Louise Williams, Jakarta – Indonesia announced last night that it had reached agreement with the International Monetary Fund on a rescue package for its ailing economy.

For the first time, clandestine East Timorese fighters are building bombs. When one went off accidentally recently it introduced a new element into the East Timor problem and underscores the urgency of a resolution. The Indonesian Foreign Ministry says the explosives were intended to kill civilians in Dili indiscriminately.

S N Vasuki, Jakarta – Private power firms, which are investing billions of dollars in new projects in Indonesia, are desperately trying to stall a government move to renegotiate power tariffs.

When President Soeharto built himself a modern office block in the late 1960s, it was known for a time as the KISS building, an abbreviation of words borrowed from English – koordinasi, integrasi, stabilisasi and sinkronisasi. It was not long, however, before Indonesians were saying KISS stood for "ke istana sendiri-sendiri" – "to the palace one by one".

Chris Lydgate in Singapore and Louise Williams in Jakarta – The Indonesian President's comments that the Singapore Government had agreed to offer a $US10 billion ($14.2 billion) aid package to Jakarta, separate from ongoing negotiations over an International Monetary Fund rescue package, have caused shock and confusion among the region's economic analysts.

The national car

Tony Wright, Jakarta – The Prime Minister has told Indonesia's President Soeharto that Australia, in the spirit of "regional mateship", stands ready to dig deep as part of a major international rescue package for Indonesia's ailing economy.

The East Timor Human Rights Centre (ETHRC) is concerned for the safety of up to eight East Timorese men still in detention in Semarang and Dili, for their alleged involvement in the manufacture and possession of home-made bombs (see UA 23/97 and UA 23/97PR).

Bernice Han, Singapore – Indonesia's National Logistics Agency (Bulog), the state-owned food price regulator, is seen targeted by the International Monetary Fund for reform, a senior agricultural specialist based in Jakarta told Dow Jones Tuesday.

Semarang – Fifteen East Timor students from the East Timor Students' Association (IMAPTI) of Semarang had met members of Commission A (dealing with defense and security issues) of the Central Java Regional Parliament. They questioned the MPs on the bad treatment felt by four East Timor youth arrested recently by security officers.

Jakarta – The government is necessary to stop isolating ethnic Chinese from political life, an expert said.

"It is not healthy for our political development as the isolation will invite broad public curiosity," Sayidiman Suryohadiprojo told a gathering here on Tuesday.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund's rescue package for Indonesia is expected to be delayed until later this week after private talks reportedly stalled over politically sensitive issues such as the subsidised national car project.

Jakarta – Police and soldiers used sticks to break up anti-government protests by hundreds of students today in two cities.

Some students said they were protesting the planned re-nomination of Indonesia's President Suharto, who is likely to be re-elected unopposed to a seventh-consecutive term in March.

Jenny Grant, Jakarta – Two East Timorese men could face the death penalty if found guilty of trying to topple the Government through terrorism.

Seth Mydans, Kuala Lumpur – Tigers and elephants are fleeing the burning jungles. Birds are falling from the murky skies. Schoolchildren are fainting at their desks. Ships are colliding at sea.

K.T. Arasu, Jakarta – The effects of the El Nino-induced drought hitting Indonesia could worsen sharply in the coming months, causing disease and hunger in many parts of the country, experts say.

Jakarta – The number of cities covered by the thick haze from rampant forest and bush fires nearly doubled yesterday, amid uncertainty over when the annual monsoon rains would arrive.

Meteorologists said the number of cities covered by the haze rose from 22 to 41 as at yesterday morning, while at least four airports shut down because of poor visibility.

Michael Shari in Jakarta, with Joyce Barnathan in Hong Kong – The 60 Indonesian blue-chip company executives summoned to Bank Indonesia, the country's central bank, on Oct. 10 all had something in common.

Jakarta – Outspoken Muslim scholar Amien Rais has suggested a national poll be held to determine whether the majority of Indonesians want President Suharto re-elected next year for a record seventh five-year term, the Jakarta Post reported yesterday.

Lewa Pardomuan, Jakarta – Thick smog from rampant forest and bush fires spread to more cities in Indonesia on Sunday while uncertainties over the start of the annual monsoon rains lingered, meteorologists said.

Chris Johnson, Singapore – Choking yellow-grey smog over Southeast Asia has already closed factories, cancelled flights and lengthened queues in doctors' waiting-rooms.

But much worse could be in store if the raging forest fires across Indonesia are not put out soon – and for good.

Jakarta – The worst drought in half a century has devastated crop harvests by as much as 40 percent, the government said Friday. Officials had earlier warned of rice harvest failures in some drought-ravaged areas.

Stephen Spencer, Canberra – The federal ALP has moved to dramatically recast major areas of its foreign policy, in what it frankly admits is a recognition that some areas, in particular Indonesia and land mines, could have been handled better in government.

Lewa Pardomuan, Jakarta – Indonesia's state-owned aircraft manufacturer Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN) said on Thursday it had found counter-trade deals beneficial and denied the bartering option had been taken because of difficulty in selling its planes.

John McBeth with Fanny Lioe in Jakarta – On October 10, two days after Indonesia announced it was going to seek the International Monetary Fund's help in salvaging its economy, Jakarta newspapers carried pictures of a smiling President Suharto playing golf with his industrialist friend, Muhammad "Bob" Hasan.

Karen Polglaze, Jakarta – Indonesia's military has tried to link Nobel Peace Prize co-recipient Jose Ramos Horta with an alleged terrorist group.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – The Indonesian Government has warned that forest fires and smoke haze are getting worse, and monsoon rains are expected to be further delayed, while another fatal haze-related shipping accident was reported in Kalimantan.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – In a new effort to arrest the slide of the rupiah, Indonesia's Central Bank has announced that commercial banks may lend hundreds of millions of US dollars from their reserves.

Karen Polglaze, Jakarta – East Timorese independence advocate and Nobel Peace laureate Jose Ramos Horta today rejected accusations by the Indonesian military that he was linked to a clandestine group accused of making bombs.

The East Timor Human Rights Centre (ETHRC) is concerned for the safety of Manuel Afonso and Lino Xavier Nunes who are currently in detention at POLRES (Regional Police Headquarters) in Dili, following their arrests in July and September 1997.

Trevor Royle – Traditionally Britain's foreign interests have been dominated by a mixture of strategic initiatives to protect national interests and direct action, as the Foreign Office puts it, "to promote Britain's interests overseas" and "to enhance the prosperity of the United Kingdom".

Canberra – Nobel peace laureate Jose Ramos Horta Tuesday accused the Australian government of covering up Indonesia's involvement in the deaths of five Australian journalists in East Timor 22 years ago.

Australia's 1996 investigation into the killings was seriously flawed, the leading East Timorese independence activist said, joining calls into a fresh inquiry.

Lewa Pardomuan, Jakarta – Military helicopters flew rice and noodles to famine-stricken areas in Indonesia's remote Irian Jaya province on Monday as government officials said food shortages had also spread to Sumatra island.

Sydney – The president of the Timorese Democratic Party (UDT) said here Sunday he was asked by the Indonesian military to kill Australian journalist Hamish McDonald in 1975.

McDonald is now foreign editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.

Don Greenlees – The Federal Government is facing a political contest over human rights after a decision by the ALP to call for the first time for a "right of self-determination" for East Timor in its new foreign affairs policy.

With Indonesia's President Soeharto nominated by his Golkar party this week for a seventh five-year term, his unopposed re-election by a largely hand-picked assembly seems certain, barring ill-health. But as Herald correspondent Louise Williams reports from Jakarta, many opinion leaders are looking for more openness in the tightly controlled New Order political system.

Jacqui Birchall, East Timor – The path of most despair - Site of death and oppression since 1975, East Timor had little to offer one intrepid traveller – except perhaps the satisfying knowledge that her very presence was a burr in the side of the authorities.

A report into the death of five Australia-based journalists at Balibo in East Timor 22 years ago will be examined today at a seminar at the University of NSW Law School. One man who knows just what happened at Balibo, writes Asia Editor David Jenkins, is Lieutenant-General Yunus Yosfiah, leader of the attacking force and now one of Indonesia's most influential generals.

Jakarta – President Soeharto denied press reports yesterday that a food shortage has forced people in Lampung and Java to eat cassava for their daily meals.

The President described how farmers in some regencies in Java prefered to consume tiwul (foodstuff made of cassava) or mixed it with rice because they believed it would give them extra strength to work in the field.

Jakarta – Another 17 people have died in drought stricken Irian Jaya, taking the toll to 462, a report says.

On the other hands, another 90,000 people are now facing serious food ortages, the report added.

Jim Della-Giacoma, Jakarta – Indonesia's ruling Golkar party has predictably nominated ageing President Suharto to lead the country into the next century, but the question of who will succeed him remains, analysts say.

Sydney – The Indonesian army has arrested in the last days dozens of youths, in several raids to villages aimed at discredit the armed rebel movement, a resistance leader told Lusa on Thursday.

President Suharto has earned plaudits for deregulating various aspects of Indonesia's economy. But he can't complete the job without challenging some powerful vested interests.

There will be many redundancies in the industrial sector if businesses are forced to close down because of the present tight money policy, said Adi Putra Tahir, who heads the Organisation Dept of the business association, KADIN. He said that the first thing businesses do when facing cash-flow problems is to lay off employees.

James Dunn – Timor watchers would have detected a touch of irony in a news item from Jakarta earlier this week.

Jakarta – At least 416 people in Indonesia's remote Irian Jaya province have died of famine and disease and nearly 90,000 face serious food shortages because of a severe drought, relief officials said on Thursday.

Sander Thoenes and Quentin Peel, Jakarta – Indonesia may walk out of talks with Portugal over the status of East Timor unless progress is made soon, Ali Alatas, Indonesia's foreign minister, has said.

Sydney – Five Australian journalists killed in East Timor were deliberately targeted by Indonesian troops and not caught in crossfire as had been thought, a report said on the 22nd anniversary of the incident.

I see this strike as the first action in a wave of actions that could hit the Suharto regime as a direct result of the crisis engulfing the Indonesian economy. Now that the IMF has been called in, new demands will be made on the regime with regard to pet projects of the Suharto Family and cronies.

Jenny Grant, Jakarta – Popular Muslim figures have criticised the Government for failing to provide moral leadership in a time of economic and social crisis and warned it could face mass demonstrations if it does not listen to the people.