Max Lane – Despite protests by human rights groups and large sections of the legal profession, Indonesia's police are continuing their prosecution of more than 30 people for their political activities.

Maria Voukelatos – Ngadinah binti Abu Mawardi made Indonesian history on August 30 when she became one of the first workers to defend herself in a court of law and win.

Jakarta – Activists intensified their demands on Tuesday for the Public Servant's Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN) to investigate the origin of retired and serving state officials suspect wealth.

Vaudine England – The barefoot children were scrambling up the bougainvillea bushes to gather fresh clusters of the flowers – the only bright spot in the dry, dusty and still-devastated landscape of the East Timorese town of Memo.

Jill Hickson – "Where are our missing children? We have nothing – no land, no houses, nothing to do, no materials to work with to make an income. The women here are dying from childbirth because they have no money for doctors, there is little food and in some camps little water.

Jon Land – Fretilin, the party which declared East Timor independent in 1975 and which was the largest single force in the long fight against occupation, has won 57% of the vote in the country's first elections since the end of Indonesian rule – but the result is well short of the 85-90% the party had been predicting.

Jana DK, Dili – In its first major mobilisation since the beginning of East Timor's election campaign, on August 25 some 5000 Timorese Socialist Party members and supporters gathered at Dili's Independence Field for one of the most energetic, enthusiastic and political rallies the country has yet seen.

Jakarta – The central government's pledge to fight the practice of nepotism seems to be ineffective as some officials of the city administration and the City Council have reportedly placed their children and close relatives in some city-owned companies.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Two years ago, House of Representatives deputy speaker Muhaimin Iskandar could hardly pay for the room he was renting, his old friends say.

Yemris Fointuna, Dili – The United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) is planning to forge economic cooperation between the former Portuguese colony and Indonesia's province of West Timor, the other half of the island of Timor. This is one of the programs to be tackled by a development commission to be set up here this month.

Jakarta – The South Jakarta District Court rejected on Monday the lawsuit filed by eight middle-ranking police officers against National Police chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro.

Jakarta – Rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province have released five Muslim leaders who police say were abducted after meeting President Megawati Sukarnoputri when she visited the province at the weekend.

Jakarta – The country's two largest parties reiterated their intention to reject inclusion of the Jakarta Charter in Article 29 of the 1945 Constitution, viewing the United Development Party (PPP)'s effort to institute the doctrine for Islamic Syariah law merely an expression of responsibility to its constituents.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Pressure is building on Indonesia to return 124 East Timorese children taken from their parents in West Timor refugee camps following East Timor's 1999 independence vote.

Jakarta – Political analysts have hailed the increase in the defense budget in the 2002 draft state budget amid rising speculation that the 18 percent hike was to gain support from the Indonesian Military (TNI) in maintaining stability.

Associated Press in Banda Aceh – A day after President Megawati Sukarnoputri led a peace mission to troubled Aceh province, rebels vowed to maintain their secessionist war and activists described the visit as a failure.

"Our struggle will continue," rebel spokesman Teungku Agam Kateraja said. "Soldiers on patrol in rebel areas will be attacked."

Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri publicly asked on Saturday for forgiveness from all Acehnese for past mistakes of the government. The plea was made by the President before thousands of Acehnese people in a gathering on the grounds of the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province.

Tomi Soetjipto, Banda Aceh – Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri made an emotional apology to the people of rebellious Aceh on Saturday over their suffering under past governments before being jeered by scores of students.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Each week, as a Toyota landcruiser roams the streets of Jakarta consuming half a tank or 50 litres of petrol, the Indonesian government is subsiding its relatively wealthy owner about 260,000 rupiah per week (S$50). This is about 60 per cent of a factory worker's salary.

Susan Long, Jakarta - You know surrealism is a way of life here when your mobile phone begins trilling as you peer into the smoky cauldron of the active volcano Bromo in East Java. Nothing but lava sand covers the vast emptiness between mountain peaks, but Telkomsel's reception here is even better than in the heart of urban Jakarta.

Train crashes, crumbling schools, power blackouts and children begging on crowded intersections – these are legacies of Indonesia's budget crunch in recent years. The new budget, with its stated emphasis on social welfare and regional development, aims to address some of the inequities.

Tomi Soetjipto, Banda Aceh – Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri flew into rebellious Aceh on Saturday on a fleeting trip aimed at bringing peace to this war-torn province.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – There is a palpable mood of relief in East Timor this week after the election in which the country voted overwhelmingly in favor of the leftist nationalist party Fretilin.

The tension in the air has dissipated after the vote went ahead in an orderly manner nationwide. It is as though the population has passed a strenuous test, as indeed it has.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Combatants in Aceh's separatist war like to use visits by Jakarta dignitaries to make brutal political points – and President Megawati Sukarnoputri's trip to the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, today is no exception.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Australia has rejected an Indonesian plea to fast-track people assessed to be genuine refugees from Indonesia, despite pressuring the Government in Jakarta to do more to stop asylum seekers reaching Australia.

Mark Dodd, Dili – What's in a word? Quite a bit if you are considering running for president of East Timor.

Ambiguous comments from Mr Mari Alkatiri, secretary-general of the election-winning Fretilin party, have cast doubt on the independence leader Mr Xanana Gusmao's offer to stand.

Jakarta – Legislators questioned on Friday President Megawati Soekarnoputri's policy for increasing the 2002 defense budget by 18 percent.

Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla said on Friday that the central government would assist certain regional administrations that were unable to pay teachers' salary back pay.

Banda Aceh – State Syiah Kuala University rector Dayan Dawood, 54, was shot dead by unidentified people on his way home from campus here on Thursday, just two days ahead of President Megawati Soekarnoputri's visit to the restive province.

Joanne Collins, Jakarta – Indonesia's new government handed down its 2002 budget on Friday, walking a tightrope between fiscal prudence and stimulating growth in a bid to keep the debt-weary economy afloat.

Jakarta – A human rights worker was Friday found shot dead and eight alleged rebels were reported killed in Indonesia's troubled province of Aceh on the eve of a visit by President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Police and troops were deployed on every corner of the capital Banda Aceh and residents deserted the streets towards dusk in fear of violence, witnesses said.

Jakarta – Thousands of public-school teachers in several regions continued their strikes on Thursday as their demands for six-months' back pay got the cold shoulder from regional administrators.

In the East Nusa Tenggara town of Atambua, a state senior high school decided to close on Friday and Saturday after its teachers went on strike on Thursday.

Jakarta – Most factions in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) turned down on Thursday the proposal advanced by NGOs for the establishment of an independent constitutional commission. The proposal was rejected based on the grounds that it would conflict with the MPR's power to amend the Constitution.

Mark Dodd, Dili – Fretilin, the party that led East Timor's 24-year struggle for independence from Indonesia, has won the fledgling nation's first democratic election. But it fell short of the two-thirds majority in the new Constituent Assembly needed to draft unilaterally the country's Constitution, and may be forced into a coalition.

Jakarta – High expectations by the public of a thoroughgoing eradication of corruption have turned into strong criticism of the Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN), due to its poor performance.

• Total Votes Cast: 384,248
• Total Valid Votes: 363,501
• Invalid Votes: 20,747

National Ballot

Jakarta - The National Police are reviving investigation of several defamation cases against former president Abdurrahman Wahid.

"We have studied all the cases and we think that the public are entitled to legal certainty with regard to the complaints they made to us," spokesman Didi Widayadi told reporters last week.

Jakarta – National Police chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro finally released on Thursday afternoon the eight middle-ranking officers who had allegedly breached police discipline, a lawyer representing the officers said.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia is already hard-pressed to meet asset-sale targets of over 33.5 trillion rupiah (S$6.7 billion) this year, but President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Budget proposals, due to be announced today, will set an even higher goal of nearly 42 trillion rupiah for 2002.

Jakarta – An avalanche of red tape caused by Indonesia's attempts to devolve power to the local authorities has left business leaders fuming. According to the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), regional administrations have issued 1,006 new regulations since being handed extended powers by a decentralisation law that took effect on January 1.

Despite its decision to contest the election process, East Timor's UDT party congratulated Thursday the Fretilin party for its victory in last week's voting for the 88-member Constituent Assembly.

Dili – The Chief Electoral Officer of the East Timor's Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), Carlos Valenzuela, today presented the full and final results of the 30 August Constituent Assembly elections.

Results of last week's elections in East Timor indicate that the territory's new 88-seat Constituent Assembly will have a total of 24 women members.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – With the police and military leaders repeatedly labelling him an agent of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), Mr Nasir Djamil knows it is no longer safe to stay in his hometown.

Lindsay Murdoch – The smugglers' plan went like clockwork. Paid up asylum seekers were flown in small groups from Pakistan to Jakarta, transiting in Bangkok, Singapore or Kuala Lumpur.

Jakarta – The police physically abused two student activists arrested during a demonstration protesting the recent fuel price hike, their lawyer told a court here on Wednesday.

Heppy Sebayang, the lawyer, said during the trial of the two students that several police officers had violated the students' human rights during their arrest, questioning and detention.

Jakarta – Millions of Indonesia's poorest are among the worst hit by corruption since they feel powerless to stand up to greedy local officials and policemen, according to a high-level study.

Jakarta – There is increasing concern that Saudi billionaire Osama bin Laden and his terrorist organisation are looking to Indonesia as a potential springboard for their operations.

Jonathan Thatcher, Jakarta – A senior Indonesian official said the government wanted to change controversial laws giving greater autonomy to its provinces, warning that hurried legislation which took effect in January threatened the country's unity.

For Fretilin [East Timor Revolutionary Front] – the party most likely to win the recent Timor Lorosae (TL) elections – there are three main things which need to be maintained [from 1975] should the new country finally become a reality.