Jakarta – Britain's Standard Chartered Bank Plc (StanChart) said on Tuesday it had no plans for massive job cuts as it rushed to assuage thousands of Bank Central Asia (BCA) employees protesting the sale of the bank to a foreign consortium, who they fear may streamline operations and cut jobs.

Kate Rope – On May 20, a new country will be born. At the helm of the finally free East Timor will most likely be Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao, the reluctant but ineluctable leader of this century's first new nation.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Mount Leuser National Park (TNGL) in North Sumatra province is facing further degradation, as illegal logging and occupation of land in this protected forest by Acehnese refugees has continued unchecked.

Dili – A candidate in East Timor's upcoming presidential election on Tuesday announced a concession which will allow his only rival, independence hero Xanana Gusmao, to stand in the poll.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in East Timor Sergio Vieira de Mello today briefed the Council of Ministers on the services currently provided by UNTAET to government and the community that will no longer be provided by the UN successor mission after independence on 20 May.

Following are some examples of affected services mentioned by the SRSG:

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak and Apriadi Gunawan, Jakarta/Medan – The parents of dozens of students killed in several incidents that took place in 1998 and 1999 gathered at the residence of former Armed Forces chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto on Monday to mount pressure on him to comply with a summons for an inquiry scheduled later in the day.

Dean Yates, Jakarta – Indonesia will begin trials on Thursday over violence that swept East Timor in 1999, putting Jakarta under international scrutiny and testing the president's willingness to hold the military accountable for rights abuses.

Jakarta – Indonesia on Thursday will begin trying suspects over human rights abuses in East Timor in 1999, when the territory voted to break from Jakarta's rule. Following are details on the suspects, the process and also trials taking place in East Timor that relate to the bloodshed:

Suspects:

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Students on a hunger strike in the province of East Nusa Tenggara threatened on Monday to encourage locals not to pay taxes if the province's budget was not revised to ensure that public interests were placed above all others.

Jakarta – In a show of force to oppose the sale of Bank Central Asia (BCA) to foreign investors, thousands of employees of the country's largest retail bank staged a mass protest in several major cities on Monday.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Employees of Bank Central Asia (BCA) staged protests nationwide against its impending sale to foreign bidders, signaling that whoever takes over could face a hostile reception from the staff.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – In a bitter power struggle, young Golkar hardliners are fighting a move by the more senior members to expel detained party chief Akbar Tandjung.

The Parliamentary Speaker, who was arrested last week, is seen as a liability by the senior leaders who are eager to cut off association with him to distance the party from the case against him.

[Corruption investigations into the speaker of Indonesia's parliament have taken a bizarre turn. House speaker Akbar Tanjung is under arrest over the diversion of 40 billion rupiah – or about 8 million Australian dollars – from a government agency.

Lela E. Madjiah – With full independence now a matter of two months away, East Timor must deal with various unanswered questions, one being its relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Although not an immediately pressing issue, it is worth pondering, given recent developments in the region, in particular with its closest neighbor, Indonesia.

Jakarta – An Indonesian legal team investigating the 1999 murder of a Dutch journalist in East Timor has ended a visit to the territory after making "significant inquiries", UN staff said Friday.

Dean Yates, Jakarta – Indonesia's former ruling Golkar party said it would not withdraw its ministers from the coalition government despite the detention of its chief over a graft scandal, taking political heat off the president.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – The sudden return of 32.5 billion rupiah (S$5.8 million) in missing funds by an associate of detained parliamentary Speaker Akbar Tandjung is being seen here as an attempt to help the powerful politician escape prosecution.

Jakarta – Nearly 39,000 weapons have been surrendered following a peace agreement in December between warring Christian and Muslim residents in Indonesia's region of Poso, a police spokesman said Monday.

The situation in Poso has greatly improved since Muslim and Christian leaders signed the peace pact on December 20, Adjunct Senior Commissioner Agus Sugianto said.

Octavianus Pinontoan, Ambon – Peace remains elusive in Maluku province as a number of militant groups continue to oppose the Malino peace accord, which was mediated by the government last month to end the three-year-old sectarian conflict.

Catharine Munro, Jakarta – Indonesia's military said it has provided legal assistance to militia leaders accused of human rights abuses in East Timor in 1999 ahead of the start of human rights trials in Jakarta this week.

Joanna Jolly, Dili – The United Nations is optimistic that a dispute threatening the participation of East Timorese independence leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao in the nation's first elections will be solved soon, a spokesman said Sunday.

Dili – East Timor's reluctant presidential favourite, Xanana Gusmao, threatened Saturday to withdraw from next month's elections over an electoral technicality.

Gusmao, the independence hero considered a sure winner of the territory's first presidential polls on April 14, is angry over United Nations electoral authority requirements that candidates use a logo.

Jill Jolliffe – From the other side of the cyclone wire fence, a man with a large scorpion tattooed on his face peers into East Timor.

Jakarta – The youngest son of former Indonesian president Suharto was formally charged yesterday with ordering the murder of a judge, a crime punishable by death.

Don Greenlees, Jakarta – Australia is playing down differences with Indonesia over terrorism and human rights as it moves cautiously to rebuild a once-intimate defence relationship shattered during the East Timor crisis in 1999.

Jakarta – Fire has ravaged 11,569 hectares of plantations and commercial forests in Riau province over the past month, a local environment expert said in the provincial capital of Pekanbaru on Thursday.

Indonesian prosecutors said they would detain Indonesia's parliament speaker Akbar Tanjung after questioning him for seven hours at the attorney-general's office about graft allegations.

But plans to incarcerate the top politician hit a snag when he refused to sign documents relating to his own arrest, as required by Indonesian law.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – The Australian Government yesterday announced its first specific moves to rebuild ties with Indonesia's military since 1999's East Timor crisis. The moves include co-operation on fighting terrorism and talks on renewing joint exercises.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Residents of Jakarta have been feeling increasingly insecure these days, with the specter of crime seemingly hanging over the entire city. This insecurity has also crept into the city's schools, where students are victimized daily by their classmates.

Richel Langit, Jakarta – Barring the unexpected, Indonesia's long-awaited human-rights trials will kick off next Thursday, with military and police personnel as well as civilian authorities responsible for the bloody violence in East Timor in 1999 taking the defendant's chair.

Dili – East Timor, where women hold 24 per cent of Constituent Assembly seats, joined the world today in celebration of International Women's Day during a ceremony held in Dili attended by UN Transitional Administrator Sergio Vieira de Mello, NGO representatives and diplomats.

Fairus Husaini, Dili – The UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration have assisted more than 190,000 East Timorese refugees make voluntary returns home from West Timor since October 1999.

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) found last year 1,076 cases of irregularities in the state budget, which potentially caused a total of Rp 2.8 trillion (around US$280 million) in losses to the country.

A court rejected a request by prosecutors to resume the corruption trial of former Indonesian dictator Suharto, saying he is still too ill.

The head of the South Jakarta district court, Lalu Mariyun, told reporters Friday that he had returned files on Suharto, 80, to the prosecutors' office.

Jakarta – The military police team set up to probe the death of Papua Presidium Council leader Theys Hiyo Eluay has suspended its investigation, as there have been no further developments made, an officer said on Thursday.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The Indonesian government yesterday threw out a controversial plan to allow some of its biggest debtors more time to repay money, and instead demanded full settlement, within four months, of the nearly US$10 billion (S$18.3 billion) that is still outstanding.

Joanne Collins, Jakarta – Sportswear giants Nike Inc and Adidas-Salomon have taken steps to shed their sweatshop image in Indonesia but employees are still overworked and underpaid, a leading aid agency said.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – The newly installed public face of the Indonesian armed forces, Major-General Sjafrie Sjamsuddin, took office this week amid continuing debate about his appointment.

An Indonesian court has jailed a militiaman for six years for the brutal murder of a New Zealand peacekeeping soldier in East Timor in 2000.

Jacobus Bere was found guilty of murdering Private Leonard William Manning, 24, near Suai in East Timor on July 24, 2000.

Jakarta – Indonesia's President Megawati Sukarnoputri shocked employees at the palace complex in central Jakarta with a snap inspection for cleanliness, a report said Thursday.

Jakarta – Striking workers at state-owned aircraft industry PT Dirgantara Indonesia are likely to return to work on Thursday following the government's assurance that the company's management would be reshuffled.

Kurniawan Hari and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The Golkar Party is employing a strategy of intimidation and threats to block a plan on Thursday to establish an inquiry into a Rp 40 billion (US$4 million) corruption scandal, popularly known as Bulogate II, that implicates its chairman Akbar Tandjung.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – After several delays, the Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN) announced on Wednesday the names of legislators who had not submitted a list of their assets.

Jakarta – Hundreds of supporters of Indonesia's former ruling party Golkar staged a show of strength outside parliament Thursday as legislators debated whether to call a special inquiry into corruption charges against Golkar leader Akbar Tanjung.

Banda Aceh – Seven separatist rebels and three soldiers have been killed in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province, the military said Thursday.

John McBeth/Jakarta and Murray Hiebert/Washington – Two-and-a-half years after Indonesian troops and local militias went on the rampage against pro-independence voters in East Timor, it is not clear whether Jakarta's top military brass is ready to accept responsibility for the bloodshed.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Dozens of members of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) rallied in front of City Hall on Wednesday to demand that Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso not be elected for a second term.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – A tussle has broken out between the presidential palace and the Parliament in Jakarta over the control of foreign policy, and the focus of their dispute is, strangely – East Timor.

New York – Athletic shoe giant Nike Inc. on Thursday welcomed an aid agency report alleging its workers in Indonesia are overworked and underpaid, but said it had already made improvements to shed its sweatshop image.

Jakarta – Australia and Indonesia are considering resuming joint military exercises, which Jakarta suspended in 1999 over Canberra's role in East Timor, as part of efforts to counter terrorism, visiting Defence Minister Robert Hill said Thursday.