Linda Tenenbaum – Four months after the Australian-led military occupation of East Timor, the United Nations is establishing a colonial-style administration in the former Indonesian territory. Already, its callous indifference to the plight of the local population is fuelling growing resentment.

By Dewi Loveard, Jakarta – A local conflict rooted in long- simmering religious enmity. That is how Jakarta views the Muslim-Christian fighting in Ambon and other parts of the Maluku island chain. Scene of bitter sectarian strife over the past year, the Malukus have seen a fresh outbreak of violence in recent weeks.

Vaudine England in Jakarta and Agencies in Mataram – Sporadic looting and attacks on ethnic Chinese and Christians continued for a fourth day on the tourist island of Lombok yesterday.

But by afternoon a measure of calm had been restored by the hundreds of troops and police rushed to the island east of Bali. Tourists on Lombok continued to flee, however.

Associated Press – At least seven people have died in the latest round of violence in the strife-torn Aceh province, human rights activists said on Friday.

The head of the People's Crisis Centre in the Bireum region said five bodies were found on Thursday with gunshot wounds. He said two of the dead were student human rights activists.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid expects his first Budget, which tries to meet a multitude of conflicting economic challenges, to return Indonesia to pre-crisis growth levels of 6-7 percent within five years.

Associated Pressm, Washington – The United States gave Indonesia's fledgling democracy a vote of confidence on Thursday by substantially increasing aid to the world's fourth most populous nation.

Jakarta – Indonesia's new Government unveiled its first Budget yesterday with pledges to reform the bankrupt banking sector. But it shied from granting the country's independence- minded regions more control over their finances.

John Martinkus, Dili – Pro-Indonesian militia challenged the authority of Australian troops in the East Timorese enclave of Oecussi this morning, the fifth time in the past three days.

The clashes with the militia, including one this week in which militiamen were wounded and one reportedly killed, have baffled the Australian-led Interfet UN peacekeeping force.

Ray Brindal, Canberra – Australia and East Timor stand to reap hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties if oil and natural gas projects in the zone of cooperation in the Timor Sea proceed, an East Timorese spokesman said Thursday.

Tensions are rising as the rebuilding of East Timor begins, Conor O'Clery writes from Dili.

Margot Cohen, Jakarta – It was a gut-wrenching evening for the Defenders of Islam.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government on Thursday asked parliament to approve a 10.5 percent rise in overall defence and security expenditure, but a 71.9 percent cut in development spending for the armed forces.

John Aglionby, Jakarta – The foreign office minister John Battle yesterday defended the resumption of British arms sales to Indonesia in spite of the rapidly escalating social unrest, a divided military and warnings from other countries.

Singapore – About 100 armed protestors have withdrawn from a power plant they illegally occupied at a Singapore-managed industrial park on Indonesia's Bintan island as part of a truce over land compensation claims, officials said Thursday.

Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) top brass lashed out at rumors of a coup attempt by the armed forces, saying such a move was contradictory to TNI culture.

TNI Chief of Territorial Affairs, Lt. Gen. Agus Widjojo, said after addressing a seminar on nationalism here that the country's five decade history has never seen a military plan to topple the government.

Jonathan Thatcher, Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid on Wednesday backed his controversial former top general Wiranto, but said he would have to step down if found guilty of human rights abuses in East Timor.

Sam King, Dili – The stated aim of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) is to effectively administer the country during the period of transition to a popularly elected government.

Conor O'Clery, East Timor – The electricity power station in Los Palos, a remote town on the eastern plains of East Timor, survived the devastation wrought on the former Portuguese colony by pro-Indonesian forces in September. All it lacked was diesel fuel.

Since the coming to power of Indonesia's brutal New Order regime in 1965, discussion and dissemination of Marxist ideas has been banned in Indonesia. However, on November 20, 200 students and activists gathered at the Bandung Institute of Technology campus for a seminar on the ideas of Karl Marx and their relevance in Indonesia.

Jon Land – The low wages that workers receive in East Timor today are little different from the pre-referendum rate, but given the dramatic increase in food and basic commodity prices since then, East Timorese can afford to purchase only a fraction of what they could previously.

Jakarta – A team promoting reconciliation in the strife-torn Maluku islands has named four men suspected of stirring up sectarian violence, and linked former president Soeharto and ex- defence chief General Wiranto to the clashes.

Vaudine England in Makassar, South Sulawesi and Agencies – Indonesia's leading reformist soldier and the regional commander for Sulawesi, Major-General Agus Wirahadikusumah, wants a neutral peacekeeping force to be deployed in the neighbouring Maluku Islands.

Makassar – A fierce clash between demonstrators, armed with swords and wooden bats, and military troops erupted at about 9pm local time in Makassar on Tuesday evening.

Max Lane – For the first time since 1974, a public split has emerged within the Indonesian army's top generals over how best to preserve the political authority of the Indonesian armed forces (TNI). The split has been provoked by the inquiry, launched by the Indonesian National Commission for Human Rights, into the events in East Timor that followed the August 30 referendum.

Jakarta – The government has officially revoked Presidential Instruction No. 41/1967, which restricted the observance of Chinese religious practices and traditions.

Ministry of Home Affairs spokesman Herman Ibrahim said on Tuesday that Presidential Decree No. 6/2000 was issued on Monday to revoke the 33-year- old instruction.

Jakarta – On Monday, the government announced a planned revision to the 1999 election law which would include dissolving the present General Elections Commission (KPU).

Andrew Marshall, Jakarta – Indonesia's powerful bank restructuring agency went on the offensive on Tuesday in the battle over control of the country's largest automaker, Astra International, launching a bid to change the firm's management.

Washington – Indonesia's struggle for democracy is facing tough challenges and must be supported from the outside, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Tuesday.

Canberra – The commander of the multinational peacekeeping force in East Timor said Monday that he had issued a warning to his troops after a group of women complained of sexual harassment.

Jakarta – Indonesia on Monday urged the United Nations to give Jakarta the chance to complete its own inquiry into atrocities in East Timor before stepping up international action.

Ian Timberlake, Dili – East Timor's leadership plans to start paying volunteer public servants as part of measures to ease growing frustration over the lack of progress since Indonesian rule ended.

The National Consultative Council (NCC) has also agreed to create a central fiscal authority which will be the foundation for a finance ministry.

Banda Aceh – Representatives of 15 international non- government organizations concluded their two-day meeting here on Sunday putting more pressure on the Indonesian government to soon end the violence in the restive province.

Terry McCarthy – On the streets of Ambon, people describe what's happening in their homeland as perang – war.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has said he plans to continue replacing senior government and military officials in an effort to wipe out corruption and strengthen professionalism.

Jakarta – The marginalization of Christians and a power struggle among local politicians are behind bloody year-long clashes in Indonesia's Maluku islands, analysts say.

Three people have been injured in Dili during violent scuffles when thousands of poor and unemployed East Timorese scrambled to apply for jobs offered by the United Nations administration.

They were frustrated their applications for about 2,000 available positions had been rejected. When the UN recently advertised the positions it received 9,000 applications.

Jakarta – The government decision to start a fresh investigation into alleged widespread sexual abuse during the May 1998 riot received mixed reactions from female activists concerning the relevance of the inquiry.

Vaudine England – Throughout the telling of their individual stories of fighting and displacement, the Christian refugees now in Bitung, North Sulawesi, are clear on one point – the root of each quarrel which became a killing spree was not religion but ethnic and economic competition.

New York – The United States warned Indonesia's military on Friday not to overthrow the country's new president and to cooperate with national and UN investigations into human rights abuses in East Timor.

Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) claims to have uncovered a plot to provoke violence in Ambon and clashes in other parts of the Maluku province, where thousands have been killed and injured in a year of religious rioting.

Reuters, Tokyo – Indonesia faces a bank-sector meltdown and a political break-up that could trigger a financial crisis, according to a senior official of the Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC).

Jakarta – In the wake of mounting criticism for its alleged indifference, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas Ham) set up on Friday a commission to investigate atrocities in Maluku and North Maluku.

Jakarta – The government will intensify taxation efforts and reduce new foreign borrowing and investment spending to control the budget deficit for the 2000 fiscal year at a maximum of 5 percent of the gross domestic product, finance minister Bambang Sudibyo said on Friday.

Michael Richardson, Singapore – Like many other institutions from the rule of former President Suharto of Indonesia, the headquarters of the central bank in Jakarta has an impressive facade.

Reuters in Jakarta – Indonesia's military said on Friday it would send hundreds of crack troops to the bloodied Malukus to help quell widespread violence between Muslims and Christians.

United Nations civilian police have arrested a pro-Indonesian militiaman implicated in one of the first mass murders in East Timor last year.

A spokesman for the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor, Mr Refik Hodzic, said yesterday that a man had been arrested at his home in Liquica on Monday over murders committed in April last year.

Dili – A number of pro-Indonesian militiamen and members of their families were attacked when they tried to return to their homes in East Timor, a UN official said Friday.

Several people were injured in fights with their neighbors in recent days, said Paul Stromberg, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Sangwon Suh and Tom McCawley, Jakarta – Abdurrahman Wahid must have the toughest job on the planet. As if governing the fourth-most populous nation in the world isn't challenging enough, Indonesia's president has inherited a host of problematic legacies, each of which has the potential to derail a government that is not even 100 days old.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid yesterday sacked a key economic official over the snail-like pace of banking reform, which is becoming a drag on economic recovery.

Banda Aceh – Representatives of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have rejected President Abdurrahman Wahid's offer of protection and possible clemency if leaders of the rebel group attend an Acehnese gathering slated for January 25.