Muhammad Uzair, Palembang – Pupils of an elementary school in Banyuasin regency here attend classes in the village hall, after strong winds leveled their school to the ground last month.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Transparency International Indonesia (TII), a group devoted to fighting corruption, has estimated that the presidential candidates for the July 5 election failed to report a total of Rp 288 billion (US$31.3 million) in campaign funds to the General Elections Commission (KPU).

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Leading presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono denied accusations that he and his running mate Jusuf Kalla were discriminatory against Chinese-Indonesian businesspeople, saying his future government would foster unity for the good of the country.

Alue Gintong – The military operation to crush the rebellion in the Aceh province will be over within a year, President Megawati Sukarnoputri said.

Megawati, who flew into Aceh under heavy security today, pledged an end to the fighting at a ceremony where she addressed troops who have been battling since May 2003 after the collapse of a truce.

Nana Rukmana, Cirebon – Drought has hit some subdistricts of Cirebon, West Java, leaving some 3,000 families without clean water.

President director of the Cirebon Tap Water Company Nasija Warnadi, admitted on Wednesday that his company had been unable to meet household demands for water.

Zakki P. Hakim and Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – The next government will face the challenging task of completing deliberations of about 50 draft laws and regulations on the economy, or existing investors would flee the country, the top economics minister said on Wednesday.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – A legislator from PKB has proposed that the Indonesian Military (TNI), for which a bill is currently being deliberated by the House, be placed under the control of the Ministry of Defense.

John McBeth – Western governments and human rights groups could not hide their anger following a decision by an Indonesian appeals court to overturn the convictions of four security officials implicated in the killing and destruction that accompanied East Timor's independence vote in 1999.

The Indonesian government has ended a ban on the distribution of thousands of tonnes of rice – which had seen more than 1.5 million of the country's poorest people go hungry for the past three weeks.

Gunawan Mashar, Makassar – Students from two different groups in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar held demonstrations, one group was calling for corruption cases in the South Sulawesi provincial parliament to be investigated and the other was rejecting the draft law on the TNI (armed forces).

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – In an attempted show of force, rebels in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and Papua launched attacks separately on Indonesian security personnel on Tuesday, leaving at least 10 civilians injured, six rebels dead and one soldier heavily wounded.

Richel Langit, Jakarta – Politicians from Indonesia's big parties are ganging up against election favorite Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono by rallying behind his rival, President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Presidential candidates Megawati Soekarnoputri and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono were on the campaign trail again on Wednesday, this time attempting to convince senior citizens, especially retired military and police top brass, to vote for them in the September 20 election.

Paul Barber, London – Indonesia is fast learning the lesson that while elections are an important part of the transition from dictatorship to democracy, the more difficult parts include establishing the rule of law, eradicating corruption and ensuring military accountability to civilian institutions.

Jakarta – Around 100 demonstrators from the United People Against Militarism (Persatuan Rakyat Anti Militerisme, PRAM) have again demonstrated in front of the national parliament.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Antigraft campaigners questioned on Wednesday the government's commitment to corruption eradication, which President Megawati Soekarnoputri spoke of in her national address on Monday.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – A senior economic minister warned that the economic growth target of 5.4 percent, as set in the draft 2005 state budget, may not be attainable unless the next government dramatically improved infrastructure in the country.

Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri has warned that the country's unity is being threatened by separatist rebellions, as well as illegal sea and forest exploitation by criminals who exploit the weaknesses of the Indonesian police and military.

Vannessa Hearman – On August 11, East Timorese foreign minister Jose Ramos Horta and Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer agreed on a "framework" for a Timor Sea agreement. According to Downer, an agreement could be reached by Christmas.

Vannessa Hearman – Kirsty Sword-Gusmao, the Melbourne-born wife of East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao and chairperson of the Alola Foundation for women and children of East Timor, has condemned the stance taken by the Howard government on the Timor Sea oil and gas negotiations.

Jon Lamb – On August 5, the ad hoc human rights court in Indonesia accepted an appeal, and acquitted four generals of any involvement in the killing of at least 1500 East Timorese during the 1999 terror campaign that was orchestrated by the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI).

The Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) says it has killed 1,159 separatist rebels in Aceh province over the past 10 months as part of an ongoing operation to eliminate the outlawed Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Banda Aceh – A series of explosions that left at least seven people injured, including a five-year-old boy, in the country's troubled province of Aceh rumbled Indonesia's anniversary of independence, police officials said Tuesday.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta (and agencies) – Indonesia's President Megawati Soekarnoputri has acknowledged criticism of the country's human rights tribunals, which have cleared virtually all army and police officers of human rights abuses.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri, bracing herself for a tough election battle next month, yesterday came out in defence of her administration as she spelled out its accomplishments over the past three years.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The presidency is not yet in the bag for incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri.

There might have been a silver lining in the clouds for the 57-year-old leader after Indonesia's largest party endorsed her candidacy on Sunday night. But Golkar's support does little to guarantee a second term for her.

Semarang – Central Java: A severe drought has affected 14,399 hectares (ha) of paddy fields in Central Java, and more paddies are feared to be affected if rain does not fall soon.

The farmers have been unable to reap any harvest from 3,491 ha of the 14,399 ha affected by the drought, said Central Java Agricultural Office head Sukarno.

Zakki P. Hakim and Johannes Simbolon, Jakarta – Despite the lingering effects of the economic crisis, the nation's farming industry has grown over the past four years at a faster rate than during the previous decade's economic boom, according to a senior government official.

Dewi Santoso, Jakarta – Moonlighting teachers and the lack of toilets in many schools are among the reasons for alarming levels of the absence rate of elementary school teachers in Indonesia, a survey suggested.

Denpasar – The East Timorese government has stated its commitment to prevent the establishment of an UN Expert Commission, aimed at investigating human rights violations in East Timor following the 1999 ballot.

Jakarta – Car ownership is not for the faint-hearted in Indonesia – fuel supplies are erratic, the roads are often awful and price tags on cars are almost hilariously high.

Even so, new car sales are overtaking expectations despite the nation's economy being stuck on the hard shoulder.

Jakarta – Two humanitarian organizations in Papua have demanded the United Nations to investigate alleged violations of human rights in the prosecution of two Papuans being held by Wamena Police in connection with a burglary case.

Indonesian economic growth slowed in the three months to June, raising fresh concerns over country's hefty debts. Official figures show that the economy grew at an annual rate of 4.3% in the second quarter, down from 5% in the three months to March.

Gunawan Mashar, Makassar – Students in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar have again held demonstrations rejecting the draft law on the TNI (armed forces) at the local parliament on Jalan Urip Sumohardjo on Monday August 16.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The government has failed to extend the travel bans on 10 suspects and convicts in the misuse of Bank Indonesia liquidity support funds, sparking concerns that the suspects will be able to evade justice by fleeing abroad.

Jakarta – The Golkar party has endorsed President Megawati Sukarnoputri in next month's run-off election, providing a much-needed boost to her struggling campaign.

She finished second behind Mr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the July 5 presidential poll and continues to trail her former security minister in opinion polls.

Anton Aliabbas, Jakarta – What's the relationship with the commemoration of the Indonesia's 59th anniversary and the state of civil emergency in Aceh? Who knows.

Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri, facing a tight re-election race, Monday backed the creation of a truth commission to investigate rights abuses by the military that she said have left a "deep wound" on Indonesia.

Indonesia's presidential election race remains wide open despite a decision by the powerful Golkar party of former dictator Suharto to back incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri – a move unlikely to swing the vote, observers said.

Four martial arts gangs, armed with machetes and swords, fought pitched battles in the streets of East Timor over the weekend, leaving a police commander dead and dozens of houses burned to the ground, police said Monday.

Medan – It would be difficult for Indonesia to reach a 7 percent growth target in the next two years, a senior minister said on Saturday.

"It is impossible to reach such growth rate with present situation and a lagging world economy," Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti said in a seminar organized by the North Sumatra University (USU).

Jakarta – It is about to stage the second half of an election that promises to cement its young democracy into place. But in some ways, Indonesia still shows little sign of bringing its armed forces to heel.

Semarang – The appointment of 45 members of the Semarang legislative council was marked on Saturday by a noisy protest at City Hall from dozens of members of the Semarang People's Solidarity movement.

The protester said they were angry with the way councillors had behaved in the past by deceiving the people they represented and stealing public money.

Indonesian human rights activists have condemned a court decision clearing a top army general of gross human rights violations for his role in a 1984 military massacre.

Jakarta – The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) is being urged to immediately investigate the arrest and torture of eight Acehnese Humanitarian Volunteers Association (Perhimpunan Relawan Kemanusiaan Aceh, Pemraka) activists and two civilians by police on August 7.

Nethy Dharma Somba and Oyos Saroso, Jayapura/Lampung – One person was killed and seven others injured in a tribal clash in Papua over whether Indonesian Independence Day should be commemorated, a senior police officer said on Thursday.

A sensible, if imperfect, compromise appears to have retrieved relations with East Timor.

The people of East Timor are under no illusions about how much they owe Australia for its help in winning independence from Indonesia. So when East Timor recently accused Australia of bullying and stealing oil revenue this signalled a serious dispute.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Indonesian prosecutors have again failed in their attempt to convict soldiers accused of gross human rights abuses, with the head of the army's notorious Kopassus special forces yesterday cleared of all charges by a human rights tribunal.

M. Taufiqurrahman and Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Weak indictments by prosecutors because of alleged pressure from the Military were blamed on Thursday for acquittals of Army generals from charges of gross human rights abuses in the 1999 East Timor violence and the 1984 Tanjung Priok massacre.

Nethy Dharma Somba and M. Aziz Tunny, Jayapura/Ambon – The Jayapura District Court in Papua province sentenced separatist leader Yance Hembring, 50, to 10 years in prison for treason.

The sentence, handed down on Tuesday, was heavier than the five years demanded by prosecutors. Yance said he would consider appealing against the ruling.