Jakarta – Environment Minister Nabiel Makarim said here Wednesday the government and the House of Representatives (DPR) had to settle the question of environmental pollution in PT Freeport Indonesia's mining field in Papua this year.

Jakarta – More than 36 billion rupiah meant for the Acehnese refugees has been embezzled allegedly by officials who also stole other forms of aid provided by humanitarian groups.

Tens of thousands of Indonesian protesters took to the streets on Thursday to oppose the US-British bombardment of Iraq. Many prayed for peace, others wept, some hurled tomatoes at the US Embassy and others "sealed" a McDonald's outlet.

Several Indonesian Non Government Organisations say they will refuse funds from America, Britain and Australia, in response to those countries involvement in the war on Iraq. The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, several women's rights groups and the country's leading environmental watchdog, known as Walhi, have joined in the action.

Jakarta – If a Muslim group has its way, moviegoers in the Indonesian city of Bandung will no longer get to watch films such as Daredevil or Chicago.

The Kabah Youth Movement yesterday urged 17 theatres in the industrial town 200 km south-east of Jakarta to stop screening US and British films because of the war in Iraq.

John McBeth, Jakarta – Controversial new legislation that would give the Indonesian armed forces unilateral authority to deploy troops in the event of an emergency appears to undermine efforts by reformers to impose civilian supremacy over the military.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Women activists demanded the executive board of political parties on Tuesday arrange legislative candidates alternately between men and women to give women a greater chance to meet the 30 percent quota for representation in legislative bodies.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – A new Bill is set to unravel a dark side of Indonesian history, allowing cases of human-rights violations to be reopened for the sake of national reconciliation.

The Bill provides a legal basis for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Tokyo – More than 4,000 Indonesians will join a lawsuit against the Japanese government, demanding compensation for a dam funded by aid from Tokyo and which they say has destroyed their livelihood, supporters said on Wednesday.

Bogor – Dozens of minivan drivers gathered at the council building here to protest against the injustices they face in the course of their work.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – Thousands of workers from failing factories, formerly run in whole or in part by international companies, in Greater Jakarta are facing a bleak future as there is not yet an existing law that deals with foreign investors who close up shop without agreeing on settlements with the workers.

East Timor's Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation has been up and running for over three months now and has accepted over 100 minor political criminals back into their villages.

Nigel Wilson – The Timor Sea Treaty will formally come into effect next Tuesday with an exchange of notes between Australia and East Timor in Dili.

The exchange will be the final step in the process of replacing Indonesia as the country that Australia partners in developing Timor Sea oil and gas reserves.

Jakarta/Bandung/Semarang – Thousands of workers from Jakarta, Bandung in West Java, and Semarang in Central Java staged separate, peaceful rallies to coincide with the new labor bill becoming law on Tuesday.

East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao has urged Canberra to allow 1,600 of his compatriots who fled to Australia about a decade ago, in the bloody years before independence, to stay.

The asylum seekers would not impose any hardship on the Australian economy whereas destitute East Timor would struggle to provide for them, Gusmao told a conference here about nation building.

Batam – Local religious and community leaders are angry with the authorities for turning a blind eye to the thriving gambling dens on the island which cater to a largely Malaysian and Singaporean clientele.

Yuli Trisuwarni, Bandung – The Ka'bah Youth Movement Muslim organization has threatened all movie theaters in the West Java capital of Bandung to stop showing American and British films until the countries stop attacking Iraq.

Jakarta – Some 100 employees of the state-owned mint, Perum Peruri, staged a demonstration on Monday at its office on Jl. Faletehan, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, demanding a salary hike of 100 percent.

Bogor – More than 6,100 elementary school students from 30 subdistricts in Bogor regency need financial help because the poor economic condition of their families.

Nurhadiaty, head of the basic education office of the town, said that Bogor also was in need of more than 800 teachers.

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – Despite allegations infamous pro-Jakarta militia Laskar Jihad are waging a "holy war" against pro-independence forces in Central Aceh, public transportation services resumed on Monday to ease the regency's isolation.

Jakarta – Ten members of a radical Islamic group were arrested in Jakarta yesterday after they tried to force their way into a Sizzler restaurant in a thwarted bid to harass foreigners and protest against the US-led war in Iraq.

The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) has severed ties with one of its main donors, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in protest against the US-led war on Iraq.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Twenty-five students began a hunger strike on Monday during a rally in the grounds of the North Sumatra provincial council to demand the permanent closure of pulp and paper mill PT Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL), which they accuse of causing serious pollution.

Indonesia promised to safeguard westerners amid continuing anti-war protests as police said 10 Muslim radicals arrested for allegedly harassing foreigners could face a year in jail.

Jakarta – An Indonesian court on Monday rejected a demand that prosecutors free Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir after lawyers for the alleged head of the militant Jemaah Islamiah group argued his detention was illegal.

Bashir was arrested in October on suspicion of links to church bombings in 2000 and a plot to kill President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Tertiani ZB Simanjutak, Jakarta – The wave of antiwar rallies continued on Sunday with thousands of protesters taking to the streets across the country to express their opposition to the ongoing US-led invasion of Iraq.

Haidir Anwar Tanjung, Pekanbaru, Riau – Several major companies in the natural-resource rich province of Riau allegedly pay the local police and Indonesian Military (TN) to ensure the safety of their operations, local figures said, following the disclosure of a similar practice by an American firm in Papua.

M. Taufiqurrahman and Leo Wahyudi S, Jakarta – The society has to count on itself in the war against the hoodlums and their organized mob bosses as the government, which should lead the campaign, reaps benefits from the presence of thugs instead, an activist allege.

Lisa Clausen – The young boy returned to the mountain village of Letefoho in fear and disgrace. He was a child in 1999 when, swept up in the militia violence that followed East Timor's vote for independence, he burnt down his aunt's house and fled. When he finally came home this year, the teenager had no idea of what he would face.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – As the antiwar protests become rowdier, scholars urged the government on Sunday to swiftly move to prevent them turning violent.

Haedar Nashir, the secretary-general of Muhammadiyah, the second largest Muslim organization in the country, called on the government to invite the representatives of the protesters for talks to calm them down.

Jakarta – Indonesia's Vice President Hamzah Haz has rejected US President George W.Bush's request to close down the Iraqi embassy in Jakarta.

"The [Indonesian] government cannot possibly close the Iraqi embassy," he said commenting on the US president's request to other countries in the world to close down Iraqi embassies.

Stockholm – Swedish companies pride themselves on their high standards of business ethics, but now corporate heavyweights have come in for stinging criticism for their alleged role in the destruction of Indonesian rainforests.

Police in Indonesia's second-biggest city Surabaya have reacted angrily to an Australian warning that anti-Western groups may be planning a "terrorist" attack there, saying there were no signs of threat.

Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri plans to sue Rakyat Merdeka daily for comparing her to Soemanto, a man who confessed to eating parts of dead human bodies.

Jakarta – An Indonesian singer whose erotic dance style has stirred controversy says she will quit and attend religious classes provided she is given one billion rupiah.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Indonesia's educators and religious leaders have called on Parliament to drop a new education Bill amid fears its controversial content will threaten private schools' autonomy and encourage religious segregation in the country.

Jakarta – Many police officers in the Indonesian capital are involved in organised crime and provide security to top gangsters, said a former police chief.

Jakarta – Hundreds of Muslims activists forced the closure of an American fast-food franchise in Surabaya, East Java, as nationwide rallies to protest the US-led war in Iraq continued on Friday.

Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto warned anti-war protesters in the country on Thursday to avoid staging anarchic demonstrations.

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh/Jakarta – Acehnese people have lambasted the Joint Security Committee (JSC) enforcing the cessation of hostilities agreement in Aceh, for its failure to stop the rampant extortion committed both by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and security personnel.

Banda Aceh – The Free Aceh Movement has accused the Indonesian military (TNI) of trying to undermine a peace agreement by getting people to harass monitors overseeing the pact.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) would not ask US gold and copper mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia to provide financial contributions to its soldiers.

Dean Yates and Jerry Norton, Jakarta – Demonstrators took to the streets on Friday in 10 cities in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, to protest against US-led attacks on Iraq as clerics savaged President George Bush in mosque sermons.

Both moderate and radical Indonesian Islamic leaders reacted angrily to the start of the US-led war on Iraq as police stepped up security in the world's largest Muslim-populated nation.

Jerry Norton and Dean Yates, Jakarta – The cabinet of the world's most populous Muslim nation was discussing the US attack on Iraq on Thursday, Indonesia's chief security minister told reporters.

Indonesian Muslim leaders immediately condemned the start of US-led strikes on Iraq, labelling them an attack on humanity and warning of big protests.

Tony Sitathan, Jakarta – This Thursday is a day of reckoning for Iraq, when its 48-hour ultimatum issued by the president of the United States, George W Bush, expires.

Yulianti, Jakarta – Around 200 people from the Anti-Militarism People's Front (Front Rakyat Anti-Militerisme, FRAM) demonstrated in front the presidential palace and the department of defense. They were rejecting all forms of militarism in Indonesia and the world.

Geneva – The minister of the Foreign Affairs of Timor said Wednesday that a "better solution" for the problem of Iraq "would be that the United States gave longer to the inspectors from the UN".

The Indonesian Government has signed a new Letter of Intent (LoI) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), together with a memorandum on eonomic and financial policies (MEFP) to IMF managing director Horst Kohler.

Dili – East Timorese leaders expressed their "extreme preoccupation" and "shock" Thursday over the launching of war by Washington and London against Iraq.

President Xanana Gusmco appealed to the international community "not to spare efforts to minimize the social, psychological and economic impact of war on the Iraqi people brought by military intervention".