Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Taufik Kiemas, the wealthy businessman husband of Megawati Sukarnoputri, sent a recent message to Abdurrahman Wahid at the presidential palace in Jakarta: "What would it take for you to resign?" Despite Mr Wahid's political isolation amid a bitter power struggle with MPs, he ignored the message, which some near him interpreted as the offer of a bribe.

Mark Dodd, Dili – In a breakthrough for relations between East Timor and its former ruler, Jakarta has finally agreed to settle the issue of pension payments to East Timorese who worked for the Indonesian government during its 24-year occupation.

Jakarta – An Indonesian military leader yesterday in Kupang, West Nusa Tenggara (NTT), expressed doubt that 95% of the East Timorese refugees in East Nusa Tenggara would opt to stay.

Vaudine England – Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri may be readying herself to assume the presidency, but she faces daunting obstacles before she can be sure of taking power.

Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) on Thursday submitted to the Attorney General's Office the names of 25 Irian Jaya police officers who were allegedly responsible for physically abusing and torturing civilians following a mob attack on a police station last year

Vaudine England – Days before a threatened sweep by radical Islamic groups against book stores alleged to be selling communist books, support for freedom of expression is gaining momentum in Indonesia.

Jakarta – Top Indonesian Military (TNI) brass have again warned that they would reject any top level reshuffle in the military command if it was geared toward particular political purposes, such as forming political alliances.

Jakarta – Nearly 1,000 protesters yesterday staged a demonstration at the house of Ginandjar Kartasasmita a former minister declared a suspect in a corruption case who was released from the Attorney Generals Office (AGO) after the court ruled that the detention was illegal.

Jakarta – Indonesia needs around US$28.45 billion in new investment over the next 10 years to stave off a power crisis which has begun to hit some parts of the country.

Based on the national electricity general plan, the country's power sector is already at a critical stage, said mines and energy director-general for electricity, Mr Luluk Sumiarso.

The withdrawal of Indonesian rupiahs from Timor Lorosae was a good step because it would prevent confusion in currency usage in the country. But UNTAET and the government of Indonesia must immediately convert rupiahs circulating in the country to US dollars.

Virginia Marsh and Tom Mccawley – Australia and East Timor are edging towards agreement on a critical new treaty to govern the Timor Gap, paving the way for development of the substantial gas deposits in the resource-rich waters that divide the two neighbours.

Jakarta – Under the threat of massive labor rallies, Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Al-Hilal Hamdi decided on Wednesday to delay for 14-days the implementation of a ministerial decree annulling severance pay and service fees to retired or dismissed workers.

Banda Aceh – Clashes on Tuesday between Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist rebels and security forces in the restive province of Aceh have left two civilians dead and 30 houses and shops damaged by fire, police and residents said on Wednesday.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Frustrated with the lack of recovery and stability at home, many Indonesian businessmen are scouting for opportunities and investing abroad just when the country needs all the capital it can get. They described other countries such as Thailand, Vietnam or Malaysia as better for investments.

Nuriddin Lazuardi/HD, Jakarta – A political observer Kusnanto Anggoro from Central Strategy for International Studies (CSIS) believes that several political parties which attended the meeting within the House's factions in Indonesia Hotel has an interest to take back the military power into the politcal arena.

Max Lane – While efforts by the state to mount a lawsuit against Indonesia's former dictator collapsed ignominiously last year, the PRD has succeeded in taking Suharto and 12 other generals to court for the unlawful arrest of its members in 1996. This is the only lawsuit now before a court in Indonesia which is exposing the human rights abuses of Suharto and his generals.

Robert Go, Batam – Foreign investors yesterday signalled to the Indonesian government that they wanted a more concrete reform process in place before they could become confident about increasing investments in the country.

Mark Davis – In September 1999, the Australian Army stepped into the carnage of East Timor as the lead contributor in the international force INTERFET. Supposedly, they were there to contain the militias and the fearsome militias proved remarkably easy to contain, Displaying none of their previous bravery, bravado or organisational skills.

The Concelho Nacional da Recistencia Timorense/Congresso Nasional (CNRT/CN) will be dissolved in early June 2001. Ex-members of CNRT will then form the Resistance Veterans Foundation. An extra-ordinary conference will be held between 28-29 May to pave the way for the CNRT dissolution.

Seth Mydans, Jakarta – A strange red banner hangs over the gate of one of the middle-class villas on a quiet street in central Jakarta: "Am I really a criminal for defending the red and white? – E. Guterres." Inside, near a red-and-white Indonesian flag, a group of workmen is building a waterfall and fishpond.

Jonathan Thatcher, Balibo – Maria Maia, her mouth stained scarlet from the juice of the betel nuts she chews, bursts out laughing as she fingers her just-printed photograph on the registration form.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Last week's assassination of Aceh's former vice-governor illustrates just how dangerous taking a neutral stance is in Aceh these days.

Washington – The United States is carefully watching President Abdurrahman Wahid's battle against impeachment in "troubled" Indonesia, Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday.

He also told a Senate committee that the US had cautioned Jakarta against infringing on human rights when its security forces tackled separatism.

London – A respected think-tank says Indonesian Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri will replace President Abdurrahman Wahid by legal means this year but will be little more successful in stabilising the sprawling country.

Jakarta – At least 147 military personnel from Wirabuana Military Command in Sulawesi have been arrested by the local military police when they were trying to flee from their post in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi province.

Catharine Munro, Jakarta – Human rights, not military ties, would be the key to a new relationship with Indonesia under a Labor government, opposition foreign affairs spokesman Laurie Brereton said today.

Jakarta – Indonesian police have ransacked a Jakarta office of an Acehnese group linked to a fatal explosion here as the military picked up an Acehnese man suspected of manufacturing weapons for a rebel movement.

Jakarta – About 100 demonstrators from the Freedom of Speech and Thought Alliance (AKBB) held a rally at Police Headquarters today. The action was held to fight the threat of the Anti Communist Alliance (AAK), which has been burning 'communist' books.

Agence France Presse in Jayapura – The subversion trials of five high-profile independence leaders from the remote Indonesian province of Irian Jaya opened yesterday amid tight security.

Vaudine England – With two weeks left before Parliament decides on possible impeachment moves against President Abdurrahman Wahid, the decibel level of the politicking in Jakarta is increasing.

Jakarta – A rally by students demanding the dissolution of the former ruling Golkar Party turned violent on Monday when demonstrators clashed with police in front of the Ministry of Defense, leaving two students injured and three others missing.

Participants at a weekend discussion seminar, organized by the human rights NGO Yayasan Hak, expressed their frustration at UNTAET. Many said they did not understand the Transitional Administration's work-plan and added the people were confused about the 30 August election and the civic education program.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Iced coconut juice seller Budiman, 43, set down his 30-kg gear wearily and fanned himself with a folded tabloid newspaper that occasionally also serves as his sun-shield.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Three years after the shooting of four student protesters from the elite Trisakti University which sparked days of rioting and led to the downfall of ex-President Suharto, the course of Indonesian reform history remains unchanged.

Jakarta – Hundreds of Indonesian students rallied in the streets of the capital on Saturday to mark the third anniversary of the slaying of four students that triggered rioting which helped topple former strongman Suharto.

Jakarta – The management of Shangri-La Hotel has accepted the decision of the government-sanctioned Central Committee for the Settlement of Labor Disputes which granted its request to lay off 248 of the hotel's striking employees.

The number added to the 303 employees who finally resigned last month after staging a strike over improvement in welfare in December last year.

Chris McCall, Dili – Fed up with Indonesia's feeble attempts at administering justice to accused war criminals, the families of East Timor's dead are getting together to do it their way.

Mark Dodd, Dili – The plight of a 15-year-old East Timorese girl kept as a sex slave for more than 18 months in a militia-controlled refugee camp in Indonesian West Timor has highlighted the vulnerability of refugee children separated from their parents during political violence in 1999, the United Nations said at the weekend.

Vaudine England – Theys Eluay is a loud man, in both his wardrobe and choice of political rhetoric. As a self-styled leader of the independence movement among Papuans in Irian Jaya, his career takes a new turn with his trial on subversion charges today.

Banda Aceh – Mobile Brigade Police (Brimob) personnel have been combing villages in Pidie regency, Aceh, over the past two days, in what is suspected to be a mission to track down the Free Aceh Movement's (GAM) war commander, Tengku Abdullah Syafe'i.

Scott Burchill – Given advance notice that the street bully is about to beat up your neighbour, three courses of action are open to you. The first is to try to dissuade the bully from his violent intent. The second is to warn your neighbour so that he can make preparations to defend himself or flee. The third is to do nothing, sit back and watch the attack.

The leader of the Catholic Church in Dili, Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo urged academics at the National University of Timor Lorosae to use the campus grounds solely for the pursuit of higher edcuation and not for political activities.

"Use the university campus to increase the knowledge of students so that they become quality intellectuals," said Bishop Belo.

Jakarta – A number of independent labor unions are planning a series of strikes to force the government to revoke an amendment of a ministerial decree on severance and service payments.

Jakarta – The World Bank has expressed its full support of the government's fiscal adjustment package, which contains various measures to prevent the 2001 state budget deficit from growing out of control.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Separatist rebels in Aceh declared a state of emergency yesterday, blaming the military offensive for the rising civilian death toll in the province.

Agencies in Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid raised the stakes in Indonesia's political crisis yesterday, saying he would not hand further powers to his popular deputy and ruling out a reply to a second parliamentary censure for alleged corruption.

Jakarta – A majority of Indonesians are fed up with the ongoing political bickering and protracted economic crisis, and long for the stability of the Suharto era, a survey showed.

Jakarta – Separatist rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province yesterday denied any involvement in a bomb blast in Jakarta that killed two people.

Representatives instead accused the Indonesian military of planting the device at a hostel for Acehnese students to discredit the independence movement and justify a crackdown in the province.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Publishers Association (IKAPI) condemned on Friday a planned sweep and burning of "leftist" books and rejected any ban against them.

Mark Dodd, Dili – United Nations economic planners have launched a campaign to ensure the US dollar is the sole legal tender in East Timor. To back it up, heavy fines will be imposed to deter the unlicensed importation of all other foreign currencies, including the Australian dollar.