Jakarta - The leaders of Indonesia's two largest political parties met Thursday to discuss a possible alliance ahead of this year's presidential elections.

The meeting between Vice President Jusuf Kalla and former president Megawati Sukarnoputri could pave the way for a coalition that could threaten reelection chances of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Megawati, who chairs the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), has been nominated to run in the July presidential election and is seeking a running mate that could boost her electability.

Jakarta - An Indonesian man had to undergo surgery after a horse bit off one of his testicles, news reports said Thursday.

Jakarta - More than 230,000 Indonesians lost their jobs between October and March as the world's fourth-most-populous nation was battered by the global economic downturn, media reports said Thursday.

Most of the lay-offs were recorded in the textile, garment, automotive, shoe-making, and paper industries, according to Sofyan Wanandi, chairman of the Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo).

Thousands of job losses were also recorded at palm oil plantations and in construction projects.

Jakarta - Indonesia tried to stop books written by three executed Bali bombers from being published but they made it to print in limited copies, a terrorism expert said Wednesday.

Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, Imam Samudra and Ali Ghufran, also known as Mukhlas, wrote the books called The Martyrs Trilogy in prison while they were awaiting execution for the October 2002 bombings.

Sidney Jones, adviser to the International Crisis Group think tank, said there was competition among radical publishing houses for their works before their executions last year.

Jakarta - An Indonesian man on trial for allegedly killing 11 people in a case that has captivated the country has published a book about his life, his attorney said Wednesday.

Kasman Sangaji - attorney for Verry Idham Henyansyah, better known as Ryan - said 20 copies of his client's book have been printed and the publisher had agreed to print 5,000 more soon.

Jakarta  - Separatist rebels on Tuesday shot and killed two motorcycle taxi drivers in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua, police said.

The men were attacked while they were carrying two passengers in Puncak Jaya district, an area where rebels of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) have been active, said Papua police chief Bagus Eko Danto.

The passengers were injured in the shooting, which was the first fatal attack carried out by the rebel group this year, the police chief said.