Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) renewed its commitment on Thursday to support the democratization process in Indonesia, especially ahead of the 2004 elections.

Jakarta/Wamena – At least two of nine soldiers, charged with involvement in April's deadly raid on the Wamena military district arsenal in the troubled province of Papua, are threatened with the death penalty.

Jakarta – The military operation in Aceh to incapacitate Free Aceh Movement (GAM) forces will result in prolonged trauma in children. After they have become adults, their minds will be filled with sadness, revenge and they will tend towards violence.

Jakarta – An American reporter detained after hiding out with rebels in Aceh has been charged with immigration violations and is expected to go on trial next week, prosecutors said Friday.

William Nessen, who was working as a freelance reporter, was arrested June 24 when he turned himself in to the Indonesian military in northern Aceh.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Lhokseumawe – The number of refugees in war-torn Aceh keeps changing, but their misery remains due to poor sanitation at refugee camps.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – The Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), an influential business lobby, and the country's labor unions have agreed to set up a bipartite secretariat that would play a key role in settling disputes between businesses and workers, a move which some said reflected growing disappointment over the government's poor handling of labor conflicts.

Jakarta – Security personnel shot dead at least 25 rebels in two of the bloodiest days of the military offensive against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the Indonesian Military (TNI) said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the military has deployed its medical personnel to provide health aid for Acehnese people taking refuge in many districts in the province.

Roger Mitton, Washington – There are tremors of apprehension in the United States about a serious downturn in its relationship with Indonesia.

Dean Yates, Jakarta – FBI agents have taken evidence from last year's killing of two American schoolteachers in Indonesia's rebellious Papua province back to the United States, just as US lawmakers turn up the heat over the murders.

A victim of Indonesia's anti-communist purge of the 1960s has finally cleared her name after almost three decades.

The Jakarta Post has reported Nani Nurani, who was jailed without trial between 1968 and 1976 because she once danced at a communist party social function, has won the right to a permanent identification card at the age of 62.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Nine political parties have passed the screening by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, paving the way for their participation in the general elections in 2004, when the country will hold its first ever direct presidential election.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Lawyers have raised concern over the government's failure to provide defense lawyers for members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) who are facing trial, saying the government is bound by law to make sure that all defendants are assisted by defense lawyers regardless of their crime.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – The closure of Indonesia's state-owned aircraft manufacturer PT Digantara Indonesia (DTI), which has laid off all of its workers in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy, appears to put in mortal danger a startling and unlikely dream: to make a Third World tropical nation into a technological powerhouse.

Marwaan Macan-Markar, Bangkok – Ivete Oliveira refuses to let the past be buried, especially the past of women who were sexually abused by Indonesian soldiers during East Timor's struggle for independence.

Robert Go, Jakarta – At the beginning of his career, an Indonesian teacher can expect a salary of just S$170 per month – a reflection of the low priority given to education.

Depending on where he works, he may have to single-handedly deal with overcrowded classrooms housing between 40 and 50 students each.

The upper and lower houses of the United States Congress clearly differ over whether to restore training for Indonesian military officers.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's chief security minister yesterday warned that the country, and South-east Asia in general, faced more terror attacks not only from the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) but also Aceh's guerilla groups.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The government appealed to the public to stay calm but vigilant in the face of renewed terror attacks targeting Indonesia, while ordering security to be tightened at key installations across the country.

Indonesian troops waging war on separatist rebels in Aceh province have shot dead at least 15 guerrillas in one of the bloodiest days of their two-month offensive, the military said.

Spokesman Ahmad Yani Basuki said three members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) were killed in raids and 12 more in six firefights on Wednesday but no soldiers were hurt.

Jakarta/Lhokseumawe – Responding to widespread allegations of rights abuses in Aceh, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) is planning to set up posts in Bireuen and Lhokseumawe regencies to receive reports of rights abuses from local people.

Jakarta – Indonesia's former military chief Gen. Wiranto, who is accused of war crimes in East Timor, has been nominated by a small nationalist youth group as a candidate in the country's first direct presidential elections next year.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Hundreds of people staged a rally in the Papua capital of Jayapura on Tuesday to protest the annual progress report presented by Governor Jaap Salossa, citing alleged fraud and irregularities in the report.

Washington – The House voted Wednesday to deny military aid to Indonesia until that country fully investigates an ambush last year that killed two Americans.

Dili – An East Timorese court Wednesday sentenced two pro-Indonesian militia leaders to eight and 12 years in prison for murdering five independence supporters during the country's bloody break from Jakarta rule in 1999.

James Eyers – East Timor's Foreign Affairs Minister, Jose Ramos-Horta, has reassured investors that Timor is happy with the treaty on sharing the Timor Sea's oil wealth with Australia, despite claims by a cabinet colleague last month that it was unfair.

Liz Minchin – Australia and the United States should stop warning travellers that East Timor is a possible terrorist target because they are harming the country's fledgling economy, East Timorese Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Ramos-Horta said yesterday.

Jim Lobe, Washington – Reports that the Bush administration will release funds train Indonesian military officers – despite a recent vote by a key Senate committee that calls for training to be suspended until the army's responsibility for the killing of two US teachers is clarified – have drawn strong expressions of concern by human rights groups here.

The General Election Commission (KPU) has determined the total number of seats in the People's Regional Council (DPRD) at the provincial as well as regency level, giving legislative candidates a clear picture of how to act in the election next April.

Rony Panengah, Jakarta – If there are no obstacles, another political party will soon be born. What's interesting is that this political party represents opposition forces which to date have chosen to take there struggle into the streets.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The central government moved closer to creating a West Irian Jaya province in Papua on Monday, despite lingering controversies over the plan to split the troubled region into three – Papua, West Irian Jaya and Central Irian Jaya.

Speaking at a ground breaking ceremony for the new Batam intelligence academy on 9 July, she said "in today's global world, the use of intelligence expertise can not be limited solely to the military, police and other government organizations, but is also needed for civilian purposes."

Brad Collis – When Sipriano Martins was in high school he had a code name to hide his identity. It was Saruntu, which means "fight like a crazy man". That was back in the mid-1990s when Sipriano was risking his life as a courier for East Timor's Falintil guerillas fighting to free the country from Indonesian occupation.

In Jakarta Monday July 14 a coalition of environmental groups and NGOs formed to oppose mining in Indonesia's protected forest areas issued a press statement claiming widespread support from regional government administrations and communities throughout Indonesia.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Papuans are growing increasingly concerned that the Indonesian military – boosted by its apparent success against rebels in Aceh – will crack down on Papua's independence movement.

Suwarjono, Jakarta – As many as 16 opposition groups plan to form a new party to participate in the 2004 general elections. Among them are the People's Democratic Party (PRD) and the Indonesian Front for Labour Struggle (FNPBI).

Antony Barnett – The British Government faces fresh embarrassment over its controversial policy of selling arms to Indonesia as the first evidence emerged of the Indonesian military using UK-made tanks to crush a rebellion in its Aceh province.

Jill Jolliffe, Fatumaca – On a sentimental journey to an unusual former guerilla support base, East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao has paid homage to two priests who dedicated their lives to his country's freedom.

A'an Suryana and Nani Farida, Banda Aceh/Lhokseumawe – Entering the eighth week of the integrated operation to restore security and order in Aceh, the military offensive has been proceeding far ahead of the humanitarian operation, with eight more alleged rebels killed but more than 42,000 people languishing in worrying conditions in refuge camps in the resource-rich province.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Increasing social pressure in Jakarta is believed to be the main factor in people committing suicide, experts say, in response to a tripling in the number of suicide cases reported by the police.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Two constitutional law experts have sharply criticized the newly endorsed bill on the composition of legislative bodies that gives more power to the House of Representatives and will make changes to the political system.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – These days, oil baron Arifin Panigoro rarely attends the central executive board meetings of the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P).

He and other PDI-P stalwarts prefer to stay on the sidelines and watch their party wiggle through an enormous tangle of Mission Impossibles – brought on, ironically, by its chairman Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Jim Lobe, Washington – Two of the world's largest human-rights organizations say the government of Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri is filling the country's jails once again with political prisoners, only five years after all prisoners of conscience were released with the ouster of former president Suharto.

Richard Lloyd Parry – When she first came to world attention seven years ago, Megawati Sukarnoputri was hailed as a heroine. Stubborn, matronly and majestic, the leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party won admirers across the world for her peaceful struggle against the dictatorship of President Suharto.

Erik W. and La Remy, Palu – Peace in the Central Sulawesi town of Poso, once wracked by bloody sectarian fighting, was put to the test on Friday after a homemade bomb exploded in a food stall, injuring four people.

The European Union will question the Indonesian government about a "disturbing" lack of access to war-torn Aceh province after one of its aid workers was detained there overnight, a diplomat said.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The central government is accused of a lack of resolve in enforcing the special autonomy law for the troubled province of Papua, which was implemented two years ago to appease separatist groups.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The House of Representatives cleared on Wednesday the last hurdle to next year's elections by endorsing a bill on the status and composition of legislative bodies.

With the passage of the bill, the country has all four of the political laws necessary to organize legislative and presidential elections next year.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The House of Representatives closed its session on Wednesday with the same old problem – a massive backlog of outstanding bills.

Endy M. Bayuni, Jakarta – Corruption in the courts, rather than within political parties or the police, is the problem that needs the most immediate attention in Indonesia, according to a new opinion survey.

Jakarta – The Central Jakarta District court sentenced Hidayat Lukman, alias Teddy Uban, to five months in jail plus 10 months probation for assaulting Tempo weekly news magazine journalist Ahmad Taufik.