Jakarta – Two rebels were killed and two wounded when some 100 members of the separatist Free Papua Movement attacked a police outpost on Wednesday in Indonesia's easternmost province of Irian Jaya, a report said.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – East Timor's charismatic leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao and former pro-Jakarta militia leader Joao Tavares agreed on Tuesday to end their hostility and to work together for peace in East Timor through reconciliation.

Xanana and Tavares reached the agreement in a closed-door meeting in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara.

Canberra – Indonesia and Australia will set up a tripartite consultative forum to help East Timor solve problems that may arise in its transformation into an independent state, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hasan Wirayuda said here Wedensday.

Dili – With East Timor due to become the world's newest nation in six months, hundreds of people rallied Wednesday to mark the territory's first declaration of independence 26 years ago.

Waving East Timorese flags, about 500 people listened to speeches by leading politicians before raising their fists in salute East Timor's largest political party, Fretilin.

Susan Sim, Jakarta – Frustrated that a seemingly unrepentant Indonesian military is still being given carte blanche authority to abuse human rights in Aceh and engage in illegal logging, among other sins, American lawmakers are already threatening to curtail the limited re-engagement initiated by the US military.

The Constituent Assembly today approved a motion recommending that East Timor's first presidential election be held in the first or second week of April 2002, and that the voting process be universal, direct, and secret.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – Indonesian authorities say they do not regard last year's Memorandum of Understanding between East Timor and Indonesia on transfer of prisoners as valid, East Timor's new Prosecutor-General has said.

Jakarta – A church in the eastern Indonesian city of Poso has been bombed and burnt to the ground, a policeman said on Tuesday, and an aid worker said the area was gripped with renewed religious tension.

Jakarta – Indonesia's forestry minister Tuesday promised a clampdown on illegal logging, which he called a "crime organized by many parties."

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Controversial police figure Commissioner General Da'i Bachtiar is set to become Indonesia's new police chief with the backing of President Megawati Sukarnoputri and the majority of Parliament, despite criticism over his past track record.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – In a bid to prevent separatist and ethnic conflicts from fragmenting Indonesia, the government plans to rotate up to 50 battalions through the restive provinces of Aceh and Irian Jaya and hotspots in Maluku, Sulawesi and West Kalimantan, security chief Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said.

Yongker Rumthe, Manado – An alliance of student associations in Gorontalo and North Sulawesi has called on the central government to annul the results of the recent gubernatorial election in Gorontalo on the grounds that they were not legal.

Jerry Norton, Jakarta – The United States wants to return to full military cooperation with Indonesia but it must first match words with action in accounting for the violence in East Timor, US Admiral Dennis Blair said on Tuesday.

Jakarta – The US military chief for the Pacific Tuesday said the Indonesian armed forces should account for the 1999 violence in East Timor before they can resume full military cooperation with Washington.

Ian Timberlake, Jakarta – The mysterious death of charismatic leader Theys Eluay threatens to inflame desires for independence in Irian Jaya, the vast province occupying the western half of the island of New Guinea.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Life could not be harder for minimum wage earners in the capital. They are forced to struggle to make both ends meet with the current minimum monthly wage of Rp 426,250 (about US$40).

One might wonder how they could survive earning such a low amount of money while the prices of goods keep on increasing.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government expects the country's current account surplus to fall significantly this year mainly due to lower oil prices, and to narrow further in 2002 with exports likely to remain weak, a document showed Monday.

Jakarta – The Jayapura-based offices of the Irian Jaya chapter of the Independent Journalists Alliance (AJI) were attacked and damaged by an unknown person or group on Sunday, a report said.

"The attackers smashed the office's ten glass windows with stones," chapter chairman Fritz Ramandey was quoted by Antara as saying.

At least five people were killed in the Indonesian province of Aceh where separatist rebels are fighting government forces, military and rebels said Saturday

Gunfight broke out Friday in the Krueng Sabee area of West Aceh between military soldiers and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels, killing a soldier and three rebels, said military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Firdaus.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Once the Permuda Pancasila comprised the strong arm of the ruling Golkar party. Its members ran everything from karaoke clubs to gambling and prostitution rackets. They inspired fear and loathing across the archipelago ruling not just the back alleys of Jakarta, but also ensuring that none of the government's opponents got out of line.

Jakarta – Indonesia's Home Affairs Minister Hari Sabarno on Monday urged local authorities to revoke dozens of regional regulations deemed to hinder the flow of goods and capital.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – The House of Representatives is playing for time and lacks seriousness in its plan to investigate the alleged involvement of its speaker, Akbar Tandjung, in a Rp 40 billion (US$4 million) corruption case, analysts say.

Annastashya Emmanuelle, Jakarta – To some, the thought of everyday life without the assistance of domestic helpers is unbearable. The fact that human labor is inexpensive, and, at times, taken for granted, means that the services of domestic helpers are accessible to most households in the city. It also enables the latter to live increasingly self-indulgent lifestyles.

Dean Yates, Jakarta – Indonesia's tolerant brand of Islam has passed the test of US attacks on Afghanistan largely intact despite images of burning American flags, proving the nation will not become a breeding ground for Muslim extremism.

Slobodan Lekic, Jakarta – Wracked by separatist struggles across its vast chain of islands, Indonesia is being especially haunted by a referendum 32 years ago that former United Nations officials now admit was a sham.

Don Greenlees, Jakarta – United Nations prosecutors in East Timor have lodged an indictment against 21 people, including senior Indonesian military, militia and government officials, over the massacre in the Catholic church in the town of Liquica in April 1999.

Alan Boyd, Sydney – Don't play with fire near gasoline, Theys Hiyo Eluay once warned Indonesia of its ruthless efforts to assimilate the 225 tribal groupings and hundreds of languages and dialects of Irian Jaya.

Geneva – The United Nations Committee against Torture said on Friday that it was concerned about a "climate of impunity" for torture committed by security forces in Indonesia.

Kupang – A top military officer here said East Timorese refugees in East Nusa Tenggara province no longer feel they have leaders. The sentiment now prevailed among the refugees because those claiming to be their leaders had never paid attention to their fate, Chief of Udayana regional military command Major General Willem da Costa said.

Paul Osborne Brisbane – The problems of East Timorese refugees in West Timor and the disarmament of militia should be resolved within three months, the emerging nation's foreign minister Jose Ramos Horta said today.

Eleven people, including seven separatist rebels, have been killed in Indonesia's violence-torn Aceh province, the military and civilians said.

Ainur R. Sophiaan, Surabaya – The chairman of the East Java chapter of the People's Democratic Party (PRD), Eusebius Purwadi, denied charges that he had circulated antigovernment pamphlets and incited local people to reject President Megawati Soekarnoputri's government.

Dita Sari, chairperson of the Indonesian National Front or Labour Struggles (FNPBI) was released from police custody on the evening of November 9. She had been arrested, along with 30 workers, earlier in the day when police violently dispersed a 1000-strong rally in Jakarta by striking department store workers.

Max Lane – On November 11, a panel of three judges in Banda Aceh handed down their findings after two weeks of hearings in the case brought by the Indonesian National Police against Kautsar, a central leader of the Acehnese freedom movement.

Pip Hinman, Sydney – The November 10 assassination in Jayapura of West Papuan leader Theys Eluay drew condemnation from a wide range of public figures at a press conference in the NSW Parliament House here on November 15.

Karen Polglaze, Melbourne – The interests of the people of East Timor would have been totally compromised had former Labor prime minister Paul Keating stayed in the top job, Prime Minister John Howard said today.

Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Friday insisted that the recently exercised regional autonomy was not a blank check for provinces to do as they please.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – The country's highest electoral authority said on Thursday it would soon submit a new bill to the House of Representatives that would impose tighter requirements for those of the country's more than 300 political parties wishing to contest the general election in 2004.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The National Awakening Party (PKB), under the leadership of Alwi Shihab, officially dismissed Matori Abdul Djalil on Thursday from the party for disloyalty.

Jakarta – Some 150 "jihad" fighters from Indonesia are still with the Taliban in Afghanistan while others have fled to neighboring Pakistan or are stranded on the border, their recruiter said Friday.

John Zarocostas, Geneva – A UN panel Friday criticized Indonesia for human-rights abuses, including sexual abuse, in its troubled provinces.

Chris McCall, Jayapura – It is a crude report from one tiny area of the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya.

It lists 614 people who all died violent deaths between 1969 and 1998. In the column for "doer", all entries contain the word "Abri", an abbreviation for the Indonesian military.

Sentani – Indigenous separatists in Irian Jaya province have threatened to retaliate against settlers from other parts of Indonesia, following the recent killing of their pro-independence leader Theys Eluay.

Activists from across the far-flung province – also known as West Papua – have been gathering in Mr Theys' hometown here for tomorrow's funeral service.

Jakarta – The secretary-general of the proindependence Papuan Presidium Council (PDP), Thaha Al Hamid, said in Jayapura on Thursday that Papuans (indigenous people of Irian Jaya) wanted the government to guarantee their right to life despite their constant demands for freedom.

Asip Hasani and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta/Yogyakarta – Despite internal conflict among Papuan leaders, the 'murder' of pro-independence figure Theys Hiyo Eluay is believed to have been triggered by vested political interests of members of the political elite in Jakarta.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Dozens of minibus crews at the Blok M bus terminal remained on strike for a third consecutive day on Thursday protesting the new bus routes designated by the City Land Transportation Agency, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded.

Jakarta – Five Indonesian state firms suffered losses or potential losses of four billion dollars due to inefficiency over in 1995-1999, according to independent international auditors. The audit results were reported in Friday's Jakarta Post and by the state Antara news agency.

Panca Nugraha, Mataram – In observance of the International Day of the Eradication of Violence against Women, which will fall on November 25, more than 200 women held a demonstration against violence in the city on Wednesday, demanding the government introduce laws to protect Indonesian women both at home and overseas.

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – After firing five warning shots, the police successfully broke up a rally on Wednesday and arrested eight workers of PT Koinus Jaya Garment who had been demonstrating, along with some 250 others, to demand severance payment from the company.

Nigel Wilson – Government-level talks in East Timor next week are seen as the last chance of early development of vast Timor Sea gas reserves.