M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – A rights activist and a lawyer have expressed concern over a government proposal to criminalize extramarital sex and some sexual acts by minors, saying it would infringe citizens' basic rights.

Jakarta – A majority of Indonesians, fed up with what they see as ineffective government, prefer the autocracy of former President Suharto to the democratic rule of current leader Megawati Sukarnoputri, a survey showed.

Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta – The government has finally decided not to increase electricity rates for the October-December period this year, amid strong public opposition ahead of next year's general elections.

Jakarta – Moody's Investors Service, an international rating agency, has upgraded Indonesia's sovereign rating by one notch, in light of the country's stronger external financial footing and falling government debts.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Hundreds of students and East Timorese refugees continued their demonstrations on Tuesday at the East Nusa Tenggara legislative council following the reported misuse of funds intended for the refugees.

Jakarta -- It was hard to find any national flags being flown at half-mast on Tuesday, signaling that many Indonesians have forgotten about the shadowy September 30 incident.

Singapore – Timor Leste President Xanana Gusmao said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad would make a two-day visit to the country beginning October 22.

Quinton Temby – As development of the rich oil and natural gas reserves in the Timor Sea near East Timor takes off, the Government hopes that investment by oil-industry giants will bring the petroleum onshore for processing. Ten thousand jobs could be created and untold billions of dollars added to the Gross Domestic Product.

From whatever side one looks at it, by any measure the chain of events that was set in motion by what happened around October 1, 1965, constitutes a human tragedy so huge it deserves to be remembered.

Moch. N. Kurniawan and Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – The General Elections Commission (KPU) received on Tuesday an anonymous package containing 11 live bullets addressed to each of its members and a letter demanding that the Commission adopt certain specifications in the tender of ballot boxes for the elections next year.

Two extraordinary reports appeared in this newspaper, on its National page last week. The first contained a strong warning coming from respected Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid that only war and revolution to restore the reform movement could rescue Indonesia from bankruptcy.

Singapore – East Timor, the world's youngest nation, is struggling to find ways to achieve economic survival and needs external investment, President Xanana Gusmao said Tuesday.

Slamet Susanto & Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Yogyakarta/Jakarta – A number of people were injured during a clash between police and about 200 protesters who staged a rally against the water resources bill in Yogyakarta on Monday.

One of the protesters was admitted to a nearby hospital with serious injuries.

ID Nugroho and Ainur R. Sophiaan, Surabaya – As many as 4,000 workers of giant household equipment producer PT Maspion in the East Java town of Sidoarjo went on strike on Monday to protest a company policy on leave.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Casual sex, oral sex, cohabitation, homosexual sex and witchcraft will be outlawed if proposals by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights to amend the Criminal Code (KUHP) are adopted.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Lawyers for the 11 military personnel accused of committing gross human rights violations in the 1984 Tanjung Priok massacre questioned on Monday the legality of the ongoing trials against their clients, arguing that the families of the victims and the military had reached an out-of-court settlement in the case.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – A historian demanded on Monday that the government revise the historical accounts on the September 30, 1965 coup attempt, that has long been blamed on the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), as part of the nation's efforts to come to terms with the past.

Bambang Nurbianto and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – Thousands of more families will soon be left homeless as the Jakarta Administration is set to continue its policy of evicting squatters living illegally on privately and state-owned land across the city.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Frustrated with the protracted economic crises, stalled reforms and poor law enforcement, the general public are now more inclined to look favorably at a regime akin to the military-backed New Order, posing a threat to the consolidation of democracy in the country, according to a survey.

Jakarta – A group of Indonesian Muslims, handpicked by the US Embassy here for their moderate views, told an expert panel from Washington in plain terms last week why America is unloved in the Islamic world.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Army soldiers began a four-day military exercise in Biak Numfor regency, Papua, on Monday, but it immediately sparked protests from students and a human rights group in Jayapura, the capital of the troubled province.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Schools are the new breeding grounds for violence in Indonesia if the murders and acts of brutality at colleges and universities over the last month are anything to go by.

By Teuku Samsul Bahri

A. Grassroots economic situation

Bali – An Indonesian court on the resort island of Bali sentenced two men on Monday to 12 and 15 years in jail for their part in last year's nightclub bombings that killed 202 people, most of them young Western tourists.

Tiarma Siboro and Indra Harsaputra, Jakarta/Surabaya – Former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid is facing an uphill challenge in his bid to regain power, even within his National Awakening Party (PKB).

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – About 150 members of the Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR) raided a number of nightspots in Cilincing area, Muara Baru and North Jakarta, early Sunday morning, ordering the venue's owners to shut down business within a week.

Sri Wahyuni, Yogyakarta – University communities throughout the country, particularly those in Java, have committed themselves to a nationwide "moral pressure movement" aimed at helping put the country's reform agenda back on track, says Gadjah Mada University (UGM) rector Sofian Effendi.

Jakarta – Indonesian business confidence rose in the June and July period for the first time since September last year, in the belief that the economy will fare better during the period of August 2003 until January 2004, according to a Danareksa Research Institute survey.

The survey also revealed that the Business Sentiment Index (BSI) rose by 2.1 percent.

Jakarta – Money sent by Al-Qaeda to support the families of suspects arrested over the Bali bombings was used to finance the August 5 attack on the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesian terror suspect Hambali has told investigators.

Jakarta – The Ministry of Finance is currently drafting a new bill on the accountancy profession, which will replace the existing outdated law issued in the 1950s.

Cohabitation, oral sex and homosexual sex will soon become crimes in Indonesia if the justice ministry has its way, a ministry spokesman said.

The ministry is drafting an amendment to the country's criminal code to include acts not currently categorised as crimes but considered morally unacceptable.

Jakarta – Only 20 percent of the some 450,000 daily commuter train passengers in the Greater Jakarta area buy tickets while the rest either bribe conductors on board or do not pay at all.

Lie Hua, Jakarta – September 30, 1965, is a black day in the history of modern Indonesia. The assassination of seven generals in the wee hours of October 1 sparked a ghastly orgy of bloodletting and vigilantism in the ensuing months.

Jakarta – Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu said on Sunday that the Army had long detected foreign parties' involvement in a number of conflicts in the country. "They may be involved, either directly or indirectly," he said after opening a marathon to celebrate the Indonesian military's 58th anniversary.

Dikhy Sasra, Jakarta – Around 100 people from the group Solidarity for Aceh and Papua protested rejecting militarism at the offices of the United Nations, the Ministry for the Coordination of Politics and Security and the Presidential Palace.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Police released on Friday another four people reportedly linked to terrorist activities, deeming their accounts during interrogation thus far sufficient.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Several Jemaah Islamiah members detained by Indonesian police said an extremist splinter faction of the group is responsible for conducting terror attacks in the country.

Malaysian Nasir Abbas said yesterday during a broadcast by El Shinta radio station that JI has broken up into at least three distinct parts.

Jakarta – Demonstrators wearing traditional Papuan tribal dress marched Saturday to protest an Indonesian government plan to divide Papua into three provinces.

More than 100 protesters chanted "Free Papua from legal and illegal military operations" at the rally in Jakarta, about 3,600 kilometers west of the province.

Mark Forbes, Canberra – Despite the Bali and Marriott Hotel bombings and rising anti-Western sentiment in the world's most populous Muslim nation, Indonesian leaders are still not prepared to tackle Islamic terrorism, according to Indonesia experts.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Two conflicting camps at the municipal branch of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) in the North Sumatra capital of Medan, filed lawsuits on Friday against each other, following a rampage that seriously injured seven people.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Akbar Tandjung blamed fellow lawmakers on Friday for the legislative body's failure to finish the deliberation of various bills on time.

Akbar said the lawmakers' full attendance was necessary to help speed up the deliberation of the bills.

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – The General Elections Commission (KPU) has allocated more than 12 seats in provincial and regency/municipality legislative councils in 37 electoral districts, which is in breach of the law.

"The KPU has no choice but to violate the law," its deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti said on Friday.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The Golkar Party would take advantage of widespread disappointment with the so-called reform parties to woo support from the public, particularly from first-time voters, to win the election next year, a survey shows.

Zakki Hakim and Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) has found 58 cases of irregularities in six Jakarta agencies amounting to Rp 70.41 billion (approximately US$8.38 million) in the 2002 fiscal year and the first semester in 2003.

Luh Putu, Trisna Wahyuni and Damar Harsanto – Mataram/Jakarta Three police officers have been detained in connection with the death of a student that led to a riot on Thursday in Sumbawa Besar regency, West Nusa Tenggara, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Friday.

Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has set up a team to investigate a string of evictions in the city, which many claim have violated people's basic rights, a commission member said on Friday.

Blontank Poer, Jakarta – Some people may have taken Shakespeare's "What's in a name?" to heart and decided they needed more weight to their names, yearning for the prestige of a royal title.

About 600 people, including prominent politicians, have reportedly submitted requests to be granted royal titles from the Hadiningrat Kraton of Surakarta in Central Java.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – House of Representatives' Speaker Akbar Tandjung defended on Friday the water resources bill despite protests from some quarters, and asked lawmakers to inform the public about the contents of the bill before approving it.

Jakarta – East Timor prosecutors have indicted 18 people for crimes against humanity, including two Indonesian military officers, in connection with violence surrounding its 1999 vote for independence.

The tiny country's serious crimes unit said on Friday the 18 were indicted for crimes ranging from murder to torture and persecution.

Jakarta – Supporters and opponents of the creation of Central Irian Jaya province barbecued two pigs in a traditional ceremony on Thursday in the town of Timika, Papua province, to mark a peace agreement among them.