Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Despite mounting criticism against Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) forging a coalition with Golkar, PDI Perjuangan leader Taufik Kiemas said on Friday that the ruling party was ready to join forces with the political vehicle of former dictator Soeharto.

Jakarta – Amien Rais, the Chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly, here on Friday urged President Megawati Soekarnoputri to curb the influence of her businessman husband, calling him "a disservice to this nation."

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – The illegal sales of the city administration's nine-hectare site in the subdistrict of Tebet Barat, South Jakarta, to private companies was another example of how the city lost its assets.

Matthew Moore. – She cried often, fainted once and she lied a lot. But mostly Adistia just laughed and laughed with a mother's irrepressible delight at being reunited with kids she thought she would never see again.

Mataram – Around 305,000 people in West Nusa Tenggara are illiterate, according to estimates by a local official on Friday.

Head of the West Nusa Tenggara office for education, youth and sports affairs Zaini Arony said that the 305,000 illiterates were in the 10 to 40 age group. The province has a population of around 3.8 million.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The central government is investigating Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh for alleged misappropriation of general allocation funds for the conflict-torn province, a minister said on Friday.

Ministers from around the Asia Pacific region have wound up a two day conference on people smuggling and other trans-national crime in Bali. The meeting was co-hosted by Indonesia and Australia, and both countries describe it as a positive first step on which to build further co-operation.

Tim Johnston – If the shipping lanes of South-East Asia have their dangers, doing business on land can be just as fraught. Western oil and mining companies have discovered to their cost that the locals are not always welcoming. BP is the latest multinational to test the area's resolve.

Jakarta – Golkar Party has expressed concern over the Indonesian government's program to privatize and divest a number of state companies, as it has led to the selling of state assets, which could undermine the country's economic independence, its chairman has said.

There have been some economists who have argued that exiting the existing IMF programme while simultaneously devising a new economic strategy puts Indonesia's macro-economic stability at risk. They also argue that without the IMF, the government could stray from maintaining economically prudent policies.

Linda Silaen, Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund said Friday that Indonesia's economy in 2004 could grow by more than the government's forecast of between 4% and 5%.

Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta – The Indonesian government is almost certain not to extend its contract with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which will terminate at the end of this year.

Aside from forming a team to review the most suitable exit strategy, the government has also set a team tasked with reviewing policies to be applied after the program ends.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – The first person charged in connection with the Bali bombing was yesterday found guilty of illegal possession and sale of explosive materials and sentenced to seven months' jail.

Jakarta – Thousands of workers took to the streets in Jakarta and other cities across the country on Thursday to commemorate International Labor Day, which falls on May 1, demanding improvements in legal protection and their welfare.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – An Indonesian official has described the former East Timor governor Mario Carrascalao as unstable, following his allegations that the Indonesian Army systematically forced Timorese women to be sex slaves for officers and then killed their husbands.

Jakarta – Some 200 students from the Student Movement for Anti-Corruption, Collusion and Nepotism (Gema KKN) demonstrated in front of the Supreme Court (MA) here on Thursday.

The students demanded that the head of the court, Bagir Manan, send Akbar Tandjung, the chairman of the Golkar Party and the speaker of the House of Representatives, to prison or resign.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Despite opposition from minor labor unions, the government has enacted Law No. 13/2003 on industrial relations and labor protection to develop harmonious industrial ties between employers and workers.

Jakarta – With the two-week deadline set for Aceh rebels to accept terms for peace talks coming closer, the Indonesian government is facing mounting pressure to save the truce it signed last year.

Steven Gutkin, Jakarta – The United States remains ready to normalise relations with the Indonesian army, but obstacles including suspicions that soldiers were involved in the murder of two Americans are preventing full restoration of ties, the US ambassador said yesterday.

Banda Aceh – An independent team should look into alledged violations of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) between the Indonesian government and the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), according to Indonesia's National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

Netty Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Soldiers hunting down the suspects in last month's raid against the Wamena military district arsenal, clashed with suspected rebels in Koyawage forest in the Papua regency of Jayawijaya on Thursday.

Becky Lipscombe, Jakarta – Indonesians have a new idol – a hip-swinging singer who's gyrated her way into fame, fortune, and a whole lot of trouble.

Inul Daratista has achieved the level of success where a second name becomes unnecessary. Inul is what her legions of fans scream, it's what the chat show hosts gossip about; even those who denounce her call her just Inul.

A Malaysian-owned plantation firm whose director was ordered jailed for causing smoke haze on Indonesia's Sumatra island has agreed to pay more than one million dollars in compensation, an official said.

Thousands of Indonesian workers staged May Day protests in several cities on Thursday, calling for wage increases and the resignation of President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

In Jakarta, about 2,000 workers representing various trade unions gathered at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle before marching to the presidential palace.

Jakarta – The Aceh peace facilitator, the Henry Dunant Centre (HDC), is now trying to set a new date and venue for peace talks between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), after the former pulled out of a planned Joint Council meeting in Geneva last week.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Tempo magazine journalists Ahmad Taufik and Karaniya Dharmasaputra testified on Tuesday that defendant David Tjioe, alias A. Miauw, an aide to tycoon Tomy Winata, had physically attacked the weekly's chief editor, Bambang Harymurti, at the Central Jakarta Police station.

Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir began his defence against accusations that he leads a deadly Islamic terror network, saying God would be his judge.

"I testify that there is no other absolute ruler, protector or judge except Allah," the white-robed Bashir, who allegedly heads the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) network, told the five judges.

Arya Abhiseka, Jakarta – Indonesia's role in drug trafficking has increased significantly in recent years as it has not only become a transit port but also a major producer.

Wayne Miller, Bali and agencies – Indonesia has lashed out at Australia, the United States and its allies for "a gruesome war" in Iraq, saying it had brought human suffering to a new level.

East Timor's Serious Crimes Unit is losing its high profile chief – Siri Frigaard. She completes her mission this week, raising concerns about the unit's long term future. The United Nations is already cutting the number of international prosecutors from 13 to nine and says it can't guarantee any support for the project beyond June 2004.

Guido Guilart, Dili – The Indonesian military systematically forced dozens of East Timorese women to become sex slaves for officers during its 24-year occupation of the half-island, a former governor said Tuesday.

Jakarta – The Attorney General's Office has appointed 14 prosecutors to handle the case of the 1984 Tanjung Priok shooting incident in which at least 33 people died.

At least 14 active and retired military officers, including the incumbent commander of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus), Maj. Gen. Sriyanto, have been named suspects in the case.

Tony Sitathan, Singapore – The giant Indonesian archipelago enjoys enormous potential fishery resources, as yet under-exploited by the legal fishing industry. However, illegal fishing is threatening this potential.

New York – The United Nations Security Council has approved a one-year extension of the UN mission in East Timor, while diplomatic sources caution that the new nation could experience massive difficulties after the world body pulls out next year.

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – The debates on whether the government should continue the existing International Monetary Fund program in the country were brought back to life again on Monday when prominent economists aired the need for an extension of the program to help instill investor confidence and avoid damage to the economy.

Nigel Wilson – Negotiations are going ahead on the terms that will secure long-term gas supplies for Bayu Undan's $1.8 billion liquefied natural gas plant planned for Darwin.

Jakarta – Indonesia said yesterday it was still willing to talk to Aceh separatists to try to save a fragile peace agreement, but demanded the rebels stop pushing for independence and start disarming.

The government gave the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) between one and two weeks to respond and held back from launching a full-scale military operation.

Two Indonesian soldiers and a boy aged six have been injured in Indonesia's Aceh province, hours after the government set terms for renewed peace talks with separatist rebels.

A grenade fired from a launcher exploded near two soldiers who were relaxing in the center of Bireuen town late Monday, an Aceh military spokesman, Dasli Averos, said Tuesday.

Which do we love more, peace or sovereignty? This question came up when Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono addressed the problem of Aceh last week. The chief security minister reportedly said: "Indonesians love peace, but Indonesians value their sovereignty and territorial integrity even more."

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – More than 500 East Timorese people still taking refuge in West Timor held a protest recently in front of the East Nusa Tenggara provincial legislative council, demanding the Indonesian government compensate them for the assets they left behind in East Timor.

Shefali Rekhi – Indonesia's plan to buy a floating nuclear power plant from Russia is raising concerns about pollution, terrorism and accidents.

When and if a deal is signed, the floating power plant could be in place sometime between 2015 and 2017, Research and Technology Minister Hatta Radjasa has told reporters.

First to Indonesia, where security has been stepped up across the country following yesterday's bomb attack at Jakarta's international airport. Eleven people were injured after a pipe bomb exploded near an airport restaurant. It was the second bomb attack in three days. Jakarta is pointing the finger of blame at local separatists or the Jemaah Islamiah terror group.

Kathy Marks, Sydney – Eleven people were injured, one seriously, when a bomb exploded yesterday in a crowded terminal at the main airport in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital.

Jakarta – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) threatened on Sunday to "teach colonial forces a lesson" if Jakarta resumed its military operation in Aceh, while the government meets to decide the next step in handling the restive province.

New York – The UN Security Council is scheduled to meet Monday to discuss a one-year extension of the UN mission in East Timor, a recommendation by Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Jakarta – Indonesia's safety standards remain the worst in Southeast Asia, as it has the greatest number of workplace accidents, a report says.

For the first time, the East Timorese Government has begun taking control from the United Nations over its border with Indonesia.

East Timorese and UN authorities have today opened a new facility at Batugade to streamline immigration, police and border patrol operations along the border with West Timor.

Jakarta – The situation in Maluku is calm following the separatist South Maluku Republic (RMS)'s 53rd anniversary on Friday, which saw the arrest of more than 300 supporters of the outlawed group.

Jakarta – Two international human rights groups have strongly criticised a United Nations commission, saying it failed to demand justice for victims of atrocities in East Timor.

Amnesty International and the East Timor Action Network took issue with a recent statement from the UN Commission on Human Rights about Indonesia's trials of suspects in the 1999 bloodshed.

Jakarta/Banda Aceh – Vice President Hamzah Haz called on the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) on Saturday to resume peace talks to save the peace agreement signed in December 2002.