Friends of the Earth International today called for immediate and effective action by the Indonesian government to combat the continuing forest fire crisis.(1)

[The original source of this posting (other that the individual's e-mail address and period that the report covers) was not specified - JB]

Bekasi – The trial of Romo Sandyawan Sumardi SJ and his older brother, Benny Sumardi, started yesterday (29/9) at the Bekasi State Court.

Jakarta – The government has officially banned the Peoples' Democratic Party (PRD) along with its affiliated organisations according to Department of Home Affairs decision No 210-221, d

Derwin Pereira, Indonesia – has rejected blame for the haze blanketing large areas of South-east Asia, saying that one of the culprits is the El Nino climatic phenomenon that no one cou

David Miller, Sumatra – Malaysian firefighters eager to get on with the job of fighting the forest and peat fires here have been forced to play a waiting game.

Mrs Wilhelmina Rennie, now of Ramsay, Isle of Man, flies to Australia on Friday October 10 to give evidence on the cover-up of her son's murder by Indonesian forces in Balibo, East Timo

Eugene Moosa, Tokyo – Aviation experts discount the theory that zero visibility in dense smog could have caused the crash of an Indonesian Garuda airliner, but they have not ruled out a

In a new report, "Deteriorating Human Rights in East Timor," Human Rights Watch/Asia says the conflict in the disputed territory has intensified since a series of guerrilla attacks arou

[The following is a translation of an interview sent to ASIET by the underground Peoples Democratic Party (PRD)]

Azhar Basri, Jakarta – An Indonesian ministerial report has blamed 176 logging and plantation firms over the huge forest fires which had already choked most areas in southeast Asia, say

John Vidal – The scale of one of the world's greatest manmade environmental catastrophes was becoming clear last night as poisonous fog blanketed up to 70 million people in six south-ea

Yesterday morning, September 25, 30 activists from the National Committee for Democratic Struggle (Komite Nasional Perjuangan Demokrasi, KNPD) and workers from PT.

The announcement in New York yesterday by Foreign Secretary Robin Cook that the Foreign Office has blocked the sale of military equipment to Indonesia is being taken as a sign that the

Ian MacKenzie, Jakarta – Burning forest peat, too hot and thick to be put out by fire-fighting equipment alone, is now the major cause of choking smog spreading across Southeast Asia, d

Lewa Pardomuan, Jakarta – Forest fires in Indonesia have spread to rubber and palm oil plantations and are likely to hit output, officials and traders said on Friday.

Sydney – More than 10,000 Australians have said to be ready to provide shelter to East Timorese refugees facing deportation, despite risking two-year jail terms.

Jakarta – Bureaucratic problems are blocking the departure of six East Timorese who have sought sanctuary in the Austrian embassy in Jakarta and asked to leave to Portugal.

The twenty two year old conflict in East Timor can come to an end if the two main parties engaged in armed violence in the territory are inspired by the higher interest of peace and the

Jakarta – More than 1,300 workers at two shoe factories in North Jakarta went on strike yesterday and demonstrated at the House of Representatives, demanding welfare improvements.

Jakarta – Indonesian Footwear Manufacturers' Association (Aprisindo) contested yesterday U.S.

The International Secretariat of OMCT has received new information on the detention and trial of Mr Mochtar Pakpahan in Indonesia.

Background

Jakarta – The wife of Dwi Sumaji, alias Iwik, the defendant on the murder of Bernas daily's reporter Udin, said that her husband was at home in the night it happened.

8.45 am - 1.800 workers from several factories (each from different organisations), from the JABOTEK industrial area [outside Jakarta] together with students mostly from the National Co

Jakarta – Indonesian police have officially closed their investigation into the 1993 slaying of female labor activist Marsinah, which had sparked a controversy in the country and abroad

Jakarta – The Environment Minister has released a list of 176 timber companies which are considered to be "at fault" in [causing] the fires in Sumatra and Kalamantan.

Geoff Spencer, Jakarta – A drought that has destroyed crops across the Indonesian archipelago and other Pacific islands could force villagers to begin eating a famine diet of insects, b

Jakarta – The Indonesian military has accused East Timorese rebels of killing five soldiers and seven civilians in the troubled territory, it was reported yesterday.

[The following is an abridged translation of a leaflet sent to ASIET by the National Committee for Democratic Struggle (KNPD) which was distributed during the strike actions by workers

Martin Wolk, Portland – Nike Inc.

Lisbon – An East Timorese couple has been killed by Indonesia's intelligence service, Intel, the Timorese Socialist Association (AST) has said.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Pressure is mounting on the Indonesian government from various groups in the country to strike hard against firms responsible for the forest and land fires in

Kuala Lumpur – Malaysian non-governmental organisations staged a rare demonstration on Sunday demanding immediate and serious action from authorities to combat a smoky haze blanketing p

Jakarta – Indonesia has arrested nearly 600 people for alleged involvement in ethnic riots in South Sulawesi province, the official Antara news agency reported on Sunday.

The health of millions of Indonesians - and of people in neighbouring countries - is threatened by the smoke from blazing forests.

Jakarta – Six East Timorese, including a couple with two children, broke into the Austrian embassy in Jakarta on Friday and demanded political asylum, police sources said.

Jakarta – Police Friday detained two Australian trade unionists and at least nine Indonesian activists after ordering the closure of the annual meeting of a local union, witnesses said.

Up to 13 East Timorese men have been arrested in Dili, the capital of East Timor, and near the town of Semarang on the Indonesian island of Java.

Naomi Lee, Jakarta – Anti-Chinese riots in Ujung Pandang, which continued for a third day yesterday, have claimed three lives, police said, as victims of the violence - including Hong K

Louise Williams, Pringluan, Central Java – More than three months ago the wells dried up and the villagers began to gather to pray for rain, the elders murmuring fearfully about the las

Louise Williams, Jakarta – President Soeharto has publicly apologised to Indonesia's neighbours over thousands of forest fires which have sent a thick haze of smoke as far north as Kual

Ujung Pandang – Streets in the city of Ujung Pandang were quiet Wednesday, after security forces managed to quell two days of anti-Chinese rioting, a human rights group said.

Andreas Harsono, Jakarta – More than 200 Chinese-owned shops and dozens of vehicles were damaged in an riot which broke out in the capital of Indonesia's South Sulawesi province yesterd

Muklis Ali, Jakarta – Indonesia announced deep, wide-ranging spending cuts and delays in major projects on Tuesday to help cope with currency and share market upheavals.

It may not seem to be a privileged position, but the House speaker is the key to who could succeed Suharto, writes The Nation's Andreas Harsono.

Batam – A Batam company is selling large quantities of water daily to Singapore even though the island is suffering from a water shortage, an Indonesian newspaper has reported.

Jakarta – Indonesia abruptly shifted an ASEAN environmental meeting opening on Tuesday to Jakarta from remote Sulawesi due to smoke haze causing a pollution emergency over parts of Sout

Jakarta – Mobs stoned shops owned by ethnic Chinese and burned cars in the capital of Indonesia's South Sulawesi province on Tuesday after a young girl was hacked to death, police said.

Raju Gopalakrishnan, Jakarta – Big spending cuts unveiled in Indonesia on Tuesday will severely affect President Suharto's family, among the most sheltered members of the country's busi

[The following is slightly abridged translation of a statement sent to ASIET by the underground Peoples' Democratic Party (PRD)]