Mark Dodd, Darwin – Southeast Asia's poorest country, East Timor, could get its first royalty payments from the oil- and gas-rich Timor Sea by 2004, money which experts say will mean the difference between aid dependency and economic self-sufficiency for the troubled half-island nation.

Dili – Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri is studying a possible restructuring of East Timor's government ministries to improve their functioning and the performance of ministers, official sources said Thursday.

East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao said yesterday that it may be necessary to extend the mandate of the 5,000-soldier UN peacekeeping force in East Timor beyond June 2004, its scheduled end, in light of continued instability on the island.

Kurniawan Hari and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The House of Representatives (DPR) moved to save face in the price hike controversy on Tuesday, urging President Megawati Soekarnoputri to take into serious consideration the protests against the recent utility and fuel price increases.

The Human Rights Watch annual report has singled out the government of Indonesia for failing to address human rights abuses by the military. It says human rights workers have faced increased persecution especially when they sought to investigate abuses in regions like Aceh and Papua.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Indonesian managers, and professionals such as doctors and lawyers could find themselves competing with their foreign peers for jobs here in the near future if the government surrenders to pressure to open the country's labor market.

Tim Shorrock, Washington – The US Congress may vote as early as this week to restore a military training program for Indonesia despite uncertainties about the Indonesian military's human-rights record, according to House and Senate aides and observers of US-Indonesian relations.

Jakarta – Nationwide protests against increases in utility prices entered their second week on Tuesday, turning more militant in some provinces as protesters blocked roads and occupied government offices.

Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputricanceled a trip to Central Sulawesi on Tuesday following the latest wave of protests around the country over higher fuel and utility prices, AP reported.

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) has said that people would have difficulty in obtaining water if the government went ahead with its plan to privatize the natural resource.

It said water shortages might become a major disaster this year as droughts, floods, forest fires and landslides are expected to continue.

Bogor – Some 2,000 workers in Bogor regency, West Java, staged a protest on Tuesday demanding minimum wages the same as for workers in the nearby regions of Jakarta, Bekasi and Tangerang, at the regent's office.

Jakarta – The recent protest involving only about 3,000 workers in Jakarta, instead of the threatened 25,000 people, is further proof of how weak the labor movement in Indonesia is, and of its failure so far to harness its potentially powerful political leverage, say labor experts.

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar – On New Year's Eve, I pulled into my local Pertamina station. While waiting for my tank to fill, I asked the attendant about gasoline prices for January; for the past year, the Indonesian government has adjusted the cost of fuel on a monthly basis and usually announces the new prices a few days in advance. "Belum tahu," he replied; he didn't know yet.

The Indonesian government made only half-hearted attempts during the year to hold accountable those responsible for TNI abuses in East Timor. Human rights defenders inside and outside the country called for an international tribunal in light of the failures of the Indonesian justice system.

Jakarta – Violence erupted again on Monday as thousands of people embarked on a second week of protests nationwide against the steep rises in fuel prices, and electricity and telephone charges.

However, most of the street rallies proceeded peacefully across the country.

Dili – The atmosphere of instability looming over East Timor is leading to a deterioration of relations between national and UN security structures.

Dili – A captured former anti-independence militiaman has told interrogators in Dili that at least seven armed groups infiltrated East Timor from Indonesia in December, according to two reports obtained by Lusa Tuesday.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – Two senior Indonesian police officers who uncovered evidence of army involvement in the killing of three teachers near the Freeport mine in Papua last August have been transferred to new posts.

Jakarta – Shortly after several cabinet ministers arrived in Ambon, Maluku, an unidentified man threw bombs at passing cars, which exploded and damaged the rear end of a public minivan on Tuesday, Antara reported.

The first bomb, which was thrown at a private-owned car, failed to explode, but the second did. No casualties were reported during the incident.

Rachel Harvey, Jakarta – Rampant corruption in Indonesia is hampering attempts to tackle the problem of illegal logging, according to a report.

Indonesia's forests, home to endangered species, such as the orang-utan and Clouded Leopard, are being stripped. Campaigners claim up to 70% of Indonesia's timber comes from illegal sources.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – The Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) headed by President Megawati Sukarnoputri has joined the chorus of protesters calling on her administration to review its price increases for fuel and utilities.

[The following is a by Jeffrey Winters, Northwestern University, via Joyo Indonesia News Service.]

I would like to offer the following observations:

Jakarta – The government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri has restored some political stability but failed to address human rights abuses by the military and endemic corruption, Human Rights Watch saidTuesday in its annual report.

The watchdog said human rights campaigners faced increased ersecution especially in the rebellious provinces of Aceh and Papua.

Alan Boyd, Sydney – Indonesia may close its key border crossing into Papua New Guinea (PNG) after renewed separatist tensions in the rebellious province of West Papua (formerly Irian Jaya) that aid workers claim are being partly inflamed by Muslim extremists.

Karawang – The Indonesian Military (TNI) on Monday said it was the right of citizens to protest over recent price hikes but warned against hidden agendas, including toppling the government by calling for the establishment of a presidium to rule in the place of the president.

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – Ambassadors from the United States, Japan and Italy arrived here on Monday for a two-day visit to show support for a recent peace agreement to end decades of hostilities in the troubled province of Aceh.

Jakarta – Some 5,000 women staged a rally on Tuesday outside the presidential palace in Central Jakara, protesting the government's decision to increase fuel prices and electricity and telephone rates, Antara reported.

Carrying kitchen utensils and banners, the women, led by the Muslim Women's Solidarity Forum for the Poor, marched along the streets under the hot sun.

Achmad Sukarsono and Telly Nathalia, Jakarta – Thousands of protesters rallied in more than a dozen Indonesian cities on Tuesday and knocked down parliament's gates in the capital, maintaining pressure on the government to review its recent fuel and utility price hikes.

Jane Perlez, Banda Aceh – An American nurse freed after having been convicted by the Indonesian authorities of visa violations, which involved contacting separatist rebels, says she wants to continue her one-woman health mission among displaced people.

Protests against price hikes for fuel and phone charges are continuing for a second week across Indonesia. The price rises for fuel, electricity and phones are aimed at cutting back on government subsidies as the administration tries to rein in its large budget deficit.

Mengwi – President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday defended her decision to raise fuel and power prices, arguing they were needed to end the country's reliance on foreign debt.

Jakarta – Riding the momentum initiated by mounting anti-government protests, several individuals representing different groups have become united in their efforts to unseat President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Vice President Hamzah Haz.

Ati Nurbaiti, Ambon – It seems an inevitable, accepted fact of life here that while things must return to "normal", it would be wishful thinking to imagine that it means resuming normalcy in full, at least in the foreseeable future.

Banda Aceh – The number of killings and clashes between Indonesian forces and separatist rebels in Aceh province has plunged sharply a month after a peace deal was signed, a mediation group said yesterday.

Jakarta – Police have uncovered a fifth military-style training camp in South Sulawesi – suspected to belong to the group behind last month's bombings in Makassar – which had enlisted the support of trainers from Afghanistan and the Philippines.

Jakarta – Domestic researchers lashed out at the government's plan to impose restrictions on foreign scholars who wish to conduct field studies in the troubled provinces of Papua and Aceh. They said that the restriction impinged on academic freedom.

Tony Sitathan, Jakarta – "I do not know how I am going to survive with three children, an ailing mother and an unemployed husband, with the current increases in basic electricity and telephone charges.

Jakarta – Street protests continued across the country Friday against steep increases in fuel and utility charges as the government began distributing cheaper rice nationwide to those hardest hit by the price rises, AFP reported.

About 10,000 students and workers staged a noisy but peaceful rally in Makassar, South Sulawesi province, El Shinta radio reported.

Jakarta – Already under investigation for corruption, Indonesia's Attorney-General was accused by police yesterday of embezzling thousands of dollars from a charity set up to help refugees.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – After pulling up President Megawati Sukarnoputri, Indonesia's main audit body is flexing its muscles and plans to fire more shots this month at big names for their questionable wealth.

The move is likely to rile government officials and parliamentarians who have thrown their weight behind its closure.

Bill Guerin – A year ago Indonesia's debut into the free-trade era took place when it opened its markets to the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA).

The landmark event, on January 1, 2002, was notable mainly for the silence of the government that had preceded the move, and the apathy of the people and business community. Public ignorance of AFTA prevailed.

Tom Hyland – The accused sits with his seven lawyers in the listless heat of a Jakarta courtroom. He occasionally wipes his brow and shifts in his seat but mostly he is straight-backed, gazing with a soldier's practised stare into the middle distance. Major-General Tono Suratman, former Indonesian army commander in East Timor, seems bored.

Jakarta – Despite making progress in clamping down on suspected terrorists, Indonesia lacks a comprehensive policy to combat terrorism and puts too much weight on responding to possible attacks rather than preventing them, security analysts say.

Jakarta – American nurse Joy Lee Sadler was released Friday from jail in Aceh province after four months in detention for visa violations, AP reported.

Sadler, 57, cried as she left the prison for Banda Aceh airport. She will fly to Malaysia en route to the United States.

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Police fired two warning shots into the air to disperse a rally of some 1,000 former workers of PT Doson Indonesia, a company that produces shoes for Nike, in Tangerang.

The workers responded to police by throwing shoes at the officers, but there was no violence, reports said.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Leniency in the labor law and lack of enforcement of standard safety measures have put the lives of millions of workers at risk, particularly those working in hazard-prone work places, a labor activist said on Thursday.

Jakarta – Indonesia's troubled province of Aceh has been peaceful for a week and a Geneva-based organisation that brokered a peace deal between the government and rebels said on Friday that the pact appeared to be working despite initial pessimism.

Maria Endah Hulupi and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Thousands of workers and students staged a rally in front of Merdeka Palace, Central Jakarta, on Thursday to demand that the government annul the utility price hikes introduced on the first day of the new year.

Ibnu Mat Noor and Nani Farida, Banda Aceh/Lhokseumawe – Civilian casualties have dropped significantly in Aceh in the past month, but violence has not stopped entirely in the country's westernmost province.

Berni K. Moestafa, Jakarta – Unable to force the government to cancel utility price increases despite mass protests across the country, protesters vowed to continue demonstrating and consider "radical means" to put pressure on the government.