Activists displaying the freshly severed heads of two dogs outside the Jakarta offices of Indonesia's Election Commission (KPU) yesterday in a gruesome protest against the commission's alleged incompetence in organising upcoming polls.

Jakarta/Surabaya – International Women's Day was commemorated across the country with a public call not to vote for any political party which does not promote women's rights during the next general election.

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – Experts warned the central bank against seeking an instant solution to the slow growth in bank loans to the corporate sector, as aggressive lending without proper risk management would cause another financial crisis.

Jakarta – In order get a message across to the public who will soon be under a new administration, around 20 children between 7 and 12 years of age from Cijeruk, Tapos and the Bogor Regency, participated in a demonstration commemorating International Women's Day 2004 in Jakarta on Monday March 8.

Teuku Agam Muzakir, Lhokseumawe – The martial law administration in Aceh will deploy all of its forces to ensure the upcoming general election will be a success in the province, a military official said on Monday.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Journalists, experts, activists and artists gathered on Monday at the Tempo office building on Jl. Proklamasi, Central Jakarta, to commemorate an attack on the weekly by around 200 protesters, who claimed to be from the Artha Graha Group and the Indonesian Young Bulls, a year ago.

Jakarta – A coalition of non-governmental organizations called on the government to immediately appoint a minister to represent them in the discussion of the bill on the protection of migrant workers and their family members with the House of Representatives (DPR) before their tenure expires.

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Denpasar – The Indonesian Military (TNI) has stressed the importance of enhancing security in Aceh during the election campaign beginning on March 11, a decisive factor in evaluating the progress the government has made under the martial law in the province that could end in May.

A deadly dengue fever outbreak which has killed almost 400 people has spread across Indonesia, the health ministry said.

At least 30 out of 32 provinces in the country had reported cases of dengue fever to the health ministry on Monday, said Dr. Rita Kusriastuti, an official with the ministry's research department.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – An ad hoc human rights tribunal announced a plan to summon Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the youngest son of former president Soeharto, to testify in the trial of 11 Army officers accused of the Tanjung Priok massacre in 1984.

Indonesia's Supreme Court has halved a three-year prison sentence imposed on militant Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, a court official said.

The ruling means that Bashir, who is said by foreign governments to have led the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group, could be free within weeks or months.

Fadli, Batam – The Batam Mayoralty is planning to conduct raids on couples living together out of wedlock.

Head of the social office, Azwan, said on Monday the raids would begin on March 16. The number of unwed cohabiting couples had reached an alarming level in the area, he said.

Jakarta – Rebels in Indonesia's Aceh are still a major security threat despite a 10-month-old military offensive, an army spokesman said on Monday, a day after the president expressed hope martial law could soon be lifted.

Jakarta, Kompas – General elections in Aceh will be held under a state of martial law and hundreds of foreign observers will monitor the elections in Aceh. Responding to this, the People's Representative Assembly (DPR) Aceh Monitoring Team has asked the emergency military command (PDMD) in Aceh to restrict the total number and movements of foreign election observers.

Nurul Hidayati, Jakarta – Around 1000 activists from Greater Jakarta are expected to commemorate International Women's Day at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout on Monday March 8.

East Timor today welcomed proposals to form a new foreign police unit, including Australian officers, to boost security after the current United Nations mission is scaled down in May.

Jakarta – Couples caught kissing passionately in public in Indonesia could spend five years in jail.

Triyono Wahyu Sudibyo, Semarang – Scores of women's activists have demanded that the quota of women representatives in the National Election Commissions list of legislative candidates be raised to 50 per cent. They consider that the current 30 per cent quota has not been effective.

Verrianto Madjowa and Dian Yuliastuti, Manado – International Women's Day (IWD), which falls on March 8, was also commemorated in Manado, North Sulawesi. Distributing leaflets, scores of women's activists gathered at the Manado National Unity Park.

Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – In commemorating International Women's day which fell on Monday March 8, women from a number of different groups in Yogyakarta accused the political parties participating in the elections of not fighting for the rights of women. They also rejected discrimination and violence against women in Aceh and West Papua.

Danang Sangga Buwana, Jakarta – Monday March 8 is International Women's Day (IWD), and a number of groups from the pro-democracy movement held actions to commemorate the day.

Budi Hartadi, Surabaya – International Women's Day (IWD) was also commemorated in Surabaya, East Java. Around 100 students from the Poor People's Front for Struggle demonstrated in front of the governor's offices at the Grahadi State Building on Jalan Gubernur Suryo on Monday March 8.

Jafar G. Bua, Palu – International Women's Day was also commemorated in Palu. Interestingly, women in Palu protested against the marriage law and the issue of polygamy.

Campaigning starts this week for Indonesia's general election, with a resurgent Golkar party that backed former dictator Suharto hoping to capitalize on disenchantment with President Megawati Sukarnoputri's administration.

Brian Brady, Westminster editor – A fresh row has broken out over the brutal murder of a Scottish journalist and four colleagues at the hands of Indonesian troops almost 30 years ago, after an Australian company revealed they want to make a film of the tragedy.

Jakarta – Indonesia's intelligence chief Hendropriyono has sparked off a controversy by allowing himself to be listed as a national campaigner for the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) in the coming election.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Electoral Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) said misuse of state facilities by government officials for party interests might be widespread ahead of the general election, but sadly it had no power to take action against it.

Moch. N. Kurniawan and Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Just 30 days ahead of the April 5 legislative election, only 47 percent of the country's population is actually aware of that date, according to a survey by the International Foundation for Election System (IFES) and the Polling Center.

Zainal Bakri, Lhokseumawe – The National Elections Commission (KPU) in Aceh has stated that as of Saturday afternoon, March 6, no foreign election observers – either organisations or individuals – have arrived in Aceh. This is despite the fact that the election campaign will begin on March 11.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The House of Representatives (DPR) wound up its seven-week long session on Friday with only about 50 legislators showing up at the plenary meeting to hear the closing speech of House Speaker Akbar Tandjung.

Slobodan Lekic, Jakarta – US officials believe local army commanders ordered an ambush that killed two American teachers near a gold mine in a case that has held up resumption of normal US-Indonesia military ties, two American officials told The Associated Press.

Washington – The United States expressed deep concern on Friday over the recent arrests of non-violent activists in Indonesia's rebellious region of Aceh and the treatment of a leading activist.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Playing down public criticism and without the knowledge of its partner in the project, the Jakarta Public Works Agency will start widening sections of Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin, Central Jakarta, early next month to allow more space for private cars.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam) slammed the Attorney General's Office on Friday for declaring that there were no serious human rights violations in the 1998 May riots.

Jakarta – Indonesia Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto and Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) chief Maj. Gen. Ng Yat Chun ended on Friday their two-day talks on defense cooperation between the two neighbors.

Jakarta – A group of teachers representing schools in Kampar regency threatened to return to the streets on Monday unless Home Minister Hari Sabarno approved the proposed dismissal of regent Jefri Noer and his deputy A. Zakir by, at the latest, Saturday.

Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta – After being considered a pariah nation for years by power investors, Indonesia has started to regain investor confidence, largely due to the successful resolution of disputes with independent power producers (IPPs), a senior official said on Friday.

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday that the government had succeeded in retaining market confidence three months after the expiration of the Fund-backed special lending program.

Trevor Sykes with Andrew Burrell – East Timor's Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri, has angrily rejected claims he accepted $US2.5 million in bribes from oil and gas company ConocoPhillips to secure an investment in the Timor Sea, threatening to sue the company for including them in a legal action in the US.

Syaiful Amin, Yogyakarta – On Friday March 5, at least 100 students from a number of schools of higher education held an action warning against the reemergence of the New Order [regime of former President Suharto].

Jakarta – Former president Soeharto's daughter Siti Hardiyanti Indra Rukmana visited former East Timor integration fighters at their "Seroja" housing complex here on Thursday, pledging to help them send their children to school.

Anton Aliabbas, Jakarta – The People's Representative Assembly (DPR) has asked the Aceh emergency military command (PDMD) to restrict the movement of foreign election observers in Aceh. This request was submitted in order to better monior the work of foreign observers.

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar – President Megawati Sukarnoputri herself closed the book on the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency last Friday, thanking IBRA officials for their work. According to most observers and by virtually every measure, it was not a job well done.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – The collapse of the rupiah in 1998 left Indonesian telecommunication companies barely able to pay their dollar-denominated debts, let alone fund new investment.

Gunawan Mashar, Makassar – Actions protesting rotten politicians and political parties are still happening. In Makassar, at least 500 students warned of the dangers posed by rotten politicians and political parties.

Nigel Wilson and Roy Eccleston, Washington – The battle over the Timor Sea's vast gas reserves intensified yesterday with political delays to the Greater Sunrise field development coinciding with a call from senior US Congress members for Australia to accelerate talks on a new maritime boundary with East Timor.

An Islamic militant who shielded a key member of the Bali bombings plot has been jailed for nine years, the last in a series of trials arising from the atrocities that left 202 people dead.

M. Munab Islah Ahyani, Bandung – An activist from Aceh Papua Solidarity (Solidaritas Aceh Papua, SAP) who was arrested and detained in Bandung (West Java) and who is suspected of being linked with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), is now being processed by the national police headquarters.

Jakarta – Indonesian environmental activists filed a police complaint against plans to build a road network through a huge conservation area in Sumatra island.

Indro Tjahyono, coordinator of the Network for Forestry Conservation, said he filed the complaint in Jakarta against Infrastructure Minister Sunarno and the governor of Aceh province, Abdullah Puteh.

Smoke was hampering rescue efforts after a blaze at an Indonesian gold mine in which at least 12 people, mostly illegal miners, are feared to have died, an official said.