Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Papuan people urged on Friday that the government immediately reinstate the plan for two new provinces on the island, whose establishment was approved in 1999 to boost development and quench calls for independence there.

Jayapura – The United Nations has declared 21 September as an International Day for Peace. The religious leaders in Papua have responded to this appeal by the UN. On Saturday night all the leaders of the main religions in Papua – Christian, Islam, Buddha and Hindu – held a "prayer march" in Jayapura, the capital of Papua.

Liza Power – It's seven in the morning at Wamena's Trendy Hotel. The mosquitoes have retired after a night of feasting on my toes and ears, which means it's time to stumble from room 3, check my collection of flea bites and watch the old Dani man by the door, who wears a penis gourd that reaches to his chin, floss his teeth with a two-metre arrow.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – New Zealand's Labour Government is the latest to reveal the skeletons in its closet over Indonesia's 1975 East Timor invasion, but the Melbourne family of a Wellington-born cameraman killed there says it is not satisfied.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – At least two people died and more than 200 houses were torched in a sudden flash of violence in the North Maluku islands, shattering an 18-month period of calm in the province described as a success story in resolving sectarian conflict.

Jakarta – A police officer testified yesterday that he had overheard Jafaar Umar Thalib, the leader of the Laskar Jihad militia, urge his followers to wage war on Christians in the religiously divided eastern province of Maluku.

Ibnu Mat Noor and Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – Two foreign women who are being detained for suspected involvement in separatist activities while on tourist visas, will likely stand trial in the Banda Aceh District Court on charges of immigration violations.

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – PT Perum Angkasa Pura II (PAP), which manages the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, was declared guilty of illegally seizing land belonging to 16 residents living near the airport on Thursday.

Jakarta – Some 1,500 workers from the country's metal industry on Thursday rally in front of the House of Representatives compound here to protest against proposed labor legislation, AFP reported.

Jakarta – Activists believe the use of condoms is the best and cheapest way to prevent the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus through sexual intercourse, but a campaign to encourage safe sex has run into opposition from groups worried it could lead to promiscuity.

Robert Go, Jakarta – They were originally meant to help the poor, who could get them for free, or at a very low cost, at government-run health clinics. But these days, subsidised vaccines – for hepatitis, tuberculosis, tetanus or smallpox – and prescription drugs, including antibiotics, are turning up for sale in the open market. Not surprisingly, corruption is again to blame.

Bill Guerin – Against the backdrop of the sudden closure of the US Embassy, violent clashes accompanying the re-election of Jakarta's widely disliked governor, Sutiyoso, and the brazen refusal of parliament Speaker Akbar Tanjung to step down, the Indonesian capital and surrounding areas were blacked out for long periods on September 12-13.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – In what was believed to be one of the largest turnouts ever of labor protesters, thousands of workers from across the country took to the streets on Thursday to oppose the labor protection and industrial settlement bill.

The workers criticized the bill, dubbed by many as a pro-labor draft law, for not providing enough protection for them.

Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri expressed her disappointment on Thursday with the way students and youths demonstrated.

"Compared to the current rallies, those in the past were well managed," Megawati said while opening the Association of Bandung Institute of Technology Alumni congress at the State Palace.

Ray Lilley, Wellington – East Timor President Xanana Gusmao has called on the international community not to forget his tiny new nation, which became the 191st member of the United Nations in late May.

Raymond Bonner, Jakarta – The American Embassy here said today that it had "credible threat information" that Westerners in central Java "may be targeted for violence in the immediate future." The warning did not say who was behind the threats, but the area around Yogyakarta, east of Jakarta, the capital, is a hotbed of Islamic militancy.

Jakarta – Indonesia plans to buy Chinese-made weapons to strengthen the country's armed forces, Defence Minister Matori Abdul Jalil said after meeting his Chinese counterpart Chi Haotian who began a five-day working visit here yesterday.

Jakarta – People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais warned Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri to be alert to any pressure from the United States as it seeks support for its plan to invade Iraq.

[An Australian academic who's still being questioned by Indonesian police in the northern province of Aceh has spoken to the ABC from the bathroom of the police station. Scottish-born Australian resident Lesley McCulloch who lectured at the Universtiy of Tasmania was detained with an American nurse and a local translator last week in Southern Aceh.

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Undeterred by public outcry, the City Council's election committee approved on Wednesday the result of the voting in the gubernatorial election and refused to examine the ballot papers, which were allegedly marked in code by supporters of Governor Sutiyoso.

Jakarta – Indonesia's state audit agency has discovered that around 6.421 trillion rupiah from the state budget has been misused by various government offices in the first six months of this year.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – The wily Indonesian parliamentary Speaker, Mr Akbar Tandjung, may yet manage to outmanoeuvre MPs petitioning to oust him from his post following his graft conviction this month.

A militant Indonesian Islamic leader denied knowing reputed al-Qaeda kingpin Omar al-Faruq or being linked to terrorist acts in Indonesia.

"I don't understand any of this. I don't know him and only read about him in newspapers," Abu Bakar Ba'asyir told AFP by telephone from Central Java.

Jakarta – At least 70 young people coming from across Aceh province gathered in Banda Aceh on Wednesday to seek a common understanding on government policy and a peaceful solution to the conflict in Aceh.

[A prominent Australian scientist, who spent many years doing research in Papua and in neighbouring Papua New Guinea, says he believes the killings last month at the US-owned copper and gold mine, Freeport, will be a turning point in already strained relations between the United States and the Indonesian military.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government and international agencies have agreed that as of December 31 this year, all East Timorese refugee camps in West Timor will be shut down.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – Security problems are worsening at the giant Freeport copper and gold mine in Indonesia's Papua province after soldiers guarding the facility discovered a bomb under a bridge on the mine's only access road on Saturday.

Jakarta – The British embassy in Indonesia is very concerned over complaints that police have mistreated a British woman detained since last week in restive Aceh province, a diplomat said on Wednesday.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – A Scottish academic detained for a week by police in Indonesia's Aceh province said yesterday she had been beaten, deprived of sleep and threatened with a knife during her captivity.

Max Lane, Jakarta – Indonesian police used tear gas and water cannons to attempt to subdue a large demonstration outside the parliament of the Jakarta special province on September 11. Tens of thousands of protesters gathered to blockade the parliament building. They also set up check points at surrounding intersections to check vehicles heading towards the parliament.

Nani Farida and Ibnu Mat Noor, Banda Aceh – Dozens of people were injured and more than 80 shophouses burned in the latest outbreak of violence in Aceh.

The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) spokesman for the Pasee region, Teungku Jamaika, said government security forces, particularly the elite Mobile Brigade (Brimob) police unit, were responsible.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Convicted corrupter Akbar Tandjung has clearly lost the respect of fellow politicians as legislators frantically interrupted a plenary session he chaired on Tuesday, questioning his credibility to lead the meeting.

Jakarta – Trikora Military Commander Maj. Gen. Mahidin Simbolon hinted on Tuesday that the Saturday attack on soldier Pvt. Edi Susanto in Timika-Tembagapura, Irian Jaya, might have involved staff of PT Freeport Indonesia.

John Martinkus – In April, 1000 pro-independence demonstrators met Ralph Boyce when the United States ambassador to Indonesia arrived in Jayapura, the West Papuan capital. They were mostly highlanders dressed in feathered head-dresses; some sported the traditional penis gourds.

Geoffrey Barker – East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao yesterday criticised the heavily armed Australian army presence in front of the Australian embassy in Dili and demanded that Australia co-ordinate this with the East Timor Government.

Mr Gusmao's criticism was published as the main front-page article in the Timor Post newspaper.

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1828: Dutch claim natives of western half of New Guinea as subjects of Netherlands' king.

1949: Dutch cede Dutch East Indies to Indonesian Republic, but retain West Papua. No, it's already ours, says Indonesia.

1950s: Anti-Dutch sentiment in Indonesia drives Dutch people out.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Hundreds of fishermen from several regencies in North Sumatra province staged a rally in front of the legislative building in Medan on Monday, demanding that the government ban the use of trawlers in the province's waters.

Jakarta – Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea revealed here on Monday that a total of 66,367 accidents at the workplace in 2000 had left 4,142 workers dead, 20,970 seriously injured and permanently handicapped, and 87,390 unable to work.

Jakarta – Seven Indonesian soldiers will soon face a court martial for suspected involvement in last year's murder of a Papuan independence leader, a report said Tuesday.

Don Greenlees, Jakarta – The letter came to American-owned Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc and the Indonesian Government a few days after three of the miner's employees were gunned down at its operations in a remote and mountainous corner of Papua.

Jakarta – Unidentified attackers raided three remote Christian villages in eastern Indonesia, killing two people, ransacking churches and homes and forcing thousands of people to flee, an official said on Tuesday.

Jakarta – Ending a 15-day whirlwind tour of six countries, Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri returned home on Sunday to face critics who say she is no different from her predecessor who liked to travel instead of dealing with problems at home.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Gunmen have fired at the car of police investigating the murder of three teachers at an international school in the Indonesian province of Papua as evidence mounts of a campaign of intimidation aimed at thwarting the police inquiry.

Jakarta – It's a David versus Goliath tale, except that in this case, Goliath, the freshly re-elected Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso, looks set to steamroll over his detractors.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Sadum, a semi-employed 55-year-old man, lives with his wife and five children in his five meter by seven meter semi-permanent home on disputed land on the Tembok Bolong coast, Penjaringan district, North Jakarta. To support his family, he works as a porter at Sunda Kelapa port, one kilometer from his house.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Mr T. Gumolo, who runs a diving outfit in North Sulawesi's famous Bunaken National Park, is supposed to pay around $2,000 in import duties for the thousands of dollars worth of scuba gear and components that he buys each year from abroad.

Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta – United States Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph L. Boyce urged the Indonesian government on Monday to "do even more" in countering terrorism as no suspects linked to the al-Qaeda network had so far been arrested by security authorities here.

Tony Sitathan – Benny Winoto Salim was a businessman dealing with palm oil and its by-products in Medan, Sumatra. In 1997, he set up a chemical trading and distribution company in Jakarta dealing mainly with asphalt and later the supply of an oil-based additive from overseas.

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – Organized criminals, comprising government officials as well as military officers, were the likely culprits behind the widespread illegal logging in the country, an official said on Monday.

It also seemed likely that they were involved with an international network, according to the ministry's data.

Munir, Jakarta – The first round of the ad hoc Human Rights Tribunal on the East Timor case ended in anticlimax as the suspects of crimes against humanity were mostly acquitted from all charges. The verdict cast by the first human rights court conducted in this republic's history carries a danger that we may not have taken seriously.