Dewi Santoso, Jakarta – A controversial harm reduction program that was introduced by the government on Friday has split opinion among activists over how effective it will be in containing the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – A bomb exploded inside the headquarters of Indonesia's Election Commission yesterday just as the members were preparing to announce the results of the July 5 presidential poll.

Indra Shalihin, Jakarta – An action commemorating July 27 in front of the city's government offices in Jakarta has ended in clashes. Students who were demanding that Jakarta governor Sutiyoso be tried in relation to the July 27 attack(1) were involved in a clash with Pamong Praja security guards after they forced their way onto the grounds.

Risna – On July 27, 1996, a bloody tragedy occurred which began with an attack on the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party headquarters in Central Jakarta by a group organised by the military.

Jafar G. Bua, Palu – If July 27 commemorations are usually identified with President Megawati Sukarnoputri, this was not the case in city of Palu, Central Sulawesi, where the commemorations was instead marked by actions rejecting Megawati and presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY).

Triono Wahyu Sudibyo, Semarang – Two student groups have held actions to commemorate July 27(1). One of the groups presented the Central Java National Election Commission (KPU) with a gift of rotten tomatoes while another group brought flowers. Both condemned the repressiveness of the military and demanded that cases involving the shooting of students be investigated.

IN their testy negotiations over oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea, the Australian and East Timorese sides have been driven solely by their respective national interests. This is good and proper. If Australia wants to provide assistance to East Timor, it should do so through the transparent mechanism of aid, not by giving way on maritime boundaries and ceding bits of Australia.

Fadli, Batam – The Batam municipal government will soon launch a raid against unmarried couples living together.

The plan will be executed in August this year, following the recent order by Batam Mayor Nyat Kadir, said Rayanis Aminah, the spokesman of the Batam social affairs office.

Palu – Around 100 protesters grouped in the Cross-religious Forum for Central Sulawesi, staged a rally here on Monday to demand that the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) probe a recent church shooting.

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar – The tragic events of July 27, 1996, were instrumental in Megawati Sukarnoputri's path to the Indonesian presidency. With the release of official results from the July 5 elections on Monday showing her in second place, Megawati hopes that the events of this seventh-anniversary week will pave the way to her re-election.

Former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is still favourite to win Indonesia's presidential election run-off in September but the race will be close, analysts say.

Monday's explosion at the General Elections Commission (KPU) office aside, there was not a lot of excitement to mark the announcement of the official results of the July 5 presidential election.

Nana Rukmana, Indramayu – The Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) said on Monday it was investigating a boycott of a presidential election revote at the Al-Zaytun Islamic boarding school in Indramayu regency, West Java.

Melbourne – Australia has warned that it may suspend the next round of negotiations with East Timor on a maritime border in the resource rich Timor Sea that will decide the ownership of billions of dollars worth of oil and gas.

Australia and East Timor held talks in April and are scheduled to meet again in September.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A recent study conducted by the Asian Labor Network on International Financial Institution (ALNI) has shown that a number of ongoing projects financed by the World Bank in Bali, infringe on core labor standards.

Jakarta – All convictions of the Bali bombers remain in force despite a legal decision that the law under which they were tried is unconstitutional, the head of the court which made the ruling said yesterday.

Jakarta – Hundreds of supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) reaffirmed on Tuesday their stance against any candidate with a military background, following Monday's announcement of the ballot results.

Kurniawan Hari and Evi Mariani, Jakarta – An explosion halted the finalizing of the presidential election vote count by the General Elections Commission (KPU) for several hours on Monday afternoon.

Tiarma Siboro and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The final results of the presidential election announced on Monday show that the number of people who did not use their right to vote on July 5 increased to 32,044,063, or about 20.9 percent of registered voters.

Abdul Khalik and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Police admitted on Monday that a video compact disc (VCD) recording of a police meeting in Banyumas, Central Java, was genuine but denied accusations that they had sided with Megawati Soekarnoputri in the July 5 presidential election.

Jakarta – Former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid turned down a judge's suggestion on Monday that he settle his dispute with the General Elections Commission (KPU) out of court.

"There will be no amicable settlement," Gus Dur said at the Central Jakarta District Court.

Jakarta – A final tally of most votes in Indonesia's presidential election has confirmed ex-general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as the winner, the election authority said yesterday, a day before the official results were to be announced.

Sisira Jayasuriya and Chris Manning, Canberra – The recent announcement by the Investment Coordinating Board Chairman that foreign direct investment (FDI) was down by one-third in the first half of 2004 is hardly news these days (The Jakarta Post, July 15).

A bomb has rocked the offices of Indonesia's election commission, delaying the announcement of the winner of this month's presidential poll.

Matthew Moore – Just an "advisory opinion" is how Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has for three days been playing down Friday's stunning decision by Indonesia's highest court upholding an appeal by one of the Bali bombers.

A. Junaidi, Jakarta – A group of non-governmental organizations demanded on Saturday that the Attorney General's Office resume its investigation into Sjamsul Nursalim, saying the President's order to stop the legal process against the business tycoon violated the Anticorruption Law.

Nana Rukmana, Indramayu – More than 11,500 voters from the Al-Zaytun Islamic boarding school boycotted the presidential election revote on Sunday, but committee officials declared the poll results valid, while observers called for a criminal investigation into the matter.

Jon Afrizal and Indra Harsaputra, Jambi/Surabaya – The celebration of National Children's Day on Friday, may be already over, but there is work to be done, for people of all walks of life in the country, especially the government on issues that need to be addressed immediately.

Jakarta – Controversy over Newmont's operations, sparked by allegations from non-governmental organizations that the firm polluted waters in North Sulawesi, has dealt another blow to the nation's mining industry and hurt investment in the sector, an official and expert said on Sunday.

Wahyuana, Bekasi – The stench along the Kalimalang River that runs beside a road linking Bekasi and Jakarta had long been overlooked by residents and motorists until the Bekasi environmental management agency found hazardous levels of toxic substances in the river.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – The trial tomorrow of the alleged financier of the Bali bombings will be the first case affected by Friday's landmark decision disallowing the law used to prosecute the bombers.

The lawyer representing Idris, the alleged money man, said the Constitutional Court decision meant prosecutors may have to abandon the case.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Several members of the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) network are still planning to launch terror attacks in various parts of the country despite the arrest of some of their leaders, a senior police officer said.

JI is listed by the United Nations as an organization that is linked to the Al Qaeda terrorist group.

Canberra – The government threatened Sunday to suspend the second round of talks with East Timor over a maritime boundary between the two neighbors after the opposition called for a fresh start to negotiations on how seabed oil and gas riches will be shared.

The Federal Opposition says it is the Government that is playing politics over Australia's negotiations with East Timor over the boundaries in the Timor Sea, which determine control over oil and gas reserves.

Opposition Leader Mark Latham says it appears there has been bad blood in the negotiations so far and if Labor is elected, it would restart the talks.

Sydney – Australia's foreign minister has threatened to suspend talks with East Timor on disputed multi-billion-dollar Timor Sea gas and oil fields, saying the opposition Labor Party had politicised the issue.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Jakarta could be a "smoke-free city" soon as the Sutiyoso administration is planning to ban all cigarette smoking in public places.

Makassar/Pelembang/Pekanbaru/Samarinda – Prosecutors are unearthing more evidence of endemic corruption in provincial administrations involving potential losses to the state of billions of rupiah, with dozens of local councillors and government officials allegedly involved.

Steve Lewis and Nigel Wilson – The Howard Government is threatening to suspend talks with East Timor over control of billions of dollars worth of oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea until after the election, following remarks by Mark Latham that a Labor government would consider restarting negotiations.

Jakarta – Presidential front runner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and running mate Jusuf Kalla have begun their search for coalition partners even though they had insisted just days ago that any political alliance would be made only after the September 20 run-off.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Lobbying among politicians has intensified in the past few days, with vice presidential candidate Siswono Yudohusodo and several Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) clerics being the latest group of people to meet President Megawati Soekarnoputri at her official residence on Jl. Teuku Umar here on Friday.

Luhur Hertanto, Jakarta – The level of golput(1) in the first round of the presidential elections was higher in comparison with the legislative elections. In comparison with international standards however, the level of golput in Indonesia is still small.

Jakarta, Kompas – A number of non-government organisations (NGOs) and students from the pro-democracy movement have rejected the planned deliberation of the draft law on the Indonesian National Armed Forces (RUU TNI) by the People's Representative Assembly (DPR).

Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta – A group of legislators suspect that some of their colleagues have been bribed into approving the governmental regulation in lieu of law which allows open pit mining in protected forest areas.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Parliament Watchdog joined the opposition to the amended bill on the Indonesian Military (TNI) on Friday, calling on the House of Representatives not to push for a deliberation due to time constraints.

Margo Kingston – G'day. I'e just heard the news that Indonesia's top appeal court has ruled the conviction of a Bali bomber unconstitutional because he was convicted under retrospective criminal laws in breach of Indonesia's constitution. This could be another Howard scandal in the making.

Matthew Moore, Mark Forbes – The Bali bombers may be set free after a ruling from Indonesia's Constitutional Court that the terrorism law used to convict them is illegal.

Suherdjoko and Slamet Susanto, Semarang/Yogyakarta – The dry season has started in Central Java and Yogyakarta, leading to critical water shortages and serious damage to rice crops, officials say.

Olivier Roy, Project Syndicate – Many believe that religious revival and political radicalism among Muslims who reside in the West reflects the traditions and conflicts of the Middle East or the wider Muslim world.

Michelle Grattan, Canberra – The Flood report has rejected an allegation that a pro-Jakarta lobby within the Defence Intelligence Organisation distorted intelligence estimates on East Timor so that the Government got what it wanted to hear.

Mark Dodd, Darwin – Anti-government demonstrations this week in East Timor's capital involving former guerrilla fighters indicate a growing frustration among veterans who feel robbed of their independence dividend in a fledgling nation with a profoundly weak economy and high unemployment.