Jill Jolliffe – An argument over who is to be East Timor's first ambassador to Australia could lead to a showdown between President Xanana Gusmao and Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.

Yogita Tahilramani and Edith Hartanto, East Java – This year's drought has dealt a severe blow to East Java province causing the country's major rice producing area to suffer losses to

Atika Shubertm Jakarta – In another sign of Indonesia's crackdown in the restive province of Aceh, Chief Security Minister Bambang Yudhoyono will investigate suggestions the region's pe

Jakarta – The Democratic People's Party (PRD) launched on Thursday the Democracy Front to unite like-minded reformers within a forum in a bid to revive the country's original reform mov

Jakarta – Garbage problems continue to haunt the Jakarta city administration.

Jakarta/Medan – West Kalimantan Governor Aspar Aswin declared his province on top alert on Thursday, urging local governments to tackle forest fire outbreaks which have been blanketing

Debbie A.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Indonesia's offer to act as the honest broker between the two Koreas, made during North Korean number two leader Kim Yong Nam's first visit here, has been gr

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – East Timor's Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos Horta, has put pragmatism ahead of human rights in his first foreign policy statement, describing China as the new nation

John Aglionby – The Indonesian government currently finds itself at a major crossroads over its policy towards Aceh, the province on the northern tip of Sumatra where separatists have b

Rod McGuirk, Darwin – East Timor President and former freedom fighter Xanana Gusmao today said he did not want to see the Indonesian provinces of Aceh and Irian Jaya win independence.

Edith Hartanto and Yogita Tahilramani, Surabaya – Still shy but a bit surprised, university lecturer Abdul Mukti emerged as champion on Wednesday when he was elected leader of Muhammadi

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Four male gorillas which arrived here recently are proving to be some of Jakarta's most controversial guests.

Jakarta – An Indonesian judge yesterday ordered prosecutors to check on Tommy Suharto in jail after the youngest son of former president Suharto sent a sick note to his murder and weapo

The Indonesian Government is at a crossroads in its long running war with separatist rebels in its rebellious province of Aceh ...

Jakarta – Aceh councillors warned the central government on Wednesday against imposing either a civil emergency or martial law in the province, arguing that the move would only worsen t

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's food-production targets could be hit this year because unscrupulous officials have allegedly been exporting fertiliser and reaping huge profits – at the

Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) denied on Wednesday that al Qaeda, the terrorist network led by Osama bin Laden, had a presence in war-torn Aceh.

[Deliverance by Don Greenlees and Robert Garran, Allen & Unwin.]

President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) could split apart following parliament's decision not to investigate House of Representatives Speaker A

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – Human rights activists have accused the House of Representatives of making political deals during the selection of members o

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expects to see half of the remaining 50,000 East Timorese refugees currently taking shelter in neighboring East N

Jakarta – A senior Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) legislator has resigned in apparent disgust at the party's decision not to establish a team to investigate th

Sri Wahyuni and Kurniawan Hari, Yogyakarta/Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri locked horns on Wednesday with legislators over the need to establish an independent constitutional

Jim Lobe – If Indonesia declares martial law in oil-rich Aceh province, as suggested last weekend by top military officials, the government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri may find i

Jakarta – While Indonesia's economy has been making significant improvement in a number of key areas, progress remains relatively fragile, the chief representative of the International

Debbie A.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Every Monday and Thursday at 5 pm, office clerk Danial Erwin makes his most important calls of the week – to his bookie, to check winning numbers.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – As the death toll from Sunday night's grisly fire in a South Sumatra karaoke club climbs, building experts admit that many karaoke bars, entertainment centre

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Political observers with the National Institute of Sciences (LIPI) urged the House of Representatives (DPR) on Tuesday to give the public a chance to critique

Max Lane, Jakarta – On June 25, the Jakarta Media Centre was packed to overflowing.

Jakarta – Indonesia's chief security minister, on a fact-finding mission to Aceh province, said the government wanted to end a separatist war there peacefully but at the same time he is

Vice President Hamzah Haz has pointed a finger of blame at disgruntled generals who, he implied, have been destabilizing the restive province of Aceh by penetrating the Free Aceh Moveme

Jakarta – A baby was shot and killed and its mother left fighting for her life in violence which claimed at least 10 lives in the war-ravaged Indonesian province of Aceh on Sunday and M

The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has denied a report that claims it was in cahoots with Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda terrorist network.

Lely T.

Wahyu Dhyatmika, Jakarta – People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Amien Rais has guaranteed that this August's MPR Annual Session would not become a special session to topple President Me

Thomas Freitas, Dili – Activists from the NGO La'o Hamutuk and others were disappointed by Manuel Carrascalao's statement in Tuesday's edition of STL that "Foreigners can not come here

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Dozens of people claiming to represent thousands of East Timorese refugees sheltering in camps in West Timor rallied at the gubernatorial office in the regiona

The Indonesian government has raised the import duty on sugar by up to 30 per cent to protect local sugar cane farmers from cheaper imports.

Jakarta – A choking and dangerous haze that has been blanketing the Indonesian city of Pontianak in the early morning has caused delays in flight arrivals and departures, officials said

Nana Rukmana, Cirebon – Hundreds of street vendors and becak (pedicab) drivers occupied the municipal office here on Monday, in protest over their forced eviction from areas around shop

Maria Ressa, Manila – Intelligence officials tell CNN that Osama bin Laden wanted to move the base of operations for his al Qaeda terrorist network from Afghanistan to Southeast Asia in

Tom McCawley, Jakarta – Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesia's chief security minister, arrived in the troubled Aceh province on Tuesday as Jakarta considered declaring a civil emergency

The European Union is to give humanitarian aid worth nearly euros 2 million to East Timorese refugees still living in camps in Indonesian West Timor, it was announced Tuesday in Brussel

East Timor's parliament approved a draft bill Tuesday on maritime borders, paving the way for the ratification of the potentially lucrative Timor Sea oil and gas treaty, signed in May b

Robert Go, Jakarta – Every 30 minutes, one Indonesian woman dies while giving birth and out of 100 babies born here, six won't reach the age of five – statistics that show the sorry sta

Jakarta – Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday defended her party's decision not to seek a parliamentary inquiry into alleged graft by the Speaker, saying legislators ha

Jakarta – With the new academic year drawing near, some 13,000 junior high school graduates across South Kalimantan are facing the possibility of having to give up their formal educatio

Dili – UN Police officials today announced they have seized two trucks loaded with sandalwood apparently destined for sale outside East Timor.