More than 3,200 East Timorese refugees returned home from Indonesia during October, the UN High Commission for Refugees said Monday in Dili, underlining it was the biggest one-month influx since March of last year.

UNHCR official Iain Hall told Lusa there were signs the repatriation process could increase significantly by year4s end.

Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta – Indonesian police on Monday forcibly evicted 100 Middle Eastern asylum seekers, some of them screaming hysterically, who had been holed up at the UN refugee agency's office in Jakarta since late last week.

Jakarta – Former minister of defense/Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto declared on Sunday the establishment of the Garda Muda Merah Putih (Red-and-White Youth Defenders), a youth group promoting moral movement.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government has decided to halt humanitarian assitance to East Timorese refugees in West Timor at the end of the year, a senior minister said in remarks published Sunday.

Presenter: The commemoration of East Timor's newly-gained independence has been scheduled for 20 May [2002], however, the chief minister of the provisional government, Mari Alkatiri, said the UN is still needed in the territory. In an interview with RDP [state radio], Mari Alkatiri reiterated that he is not predicting general elections to take place in the immediate future.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – The government's city clean-up programme has put thousands of street vendors, beggars, becak drivers and traffic wardens out of work, and left many of them homeless.

Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta – The government will write a new book on Indonesian history in a response to the public's rising demand for the truth, an official said on Thursday.

Jakarta – The new US Ambassador to Indonesia said on Thursday that Washington fully understood the position which President Megawati Soekarnoputri had taken with regard to the US attacks on Afghanistan.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Police deny allegations they forced asylum seekers at gunpoint on to a boat that subsequently sank, drowning about 350 people – but they admit "rogue" officers may take bribes from people-smugglers.

Ibnu Mat Noor, Banda Aceh – At least four people were shot dead in separate villages in Aceh, three of whom were believed to be members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), military and police sources said here on Wednesday, despite GAM's insistence that they were civilians.

Jakarta – Indonesian police said on Thursday they were investigating a report that policemen pointed their guns at asylum seekers who wanted to get off an overcrowded boat that sank last week killing 350 people.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – National Assembly chairman Amien Rais has quietly begun lobbying for the coveted presidential seat in 2004, making regular tours of Indonesian provinces as part of his safari politics to broaden his grassroots appeal.

Jupriadi, Makassar – Muslim students in Makassar ignored explicit warnings from police, attacking and severely injuring two non-Muslims on Wednesday.

Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta – Teachers, long deploring small pay and being treated as "cash cows" by corrupt officials, are calling for a law that provides legal protection.

They say that although corruption between school administrators and government officials is very well-known, their activities have received inadequate attention from authorities.

Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta – Infant formula producers denied allegations on Wednesday that they had exploited breast-feeding experts to promote their products."Instead of taking advantage of these experts to promote our products, we fully support the campaign for exclusive breast-feeding," Cecep Fathoni, the secretary-general of the Association of Baby Food Producers (APMB), said.

Jakarta – House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung met on Tuesday night with Taufik Kiemas, president Megawati Soekarnoputri's husband, to seek support to block a move aimed at establishing a House special committee to investigate a graft case allegedly involving him.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – House Speaker Akbar Tandjung said on Wednesday that protests and threats against Westerners had prompted unprecedented numbers of business travelers and holiday-makers to spend their tourist dollars somewhere other than Indonesia.

A UN official of East Timor4s transitional administration Wednesday criticized Indonesia for its repeated delays in bring to trial military officers and officials indicted for human rights atrocities committed in the territory in 1999.

Max Lane, Jakarta – The most right-wing elements among politically organised Islam have sought to use the US "war on terrorism" to seize the political initiative in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Shoeb Kagda, Jakarta – As emerging market assets lose their shine in the current global environment, Indonesia faces an uphill task in implementing its privatisation programme, but not going ahead with it would prove more detrimental for the country in the long term, said the International Monetary Fund's senior resident representative yesterday.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Potholed roads, crumbling hospitals, torn school books – that is the bleak picture in store for Indonesia if the government fails to sell immediately some of its assets to investors, warned the top official of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Jakarta.

Jakarta – The House of Representatives finally approved on Tuesday a long-awaited new oil and gas law, which will end the decades-old lucrative monopoly of state oil and gas firm Pertamina.

Jo Ellis, Cairuhi – Australian solidarity activists have spent nearly two weeks here helping East Timorese counterparts begin an ambitious educational program which will involve local people in discussions about socialism and democracy.

Virginia Marsh – If all had gone to plan, divers would now be laying a pipeline along the seabed linking Darwin to the substantial gasfields off its shores and a decades-old dream would be close to becoming reality.

Jakarta – The House of Representatives rushed to pass the special autonomy bill on Papua (Irian Jaya) into law at midnight Monday after a last-ditch effort to solve the contentious issue of revenue sharing.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Vice President Hamzah Haz repeated calls on Monday to stop the anti-US rallies in the country and underlined that Indonesia may face an economic collapse should the country fail to guarantee foreign investors' security.

Jakarta – Indonesia's parliament, under pressure from powerful labour unions, said on Tuesday it had postponed a plan to pass a draft labour law this week due to fears of fresh unrest in the impoverished country.

Apriadi Gunawan and Fadly, Medan/Batam – Five underage women identified as IM, A, FY, E and W had no idea that they would be traded as prostitutes in a red light district in Dumai, Riau, when Romantan Sinaga alias Nico or Onces, and Andi Haryanto offered them a good job with a high salary during a coincidental meeting at the Aksara Medan Plaza in August.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Parliament is set to pass seven laws this week in a plenary session starting today – although public disapproval is loud on bills including Irian Jaya autonomy and the role of the police.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Canberra's strained relationship with Jakarta was highlighted at the Apec summit over the weekend when Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri refused to meet Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Amien Rais expressed his support on Monday for several legislators' suggestions to set up a special committee at the House of Representatives to probe the alleged misuse of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog)'s non-budgetary fund.

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – The House of Representatives budget committee approved on Monday a government proposal to increase fuel prices by an average 30 percent starting January next year, but delayed once again the completion of a crucial debate on the 2002 draft state budget.

Badri Jawara, Palu – Central Sulawesi Provincial Police confirmed on Monday that six people of the 42 detained for questioning were interrogated over Saturday's sectarian clash in Tabalu village, some 20 kilometers north of Poso, in which one police officer was killed.

Seth Mydans, Jakarta – Less than three months ago Abdurrahman Wahid was swept from Indonesia's presidency on a wave of public exasperation after a truncated tenure that one prominent scholar calls one of the strangest periods in Indonesian history.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Commission B of the West Java legislative Council, along with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), is processing a long-awaited bylaw on forest management and the distribution of forest products.

The local administration's plan, however, has been opposed by locals, who have not been included in forest management for decades.

RK Nugroho, Jayapura – The proindependence Papuan Council Presidium (PDP) asserted on Saturday in Jayapura that it would reject the Special Autonomy Law on Irian Jaya which will come into effect on Tuesday.

Banda Aceh – At least eight people, including two Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels, were killed in a series of incidents over Friday and Saturday, officials and activists said.

Poso (Sulawesi) – Clashes between Christian and Muslim gangs, armed with knives and homemade guns, left at least eight people dead, police and witnesses said yesterday.

Evelyn Leopold, United Nations – East Timor's newly elected constituent assembly asked the United Nations on Monday to grant it independence next May 20, paving the way for a reduction of UN military and civilian forces.

Jakarta – Traffic police, customs and tax officials, and the judiciary were ranked the most corrupt institutions in Indonesia's public sector, according to a recent survey.

Jakarta – Over 1.3 million visitors have cancelled trips to Indonesia because of heightened anti-American sentiment since the United States launched air strikes against Afghanistan – resulting in the loss of US$1.1 billion in potential tourist income, said a government minister.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – The trial of a separatist leader in Ambon, the capital of Indonesia's Maluku islands, that began yesterday had a hidden political agenda, analysts said.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – The police, the judiciary, Customs and the Tax Department are the most corrupt institutions in Indonesia, a survey has found.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Parliament adopted a new code of ethics this week, but experts said it would have little impact on attendance and the practice of buying and selling votes.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Activists warned authorities in North Sumatra about the possibility of environmental damage following a plan to extract sand from the province's eastern coastal areas to Malaysia and Singapore, saying it could hasten coastal erosion and consequent flooding on the mainland.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri's honeymoon with her deputy is over as both leaders tussle over Indonesia's response to the US military campaign against Afghanistan.

Banda Aceh – Seven people, including two members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist group, were killed in separate violence on Thursday and Friday, activists and an official said.

Dili – Indonesia-East Timor trade relations have good prospects in future so that there is glimmer of hope that certain parts of their common borderline will eventually be opened for across-the-border trade activities, an Indonesian representative official said.

Dili – Indonesia's currency, the rupiah, especially of the Rp 5000 to Rp 50000 denomination, is still legally accepted as a means of exchange in Timor Lorosae, along with the US dollar.

R.K. Nugroho, Jayapura – Trikora Military Command chief Maj. Gen. Mahidin Simbolon confirmed on Wednesday in Jayapura that the military had conducted raids of rebels' camps in Kali Kopi village, Mimika regency, Irian Jaya.