Matthew Moore, Jakarta – For more than 10 years Australians have often seen "Made in Indonesia" labels inside their sports shoes, but now there are signs that these are steadily being replaced by similar labels from China, Vietnam and Burma.

Ellen Nakashima and Alan Sipress, Yogyakarta – Abubakar Baasyir is a wanted man in Malaysia and Singapore. The Bush administration is weighing whether to add him to its terrorist list for what intelligence officials say is his leadership of a militant Islamic network linked to al Qaeda.

Rowan Callick – Indonesian Embassy in Canberra is investigating claims by the Institute of Public Affairs that "taxpayer-funded Australian non-government organisations are supporting independence movements".

Detained British academic Lesley McCulloch and American Joy Lee Sadler are "private intelligence" agents determined to see Aceh split from Indonesia, Jakarta intelligence sources say.

The pair were detained September 10 emerging from what authorities say is a known concentration of support for the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Tapak Tuan regency, South Aceh.

Raymond Bonner, Jakarta – "Beware of US Propaganda." That front-page headline in one of the leading newspapers here this morning spoke to far more than just the article below it.

The leader of East Timor's Catholic community, Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, appealed Monday to Portugal's people to give more help to his country, whose situation, he said, is "worse than before independence".

Jakarta – Choking smog worsened in Indonesian parts of Borneo island on Monday but rains cleared much of the haze that had been blanketing Sumatra, officials said.

Visibility was again reduced to tens of metres (yards) in at least two of Borneo's provinces and many schools and offices remained closed as transport continued to be disrupted.

Don Greenlees, Jakarta – On June 5, alleged al-Qa'ida operative Omar al-Faruq was arrested by Indonesian intelligence officials and handed over to the CIA. Al-Faruq's arrest and deportation were kept quiet from the Indonesian public; the national police were not even informed.

Robert Go, Jakarta – There is a growing backlash here against perceived attempts by the United States and neighbouring South-east Asian nations to pressure Indonesia into cracking down on domestic Islamic militants.

Visitors to Jakarta's Shangri-la Hotel last week were confronted by a reincarnation of the labor dispute that closed the hotel for three months at the beginning of 2001, providing symbolic evidence of the fragile nature of Indonesia's labor relations.

Canberra – The threat of a terrorist attack had receded enough to allow a full reopening of the Australian Embassy in East Timor, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said today.

The decision to reopen the embassy came as an international terrorism expert warned Australia could be a target because it was part of the global economy.

The Federal Defence Minister says Australian military commitment to peacekeeping in East Timor will be phased out over the next 18 months.

Senator Robert Hill was in Darwin yesterday to farewell soldiers heading to East Timor in a peacekeeping role. Included in the battalion is Alpha Company, manned largely by reservists.

A report that Muslim radicals are plotting to assassinate President Megawati Sukarnoputri was an attempt to pressure Indonesia into cracking down on militants, analysts believe.

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – An alliance of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has said it uncovered numerous lies in the country report delivered by the government in the World Sustainable Development Summit (WSSD) in Johannesburg earlier this month.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Lesley McCulloch, a former University of Tasmania lecturer, will wake up today on a mattress on the floor of a windowless office in Banda Aceh police station at the start of her 12th day in captivity.

John Aglionby, Jakarta – A British academic and her American friend detained in Indonesia 12 days ago for allegedly researching the separatist conflict in Aceh province while on tourist visas have accused their police interrogators of falsifying their statements, their lawyer said yesterday.

Kuala Lumpur – Haze from forest fires in neighbouring Indonesia blanketed the northern parts of peninsular Malaysia, reducing visibility to as low as three km, a newspaper and residents said on Saturday.

Canberra – Executive Director of the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), Dr. Mike Nahan, disclosed here on Friday that a number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Australia have given their support to separatism in Indonesia, particularly in "West Papua".

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Papuan people urged on Friday that the government immediately reinstate the plan for two new provinces on the island, whose establishment was approved in 1999 to boost development and quench calls for independence there.

Jayapura – The United Nations has declared 21 September as an International Day for Peace. The religious leaders in Papua have responded to this appeal by the UN. On Saturday night all the leaders of the main religions in Papua – Christian, Islam, Buddha and Hindu – held a "prayer march" in Jayapura, the capital of Papua.

Liza Power – It's seven in the morning at Wamena's Trendy Hotel. The mosquitoes have retired after a night of feasting on my toes and ears, which means it's time to stumble from room 3, check my collection of flea bites and watch the old Dani man by the door, who wears a penis gourd that reaches to his chin, floss his teeth with a two-metre arrow.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – New Zealand's Labour Government is the latest to reveal the skeletons in its closet over Indonesia's 1975 East Timor invasion, but the Melbourne family of a Wellington-born cameraman killed there says it is not satisfied.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – At least two people died and more than 200 houses were torched in a sudden flash of violence in the North Maluku islands, shattering an 18-month period of calm in the province described as a success story in resolving sectarian conflict.

Jakarta – A police officer testified yesterday that he had overheard Jafaar Umar Thalib, the leader of the Laskar Jihad militia, urge his followers to wage war on Christians in the religiously divided eastern province of Maluku.

Ibnu Mat Noor and Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – Two foreign women who are being detained for suspected involvement in separatist activities while on tourist visas, will likely stand trial in the Banda Aceh District Court on charges of immigration violations.

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – PT Perum Angkasa Pura II (PAP), which manages the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, was declared guilty of illegally seizing land belonging to 16 residents living near the airport on Thursday.

Jakarta – Some 1,500 workers from the country's metal industry on Thursday rally in front of the House of Representatives compound here to protest against proposed labor legislation, AFP reported.

Jakarta – Activists believe the use of condoms is the best and cheapest way to prevent the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus through sexual intercourse, but a campaign to encourage safe sex has run into opposition from groups worried it could lead to promiscuity.

Robert Go, Jakarta – They were originally meant to help the poor, who could get them for free, or at a very low cost, at government-run health clinics. But these days, subsidised vaccines – for hepatitis, tuberculosis, tetanus or smallpox – and prescription drugs, including antibiotics, are turning up for sale in the open market. Not surprisingly, corruption is again to blame.

Bill Guerin – Against the backdrop of the sudden closure of the US Embassy, violent clashes accompanying the re-election of Jakarta's widely disliked governor, Sutiyoso, and the brazen refusal of parliament Speaker Akbar Tanjung to step down, the Indonesian capital and surrounding areas were blacked out for long periods on September 12-13.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – In what was believed to be one of the largest turnouts ever of labor protesters, thousands of workers from across the country took to the streets on Thursday to oppose the labor protection and industrial settlement bill.

The workers criticized the bill, dubbed by many as a pro-labor draft law, for not providing enough protection for them.

Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri expressed her disappointment on Thursday with the way students and youths demonstrated.

"Compared to the current rallies, those in the past were well managed," Megawati said while opening the Association of Bandung Institute of Technology Alumni congress at the State Palace.

Ray Lilley, Wellington – East Timor President Xanana Gusmao has called on the international community not to forget his tiny new nation, which became the 191st member of the United Nations in late May.

Raymond Bonner, Jakarta – The American Embassy here said today that it had "credible threat information" that Westerners in central Java "may be targeted for violence in the immediate future." The warning did not say who was behind the threats, but the area around Yogyakarta, east of Jakarta, the capital, is a hotbed of Islamic militancy.

Jakarta – Indonesia plans to buy Chinese-made weapons to strengthen the country's armed forces, Defence Minister Matori Abdul Jalil said after meeting his Chinese counterpart Chi Haotian who began a five-day working visit here yesterday.

Jakarta – People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais warned Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri to be alert to any pressure from the United States as it seeks support for its plan to invade Iraq.

[An Australian academic who's still being questioned by Indonesian police in the northern province of Aceh has spoken to the ABC from the bathroom of the police station. Scottish-born Australian resident Lesley McCulloch who lectured at the Universtiy of Tasmania was detained with an American nurse and a local translator last week in Southern Aceh.

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Undeterred by public outcry, the City Council's election committee approved on Wednesday the result of the voting in the gubernatorial election and refused to examine the ballot papers, which were allegedly marked in code by supporters of Governor Sutiyoso.

Jakarta – Indonesia's state audit agency has discovered that around 6.421 trillion rupiah from the state budget has been misused by various government offices in the first six months of this year.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – The wily Indonesian parliamentary Speaker, Mr Akbar Tandjung, may yet manage to outmanoeuvre MPs petitioning to oust him from his post following his graft conviction this month.

A militant Indonesian Islamic leader denied knowing reputed al-Qaeda kingpin Omar al-Faruq or being linked to terrorist acts in Indonesia.

"I don't understand any of this. I don't know him and only read about him in newspapers," Abu Bakar Ba'asyir told AFP by telephone from Central Java.

Jakarta – At least 70 young people coming from across Aceh province gathered in Banda Aceh on Wednesday to seek a common understanding on government policy and a peaceful solution to the conflict in Aceh.

[A prominent Australian scientist, who spent many years doing research in Papua and in neighbouring Papua New Guinea, says he believes the killings last month at the US-owned copper and gold mine, Freeport, will be a turning point in already strained relations between the United States and the Indonesian military.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government and international agencies have agreed that as of December 31 this year, all East Timorese refugee camps in West Timor will be shut down.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – Security problems are worsening at the giant Freeport copper and gold mine in Indonesia's Papua province after soldiers guarding the facility discovered a bomb under a bridge on the mine's only access road on Saturday.

Jakarta – The British embassy in Indonesia is very concerned over complaints that police have mistreated a British woman detained since last week in restive Aceh province, a diplomat said on Wednesday.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – A Scottish academic detained for a week by police in Indonesia's Aceh province said yesterday she had been beaten, deprived of sleep and threatened with a knife during her captivity.

Max Lane, Jakarta – Indonesian police used tear gas and water cannons to attempt to subdue a large demonstration outside the parliament of the Jakarta special province on September 11. Tens of thousands of protesters gathered to blockade the parliament building. They also set up check points at surrounding intersections to check vehicles heading towards the parliament.

Nani Farida and Ibnu Mat Noor, Banda Aceh – Dozens of people were injured and more than 80 shophouses burned in the latest outbreak of violence in Aceh.

The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) spokesman for the Pasee region, Teungku Jamaika, said government security forces, particularly the elite Mobile Brigade (Brimob) police unit, were responsible.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Convicted corrupter Akbar Tandjung has clearly lost the respect of fellow politicians as legislators frantically interrupted a plenary session he chaired on Tuesday, questioning his credibility to lead the meeting.