Jakarta – The ongoing economic crisis and political instability in Indonesia since mid-1997 have pushed up unemployment to 37.4 million, a local newspaper controlled by the former ruling Golkar Party said Saturday.

Biak – Thousands of Irian Jaya people raised for the first time the Morning Star separatist flag without fear of punishment or harsh measures from security authorities on Friday.

Lisbon – East Timor's first transitional government was hailed yesterday as a crucial step forward by the pro-independence leader Mr Xanana Gusmao.

The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) must form an a commission to resolve the abductions of pro-democracy activists in 1997 and 1998.

Jakarta – A mass brawl broke out again in the Matraman area of East Jakarta on Thursday as residents of the bickering Palmeriam and Berlan subdistricts pelted rocks and threw Molotov cocktails at each other.

H Dharmastuti/SWA & LM, Jakarta – The fate of 14 people abducted in the dying days of the Suharto regime remains unknown.

L Hakim/SWA & LM, Jakarta – Vice Director of the General Crime Division at the National Police Headquarters, Senior Superintendent Makbul Padmanegara, has admitted that their investigations point to heavy military involvement in the 27 July 1996 raid on the offices of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI). An officer is set to be called on Monday. Who is he?

Time is running out for Indonesia's first democratically chosen president. The task is vast. Last October Abdurrahman Wahid was given the presidency of one of the world's largest countries, spread across 17,000 islands and with numerous ethnic groups.

Jakarta – Top reform leaders blamed each other on Thursday over last night's aborted meeting between them, boding ill for a speedy resolution to the current political disharmony, despite the tension and strife which is dragging down the country.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid is facing yet another threat to his already shaky presidency with the latest bid by his political opponents in parliament to probe into two cases of irregularity in which he is allegedly involved.

Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Dili – Lakan Feralafaek, one of a score of money changers who ply their trade on the sidewalk in front of East Timor's only bank, is more than happy to exchange foreign notes for the new official currency, the US dollar.

A July 12 meeting between Indonesia's top four political leaders was indefinitely postponed at the very last minute. The meeting was to have brought together the president, vice president and speakers of the upper and lower houses of parliament, each from a different political faction, to prepare for the August People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) session.

Maryadi/FW & LM, Pontianak – Indonesia's most prominent environmental protection group, WALHI, has slammed President Abdurrahman Wahid and the current government for their lack of commitment to environmental issues.

Jakarta – A recent poll conducted by the Center for Electoral Reform showed the majority of Indonesians supported direct presidential elections. Nuri Soeseno of Cetro said on Wednesday the poll showed 72.6 percent of 1,998 respondents in five cities – Jakarta, Medan, Surabaya, Makassar and Pontianak – favored direct presidential elections.

Dini Djalal, Jakarta – Husein could do nothing when the mob set his son Dian on fire. "If I had protested, they would have killed me too," he says simply. "I held in my emotions." Dian, 24, and three of his friends had been caught trying to steal a motorbike in the town of Jati Murni, West Java.

Jakarta – Regional Autonomy Minister Ryaas Rasyid has warned that some local bureaucrats and politicians were using the Indonesian government's new decentralisation policy to blackmail businesses.

Banda Aceh – Three Acehenese civilians died in military custody after being shot and then arrested by Indonesian security forces, witnesses and hospital staff said Thursday. The bodies were taken to a local hosptial early on Thursday, a hospital employee said.

John McBeth, Jakarta – For members of a visiting group of US editors, a mid-afternoon conversation with President Abdurrahman Wahid in late June ended in near-complete bewilderment.

Jakarta – Security authorities have seized thousands of weapons and explosives in a series of arms sweeping operations in Maluku, which remains tense despite the two-week imposition of a civil emergency status.

Jakarta – Indonesia's central bank said Thursday it can fully implement a new monetary policy only once economic stability in the country is restored.

The appropriate timing for such a policy change has not been determined, Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor Anwar Nasution was quoted as saying by AFX-Asia, an AFP financial affiliate.

C.A Tanjung/SWA & LM, Jakarta – Thick smoke blanketing Pekanbaru, the capital of Riau Province, Sumatra, since Wednesday has been attributed to land clearing activities by businesses holding Forest Concession Rights (HPH), coconut palm oil plantations and small scale farmers all extending the boundaries of their land.

Maryadi/Lyndal Meehan, Jakarta – Smog in and around Pontianak, West Kalimantan, caused by slash and burn land clearing has reached hazardous levels while the local government has yet to even "fly the flag" and inform residents of the dangerous situation.

Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) yesterday appointed three commission members to revise its rejected report on the 1984 massacre in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.

Jakarta – The official number of HIV/AIDS cases in Indonesia now stands at 1,283, although health experts predicted the real figure could be as high as 350,000 or more, a senior official said.

North Sumatra – Looting of plantations has become a major headache in Indonesia, hitting bottom lines in the sector and threatening investment and privatization plans.

The problem is compounded by land disputes as plantation companies have been accused of failing to pay compensation for properties that villagers claimed belonged to their ancestors.

John McBeth, Talawaan – An ecological disaster looms over North Sulawesi's Minahasa Peninsula. Rampant illegal gold mining is pouring hundreds of tonnes of mercury into the environment. The deadly flow threatens to undermine the economy, contaminate food crops and leave a horrifying health problem for future generations.

John McBeth in South Kalimantan and North Sulawesi – They come equipped with scores of excavators and more than 500 trucks. Their backers have wealth and influence. They have been known to cajole and threaten.

Marian Wilkinson, Sydney – An Australian intelligence agency learned from an intercepted Indonesian Army radio message that Australian television crews were in danger and would be targeted, hours before the October 16, 1975, attack at Balibo in East Timor, a new book has revealed.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Navy said it had captured two boats illegally ferrying weapons to North Maluku. The vessels were heading to Ternate, the main town in the riot-torn province, eastern fleet the State Antara news agency quoted a spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Ditya Sudarsono, as saying.

James Balowski – The sinking of the overloaded Cahaya Bahari ferry on July 6 – which killed at least 481 Christian refugees fleeing the latest outburst of violence in Indonesia – highlighted the scale of the human tragedy unfolding in the north-eastern province of Maluku.

Max Lane – The United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) has announced that it will be implementing measures to increase Timorese participation in the executive bodies of UNTAET.

Norsborg, Sweden – The exiled leader of the pro-independence Free Aceh Movement (GAM), Hasan Muhammad di Tiro, said Wednesday he is willing to negotiate an extension of a three-month cease-fire accord in the troubled Indonesian province expiring September 2.

James Balowski – The government of President Abdurrahman Wahid appears to be indulging in a veritable orgy of investigations into human rights violations – ranging from the post-ballot violence in East Timor last September, military abuses in the provinces of Aceh and West Papua and state-sponsored violence against political dissidents during former dictator Suharto's 32-year rule.

Pip Hinman – Indonesia's most prominent left-wing political party, the People's Democratic Party (PRD), has filed a 5.5 billion rupiah (US$617,000) lawsuit against Suharto over the ailing former dictator's role in the July 27, 1996 attack on the offices of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), for which the PRD was falsely blamed.

Suwarjono/SWA & LM, Jakarta – Unraveling the intricacies of the mining business during the New Order era of former President Soeharto is as difficult as unearthing raw ore miles under the ground.

Nevertheless, Ginandjar Kartasasmita will be central to corruption inquiries into the giant Freeport mine now underway in Commission VIII of the House.

Jakarta – A defendant in a court trying a 2.1 million-dollar counterfeit money case has testified that Indonesia's army chief had full knowledge of the production of fake bills, a report said Wednesday.

Jakarta – The situation in Dumai municipility, 200 kms from the Riau capital of Pekanbaru, remained tense yesterday, as self-titled commander of Free Riau, Muhammad Sabri, continued to slam the shooting by police on Monday of four local protesters.

Jakarta – Despite sinister political maneuvers and other efforts to discredit President Abdurrahman Wahid, the one thing in his favor is that there's no one good enough to replace him. That's the result of a new survey which asked respondents who should replace Wahid if he resigns or is ousted before completing his five-year term in office.

Bogor – Hundreds of illegal miners working at gold-rich Pongkor Mountain thronged the Bogor Council building on Monday, complaining about violent measures they had suffered from security officers of mining firm PT Aneka Tambang.

Chaidir Anwar Tanjung/Lyndal Meehan, Jakarta – It is a truth (almost) universally acknowledged that outlawing gambling does not stop the practice but rather encourages those with the will, money and right connections to divine more devious means of turning a dirty dollar.

Greg Ansley, Dili – New Zealand troops have broken a militia-linked extortion racket in a crackdown on organised crime in the western border region of East Timor. In a dawn raid on two villages, soldiers of 2/1 Battalion NZ Infantry Regiment and United Nations police officers arrested eight alleged racketeers.

Dili – Militants of East Timor's newest political party have seized a building destined to serve as a police station in the eastern district of Viqueque, claiming it as their headquarters.

Kupang – Peace has been restored to the West Timor town of Oesau following the July 1 mass riot in which remnants of the feared pro-Jakarta militia gangs from East Timor torched 16 houses and burnt down barns containing dozens of ill-fated cows.

President Abdurrahman Wahid of Indonesia has ordered the military to safeguard mining operations in the country, following a series of attacks on foreign-owned mines.

Jakarta – The House of Representatives on Monday unanimously passed a new bill on the rights of workers to unionize. Minister of Manpower Bomer Pasaribu and legislators separately said that the law gives more assurance to workers' rights to organize compared to previous laws.

Christine T. Tjandraningsih, Jakarta – The Indonesian parliament Tuesday urged the management of PT Sony Electronics Indonesia, a subsidiary of the Japanese electronics giant, and workers involved in a protracted strike to seek a compromise despite the company's threat to fire them.

Jakarta – Pressure has shifted to House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung in the intensifying conflict among the political elite in the country. After President Abdurrahman Wahid's problem with the Rp 35 billion Bulog scandal, Akbar, who also chairs the Golkar Party, will have to stave off allegations of corruption committed in the past.

Rizal Maslan/Lyndal Meehan, Jakarta – Around 100 members of the Megamendung community of Bogor, West Java, held a noisy demonstration at the parliament complex today demanding the government return around 600 hectares of land seized by former President Suharto thirty years ago.

Jakarta – A mob attacked a police post in Indonesia's eastern island of Flores, ransacking it and killing two civilians they accused of trying to infect local dogs with rabies, the military and residents said Monday.

Jakarta – Tension between East Timorese refugees and locals in Indonesia's West Timor has forced the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to suspend its refugee return operation.