Jakarta – At least three people were killed in religious clashes on Thursday in Indonesia's Maluku province, as police arrested the leader of a Christian group seeking independence for the region.

Kalasan, Sleman – A group of people ransacked a Biblical Church in Taman Martani village, Kalasan, on Tuesday some 14 kilometers east of Yogyakarta when Sleman regency officials were discussing the church's operation.

There was nobody inside the church when the vandalism took place, and the church established in the last of the 1980s suffered only minor damage.

Chris McCall, Jakarta – Sitting in jail waiting to hear his fate, feared East Timor militia chief Eurico Guterres is accusing his nemesis Xanana Gusmao of selling out his people.

Catharine Munro, Jakarta – An unlikely gathering of Indonesian rock stars, criminals and retired soldiers yesterday converged on a Jakarta courtroom in support of East Timorese militia leader Eurico Guterres.

Jakarta – Security authorities called on the country's political elite on Tuesday not to mobilize the masses to the streets, but to sit at the same table and seek solutions to their disputes.

John Aglionby, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has devolved a number of government powers from Jakarta to the provinces and districts. The aim is to detangle the heavily centralized central government and give the country's outer fringes some control over their fate. But for the moment, chaos – not control – appears to be the only dividend.

Arrested by Indonesian police in Irian Jaya for reporting while on a tourist visa, Swiss journalist Oswald Iten spent 11 days in jail before being deported. This is what he saw from his cell.

Banda Aceh – Student groups in Indonesia's Aceh province Tuesday called for a full ceasefire between the government and separatist rebels as violence in the region claimed another life.

They said a truce between Jakarta and the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) that took effect in June and is due to expire on January 15 has failed to reduce violence in the province.

Jakarta – The Coordinating Minister for the Economy Rizal Ramli said on Monday that the government would continue to discuss with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ways to improve the implementation of the new regional autonomy law.

Jakarta – The Finance Ministry said on Monday that it had issued 41 new decrees, including 38 new tax and excise decrees, in a bid to meet the government's 2001 state budget revenue targets and to support the decentralization program.

Bandung – Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto asserted here on Monday that the Army is committed to solving security matters but asked other parties to seek the root of the problems plaguing the nation.

Jakarta – Police said Tuesday they were investigating records kept in a Jakarta mosque on Indonesian Muslims who have fought in Afghanistan, as part of their probe into the deadly Christmas Eve church bombings.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – In what could become another political hot potato for President Abdurrahman Wahid's beleaguered government, the country's highest Islamic authority disclosed yesterday that it knew as far back as September last year that pork enzymes had been used in producing a popular flavour enhancer.

Jakarta – Chairman of the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI) Muchtar Pakpahan said on Saturday that Indonesian laborers are still unable to freely express their opinions due to the continuing repression of security apparatuses.

Denis Dragovic, Dili – For several months I have been watching the United Nations "rescuing" East Timor. The half-term report is not promising.

The UN's overzealous moves into missions where it lacks the experience, internal structural systems, or competent personnel will inevitably and regrettably lead to continuing failure – and eventual extinction.

Jayapura – Eleven locals from Wamena were still being detained here on Sunday after after they were apprehended on Thursday for carrying sharp weapons.

They were part of a group of 61 people who left their hometown in Arso and Genyem areas of the town of Wamena, about 290 kilometers southwest of here, amid rumors of a clash between security forces and separatist rebels.

Jakarta – Mining and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said yesterday that a presidential decree will soon be issued to delay handover of mining autonomy to the provincial administrations across the country for up to five years.

Jakarta – The National Awakening Party (PKB) says it can't ban thousands of East Java Muslims from coming to Jakarta to stage rallies in support of embattled President Abdurrahman Gus Dur Wahid.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid on Sunday said that despite mounting criticism of his rule, he and his government faced no immediate political danger and called on his supporters not to resort to mobilizing masses in his defence.

Jakarta – Question: What is the going rate for elected local office in most of Indonesia today? Answer: At least 1 billion rupiah (S$180,000).

Jakarta – At least 500 Irianese are seeking refuge in Papua New Guinea (PNG) due to fear of erupting violence from clashes between rebel groups and the Indonesian security authorities, Antara reported on Saturday.

The people were mostly residents of Jayawijaya, the hinterland of Jayapura, which is located close to the border with the neighboring country.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid revealed on Saturday that there were four major groups trying to unseat him from his presidential chair, citing that systematic attempts have been launched by the groups starting from January 2000.

Shefali Rekhi – Indonesia is lurching towards another crisis given the vulnerability of the economy and differences among the political elite, the head of a prominent Indonesian think-tank warned yesterday.

Tim Dodd – Which Asian political leader is blind, overweight and in delicate health, but likens himself to the celebrated Italian football star, Paolo Rossi? The answer? President Abdurrahman Wahid of Indonesia.

Jakarta – A senior police detective revealed on Friday that one of four suspects in the Christmas Eve bombing case has confessed to having received explosives training in Afghanistan.

Jakarta – Make or break talks on Aceh will commence in Davos, Switzerland, on Saturday with Indonesian government negotiators likely to make one final offer to Free Aceh Movement (GAM) representatives for special autonomy in the province.

Banda Aceh – Separatist violence flared in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province, leaving 11 people dead, police and witnesses said Saturday. Friday's deaths – nine civilians, one police officer and a separatist rebel – bring to 24 the number killed this year.

Jakarta – Indonesia's central bank has refused an order to freeze the bank accounts of a fugitive son of former president Suharto, saying it has no authority to do so, the state Antara news agency said Saturday.

Jakarta – Police in the Indonesian capital have warned the public against a burgeoning blackmail racket in Jakarta run by groups posing as journalists who prey on government officials and businessmen.

Jakarta – Rival villagers fought with guns and machetes in clashes that killed nine people on a resort island packed with tourists, police said Thursday.

Jakarta – Millions of Indonesian civil servants are pressing for new regional autonomy laws to be changed, fearing they will lose their salary ratings and promotion system, a report said Friday.

Robert Garran – Australia and East Timor remain far apart in crucial talks over revenue from the Timor Gap oil and gas fields that could become a mainstay of the new country's economy.

Jakarta – Per-capita income in Indonesia in the year 2000 stood at between 600 and 700 dollars, almost no improvement over 1999, according to a senior government economist.

Kupang – Following a clash between East Timorese refugees and local residents, hundreds of East Timorese refugees were returned to refugee camps, officials said on Wednesday. The refugees were returned to Noelbaki and Tuapukan refugee camps.

Peter Symonds – A series of bomb blasts at churches in Jakarta and other cities across Indonesia on Christmas Eve underscores the country's political fragility and the tenuous character of President Abdurrahman Wahid's grip on power.

Banda Aceh – Separatist rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province said Wednesday they had warned Mobil Oil Indonesia, a subsidiary of US-based Exxon Mobil, to leave the region for its own safety.

Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan – Brandishing sharp weapons, dozens of native Dayak tribesmen in the Tangkiling subdistrict here took to the Trans-Kalimantan highway on Monday following rumors of an impending attack by migrants.

Jakarta – A notorious former East Timorese militia leader went on trial here Tuesday charged with inciting criminal activities against the state during a weapons handover in West Timor.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – When district administrators in the Indonesian province of Kalimantan, on Borneo, were asked to launch pilot projects for autonomy, they spent most of the money on luxury offices and official residences.

Jakarta – The National Police will remain a nationwide institution despite the implementation of regional autonomy, which started on Monday.

Calvin Sims – Cianjur – In this verdant farm belt of West Java, where sorcery and superstition have deep roots, few were surprised last September when an angry mob decapitated a 70-year-old woman accused of casting spells that made people ill.

Uli Schmetzer, Jakarta – Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra loved fast cars and fast women, and at the peak of his playboy days he bought his own racetrack and a stake in Italian automaker Lamborghini.

Jakarta – Two months after former President Suharto's youngest son was ordered arrested, the ease with which he has evaded capture is causing increasing embarrassment to the country's beleaguered President.

Jakarta – Jakarta Police admit that the simple methods used by the Christmas eve bombers have baffled investigators in their quest to uncover more evidence.

George J. Aditjondro – Widespread forest fires, covering significant proportions of Sumatra and Kalimantan, with its smoke and haze drifting to Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia, have become an almost annual occurrence in archipelagic Southeast Asia. Yet, the Indonesian government has not taken drastic steps to prevent their recurrence. Why?

Jack Rieley – Southeast Asia contains seventy percent of the world's total tropical peatland, mostly in Indonesia and Malaysia. But these vast peatland landscapes are under great pressure from years of resource exploitation and land development.

Chris McCall, Jakarta – Church investigators have detailed a catalogue of horrors perpetrated on Christians by Islamic militias in the Maluku Islands.

Hundreds of circumcisions were carried out with a single razor blade, they said, causing heavy bleeding and infection. Some women were subject to genital mutilation. Victims were sent into the sea for "disinfection".

Vaudine England – Near Jember, deep in East Java, is the Meru Betiri National Park, home to near-extinct panthers and one of the last great rainforests. But this park could be wiped out as a result of the new regional autonomy law.

Vaudine England – The Government will keep control of foreign, defence, monetary, judicial and religious policy but devolve many other powers to legislatures at the district level under a law that comes into effect today.

Susan Sim, Jakarta – As the architect of the regional autonomy laws that take effect throughout Indonesia today, Professor Ryaas Rasyid used to tell district officials that if he believed Jakarta was not serious about devolving its powers to them, he would resign his Cabinet post. He is about to do so.