Jakarta – Indonesia and South Korea are considering co-operating to build a $A334 million nuclear power plant in Madura Island just off the densely populated province of East Java.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Eddie Widiono Suwondo, president of state power utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), is struggling to bring the virtually bankrupt monopoly back into the black. Ironically, he has had help from the onetime arch-enemies of PLN – the independent power producers (IPPs) who in effect own and run PLN's monopoly power-supply network.

Jakarta – Three student activists were tried in court on Monday for public disorder following a rally near the residence of President Megawati Soekarnoputri in January.

A long-running industrial dispute in Indonesia has come to an end. The Shangri-La Hotel has settled with 80 former workers, who have been picketing the five-star hotel in Jakarta since being sacked in December 2000. The dispute attracted the attention of unions world-wide and at one point drew in the World Bank for criticism.

Jakarta (Agencies) – Hundreds of people besieged a peace monitoring office in the restive province of Aceh on Monday, one day after a separate facility was torched, in the latest blow to a landmark peace pact that is threatening to unravel.

As East Timor prepares to mark its first anniversary of independence, the nation's opposition parties have united to present a strong alternative to the government. The newly-formed platform of national unity is an attempt to combat what the opposition says is an undemocratic and corrupt government. It's a testing time for the players in the world's newest democracy.

Cynthia Banham – Refugee groups are claiming the Federal Government is close to making a decision on the fate of East Timorese asylum seekers that would prolong their limbo status for three to five years.

The fragile peace pact in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province has come under further strain, with the office of an international peace monitoring group attacked on the weekend, the second attack in little over a month. Some 300-people ransacked the Tripartite Monitoring Team office in East Aceh, destroying computer and other equipment before torching the empty building.

Jakarta – The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) strongly protested the police's decision to declare an editor of Tempo magazine, Ahmad Taufik, as a suspect in a defamation case.

Banda Aceh – International peace monitors in Indonesia's Aceh province yesterday said they would withdraw from the south of the province after a mob of up to 900 people threatened to burn down another of the group's offices.

Dili – Most of East Timor's opposition parties signed a so-called "national unity platform" Monday, bitterly criticizing Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri's cabinet and demanding the formation of a broad coalition government.

Tangerang – After a three-day rally, some 900 factory workers of PT Hancook Ceramics Indonesia, in the Pasar Kemis district of Tangerang, went on strike from Friday to Saturday demanding improvement in welfare benefits.

Jerry Norton, Jakarta – The president of Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, told a conference of Islamic women on Monday that women across the world should launch a movement against war.

Jakarta – The Golkar Party made a belated debut in the anti-war protest stakes on Sunday, more than two weeks after many other groups took to streets across the country to condemn the United States-led attack on Iraq.

President Xanana Gusmao concedes security will be a concern when United Nations peacekeepers pull out of East Timor.

The troops are due to leave next June, almost five years after the nation gained independence from Indonesia.

Jakarta – Thousands of people on Sunday took part in anti-war protests in several cities across the country, AFP reported.

Bandung – Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) said on Saturday that her party had contributed only a little to the nation.

"If we look at the history of the nation, we should be ashamed that our party has contributed so little compared to what the country has contributed to us," she said.

Nethy Dharma Somba and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta/Jayapura – Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu ordered the military in Papua to quell the Free Papua Movement (OPM), which was blamed for a deadly burglary at the Jayawijaya military district arsenal early on Friday.

A mob of some 1,000 people ransacked and torched a peace monitors' office in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh, witnesses and a staff member said.

Indonesia's cabinet met to discuss the increasingly fragile ceasefire in Aceh's bloody separatist war, with the armed forces chief suggesting it might decide to scrap the agreement.

Makassar – McDonald's restaurant at the Ratu Indah Mall here was still closed on Saturday following threats from anti-US demonstrators.

Hundreds of demonstrators on board three trucks thronged the tightly-guarded restaurant on Friday, threatening to set it ablaze unless the American fast-food chain closes and the US ends its assault on Iraq, Antara reported.

Jakarta – The two largest political parties came under fire from a small party on Friday for not joining the antiwar rallies against the United States-led strike on Iraq, which has now entered its 16th day.

Ellen Nakashima, Jakarta – On a recent day in a weathered courthouse in Jakarta sat defendant Tono Suratman, an army brigadier general accused of failing to prevent two massacres in East Timor during its bloody breakaway from Indonesia in 1999.

Beside him were eight defense attorneys. Opposite them was the prosecution: two lawyers called out of retirement.

Reuters in Melbourne – Corruption poses the biggest risk to the future of East Timor, says its president, Xanana Gusmao.

The world's newest country, which will celebrate its first anniversary next month, was struggling to make democracy work beyond just holding elections every five years, he said.

Jakarta – United Nations peacekeepers have arrested two former East Timorese militiamen for alleged involvement in crimes against humanity during East Timor's bloody breakaway from Jakarta in 1999.

Jakarta – Suspected rebels trying to steal weapons during a night raid on a military post exchanged fire with government troops early yesterday, killing two soldiers in Indonesia's remote Papua province, the military said.

The gunbattle also killed one man, who villagers later identified as a rebel, said Papuan military chief Brigadier-General Nurdin Zainal.

Solo – A crowd of 10,000 people burned a mock Statue of Liberty and chanted "Bush is a terrorist" during a boisterous anti-war rally on Friday in the world's largest Muslim nation.

Banda Aceh/Jakarta – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has called for a delay in the general elections in Aceh until after the holding of an all-inclusive dialog (AID) as stipulated in the peace agreement signed last year.

Jakarta – In an outbreak of violence likely to raise concerns about the peace process in troubled Aceh province, security forces said on Friday they killed five rebels in two separate incidents.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – State-owned television station TVRI is no longer broadcasting in North Sumatra, marking another suspension of a TVRI station under a restructuring program to slash state funding for TVRI stations nationwide.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – One thing about abortion in Indonesia is clear: it is easier to get one than to understand the law that regulates them.

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – Indonesia suffers a whopping US$4.7 billion in economic losses per year or $12 per family per month due to its poor sewerage system, a United Nations task force says.

Controversy is growing over the draft bill on presidential elections in relation to an article that stipulates that only parties or coalitions of parties garnering 20% of national legislature seats will be allowed to field candidates in the country's first direct presidential election in 2004.

Jakarta – While the United States military and coalition troops moved closer to Baghdad, antiwar protests here continued on Thursday, with some targeting Arab countries which support the attack on Iraq.

Indonesia's vice president Hamzah Haz has lashed out at the US-led war against Iraq, calling President George W Bush the "king of terrorists".

Mr Haz says the United States has always boasted about upholding human rights and democracy, yet it invades Iraq without United Nations approval.

Jakarta – At least 18,500 schoolchildren – some as young as seven – are believed to use drugs in Indonesia, National Narcotics Agency chief Togar Sianipar has said.

"From that number, primary school students account for about 1,000, junior high school students around 7,500 and senior high school around 10,000," Mr Sianipar was quoted as saying by the Antara news agency.

Dili – An East Timorese court on Saturday sentenced a senior militia leader to 12 years in prison for crimes against humanity committed during the country's bloody break from Indonesia in 1999.

Jose Cardosa Fereira was found guilty of murder, rape and torture against East Timorese civilians who supported the territory's independence from Indonesia .

Jakarta – Gunmen believed to be separatist rebels shot dead two soldiers during an attempt early Friday to steal weapons from a military post in Papua province, the military said.

Surabaya – The team of lawyers for the seven members of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) accused of killing pro-independence Papua figure Dortheys "Theys" Hiyo Eluway, have appealed to judges to be fair in imposing punishment on their clients. One of the lawyers, Mario Bernardo, said he suspected political pressure had led to the trial.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Abu Bakar Bashir had no reason to look lonely as he sat facing the judges who could lock him up for life. After all, he's got 80 lawyers on his team, and nearly a quarter of them were lined up beside him in rows three deep.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The truce that Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels signed last December is already showing wear and tear as Aceh looks to be nowhere near peace.

Although the pact has dramatically reduced the level of violence in the province, there is more distrust between the two sides than ever before.

Nani Farida and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Banda Aceh/Jakarta – Violence continues to pose a threat to the five-month-old peace accord in Aceh as a fresh firefight took place in Pidie regency on Thursday, claiming the lives of three alleged Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members.

Jakarta – A director with Indonesia's central bank was jailed yesterday for three years after being found guilty of corruption in failing to properly monitor insolvent banks during the regional financial crisis.

Heru Supraptomo is the second central bank director jailed this week. Fellow Bank Indonesia (BI) supervision director Hendro Budianto was sentenced on Tuesday.

The ceasefire in Aceh's separatist war looked fragile after Indonesian police shot dead three rebels in the seventh armed clash in a week.

Security forces and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have yet to agree on a demilitarisation plan for the province, almost two months after a crucial phase of the December 9 peace pact began.

Pekanbaru, Riau – Thousands of field workers of American mining company PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia (CPI) threatened on Tuesday to go strike if the management went ahead with its decision to cut the days off in the company.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights declared on Tuesday that gross human rights violations had occurred during massive riots in Jakarta in May 1998, which preceded the fall of long-time ruler Soeharto.

Max Lane – Todung Mulya Lubis makes some sensible points in his interview with The Jakarta Post on March 31. For example, he is correct to question the usefulness of a boycott of American goods – at least, at this point of time.

The National Human Rights Commission, Komnas HAM has called on the government to explain what has happened to information or intelligence reports about persons deemed to be political enemies of the Old Order. Such data should be declared invalid and totally destroyed.

Thousands of Indonesians staged protests in several cities as the US-led war against Iraq entered its third week, with some burning President George W. Bush in effigy.

David Rood – East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao said yesterday he opposed Australia's involvement in the US-led war on Iraq.

Mr Gusmao's views appear to conflict with those of his Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos Horta, who has previously endorsed the use of force in Iraq.