Mark Dodd, Suai – When Detective Senior Sergeant Matt Reynolds took part in a recent murder case in Canberra, about 20 detectives were assigned within 24 hours to solve the killing.

Jakarta – Indonesian police fired warning shots and tear gas yesterday to break up a student demonstration in Pekanbaru during a visit by President Abdurrahman Wahid to the city in the Sumatran province of Riau.

The shots and tear gas were fired as the students attempted to break through the police security cordon around the governor's office, the Antara news agency said.

Susan Sim, Jakarta – As leaders of Aceh's armed rebel movement hovered on the brink of a peace agreement with Jakarta, officials here warned that if it backed out now, it would find itself isolated.

Yogyakarta – Radical Indonesian Moslem fighters who have vowed to launch a jihad, or holy struggle, in the bloodied Moluccas said on Saturday they had been forced to postpone their departure for the islands.

In the first part of our special report on the Indonesian economy yesterday, we looked at the controversial issue of fuel and food subsidies and the millions of Indonesians who are still mired in poverty

While Indonesia's middle class do not have to worry about their next meal, many of them are still going easy on imported goods and luxuries.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – In a surprise move, Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid yesterday proposed a meeting with Australian Prime Minister John Howard and East Timorese leader Xanana Gusmao to help repair strained relationships.

Jakarta – Crescent Star Party (PBB) chairman Yusril Ihza Mahendra acknowledged on Friday accepting Rp 1 billion from then president B.J. Habibie to help finance the newly established party prior to the 1999 general election.

Banda Aceh – Three military witnesses on Saturday told a court trying 24 soldiers charged with massacring 58 civilians in Aceh province last year that an officer, now declared missing, had ordered the killing of 23 people wounded in a shooting spree there.

Alastair McLeod, Jayapura – West Papuans have emerged from the far west town of Fak Fak with reports of East Timorese style militia threatening and attacking the local people.

In recent weeks 50 supporters of the movement for an independent West Papua have fled Fak Fak to the capital Jayapura in fear of the newly formed Sargas Merah Putih – the red and white militia.

Yogyakarta – Skepticism persists about the trial of 24 soldiers and a civilian charged in a mass killing in Aceh last year as violence continued in the strife-torn province on Thursday.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Former Information Minister Yunus Yosfiah has been accused of murdering five Western journalists in East Timor in 1975 by a new witness who gave evidence on an Australian television show.

Geneva – The United Nations welcomed on Friday a campaign by Indonesia to get East Timorese members of the Indonesian army in West Timor to resettle in other parts of the country or resign from the military.

Disappointment with Abdurrahman Wahid's (Gus Dur) government is leading to strange bedfellows, with the former ruling party, Golkar, the faction being most courted, says observer Azyumardi Azra, rector of the state-run Syarif Hidayatullah Institute of Islamic Studies in South Jakarta. The following is an excerpt of Wednesday's interview:

Jakarta – Legislators said after a closed-door consultative meeting that President Abdurrahman Wahid told them his decision to replace two economics ministers was due to their alleged involvement in corruption, collusion and nepotism.

Mark Dodd, Suai – An Indonesian court has jailed the notorious militia leader Laurentino Soares, known as Moko, for up to three years for illegally possessing firearms, according to United Nations observers.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Meeting 60-year-old Daruna as she chews betel nut in front of the piles of rubbish that are her main source of income, it is hard to see any evidence of Indonesia's economic upturn.

Jakarta – The government-sanctioned National Ombudsman Council received on Thursday a complaint of corruption in the Supreme Court.

Two years after the regional financial upheaval, the Indonesian economy is slowly regaining its footing. But the recovery is tentative and many painful tasks lie ahead. In the first of a two-part special report, The Straits Times looks at the controversial issue of fuel and food subsidies and the millions more who are still mired in poverty.

Bogor – Indonesia's forests are disappearing at a rate of 4,000 hectares a day and the government appears to be unable to do anything about it, experts said.

"The situation is getting worse and we should do something," said Jeffrey Sayer, director general of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

Seth Mydans, Dili – There is not much question about the language of commerce here as East Timor begins to define itself as a nation. The muddy central market is alive with the cries of moneychangers: "Dollar America! Dollar America! America, America, America, America!"

Mark Dodd, Dili – When pro-Jakarta militias went on their rampage of arson, murder and looting last September they filled the classrooms of Dili's secondary schools with drums of fuel to ensure maximum damage before torching the buildings.

Mark Dodd, Dili – The United Nations mission in East Timor is considering reducing its 8,000-strong peacekeeping force because of concerns over costs and possible social problems created by its military presence.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Air Force will receive six new Hawk jet fighters from the United Kingdom in June. They will be stationed at Supadio Air Base in Pontianak, West Kalimantan. "We expect the six British-made tactical attack aircraft will be sent soon.

Susan Sim, Jakarta – Mr Stanley Fischer, the world's chief economics tutor, may find out today if he has a student so compliant he wants to give him all credit for his decisions.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – A Christian religious leader yesterday said the latest outbreak of violence in the Malukus may not have been accidental, but timed to coincide with the three- day visit to the region by Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Makassar – Street rallies by disgruntled students protesting the dismissal of Minister of Industry and Trade Yusuf Kalla here started Wednesday off with a renewed threat to break away from the republic.

Jakarta – The government has agreed to raise teachers' functional allowances by 100 percent, far below various demands made by protesting teachers.

Vaudine England – Finding seizable assets in Mr Suharto's own name may prove difficult for investigators.

During an official probe in 1998, Mr Suharto said he had 22 billion rupiah (HK$24.2 million) deposited in three private banks and that his personal property included two houses in Jakarta and five hectares of land.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid faced anger among coalition parties within his already fractious six-month-old government yesterday after he fired two key financial ministers.

Several senior politicians raised the prospect of withdrawing their factions from the Cabinet in protest.

Vaudine England – The latest phase in the Government's continuing reshuffle signals a further consolidation of power by President Abdurrahman Wahid.

His technique is also impressive. He announced Monday's sackings while International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Stanley Fischer was in town, leading many to assume the fund had demanded the changes.

Jakarta – Almost half of the country's mangrove forests have disappeared since 1982, causing land abrasion by the sea and threatening biota living in that environment, activists said on Tuesday.

Jakarta – The spokesman for the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) yesterday defended the military's business ventures, saying it would be impossible to survive on state funds alone.

Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid said April 25 that foreign submarines must not sail through Indonesia's territorial waters without permission.

Jakarta – The Indonesian economy, battered by two years of financial and economic crisis, will post growth of four percent in 2000, up from 0.2 percent this year, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) predicted Wednesday.

Mark Dodd, Dili – The East Timorese leader, Mr Xanana Gusmao, and a senior United Nations official will hold a public meeting in Dili today to discuss the the country's number one social problem – unemployment.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – A man described by his friends as a "likable mafioso" has been scooped up in recent legal moves against people suspected of attacking Megawati Sukarnoputri's party headquarters in 1996.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – The long-awaited trial of 24 soldiers charged with the massacre of 58 civilians in West Aceh last July has been called a show that will be hampered by its connections to military legal procedures.

Jakarta – Some 1,000 teachers of kindergarten to high school across Jambi staged a noisy rally in front of the provincial legislative building on Saturday. They demanded a 300 percent raise in their salaries and 500 percent in extra allowances.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – National Assembly (MPR) chairman Amien Rais said that Indonesia's highest legislative body will not hold a special session this year amid speculation that several groups were working behind the scenes to support one to topple President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Jakarta – The government has started seizing assets belonging to former President Suharto, a spokesman for the Attorney-General's Office said yesterday. "His assets in various forms have been seized," spokesman Yushar Yahya told the Indonesiakini online news service.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Thousands of becak drivers took to the streets of central Jakarta yesterday to demand that their pollution-free form of transport again be allowed to ply Jakarta's central streets.

Associated Press in Banda Aceh – A landmark trial of soldiers accused in the massacre of 57 students and teachers in strife- torn Aceh province resumed on Saturday amid tight security as protesters claimed the proceedings were staged.

Klaten – President Abdurrahman Wahid rebuked criticism of his support for the revocation of MPRS Decree No. 25/1965, saying Communist political parties should be banned not the ideology. "I need to put this in the correct perspective. Our constitution does not prohibit communism.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – In the face of strong public criticism, the Attorney-General has reorganised staff and departments to give greater priority to the corruption case against former president Suharto.

The most obvious move has been taking the head of the investigating team, Chairul Imam, off the case pending his planned retirement.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government is shifting two-thirds of the judges in Jakarta to other courts outside the island of Java in response to public pressure and criticism of some court rulings.

The massive reshuffle is set to affect 50 to 60 per cent of judges throughout Jakarta, including all the chiefs and deputies in the capital's five district courts.

Banda Aceh – Two policemen and a civilian were killed in the latest violence in Indonesia's strife-torn province of Aceh, police and witnesses said yesterday.

The killings occurred just hours after the opening on Wednesday of a landmark human rights trial in Banda Aceh in which 24 soldiers and a civilian are charged with massacring 57 unarmed villagers.

The Laskar Jihad, a 10,000-strong force, is preparing to travel to Indonesia's Maluku province in a stated attempt to end the simmering sectarian violence between Muslims and Christians. An initial 3,000 volunteers are to arrive as early as April 23, threatening to fuel problems in the strife-torn province.

Nicole Winfield, United Nations – The first militia leaders accused of serious crimes in East Timor are expected to be brought to trial before international and East Timorese judges by June or July, a senior UN official said.

Agence France Presse in Jakarta – Armed forces commander Admiral Widodo Adi Sudjipto reassured the nation yesterday that the military had no desire to return to politics, and would dismiss anyone who did.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – The fate of Kartini bin Karim acquires special symbolic importance today. Diplomatic efforts are under way to free the Indonesian migrant worker from a death sentence of stoning in the United Arab Emirates for alleged adultery.