Sweden to secure that country's cooperation in the war against GAM has handed over evidence to the Swedish government which its claims proves that Free Aceh Movement (GAM) leaders in Sweden are involved in separatist and terror acts in Aceh.

Jakarta – About 10,000 youth, mostly high school students, rallied outside parliament yesterday, urging legislators to pass a controversial Bill to regulate religious teaching in private schools.

Jakarta – Top level government delegations from East Timor and Indonesia signed an agreement Wednesday to control border traffic between the two halves of Timor island. The accord came after two hours of talks led by Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri and Timorese Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, who is on his first official visit to Timor's former occupying power.

Luhur Hertanto, Jakarta – The government will soon conduct a special investigations (Litsus) of state civil servants in Aceh. This follows information which suggests Acehnese civil servants are involved in the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – The government said on Tuesday it would investigate two companies which, according to environmental group Greenpeace's recent investigative report, have been allegedly involved in the supplying of illegal logs from Indonesian rainforests to build the UK's new home ministry office building in London.

Tangerang – Some 400 workers from wood processing company PT Tambun Kusuma staged a rally at the Tangerang legislative council on Tuesday amid fears that the management would lay them off.

The protesters accused the company of looking for shortcomings on the part of its workers by claiming that 40 percent of them held fake school diplomas.

Frida Berrigan – Far from the spotlight and far from Baghdad, another shock and awe campaign is underway. On May 19th, Indonesia launched a military campaign to "strike and paralyze" a small band of separatist rebels in the Aceh province.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) found human rights and humanitarian law violations in its preliminary inquiry into the imposition of martial law in conflict-ridden Aceh.

Indonesian troops and separatist rebels have fought their fiercest battle since a campaign was launched last month to crush the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the military said.

Berni K. Moestafa, Lhokseumawe – Just hours after claiming to have made significant progress in its operation to crush the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the Indonesian Military (TNI) lost seven soldiers during a clash in Matang Kumbang, Bireun regency, Aceh, on Monday.

Jakarta – The Aceh provincial administration's plan to screen 67,000 civil servants and "severely punish" those found to support the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has sparked criticism.

Jakarta – Thousands of children are being trafficked for prostitution in Indonesia and parents or other family members are often to blame, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said on Thursday.

Andrew Burrell – Four Indonesian state electricity workers arrived in the small village of Bendo in central Java last week on a routine job to replace some power cables. Minutes later, three of them had been bashed to death by a frenzied mob and their bodies burnt.

Indonesia's Ministry of Environment has called on PT Freeport Indonesia (FI), the operator of the giant Grasberg copper-gold mine in West Papua province, to completely improve the system of its tailing disposal by the year 2004 or face legal proceedings.

Khairul Ikhwan, Medan – There are indications that a number of civil servants in the Aceh provincial government are involved in the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), although none have so far been proven to be so. Aceh governor, Abdullah Puteh has said that the government is in the process of carrying out a more thorough investigation.

Haidir Anwar Tanjung, Pekanbaru – Choking haze plaguing the main island of Riau and the Riau archipelago, bordering Singapore and Malaysia, has reached an alarming level, raising health concerns and disturbing traffic in the province.

Dili – East Timor's prime minister drew fire from Jakarta Tuesday after resuming his call for an international tribunal to try Indonesian officers for alleged rights abuses during the country's bloody fight for independence.

Karen Campbell-Nelson – It is important the women of Timor Leste tell what they know about past violations, to balance the tendency for men to dominate the documentation of history, and to remind social, political, and religious leaders of Timor Leste what is required of an inclusive reconciliation process.

This is how Beatriz Guterres begins telling us what she knows.

A total of six generals have nominated for the Governor's race in East Java. Three are former regional commanders: incumbent Governor Imam Utomo, Haris Sudarno and Joko Subroto.

The other three are Mohammad Dayat and Deddy Sudarmaji, both former East Java police chiefs, and former vice governor of Jakarta and retired officer Abdul Kahfie.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – East Timorese Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri leads a high-powered delegation to Indonesia on Tuesday in a bid to turn former bitter enemies into good friends and neighbors.

Matthew Moore and Agencies – As Indonesia's renewed war in Aceh province enters its fourth week, the army has unveiled plans to build an island prison to hold 1000 suspected members and supporters of the separatist group, GAM. The move came as President Megawati Sukarnoputri reiterated that she and her government would not tolerate separatism.

Indonesia's military operation to crush the Free Aceh separatists continues to gather momentum as the war enters its fourth week. The military, the TNI claims it has killed some 160 rebels and taken more than 300 prisoners, with many surrendering.

Andrew Marshall – Of all the hardware currently deployed in Aceh, US-supplied bombers, British-made jets, tanks, armored troop carriers, assault helicopters, warships" it was a slate-gray Japanese sedan that unnerved us journalists the most.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – A German tourist shot by Indonesian soldiers in Aceh province said she did not hear any calls from soldiers before they fired warning shots and further shots that hit her and killed her husband.

Jakarta – Choking, thick haze that has sporadically hit mainland Riau and Kalimantan has spread and reached other islands, raising health concerns.

Bernie K. Moestafa and Tiarma Siboro, Banda Aceh – The war in Aceh is taking its toll on village chiefs with 76 in Bireuen regency resigning on Sunday after complaining about the pressure they had to face in dealing with both the Indonesian Military (TNI) and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels.

Jakarta – The government has declared war-torn Aceh off limits to tourists following the shooting of two German tourists last week.

Jakarta – International and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have demanded that the martial law administrator in Aceh to give the media the greatest possible access and lift any restrictions on journalists reporting on the conflict in the province.

Lhokseumawe – An Indonesian military court on Monday found three soldiers guilty of beating civilians in war-torn Aceh and sentenced them to four months and 20 days in jail – about half what prosecutors had demanded.

Jakarta – An East Timorese court sentenced a pro-Indonesia militia leader to seven years in jail Monday for the 1999 killing of an independence supporter after the country voted to end 24 years of Indonesian occupation.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – "Because I'm brown, that's why I want to be white." Westerners might still like the bronzed look, but in Indonesia women such as Yusniar are demanding soaps and lotions, creams and even injections that promise to make their brown skins a few shades lighter.

Deborah Snow – Misconduct allegations against Australian troops during their 1999 deployment to East Timor included a claim of "unnecessary amputation" of a suspected militia member's arm, and suspicions about the reasons for the suicide of an Australian soldier.

Deborah Snow – "The downer was having to pick up two corpses (very smelly) We placed them inside our Land Rover Discovery and it was putrid ... In the evening I was called to see a detainee ... very agitated and trying to escape by any means, including self-harm. I therefore sedated him ... I confess I do not like being involved in the detention of people.'

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – The injured wife of a German tourist shot dead by Indonesian soldiers in war-torn Aceh province on Wednesday night wrote a letter the next day forgiving the military for the "misunderstanding".

Jakarta – The Indonesian Women's Solidarity Alliance (Aliansi Solidaritas Perempuan Indonesia, ASPI) has called on warring parties in Aceh to immediately end the war and return to the negotiating table. According to ASPI, the war will achieve nothing, rather it will result in civilian deaths and tear apart the rights of the Acehnese people.

Bernie K. Moestafa and Tiarma Siboro, Lhokseumawe – Frequent power blackouts have added to the suffering of the Acehnese as conflict and martial law, which will enter its fourth week, continued unabated.

Jakarta – The sale of counterfeit medicines not only threatens consumers but also the pharmaceutical industry as the distribution of such drugs is now out of control. Moreover, the country's inadequate legal infrastructure and weak law enforcement have allowed such counterfeit drugs to flood the market.

Jakarta – Tarmidi Suhardjo, former chairman of the Jakarta chapter of the ruling party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), has officially thrown in his lot with the Pioneer Party (Partai Pelopor).

Abdurrahman Wahid was president of Indonesia from 1999 to 2001. With his pluralistic style and attempts to implement frameworks to eliminate corruption, he perhaps came to the helm in Indonesia before the country or even his own administration was ready for his personal brand of reform.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Extortion and blackmail are commonplace in the police here against a backdrop of poor law enforcement and flourishing corruption, an independent police watchdog says.

Fitrian A. and Israr Ardiansyah, Jakarta – Indonesian forests constitute one of the world's megacenters of biological diversity. However, these forests – 10 percent of the world's remaining tropical forests, second largest to Brazil – are being increasingly degraded, leaving ever fewer natural resources and causing significant ecological damage.

Jakarta – The annual choking haze has reached alert levels on mainland Riau, including the provincial capital of Pekanbaru, with authorities warning residents to stay indoors as much as possible.