The United Nations is to reduce its presence in East Timor in spite of Security Council members' reservations about the new administration in Jakarta.

Jakarta – Indonesian security forces have shot dead 10 suspected separatist rebels in various clashes in the flashpoint province of Aceh, the army and police said Friday.

John McBeth and Dini Djalal, Jakarta – Sadly for Indonesia, the dramatic events of July 23 that saw Abdurrahman Wahid sacked as president and Megawati Sukarnoputri installed in his place may be only one of many more upheavals attending Indonesia's progress towards a stable and more representative government.

East Timor's transitional government on Thursday moved forward with a controversial plan to adopt Portuguese as the country's official language by announcing it would recruit 723 Portuguese language teachers.

Tomi Soetjipto, Jakarta – A bomb blast ripped through the ground floor of a busy shopping centre in the Indonesian capital Jakarta on Wednesday evening, injuring at least five people, police and witnesses said.

On 6 and 7 June, the Indonesian government went ahead with controversial plans to register East Timorese refugees in West Timor and determine whether they wished to remain in Indonesia or return to East Timor.

Pip Hinman – At 4am on July 22, a tent occupied by hunger strikers in the Sumatran town of Lampung was doused with petrol and set alight by thugs, suspected to be military personnel in plain clothes.

An Indonesian military commander has ordered his troops to arrest East Timorese militiamen who are still operating from refugee camps in neighbouring West Timor, the official Antara news agency said Wednesday.

On 23 July, Vice President Megawati was installed as Indonesian president after the People's Assembly sacked the man it had appointed two years ago. The same state organ that intrigued against her then has now promoted her, with the full backing of a regenerated military.

Since the Indonesian armed forces launched new military operations at the beginning of May, conditions for the population of Aceh have rapidly deteriorated. A massacre in Central Aceh resulted in scores of deaths. The death toll in the first half of 2001 exceeded one thousand, most victims being civilians.

Widespread police operations have been underway since March this year in the district of Manokwari in the Bird's Head region of West Papua, following armed attacks on two logging companies. In the second of these incidents, five Brimob officers were killed. Retribution against the population has led to many civilian casualties and thousands of villagers fleeing to nearby forests.

Will Hardie, Stockholm – Rebels from Indonesia's restive Aceh province warned new president Megawati Sukarnoputri on Wednesday that she must rein in her military and release jailed rebel officials or jeopardise peace talks.

Banda Aceh – Five people – four suspected rebels and an Indonesian soldier – have been killed in the restive province of Aceh, police and the military said Wednesday.

Kanis Dursin, Bekasi – Indonesia is the biggest rice importer in Asia. This is sadly ironic, because almost 70 percent of the country's 213 million people are farmers.

Jon Land – As campaigning for the Constituent Assembly elections slowly gathers momentum across East Timor, the installation of Megawati Sukarnoputri as Indonesia's new president has drawn a mixed response from East Timor's political leaders and human rights groups.

About 19,800 coffee farmers in Timor Lorosae have to swallow the bitter pill because of sharp falls in worldwide coffee prices. On 10 May the price of export quality coffee fetched US$0.6855 on the world markets. On 27 July, however, the price fell to US$0.5130.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – A lawsuit seeking to dissolve former president Suharto's political party, Golkar, was thrown out by the Supreme Court yesterday. The move comes amid growing fears that President Megawati Sukarnoputri's tenure will see a resurgence of groups and individuals linked to Suharto's New Order regime.

The United Nations Security Council yesterday decided to extend the presence of UNTAET in Timor Lorosae till early 2002. However, Indonesia warned that the extension of UNTAET's mandate must not have any hidden agenda that could affect Jakarta.

Mark Dodd, Dili – In a surprise move, American company Phillips Petroleum and its joint venture partners have deferred indefinitely plans to build a $1.5 billion Timor Sea to Darwin natural gas pipeline.

In a letter sent to United Nations Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan on July 26, Phillips cited "critical legal and fiscal issues" as the reason for the deferment.

Max Lane – In October 1999, when Megawati Sukarnoputri won the consolation prize of being elected Abdurrahman Wahid's vice-president, tens of thousands of her supporters paraded around the streets of Jakarta celebrating.

Manila – A Chinese agricultural scientist and agovernment official are among the seven winners of the 2001 Ramon Magsaysay Awards for excellence, the award foundation said on Monday.

Ongoing corrections to preliminary voters lists in East Timor have included an additional 18,000 names and will bring the total electorate for August 30 constituent assembly elections to more than 400,000, electoral commission official Carlos Valenzuela said Monday.

UN transition administration officials acknowledged Monday that issues of justice and human rights in East Timor remain a problem but dismissed a negative Amnesty International report as "exaggerated".

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – The fate of Indonesia's Nation Awakening Party (PKB) looks increasingly uncertain as internal politicking threatens to divide it and its iconic founder Abdurrahman Wahid quits the political scene.

Analysts agree that without deposed president Mr Abdurrahman to draw in voters, the party may have little appeal left for its constituents.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – American officials are trying to recall a published history of how the United States supported anti-communist moves that brought former president Suharto to power and left as many as one million Indonesians dead.

Tapol today expressed dismay at a controversial decision on Wednesday by the Dili District Court to release Dr Sergio Lobo – a surgeon at the Dili Hospital and candidate in the forthcoming constituent assembly elections on 30 August – from detention in Becora prison and to place him under house detention until his forthcoming trial, while allowing him to go to the hospital each day

Sydney – Justice and human rights in East Timor are still not guaranteed even though a UN administration in the former Indonesian territory will end its mission there in a few months, Amnesty International said.

Reuters in Jakarta – New President Megawati Sukarnoputri left Jakarta yesterday for the provinces, putting the critical task of forming a coalition cabinet on hold and reinforcing perceptions that she will not be a hands-on leader.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Politicians will dominate the new Indonesian Cabinet. Their empowering will be a form of payback for the support they gave President Megawati Sukarnoputri during the impeachment process against Mr Abdurrahman Wahid.

Hamzah Haz, leader of Indonesia's largest Muslim political party, was elected Vice-President on Thursday. In its editorial yesterday, The Jakarta Post wondered if he could work amicably with President Megawati Sukarnoputri, known for her nationalist and secular outlook. Below is an extract of the editorial, entitled "An Unlikely Duet".

Enrique Soriano and Devi Asmarani – Deposed and dejected, Mr Abdurrahman is helped down the stairs of the presidential palace on Thursday before catching a flight to the US for medical treatment.

But former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid's last day at the Istana on Thursday was marked instead by heartfelt farewells from supporters and journalists.

Jakarta – Indonesian journalists are mounting a campaign to dissuade new president Megawati Sukarnoputri from re-opening the Information Ministry, closed by her reformist predecessor Abdurrahman Wahid in 1999, local media reports said on Saturday.

Associated Press in Jakarta – Police in the Indonesian capital were yesterday questioning 18 witnesses and working with intelligence agencies to determine whether deposed president Suharto's youngest son was involved in the assassination of a prominent judge.

Kanis Dursin, Jakarta – The unreserved support of new President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) for the vice presidential bid of Hamzah Haz, chairperson of the Muslim-based United Development Party (PPP), came as a surprise to many.

Craig Skehan – The Australian Prime Minister, Mr Howard, said yesterday he was impressed by the "warmth and spontaneity" of an invitation for him to visit Indonesia from the nation's new President, Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri, when he spoke to her by telephone.

America is still looking mainly for military allies in Southeast Asia – as if the cold war never ended. This is the central message of a new report issued this month by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) on what the Bush administration should be doing in the region. It's likely to alarm Southeast Asians.

Four groups of international observers and eight East Timorese organizations have already registered with Dili electoral officials to monitor the territory's first free vote on August 30.

Jakarta – Indonesia's new president Megawati Sukarnoputri stayed away Friday from the commemoration of a 1996 brutal military-backed raid on her party's former headquarters, which left at least five dead and scores missing. Megawati spent her fifth day as president travelling to West Java and Central Sulawesi instead.

Mark Dodd, Kupang – In what will probably be the last refugee repatriation voyage, 179 East Timorese boarded the Patricia Anne Hotung this week homeward bound for Dili and a fresh start.

International reactions to Megawati Sukarnoputri becoming Indonesia's new president on July 23 were swift but measured.

Just 48 hours after banding together to oust Abdurrahman Wahid from the country's presidency on charges of "incompetence" (a most extraordinary article of impeachment) and install Megawati Sukarnoputri as his successor, Indonesian lawmakers' unanimity disappeared and it took a once again fractious People's Consultative Assembly two days and three rounds of voting to elect the leader

Jakarta – Hamzah Haz, who became Indonesia's ninth vice president on Thursday, is a seasoned lawmaker and politician and the first in more than three decades to come from a Muslim party.

G.K. Goh, Jakarta – Abdurrahman Wahid's farewell to his followers Thursday was much like his 21 months as Indonesian president – chaotic, confusing and sadly anti-climactic. About 1,500 people attended a rally outside the presidential palace near Jakarta's famous Independence Monument and crowded around a small wooden stage to listen to his parting words.

Negotiations between East Timor, Australia and oil companies working Timor Gap offshore fields have bogged down over tax issues, with the companies saying they fear Dili may be seeking to impose higher rates than expected.

Jakarta – The World Bank yesterday welcomed the appointment of Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri as Indonesia's new president, and urged her to assemble a strong economic team to tackle the country's daunting problems.

"This is a time of great challenge and opportunity for Indonesia," bank president James Wolfensohn said in a statement two days after Ms Megawati's appointment.

Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta – Indonesian legislators on Thursday elected an unlikely deputy for their first female president – a Muslim politician who has said women are not fit to lead the world's largest Muslim nation.

Jakarta – The Indonesian rupiah spiked to around 9,800 to the dollar on Thursday and the stock market gained 1.40 percent, welcoming Muslim politician Hamzah Haz as the country's new vice president.

Hanoi – The United States is watching the Indonesian military closely after the rise to power of President Megawati Sukarnoputri. Its officials have yet to decide whether to increase limited ties with Jakarta's armed forces, according to a senior US State Department official.

Irwin Arieff, United Nations – The United Nations said on Wednesday it would reduce its presence in East Timor after the tiny territory gained its independence, expected early in 2002, but had to stay on alert against militias in neighboring West Timor as long as Indonesia failed to disband them.