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March 25, 2006 HIDING in a tattered hut in West Papua's dense jungle and existing on food brought by sympathetic villagers, university student Everistus Kayep is confused by the maelstrom that has engulfed his life. Two weeks ago he was studying maths and management at Cendrawasih University, on the outskirts of West Papua's provincial capital of Jayapura. A native Papuan, he had been monitoring the accelerating tension in Indonesia's remote and resource-rich province. Demonstrations had erupted in Java while hundreds of kilometres to the east, in West Papua, blockades were manned by tribal locals armed with bows and arrows, skirmishes...

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A team of scientists exploring an isolated jungle in one of Indonesia's most remote provinces said they discovered dozens of new species of frogs, butterflies and plants — as well as large mammals hunted to near extinction elsewhere. The team also found wildlife that were remarkably unafraid of humans during their rapid assessment survey of the Foja Mountains, which has more than two million acres of old growth tropical forest, Bruce Beehler, a co-leader of the monthlong trip, said in announcing the discoveries on Tuesday. Two Long-Beaked Echidnas, a primitive egg-laying mammal, simply allowed scientists to pick...

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A powerful undersea earthquake shook Papua New Guinea early Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no immediate indications of whether it caused damage, injuries or a tsunami. The quake had an initial magnitude of 6.8 and struck at 12:20 a.m. in the New Britain region of Papua New Guinea, the USGS said. Its center was estimated to have been at a depth of six miles, it said. The region is about 1,440 miles north of Brisbane, Australia.

Magnitude 6.0 - PAPUA, INDONESIA 2005 August 8 08:33:56 UTC Preliminary Earthquake Report U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information CenterWorld Data Center for Seismology, Denver A strong earthquake occurred at 08:33:56 (UTC) on Monday, August 8, 2005. The magnitude 6.0 event has been located in PAPUA, INDONESIA. The hypocentral depth was poorly constrained. (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.) Magnitude 6.0 Date-Time Monday, August 8, 2005 at 08:33:56 (UTC) = Coordinated Universal Time Monday, August 8, 2005 at 5:33:56 PM = local time at epicenter Location 3.868°S, 140.143°E Depth 8.6 km (5.3 miles) (poorly constrained) Region PAPUA, INDONESIA...

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AUSTRALIA (ANS) -- There are fears that Kopassus, the Indonesian Special Forces, are fomenting unrest in Papua that would then appear to justify a massacre of the indigenous Papuans. Papuan human rights activist John Rumbiak says that Papua is a 'time bomb waiting to go off'. He says there are now more than a million Indonesians (nearly all Javanese Muslims) in Papua, closing the demographic gap on the 1.5 million largely Christian national Papuans. Rumbiak also said that 25,000 Indonesian troops had entered Papua since 2000. Furthermore, peace is threatened by the Laskar Jihad and the militias set up by...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

President Megawati recently (February 2003) signed a presidential decree dividing West Papua into three new provinces without the required approval of the indigenous Papuan population and its representatives. Autonomy would be granted to each province separately rather than to Papua as a whole. In two of these new provinces (West Irian Jaya and Central Irian Jaya) migrant Muslims would be politically dominant because of their large numbers. This decision seems to be aimed at ensuring central government control of Papua, reneging on former promises of increased autonomy to the indigenous Papuans. The move will further empower the migrant Muslim population...

the military destroyed many houses and at least 11 churches, mostly with flamethrowers. The human rights group Elsham said there were over 50 instances of the TNI, whenever they found a Bible, burning it in contempt. ---------------AUSTRALIA (ANS) -- Papua (Irian Jaya) is a former Dutch colony of Melanesian peoples on the western half of the island of New Guinea. Today, over 90% of all indigenous Papuans are officially reckoned as Christians. Papua was annexed by Indonesia in 1963. In December 2001 President Megawati Sukarnoputri signed a Special Autonomy law into effect. Church leaders were involved in writing the law,...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

Papua New Guineans among world's first farmers Friday, 20 June 2003 Papua New Guinea's highlands are one of the places where farming first began (Pic: ANU) Papua New Guinea's highlands was one of the cradles of farming, where some of the world's staple food plants were first domesticated, researchers have confirmed. The region now joins five others as a core area in which the agricultural revolution - the world's most dominant landuse - had its origins, report a team led by archaeologist Dr Tim Denham of Adelaide's Flinders University in today's issue of the journal Science. "Until recently, the evidence...

An Islamic militant group that has slaughtered thousands of Christians in Indonesia continues to operate despite formally announcing it had disbanded. Laskar Jihad, which wants to make Indonesia an Islamic state, has established at least 12 military training camps with more than 2,000 fighters in the eastern province of Papua, the former Irian Jaya, according to recent reports from human rights groups, the Assist News Service said.

The following is a release by the United States Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center: A major earthquake occurred about 60 miles (95 km) west-northwest of Wewak, New Guinea, Papua New Guinea or about 520 miles (840 km) northwest of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea at 12:44 PM MDT today, Sep 8, 2002 (Sep 09 at 4:44 AM local time in Papua New Guinea). A PRELIMINARY MAGNITUDE OF 7.5 WAS COMPUTED FOR THIS EARTHQUAKE. The magnitude and location may be revised when additional  data and further analysis results are available. No reports of damage or casualties have been received at...