Robert Go. Jakarta – HIV rates in Indonesia could be on the rise after revelations by the local Red Cross unit (PMI) that there has been a dramatic increase over the last five years in the number of donated blood samples that contain the lethal virus.

[First to Indonesia, where the convicted favourite son of former President Suharto is likely to appeal a 15-year jail sentence for masterminding the murder of a judge and other crimes.

Jakarta – Indonesian police have been questioning witnesses to a bomb blast that ripped through a crowded market, injuring 53 people in a Christian neighbourhood of the religiously divided province of Maluku.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – In a move to net potential voters who have been disappointed with the performances of existing political parties represented in the country's supreme law-making body, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), two noted political observers declared a new party on Sunday.

Jakarta – What was President Megawati Soekarnoputri doing when thousands of her die-hard supporters and victims of the July 27 bloody attack were crying out for justice last Saturday? Throwing a party for her children, brothers and sisters of her businessman husband Taufik Kiemas, and several family business friends to celebrate her one year in office.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Defence lawyers for former President Suharto's youngest son, who was convicted on Friday of ordering the killing of a judge, intend to focus their appeal to the High Court on a technicality – the judges delivered the verdict and 15-year sentence to an empty chair.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The judges heaved a sigh of relief, the prosecutors claimed justice had been done, the defence lawyers cried foul, but the media responded to Friday's guilty verdict and the 15-year sentence against former president Suharto's favourite son with plenty of scepticism.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Life behind bars must be terrible, especially in the notorious Cipinang penitentiary in East Jakarta.

Bandar Seri Begawan – Tommy Suharto's conviction augurs well for the independence of the judiciary in Indonesia, according to Datuk Param Cumaraswamy, the United Nations special rapporteur who had last week said the country's legal system was the worst he had ever seen.

Grace Nirang, Jakarta – Life had returned to normal on the streets of Indonesia's troubled eastern city of Ambon on Sunday, police said, a day after a bomb blast that injured 53 people and may raise fresh doubts about a regional peace pact.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Poverty and desperation almost drove Dinda to prostitution in her teenage years.

She needed the money for her destitute family neglected by a drunk and chronic gambler father. But she was saved from a cruel fate by her renewed faith in Islam. And to reaffirm her conviction, she decided to wear the Muslim headscarf or jilbab.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Around 1,000 people gathered on Saturday on Jl. Diponegoro in Central Jakarta, to commemorate the July 27, 1996 incident when hundreds of people attacked supporters of the then-ousted chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – An alliance of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) criticized the government on Friday for its lack of transparency in implementing policies to end regional conflicts, especially those in Aceh and Maluku.

The youngest son of former Indonesian dictator Suharto has begun a 15-year prison term for masterminding the murder of a judge amid protests that his sentence failed to match the severity of his crimes.

An Indonesian court has jailed for 15 years the son of former dictator Soeharto for ordering the daylight shooting one year ago of a Supreme Court judge.

Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, 40, was also convicted of arms possession and of fleeing justice in a trial being closely watched by Indonesians as a test of the progress of democratic reform.

Max Lane – There is an interesting parallel between the history of East Timor and of Indonesia in relation to how international public opinion changed towards the presidency of General Suharto.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri's performance in dealing with rebellious Aceh province is worse than her two predecessors Abdurrahman Wahid and B.J. Habibie, says an Australian observer.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The trial of nine members of the Army's special force (Kopassus) accused of killing Papuan leader Theys Hiyo Eluay will likely face further delay because the military police cannot guarantee they can hand over the results of their investigation to military prosecutors next month.

Berni K. Moestafa, Jakarta – The surge in the number of political parties – now around 180 – may signal a thriving democracy but analysts warned on Friday new parties catered more to the political illiterate and failed to meet the people's diverse needs.

Michael Casey, Jakarta – A bomb exploded in a crowded marketplace in Indonesia's religiously divided province of Maluku Saturday, injuring 53 people, police said.

The 9am blast ripped through a market packed with shoppers in a Christian neighborhood of Ambon, a provincial capital that is divided between warring Christian and Muslim sides.

The Central Jakarta District Court finally handed down the verdict for Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra without the presence of the defendant, who claimed to be sick. Several people share their cynical views on the case and on the judiciary in general.

Iskandar, 20, a hawker on city buses, who comes from Lampung and has been living in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, since 1994.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has again extended the deadline for the repatriation of East Timorese refugees living in squalid camps in West Timor.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said Friday the refugees would lose their refugee status by December 31, 2002 – the third such deadline.

The diplomat who nursed East Timor to nationhood is the new UN Human Rights Commissioner. Jill Jolliffe recalls his reign in Dili.

Peter Kammerer – Relations with Indonesia are progressing strongly, with issues such as the return of refugees to be settled within months, Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta said yesterday.

Mr Ramos Horta, on a private visit to Hong Kong before the Asean Regional Forum in Brunei on Monday, said Dili and Jakarta were involved in numerous negotiations.

East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta says the legal framework needed to attract foreign investment will be established by the end of this year.

Speaking at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Hong Kong, Mr Ramos-Horta said East Timor had a budget deficit of 30 million US dollars this year, which had been filled by contributions from donor countries.

The head of the UN mission in East Timor met Friday with Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri for discussions aimed to "consolidate and intensify" relations between Dili and Jakarta.

Jakarta – The Indonesian military said its troops shot dead on Friday at least 13 men believed to be separatist rebels in troubled Aceh province, where thousands have died in more than two decades of fighting.

President Xanana Gusmao vetoed the East Timorese government's tax-hiking fiscal bill Friday, in his second clash this month with Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri over financial and economic policies.

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) said on Wednesday it had secured at least Rp 17.75 trillion (US$2.4 billion) in proceeds from a sale of loan assets with a face value of Rp 145 trillion.

Emad Mekay, Washington – Two very distinct welcomes have greeted the newest member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF): free-market advice from the Fund and World Bank and warnings from civil society groups about who controls its money.

Jakarta – The political reforms that Indonesia has introduced since 1998 have been duly noted by the United Nations, but these have done little to improve the country's international standing in human development progress.

Moch. N. Kurniawan and Novan Iman Santosa, Indramayu – Defying warnings from officials of an extended dry season, many farmers in Indramayu regency, West Java grow rice mostly because they have no other option.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Most wanted in Indonesia: More than half a million teachers willing to work long hours for little pay, no job security and little upward mobility.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – The Indonesian military and police may be forced to re-count and re-register their standard weapons after revelations that many such arms are being used in an increasing number of armed robberies in major cities.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri opened a conference of Indonesia's largest Muslim organisation with a rare attack on the "narrow fanaticism" of more extremist Islamic groups.

Jakarta – Indonesian prosecutors have demanded a prison sentence of more than 10 years for East Timor's former police chief, saying he did nothing to prevent or to halt militia massacres in 1999 in which police and troops took part.

Jakarta – An East Timorese farmer testified Wednesday that he saw Indonesian soldiers fire on a pro-independence leader's house during the violence that engulfed the territory in 1999.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – In a sign that the United States is renewing military ties with Indonesia, a Senate committee last week voted to restore a military assistance and training programme for the country's armed forces.

Max Lane, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri's support within her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) is falling as she increasingly associates with the political figures from the era of the Suharto dictatorship.

John Edwards – Fifty-three people died after fire engulfed a karaoke bar in the Indonesia port city of Palembang on the island of Sumatra on the evening of July 7. As the fire swept through the five-storey Heppi Karaoke bar, people were trapped people inside because the building had just one stairwell and the only elevator had failed.

Leo Wahyudi S, Jakarta – Eki is only 10 years old, but he plays an important role in his family. Along with his brother, Edo, who is two years older, he is the family's breadwinner.

Lesley McCulloch – In the remote area of Aceh Tengah (central Aceh) there is a new and growing problem for the civilian population: the presence of Indonesian-backed militia. The rarely visited area has experienced a devastating attack on its social and economic fabric.

Dan Murphy, Banda Aceh – It's pretty safe here, reassures a local driver, ushering his car past a group of Indonesian soldiers. The sun glints off flooded rice paddies and silver-domed mosques tucked away in tiny villages.

Then he issues the warning: "Don't go out after 9." As for the surrounding villages: "I wouldn't go," he says.

[Indonesia's President Megawati Sukarnoputri was once seen as the great hope for Indonesian democracy. Now, on the first anniversary of her presidency, Megawati's critics have accused her of cosying up to the military.

East Timor formally joined the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Tuesday, with Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri describing the event in Washington as "an important day for us, a historic day".

He thanked the two institutions for their pivotal help during his country's three-year transition, under UN administration, to independence from Indonesian occupation.

Terrica Strudwick, Townsville – Indonesian trade union leader Dita Sari was one of 29 Third World women activists denied a visa to attend the annual International Women's Conference and the Network of Women Students Australia (NOWSA) conference held July 5-12 in Townsville.

Bambang Nurbianto and Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Didi Purwanto, 32, knew the consequences of supporting Megawati Soekarnoputri, who was the main enemy of the New Order under former authoritarian president Soeharto. He even braved the attack against her party's headquarters, the then Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) on July 27, 1996.

A senior Indonesian military officer was accused of ignoring massacres of at least 39 civilians by army-backed pro-Jakarta militias following East Timor's vote for independence in August 1999.

Max Lane, Jakarta – The Peoples Democratic Party (PRD) launched its new newspaper, Pembebasan (Liberation) at a public meeting held at the Jakarta Media Centre on July 11. Almost 400 people packed the auditorium for a lively discussion on the need for a political alternative to the parties of the political elite in Indonesia.

Pip Hinman – US military ties with Jakarta have been restricted since the 1990s because of the Indonesian military's (TNI) human rights abuses in East Timor. Now, Washington is using the "war on terrorism" as justification to renew ties. On July 18, the US Senate voted for a foreign aid bill which included US$400,000 for the Indonesian military.