Pink Floyd release first new song since 1994 for Ukraine

Yahoo – AFP, April 7, 2022 

David Gilmour: 'We, like so many, have been feeling the fury and the frustration of this vile
act of an independent, peaceful democratic country being invaded and having its people
murdered by one of the world's major powers' (AFP/JOHN D MCHUGH) (JOHN D MCHUGH)

Pink Floyd have written their first new song in almost 30 years to support Ukrainians, the band announced on Thursday. 

"Hey, Hey, Rise-Up!" will be released on Friday, and be used to raise funds for humanitarian causes linked to the war. 

It samples Andriy Khlyvnyuk, from one of Ukraine's biggest bands BoomBox, singing in Sofiyskaya Square in Kyiv in a clip that went viral. 

Khlyvnyukh abandoned a world tour to return to Ukraine and help defend his country. 

"We, like so many, have been feeling the fury and the frustration of this vile act of an independent, peaceful democratic country being invaded and having its people murdered by one of the world's major powers," Pink Floyd said on their official Twitter feed. 

In a press release, band leader David Gilmour said he had been moved by Khlyvnyuk's video: "It was a powerful moment that made me want to put it to music." 

He was able to speak with Khlyvnyuk from his hospital bed in Kyiv, where the singer was recovering after being hit by shrapnel in a mortar attack, the record company said. 

"I played him a little bit of the song down the phone line and he gave me his blessing. We both hope to do something together in person in the future," Gilmour said. 

The image accompanying the song is of a sunflower, and was inspired by a viral video showing a Ukrainian woman insulting two armed Russian soldiers. 

In it, she tells the soldiers: "Take these seeds and put them in your pockets. That way sunflowers will grow when you all rest here." 

It is the first original music from Pink Floyd since 1994's "The Division Bell". 

Gilmour tweeted his opposition to the war soon after Russia's invasion, saying: "Putin must go". 

The band has also pulled their music from Russian and Belarusian streaming sites in protest at the invasion.

Indonesian army scraps 'virginity tests' on female cadets

Yahoo – AFP, 12 August 2021 

Indonesia's army has stopped imposing so-called "virginity tests" on female recruits,
 its chief said Thursday, following calls from rights groups to ban the invasive vaginal exams.

Indonesia's army has stopped imposing so-called "virginity tests" on female recruits, its chief said Thursday, following calls from rights groups to ban the invasive vaginal exams.

The military had long defended the unscientific "two-finger test" to check if a cadet's hymen was intact as a way to weed out recruits whose past sexual behaviour, they said, would damage its image. 

The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) welcomed the news -- calling the tests "discriminatory and intrusive" -- but cautioned they needed evidence the practice had ended. 

Army chief of staff Andika Perkasa said Thursday that the tests, which had been standard practice for decades, had been abolished earlier this year but did not specify a date. 

"Previously, it was part of the assessment (for female recruits), but now we are no longer doing it," he told reporters in Balikpapan on Indonesia's section of Borneo island. 

"The army always tries to learn and improve things within the organisation," he added. 

The practice of subjecting the fiances of servicemen to such exams had also been ditched, the army's commander said. 

Indonesia's Komnas Perempuan urged the army to put the pledge into written regulations, and for the air force and navy to do the same. 

"We need certainty that the 'virginity test' has been ended," commission head Theresia Iswarini told AFP on Thursday before Perkasa's announcement. 

"This test is discriminatory and intrusive. It can bring shame, fear and trauma for victims." 

Human Rights Watch, which has labelled the practice a "form of gender-based violence", welcomed the news. 

The World Health Organization has said the procedure lacks scientific validity and was not a reliable indicator of prior sexual intercourse. 

A petition to end the practice on Change.org, which has nearly 70,000 signatures, said the procedure was "painful, humiliating, and lacks the support of scientific evidence".

Landmark case says Aboriginal Australians cannot be deported

Yahoo – AFP, Holly ROBERTSON, February 11, 2020

Australia's highest court says immigration law does not apply to Aboriginal
Australians (AFP Photo/SAEED KHAN)

Aboriginal Australians are exempt from immigration law, the country's top court ruled Tuesday, in a historic decision that found indigenous people born overseas cannot be deported.

Australia had been trying to deport two men -- Papua New Guinea citizen Daniel Love and New Zealand citizen Brendan Thoms -- under laws that allow a convicted criminal's visa to be cancelled on character grounds.

Both men identify as Aboriginal Australians, each has one indigenous parent, and they have lived in the country since they were small children.

Love, who served time for assault, and Thoms, who had been jailed for domestic violence, have been battling in the courts to stay in Australia, arguing that they may be "non-citizens" but they are also not "aliens".

The High Court ruled in a decision that split the judges 4-3 that Aboriginal Australians "are not within the reach" of constitutional provisions relating to foreign citizens.

Indigenous people have inhabited the vast continent for more than 60,000 years, while the modern nation's constitution only came into force in 1901.

Thoms -- who was already recognised as a traditional land owner -- was accepted by the court as Aboriginal.

But the judges could not agree on whether Love was under a three-part test that considers biological descent, self-identification and community recognition.

Lawyer Claire Gibbs, who represented the men, hailed the decision as "significant for Aboriginal Australians".

"This case isn't about citizenship, it's about who belongs here, who is an Australian national and who is a part of the Australian community," she told reporters in Canberra.

"The High Court has found Aboriginal Australians are protected from deportation. They can no longer be removed from the country that they know and the country that they have a very close connection with."

The case marked the first time an Australian court has considered whether the government has the power to deport indigenous people.

But it also touched on the contentious question of how Aboriginality is defined in the law.

Gibbs said she was "confident" that they would eventually be able to prove Love's status as he was "accepted by his community as Aboriginal" and had "biological proof" that he was a descendant of the First Australians.

Lawyers will now pursue compensation claims on behalf of both men, who Gibbs said had suffered "severe embarrassment" and been "subject to ridicule" as a result of being Aboriginal men held in immigration detention.

Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge described it as a "significant judgement" that has "implications for our migration programs".

"On the face of it, it has created a new category of persons; neither an Australian citizen under the Australian Citizenship Act, nor a non-citizen," he said in a statement.

The government was reviewing the decision and its implications, Tudge said.

Thoms was freed from immigration detention following the ruling, while Love had been released back in September 2018.

Asia's first LGBT-focused streaming service tackles taboos

Yahoo – AFP, Catherine Lai, December 30, 2019

GagaOOLala brings more than 1,000 feature films, shorts, web series, and
documentaries to people across Asia, where censorship and traditional attitudes
mean there has been little in the way of gay content in the mainstream
media (AFP Photo/Roslan RAHMAN)

Singapore (AFP) - A rom-com about a lesbian flight attendant and a romance in a gay spa are among the shows featured on Asia's first LGBT-focused streaming service, which is pushing boundaries in an often highly conservative region.

GagaOOLala brings more than 1,000 feature films, shorts, web series, and documentaries to people across Asia, where censorship and traditional attitudes mean there has been little in the way of gay content in the mainstream media.

After launching in 2017 in Taiwan, a beacon for gay rights since becoming the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage, it has expanded to 21 territories including several that still criminalise homosexuality.

"One of the main impetuses for me to create GagaOOlala, (is) to kind of dispel a lot of the myths and misconceptions that a lot of people might have about LGBT people," said Jay Lin, a prominent LGBT rights activist in Taiwan who founded the platform.

"We're not all living really tragic lives -- we're entrepreneurs, we're fathers," the 46-year-old, who is raising twin boys with his partner in Taipei, told AFP.

With about 280,000 members, made up mainly of gay people but also including a significant number of straight women, its success comes as some progress is made on LGBT rights in parts of the region.

As well as Taiwan's move to legalise same-sex unions in May, India's Supreme Court last year struck down a colonial-era ban on gay sex.

Dire rights situation

But the gay rights situation remains dire in other countries where the platform operates -- making its presence in those markets all the more important, supporters say.

Gay sex is still banned in Singapore as it is in Malaysia, where in the past year women and men have been caned under Islamic laws for having same-sex relations.

The tiny, oil-rich sultanate of Brunei introduced death by stoning for gay sex as part of a harsh new sharia penal code earlier this year –- but later rolled it back following a storm of criticism.

Censorship also persists in some countries, with Malaysia's film board this year cutting gay sex scenes from "Rocketman", the movie-musical based on the life of British singer Elton John.

The platform -- which is planning a global launch next year -- has not run into any regulatory hurdles so far, according to Lin, but he acknowledged the need to tread carefully in more conservative places.

The service often relies on closed chat groups, social media and LGBT influencers for promotion instead of advertising openly.

Lin's team started by building up GagaOOlala's library with Western content, but has since branched out, making an effort to find content from across Asia.

Earlier this year GOL Studios, a sister platform, was launched to help LGBT filmmakers find talent and funding, as well as distribute and market their work.

Homegrown content

The platform ramped up its production of original content this year, making its first Thai film, its first lesbian feature film in Japan and a Germany-Spain co-production.

"As we have developed..., we have realised that actually a lot of Asians also want to see Asian faces, and watch Asian stories and watch films take place in places or cities that they're familiar with," said Lin.

For streamers focusing on niche areas like GagaOOLala, original shows are key to building their brands.

Lin said interest in the platform jumped after the recent release of the "Handsome Stewardess", a series about a Taiwanese, tomboyish lesbian who takes a job as a flight attendant to pursue her new love interest to Singapore.

"The Teacher", another original about a gay educator who is in love with an HIV-positive married man, also proved a hit, bagging best supporting actress at the Golden Horse awards, dubbed the Chinese-language "Oscars".

GagaOOlala is not alone in relying on original content to draw in viewers and boost its profile.

Bryan Seah, head of original productions at Southeast Asia-focused streamer Hooq, said people felt "pride" at seeing local performers on screen.

Viewers were sending a message that "I want to see my favourite Indonesian actor, I want to see my favourite Filipino director, fronting something that has the scale and ambition to match the best Korean content", he said.

Loopholes riddle Saudi reforms on 'guardianship' of women

Yahoo – AFP, Anuj Chopra, October 23, 2019

Saudi Arabia now allows women over the age of 21 to obtain passports without
seeking the approval of their 'guardians' (AFP Photo/FAYEZ NURELDINE)

Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi Arabia has eased travel restrictions on women but observers say loopholes still allow male relatives to curtail their movements and, in the worst cases, leave them marooned in prison-like shelters.

In August, the conservative kingdom allowed women over the age of 21 to obtain passports without seeking the approval of their "guardians" -— fathers, husbands or other male relatives.

The move, part of de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's plan to revamp the national image, ended a longstanding rule that prompted some extreme attempts to flee the kingdom.

But campaigners warn it is easy to sidestep the reform.

While allowing travel documents, Saudi Arabia has not done away with "taghayyub" -- a legal provision that means "absent" in Arabic and which has long been used to constrain women who leave home without permission.

"Guardians can still file a police complaint that their female relatives are 'absent', which would lead to their arrest and possible detention in Dar al-Reaya (women's shelter)," Eman Alhussein, a fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told AFP.

The system of shelters operated around the kingdom is opaque but accounts of conditions there paint a dire picture.

Activists including Human Rights Watch (HRW) say they are run like detention facilities, and it is unclear how many women they hold.

Saudi Arabia now allows women over the age of 21 to obtain passports without
seeking the approval of their 'guardians' (AFP Photo/FAYEZ NURELDINE)

"Saudi (fathers) can't stop the girls getting passports but they can still declare them missing to local police who will then track them down for the parents," a Western official told AFP, calling it a "massive loophole".

Saudi authorities did not respond to requests for comment.

Last year, members of the advisory Shura Council recommended the justice ministry stop accepting taghayyub cases as a way to slowly dismantle the guardianship system, but the suggestion seems to have been ignored.

Officials in Riyadh told AFP that dozens of women have applied for passports since the reform was announced.

"Today, I came to issue a new passport for the first time in my life," one 40-year-old woman told AFP as she made the application at a government office.

"I am very happy and this step gives confidence to Saudi women."

The move was celebrated as a historic leap for gender equality, triggering humorous online memes featuring women dashing to the airport with suitcases —- alone.

But it also prompted laments for the perceived loss of men's control, with one social media portrait showing fully veiled women wriggling underneath a barbed wire fence and emerging scantily clad on the other side.

A Saudi woman rolls her suitcase at the departure 

hall of the Jeddah Airport (AFP Photo)

'Restrict travel'

Campaigners, however, say that control is far from lost, with HRW warning that male guardians could also possibly circumvent the passport reform by seeking a "court order to restrict female relatives' travel".

Cases of filial "disobedience" can be filed against adult women -- a crime that can lead to imprisonment.

Women also still require a guardian's permission to marry or to be released from prisons and shelters.

Campaigners warn even those with valid passports could wind up in Dar al-Reaya.

Two Saudi women detained there for about a year after fleeing what they called abusive guardians told AFP they were watched round the clock through surveillance cameras inside their cells.

They said inmates were subject to flogging as punishment -- by men.

One said the shelter in Riyadh also kept a notebook to account for their menstrual period -- an invasive practice corroborated by HRW -- to ensure they didn't break rules surrounding Muslim prayers.

A document from the facility seen by AFP described one of the women as "frustrated", "rebellious" and seeking to sully her family's reputation. There was no mention of her guardian's alleged abuse.

"Some women can stay in these homes for a prolonged period if their guardians fail to receive them, perhaps as a way to punish them," said Alhussein.

Saudi women line up to apply for passports in Riyadh City (AFP Photo/

FAYEZ NURELDINE)

'Disobedient daughters'

When their guardians refused to get them out, the two women said they were transferred to another shelter known as Dar al-Diyafa, or "hospitality home".

They described it as a dark place with boarded-up windows and depressed women unclaimed for years. Others made desperate attempts to escape despite tight security.

Often the only legal escape is through an arranged marriage —- sometimes to strangers vetted by the shelter -— a move that transfers guardianship to the husband, campaigners say.

"Many women are stuck there for years with some waiting for someone to marry them —- and men come to the place with specifics such as 'I want a tall girl'," HRW researcher Rothna Begum told AFP.

Saudi authorities did not respond to repeated requests for access to the shelters.

The testimonies underscore how taghayyub -- often a tool against a young generation of what arch-conservatives call "disobedient daughters" -- effectively obstructs women from breaking free from abusive guardians.

They also offer clues into why Saudi women alleging abuse undertake perilous attempts to escape overseas despite the pro-women reforms, including a historic decree allowing them to drive.

"Women are free to get passports but guardians still control whether they can leave their homes," said Alhussein.

Indonesia minister stabbed by IS-linked pair

Yahoo – AFP, Agnes Anya, 10 October 2019

Indonesia's chief security minister Wiranto was rushed by helicopter to
Jakarta after a assassination attempt

Two members of an Islamic State group-linked terror network stabbed Indonesia's chief security minister Wiranto on Thursday, the intelligence head said, sending the powerful politician to emergency surgery for his wounds.

Television images showed security officers wrestling a man and woman to the ground in Pandeglang on Java island after the attack on Wiranto, who goes by one name, as he was exiting a vehicle.

The suspects were identified as 31-year-old Syahril Alamsyah and Fitri Andriana, 21 -- a married couple, according to local media.

They were members of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), an extremist group responsible for deadly suicide bombings at churches in Indonesia's second-biggest city Surabaya last year, State Intelligence Agency chief Budi Gunawan told reporters in Jakarta.

JAD is among dozens of radical groups that have pledged loyalty to the Islamic State (IS) group in Indonesia, which has long struggled with Islamist militancy.

Police said Indonesia's chief security minister Wiranto was one of several 

targets in a failed assasination plot earlier this year

Wiranto, 72 -- who police have said was one of several targets in an earlier failed assassination plot -- was rushed by helicopter to the capital, where he was treated for two knife wounds in his stomach.

A three-hour operation "went well", Indonesian cabinet secretary Pramono Anung told reporters at Gatot Subroto army hospital.

Anung said he had just seen Wiranto, whose "operation had finished and he entered the ICU."

"It is being handled very well by the hospital," he said in video posted by the detik.com news website.

President Joko Widodo earlier said Wiranto was "in surgery and I ask that all Indonesians pray that he gets well soon."

"And I ask for everyone's help in fighting radicalism and terrorism because we can only do it together," he added.

Three other victims -- a local police chief and two aides -- had non-life-threatening 

injuries from an attack that wounded Indonesia's chief security minister Wiranto

The assassination attempt comes just over a week before Widodo kicks off a second term as leader of the Southeast Asian archipelago of some 260 million people, the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation.

Three others -- a local police chief and two aides -- also suffered knife wounds in Thursday's attack but authorities said they had non-life-threatening injuries.

'Fought the police'

An eyewitness told an AFP reporter that the female attacker was dressed in garments that covered her body and face.

"When the car stopped, there were people circling around, protecting him," he said.

"But a man got into the circle and stabbed Wiranto. The woman also tried to stab him. He was arrested and the woman fought the police."

Last year, JAD staged a wave of suicide bombings by families -- including young children -- at churches in Surabaya, killing a dozen congregants.

Authorities routinely arrest suspected Islamic State group-loyal militants 

that they claim were planning bomb and other attacks

Many past attacks by Indonesian militants have been against police and other state symbols.

Authorities routinely arrest suspected IS-loyal militants that they claim were planning bomb and other attacks.

"JAD members are targeting what they call Ansharut Thagut (tyranny) and that includes senior government officials," said Muhammad Syauqillah, program director of the University of Indonesia's Terrorism Study Center.

Wiranto, the retired chief of the armed forces and a failed presidential candidate, was appointed to his post in 2016 and oversees several departments, including the foreign affairs and defence ministries.

He has faced controversy over alleged human rights violations and allegations of crimes against humanity linked to Indonesia's brutal occupation of East Timor.

In May, police said Wiranto and three other top officials were targeted in a failed assassination plot linked to deadly riots in Jakarta after Widodo's re-election victory.

A group of six people -- arrested before they could carry out the killings -- planned to murder the officials and an election pollster in a bid to plunge the country into chaos, police said at the time.

Saudi Arabia to enforce 'decency' amid tourism push

Yahoo – AFP, September 28, 2019

Saudi Arabia on Friday said citizens from 49 countries are eligible for online
e-visas or visas on arrival (AFP Photo/Fayez Nureldine)

Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi Arabia on Saturday said it would impose fines for violations of "public decency", including immodest clothing and public displays of affection, a day after the austere kingdom opened up to foreign tourists.

The interior ministry said it had identified 19 such "offences" but did not specify the penalties, as the ultra-conservative Islamic country begins issuing tourist visas for the first time as part of a push to diversify its oil-reliant economy.

"The new regulations require men and women to dress modestly and to refrain from public displays of affection. Women are free to choose modest clothing," a statement said.

"The regulations are meant to ensure that visitors and tourists in the kingdom are aware of the law relating to public behaviour so that they comply with it."

Saudi Arabia on Friday said citizens from 49 countries are now eligible for online e-visas or visas on arrival, including the United States, Australia and several European nations.

Kickstarting tourism is one of the centrepieces of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 reform programme to prepare the biggest Arab economy for a post-oil era.

But the conservative country, which forbids alcohol and is notorious for sex segregation, is seen as an unlikely destination for global tourists aside from Muslim pilgrims visiting holy sites in Mecca and Medina.

Men and women must avoid "tight fitting clothing" or clothes with "profane language or images", read an instruction on an English language website launched by the tourism authority.

"Women should cover shoulders and knees in public," it added.

But tourism chief Ahmed al-Khateeb said foreign women were not obligated to wear the body-shrouding abaya robe that is still mandatory public wear for Saudi women.

Prince Mohammed has sought to shake off his country's ultra-conservative image -- lifting a ban on cinemas and women drivers while allowing gender-mixed concerts and sporting extravaganzas.

The relaxed social norms in a kingdom have been welcomed by many Saudis, two-thirds of whom are under 30.

But new public decency guidelines, first approved by cabinet in April, are widely perceived to be vague and have sparked public concern that they would be open to interpretation.

They have also stoked fears of a revival of morality policing.

Saudi Arabia's religious police once elicited widespread fear, chasing men and women out of malls to pray and berating anyone seen mingling with the opposite sex.

But the bearded enforcers of public morality, whose powers have been clipped in recent years, are now largely out of sight.

Saudi Arabia is attempting a comeback on the global stage one year after journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder, but the crisis has weakened it and undermined its de facto leader's ambitious reforms, analysts say https://t.co/em7O5M25Ec pic.twitter.com/ZKdK9Nqwa6

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 29 september 2019

A personal bodyguard of Saudi Arabia's King Salman has been shot dead and seven others wounded, including security forces, during an altercation at a friend's home, authorities said https://t.co/25K67KmJ0d pic.twitter.com/SKz9nsf8dB

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 29 september 2019

Indonesia police fire tear gas at students protesting sex, graft laws

Yahoo – AFP, September 24, 2019

Protesters set fires and threw rocks at riot police in Makassar on Sulawesi
island to protest against a new criminal code law (AFP Photo/DAENG MANSUR)

Jakarta (AFP) - Police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters outside Indonesia's parliament Tuesday as thousands demonstrated nationwide against a new criminal code that would, among other things, outlaw pre-marital sex and weaken the country's anti-graft agency.

Protesters covered their faces and scattered in all directions as chaos erupted in the centre of the sprawling capital, Jakarta.

Police also fired teargas at rock-throwing protesters in Makassar on Sulawesi island, while demonstrators broke down a barrier outside the governor's office in Semarang on Java island.

"(We) forcibly dispersed student because they were carrying out anarchist acts, damaging government property and throwing stones at police," said Dicky Sondani, a South Sulawesi police spokesman.

The police action came after flag- and placard-waving demonstrators gathered 

across the Southeast Asian archipelago (AFP Photo/ADEK BERRY)

The police action came after flag- and placard-waving demonstrators gathered across the Southeast Asian archipelago -- including in cultural capital Yogyakarta and holiday hotspot Bali -- for a second day in a row.

On Tuesday, lawmakers debated a wide-ranging legal overhaul including hundreds of new laws that would criminalise pre-marital sex, restrict sales of contraceptives, make it illegal to insult the president, and toughen the Muslim majority country's blasphemy laws.

"We want the bill which is being debated to be revised," said Jakarta university student Amel.

"The police were excessive teargassing us. We weren't being violent," he added.

A vote on the bill was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but President Joko Widodo last week called for a delay in passing the proposed changes after a public backlash.

Riot police used water cannon against protesters in Sulawesi (AFP Photo/
Andri SAPUTRA)

The mooted changes could affect millions of Indonesians, including gay and heterosexual couples who might face jail for having sex outside wedlock, or having an affair.

Widodo's call for a delay came as the Australian embassy in Jakarta issued a fresh travel advisory, warning that the legislation could put unmarried foreign tourists in the crosshairs.

Millions of tourists visit Bali and other beach destinations in the Southeast Asian nation.

Widodo this week stood firm on plans to pass a separate bill that critics fear would dilute the investigative powers of the corruption-fighting agency -- known as the KPK -- including its ability to wire-tap suspects.

The police action came after flag- and placard-waving demonstrators gathered 

across the Southeast Asian archipelago (AFP Photo/ADEK BERRY)

Updating Indonesia's criminal code, which dates back to the Dutch colonial era, has been debated for decades and appeared set to pass in 2018 before momentum fizzled out.

A renewed push this year, backed by conservative Islamic groups, was met with a wave of criticism over what many saw as a draconian law that invaded the bedrooms of a nation with some 260 million people -- the fourth most populous on Earth.

An online petition calling for the bill to be scrapped garnered half a million signatures, while hundreds of thousands took to social media to vent their frustration.

Rioters torch buildings as chaos erupts again in Indonesia's Papua

Yahoo – AFP, 29 August 2019

Jakarta took control of Papua, a former Dutch colony, in the 1960s after
an independence referendum widely viewed as a sham

Indonesia's Papua plunged into chaos again Thursday as angry protesters torched buildings in its capital after nearly two weeks of riots and demonstrations in the easternmost province of the archipelago.

More than a thousand demonstrators marched around Jayapura hurling stones and setting fire to shops and an assembly building following a deadly clash in another part of the jungle-clad province, which shares the island with independent Papua New Guinea.

Carrying placards bearing the image of a banned flag, many called for independence from Indonesian rule and an end to racism against the minority group.

Papuans are ethnic Melanesians and have few cultural ties with the rest of Indonesia.

State power company PLN said the violence forced it to cut electricity in parts of Jayapura, a city of about 300,000 people.

"Several public facilities and buildings were damaged by the rioters," said National Police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo.

"Security forces are still trying to control the situation," he added.

The protest comes a day after violence flared in remote Deiyai, where a clash between protesters and Indonesian security forces left at least one soldier and two demonstrators dead, according to officials.

Hundreds of demonstrators marched through Papua's biggest city, 

Jayapura, setting fire to a regional assembly building

The confrontation sparked reports that Indonesia's military -- long accused of committing rights abuses against Papuans during a decades-old separatist insurgency -- had gunned down six protesters.

Authorities denied that claim and said they were attacked by hundreds of Papuans armed with machetes and traditional bows-and-arrows.

Some 300 extra personnel had been sent to Deiyai to restore order, officials said Thursday, after Jakarta deployed more than 1,200 police and military members to Papua last week.

'Smouldering anger'

The accounts of what happened in Deiyai could not be independently verified.

Conflicting reports are common in Papua, where independence supporters and the military frequently blame each other for violence.

The government in Jakarta also an ordered Internet blackout since last week, making confirming and sharing information difficult.

Riots and demonstrations have broken out in Papua since mid-August with buildings torched and street battles between police and protesters.

The unrest appears to have been triggered by the arrest this month of dozens of Papuan students in Java, who were also racially abused.

Police in riot gear stormed a dormitory in the city of Surabaya to force out students accused of destroying an Indonesian flag, as a group of protesters shouted racial slurs at them, calling them "monkeys" and "dogs".

Emigre Papuans living in the Indonesian capital protested in front of the 

presidential palace in solidarity with disturbances back home

One person suspected of organising the protest against the Papuan students in Surabaya had been named a criminal suspect, while a half dozen police officers have also been temporarily suspended pending an investigation.

Jakarta took control of Papua, a former Dutch colony, in the 1960s after an independence referendum widely viewed as a sham.

Despite a push to develop its infrastructure, many Papuans say they're treated like second-class citizens and have not received a fair share of vast mineral wealth in a region home to the world's biggest gold mine.

"This is the culmination of years of assuming that roads and money were the keys to addressing Papuan grievances," said Sidney Jones, director of Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC).

"The accusations of racism came on top of what was already smouldering anger," she added.

Jakarta took control of Papua, a former Dutch colony, in the 1960s after an independence referendum widely viewed as a sham

Hundreds of demonstrators marched through Papua's biggest city, Jayapura, setting fire to a regional assembly building

Emigre Papuans living in the Indonesian capital protested in front of the presidential palace in solidarity with disturbances back home.