Jakarta – Indonesia's second-largest party in parliament said on Tuesday it would support Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri if she were to take over from the embattled incumbent and serve out his term.

Lindsay Jakarta – After months of indecision amid a damaging power struggle in Jakarta, Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri has finally set conditions for taking over from the besieged President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid said on Monday that the Indonesian Military (TNI) must remain vigilant and refuse to succumb to the tribulations faced as a result of the embargoes it is facing.

Sampit – The East Kotawaringin regency capital of Sampit turned into a battlefield again on Monday afternoon as police clashed with hundreds of Dayak protesters who demanded total withdrawal of Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) troops from the area.

Jakarta – The trial of last year's bombing of the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) building, which claimed 10 lives, began on Monday at the South Jakarta District Court.

Ron Moreau – Soldiers dressed in combat fatigues and black hoods would normally inspire fear in an Acehnese village. But not these commandos. As nearly a dozen fighters approach the edges of a hamlet some 30 kilometers southwest of the town of Bireun, their hoods are revealed to be jilbab-the Muslim head scarves worn by women.

Jakarta – East Timorese refugees are dying from a rapidly spreading diarrhoea epidemic in fetid camps in Indonesian-ruled West Timor, a Catholic aid group said Monday.

Dili – Manuel Carrascalao, a veteran of East Timor's 24-year struggle for freedom, was elected to head the territory's transitional legislature following last month's surprise resignation of independence leader Xanana Gusmao.

He was named speaker of the National Council after rival candidate, Nobel Peace laureate Jose Ramos Horta, withdrew from the ballot.

Enrique Soriano – The bleak panorama that unfolds on the drive from Lhokseumawe, the main town in North Aceh, to Medan is punctuated only by the dozens of armed checkpoints manned by the Indonesian army and the police.

Banda Aceh – Land transportation from Banda Aceh capital of Aceh province to Meulaboh in West Aceh has been interrupted over the last three days as unknown parties placed felled trees along the roads of the province's south and west coastal areas.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid blasted the United States Monday for its embargo on weapons sales to Indonesia and said the military would procure arms elsewhere to deal with the multiple crises threatening the country's unity.

Kusrini, Yogyakarta – Steadfast and unyielding in the face of ordeals – these are the two qualities one can find in Mardiyem, a former jugun ianfu, or comfort woman, a euphemism for a sex slave during the Japanese occupation.

Jakarta – Three policemen and six locals were killed in a clash during a police sweep for weapons in Indonesian Borneo, national Police Chief Surojo Bimantoro told reporters on Saturday.

Jakarta - A human rights commission has formally accused ten police officials in Irian Jaya are suspected of involvement in human rights abuses that took place after the Abepura incident on December 6 last year.

Jakarta – Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said on Thursday data processing was an obstacle in investigating alleged corruption cases involving conglomerates.

"There are no legal obstacles, only problems in processing data because there is so much data spread across so many institutions," Marzuki said.

Surabaya – Pledges to defend President Abdurrahman Wahid to the death continued to pour in here on Thursday, with claims that over 20,000 people were ready to die for the President in a holy war.

Palembang, South Sumatra – The provinces of South Sumatra and neighboring Jambi are urging the Ministry of Forestry and Plantations to hand over reforestation funds amounting to more than Rp 15 trillion (some US$15 billion).

Robert Go, Jakarta – The Indonesian government will step up tax-collection efforts, including the targeting of foreigners now living in the country, to boost revenues and control a mounting budget deficit.

Jakarta – Violence marred an anti-Soeharto protest held by the City Forum (Forkot) group in Central Jakarta yesterday. Police had to disperse the protesters with tear gas. Four protesters were wounded after being beaten by the police.

Stephen Romei, New York – At the risk of exposing himself to political parody, Xanana Gusmao has a simple message for the international community: Read my lips, I will not run for the presidency of East Timor.

Jakarta – An 18-year-old migrant worker said on Thursday that she had been taken hostage by a labor export company for a month because she failed to pay the compensation demanded by the firm after she was sent home by her dissatisfied employer.

Reuters in United Nations – Xanana Gusmao, the popular East Timorese resistance leader, said overnight he would not be a candidate for president when the former Portuguese colony achieves independence next year.

Jakarta – At least four people have been killed in the latest violence in Aceh, a report said Thursday, a day after the latest peace initiative in the troubled Indonesian province collapsed.

The bodies of two civilians, both with gunshot wounds, were found in separate locations in Langsa, East Aceh, on Wednesday, the province's main daily, Serambi, reported.

Sydney – East Timorese independence leader Xanana Gusmao will inevitably become his country's first president, even though he says he does not want the job, Nobel laureate Jose Ramos Horta said.

Jakarta – The government must shoulder its share of the blame for any consequences of a military deployment in restive Aceh province, a general has said quoted Thursday.

Civil disturbances in East Timor, the forthcoming elections and the resignation of Xanana Gusmco as president of the National Council dominated discussions in the Security Council today as members heard a briefing by a top United Nations peacekeeping official.

Palu – Police fired warning shots Thursday as a stone-throwing Muslim mob outside a court house where three Christians were sentenced to death for inciting a massacre and other religious violence that killed hundreds.

New York – Asking the international community to try those involved in criminal actions in East Timor is not a priority to the East Timorese at the moment, East Timorese Resistance Council's (CNRT) former president, Xanana Gusmao, said here Tuesday night.

Vaudine England – The politicians presiding over Jakarta's latest political crisis, currency tumble and perhaps national disintegration are doing so from lavish homes and luxury cars. Many attend self-promoting seminars in designer batik and shoes, sign deals with gold-tipped pens, clock up VIP jaunts to Mecca, toying with excess food and mistresses all the time.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid yesterday cast doubt on Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri's ability to run Indonesia as he fought to hold on to power.

Jakarta – The third-largest faction in Indonesia's national assembly yesterday did an about-face and called on President Abdurrahman Wahid to consider resigning if this would help to solve the country's political stalemate.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – The Marine Corps is to investigate the death of one of its own in a shootout in central Jakarta which arose after East Javanese supporters of President Abdurrahman Wahid were involved in a dispute over payment of hotel bills.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Clerics supporting Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid will decide today whether it is justifiable under Islamic law to kill those who have been attacking his presidency and attempting to unseat him.

Dili – New violence broke out along East Timor's border with Indonesia when unidentified gunmen threw grenades and fired shots at UN peacekeepers and villages in five separate clashes, officials said Tuesday.

No peacekeepers were injured in Monday's incidents. However, an East Timorese woman was wounded when attackers fired at her house.

Jakarta – Indonesia's major creditors have agreed to roll over the country's debt repayment based on an agreement in the Paris Club of official creditors, a report said on Tuesday.

Finance Minister Prijadi Praptosuhardjo said that in addition to Japan, Australia, Canada and the United States have also agreed to reschedule Indonesian debts.

Jakarta – Indonesia has admitted failure in meeting forestry protection commitments to its key donor group, the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI), weeks before a CGI meeting in Jakarta, a report said Tuesday.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Aceh could split from Indonesia within a year if the Indonesian armed forces (TNI) does not step up operations to crush the rebel movement in the restive province, a top security official said yesterday.

Indonesia's Bank Restructuring Agency (Ibra) yesterday rejected a local newspaper report that key officials, including the agency's chief, planned to resign.

Jacqueline M. Koch in Banda Aceh and Lindsay Murdoch in Jakarta – Soldiers patrol villages, their high-powered weapons ready to fire. Tanks rumble along rutted roads. Entire villages suspected of supporting separatist rebels are razed, forcing thousands of men, women and children into crude refugee camps.

Jakarta – Indonesia's foreign minister Tuesday denied claims reported by a local newsmagazine that President Abdurrahman Wahid accepted a $4 million aid donation from Kuwait in exchange for abandoning plans to visit Iraq last year.

Jakarta – Attorneys for East Timorese militia leader Eurico Guterres Tuesday demanded that weapons charges against him be dropped on the grounds that he was an Indonesian patriot, not a criminal.

Lawyer Suhardi Somomoeljono said state prosecutors had failed to prove Guterres' guilt during the course of the three-month trial.

Nuruddin Lazuardi/HY, Jakarta – Around 300 student from various universities in South Jakarta, who call themselves the Southern Students Forum (FMS) are holding a demonstration at the fountain in the Hotel Indonesia Roundabout. They demand Golkar be disbanded.

Yeoh En Lai – Almost two years after the independence referendum in East Timor, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is bracing itself for another crisis.

Jakarta – Indonesia's finance minister on Monday warned the 2001 budget deficit could be wider than expected, hit by a weak rupiah, high interest rates and low oil prices.

Nuruddin Lazuardi/Heather, Jakarta – Around 600 Postal workers from PT Pos Indo (Posindo) staged a rally outside the Ministry of Communication and Telecommunications (Dephubtel) office on Jl Medan Merdeka Barat, central Jakarta on Monday. They demanding a rise in pay.

Dili – An Australian member of the UN peacekeeping force in East Timor fired on two suspected militiamen near the border with Indonesian West Timor, a force spokesman said Monday.

Budi Sugiharto, Surabaya – Around 200 People's Democratic Party (PRD) activists blockaded a house in Jl. Darmo Kali, Number 28 in Surabaya, East Java which is believed to be the new headquarters of Golkar in Jatim after the previous offices was burnt down by the masses.

Singapore – The United Nations' transitional government in East Timor is still struggling, leaving much to "sheer luck" despite 18 months in power, the head of the UN mission running the new nation said Monday.

Jakarta – Indonesia is the largest labor supplier contributing 50 per cent to foreign worker requirement in a number of countries, the association of labor suppliers said.

Association chairman Sysferi said a few years ago Indonesia supplied only 10 per cent of workers needed by Singapore, Hongkong, Malaysia and Middle East, but now Indonesia has become the market leader.

I Made Sentana, Jakarta – Indonesia's state-owned Pertamina (P.PTM) oil and gas company has raised fuel prices for industrial users to between 50% and 100% of international market prices, effective Sunday, in a bid to reduce government fuel subsidies.