The Indonesian military reported 14 more deaths in war-torn Aceh province and said seven of them were villagers massacred by separatist rebels.

More than 20 Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels shot dead the seven residents of Gunung Semelit village in Central Aceh on Tuesday, said military spokesman Ahmad Yani Basuki on Thursday.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – With more than 35,000 troops on the ground, Jakarta has only managed to incapacitate 35 percent of Aceh's 5,000-strong rebel force so far, more than three months after the joint operation was launched on May 19.

Oyos Saroso HN, Lampung province – Many thousands of people from Lampung have been forced to start eating cassava as the drought continues its stranglehold over the impoverished province.

The death toll in several days of clashes in Indonesia's Papua province has risen to four, police said after the unrest prompted the central government to shelve controversial plans to split the province into three.

One man wounded early Wednesday has died in hospital, said Abdul Gani, a senior police officer in the town of Timika.

Sari P. Setiogi, Jakarta – A noted woman activist and legislator called on Wednesday for a specific revisions to Marriage Law No. 1/1974 in order to promote more equal relations between husband and wife.

Jakarta – Plans by a large number of foreign companies here to relocate their operations to other countries is an apparent reaction to their frustration over the slow progress by the government to improve the country's business climate.

The Indonesian government has suspended plans to divide the province of Papua into three, after days of sustained street fighting. But Jakarta says it has not abandoned its plan to divide the resource-rich province, to improve administration. There are fears the real agenda is to undermine the long-running separatist movement.

Presenter/Interviewer: Sonya De Masi

Kurniawan Hari and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Most national newspapers and television stations have failed to uphold the basic principle of covering both sides in reporting the Aceh conflict, a media watchdog says.

Kirsten E. Schulze – The military operation against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has entered the fourth month of what increasingly looks like an indeterminate period. Politicians have ruled out returning to negotiations in the near future. Indonesian Military (TNI) commanders on the ground and in Jakarta have stated that a year or more may be required to achieve their aims.

At least three people have been killed and 45 injured in clashes between supporters and opponents of the setting up of Central Irian Jaya province in Timika since Saturday, when the province was formally established.

John Aglionby – When Jakarta declared martial law in Aceh in May and launched it latest offensive to crush the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels following the collapse of a five-month ceasefire, six months was deemed sufficient time to end the 27-year-long insurgency on the northern tip of Sumatra.

Banda Aceh – Government troops have killed up to 752 separatist rebels in the roubled province of Aceh during the first 100 days of an all-out offensive aimed at crushing the 27-year-long insurgency, military sources said Wednesday.

Bali – More than 1,500 Balinese tourist industry workers took to streets of the capital, Denpasar, on Wednesday to protest government plans to revoke visa-free travel for foreign visitors.

Police reinforcements were being flown to the town of Timika in Indonesia's Papua province following three days of street clashes in which three people died and dozens were injured.

Peter Cave: Despite claims that Indonesian forces have cracked down on Radical Islamists in the Indonesian province of West Papua, the separatist movement there says Laskar Jihad is still active and being supported by local Indonesian military.

Nani Farida and Teuku Agam Muzakir, Banda Aceh/Lhokseumawe – For the second reported time, the Indonesian Military (TNI) dropped bombs and fired rockets at suspected rebel positions in two days of air strikes in Aceh with its Falcon F-16 and OV-10 Bronco bombers, claiming the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) commanders were under siege.

Jakarta – Police fired warning shots and tear gas yesterday to disperse about 500 slum dwellers protesting against an attempt to evict them from their Jakarta settlement.

Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Yusuf Kalla said on Wednesday that the government had distributed 1,800 tons of relief rice to 250,000 farmers in Java, which is suffering from harvest failure due to the long drought.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – A coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) here on Tuesday revealed that the police had committed human rights abuses when they violently quelled a recent riot in Bulukumba regency, South Sulawesi.

Police claimed to have shot dead only two people during the July 21 incident, but the NGOs said the death toll reached five.

Jakarta – The Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) warned on Tuesday that more foreign companies were set to relocate their operations here to other countries due to the worsening investment climate in the country.

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), farmer and labor unions from across Indonesia gathered in Jakarta on Tuesday for a two-day meeting to prepare for the September 10 to September 14 World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial summit in Cancun, Mexico.

Jayapura/Jakarta – Pressure mounted on Tuesday for the administration of President Megawati Soekarnoputri to retract its decision to partition Papua into three provinces, following deadly clashes between opponents and supporters of the move.

A new study of the extremist Jemaah Islamiyah movement says the group may have been set back by recent arrests – but is far from stalling in its plans to carry out a holy war – or jihad – in the region. In fact, the report's author says she's has had to reassess the size of the organisation that was behind the Bali bombing and dozens of similar attacks across the region.

Max Lane – Indonesia is in a process of transition out of the period of dictatorship during the presidency of Gen. (ret) Soeharto. This process of transition is occurring in the midst of a severe and continuing economic crisis, often seen to be linked to globalization.

Dili – East Timor's attorney-general's office has granted immunity from detention to about 150 former anti- independence militias and pro-Indonesia integrationists to return home temporarily for reconciliation meetings with officials and relatives.

The death toll from three days of clashes in Indonesia's Papua province has risen to three and more than 50 have been injured, hospital staff said.

Jakarta – The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is currently running a campaign to urge global companies to stop buying plywood from Indonesian firms suspected of retaining illegal logs and damaging the environment.

Moch. N. Kurniawan and Suherdjoko, Semarang/Jakarta – Due to a threat to the water supply of 128 million people living on Java, the government declared on Monday a ban on logging and decided to review farming policies on this densely populated island.

Jakarta - After having previously taking a soft position [on refugees] and stating that it will give temporary residency permits to hundreds of Acehnese asylum seekers in Malaysia, yesterday, the Malaysian Foreign Minister, Syed Hamid Albar, did an about turn and issued a strong statement [on the issue].

Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – On Monday August 25, the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) sent a letter to President Megawati Sukarnoputri requesting that G30S/PKI(1) political prisoners who are innocent be rehabilitated. The matter was in reference to considerations made by the Supreme Court to provide such rehabilitation.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – More than 700 families staged a rally again on Monday in Bandung, West Java, to demand that they be compensated or relocated from their current residential areas beneath dangerous high-voltage transmission lines.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Apparently trying to take all opportunities available before their terms end next year, and undeterred by public criticism, city councillors will spend Rp 9.6 billion (US$1.1 million) of taxpayer money for foreign sightseeing tours this year.

Kupang – About 700 members and civil servants who worked for the Indonesian Defence Forces (TNI) when East Timor was an Indoneisn province are still staying in ex-refugee camps here, a top military officer said Tuesday.

Of the number, 600 families had settled in houses the TNI had provided for military personnel, Udayana regional military chief Maj.Gen. Agus Soeyitno said.

Tony Sitathan, Jakarta – Indonesia is in the midst of a political storm over the implementation of a comprehensive anti-terrorist bill or even an Internal Security Act (ISA) modeled after Singapore and Malaysia ever since the latest terrorist attack ripped through the heart of the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, killing at least 14 people and injuring close to 150 others.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Religious leaders have thrown their support behind plans to impose the tight surveillance of a number of districts in West Java – believed to be home to militants advocating sharia (Islamic law) – as part of preemptive measures against future terrorist attacks.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government has cited the armed separatist movement in Papua as one of three threats against the perpetuation of the nation's existence within the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI). Therefore the government will soon [take action to] incapacitate the separatist movement in the province of Papua, or where ever such movements exist.

Banda Aceh – Six Indonesian Military aircraft raided on Tuesday the hills of Kuta Baro subdistrict, Aceh Besar, believed to be a stronghold of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Jakarta – Following fatal clashes between opponents and supporters of the establishment of Central Irian Jaya province, the government has come under pressure for its decision to partition the country's easternmost province, Papua.

The President of East Timor, Xanana Gusmao, has held the first in a series of reconciliation talks with former militia leaders near his country's border with Indonesian West Timor.

Many ex-militia did not show, but Mr Gusmao took advantage of the border visit to convince refugees to come home.

Jeffrey Smith and David Webster – Four years ago this month, East Timor voted for independence following a quarter-century of brutal foreign occupation. Invaded and occupied by Indonesia in 1975, it finally took its place as the first independent state of the new century.

Former Armed Forces Commander Wiranto has re-stated his determination to run for the presidency.

Speaking at the launch of his biography, (Testimony in the Middle of the Storm) in Solo on Friday, Wiranto urged his audience not to take wild chances in electing a new president.

Timika – Two people have been killed and 18 wounded as rivals clashed with arrows and stones over the creation of a new province on Indonesia's remote Papua island, witnesses and police said on Monday.

Jakarta – The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) is of the view that the integrated operation which has continued for three months in Aceh has been characterised by far too many violations of human rights and humanitarian laws.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Yet another prehensile remnant of the Suharto regime's mismanagement of Indonesia's economy – Bulog, the national foodstuffs monopoly – is about to transformed into something hopefully not a piggy bank for whomever is in power. But don't count on it.

Kupang – Indonesia and East Timor have agreed to set up nine gateways and seven markets at their border.

The markets are intended to become a center of economic activities among the people of the two neighboring countries, Supartantyo, head of the industry and trade office of Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province, said here Friday.

Increasing pressure from military hardliners to push President Megawati Sukarnoputri to give extra power to the military-backed intelligence service following the J.W. Marriott Hotel bombing has prompted former President Abdurrahman Wahid to come out against the return of military power.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Ainur R. Sophiaan, Jakarta/Surabaya – President Megawati Soekarnoputri ordered Cabinet ministers on Thursday to start emergency measures by Monday to help people who are suffering due to the drought across Java.

Buried somewhere in the lengthy, state-of-the-nation speech by the President, made on August 15 to the House of Representatives, was a casual reference to the situation in Papua.

Baradan Kuppusamy, Kuala Lumpur – After a perilous five-day journey by sea in tongkangs or slow wooden boats, Acehnese displaced by the escalating war in their troubled Indonesian province cross the narrow Straits of Malacca and land on the long west coast of peninsular Malaysia.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Indonesia's plans to use nuclear power to meet its spiralling energy demands have been boosted by the Russian Government's approval of a draft agreement allowing it to build nuclear power plants in Indonesia.