Jakarta – While Indonesia's economy has been making significant improvement in a number of key areas, progress remains relatively fragile, the chief representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) office in Jakarta says.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Political observers with the National Institute of Sciences (LIPI) urged the House of Representatives (DPR) on Tuesday to give the public a chance to critique and give inputs to the bills on elections and political parties which they say have many flaws.

Max Lane, Jakarta – On June 25, the Jakarta Media Centre was packed to overflowing. Former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) and Dita Sari, the most prominent labour movement figure in Indonesia, were going to speak on the same platform.

Lely T. Djuhari, Jakarta – Former dictator Suharto's son is accused of murdering a judge who ordered him jailed for graft, the head of the Central Bank has been convicted of misusing $80 million in bank funds, and the speaker of Indonesia's Parliament is on trial for corruption.

Thomas Freitas, Dili – Activists from the NGO La'o Hamutuk and others were disappointed by Manuel Carrascalao's statement in Tuesday's edition of STL that "Foreigners can not come here to provoke conflict amongst East Timorese."

This information was given by Thomas Freitas, a coordinator of the peaceful action in front of the United States Embassy last Saturday.

Jakarta – Indonesia's chief security minister, on a fact-finding mission to Aceh province, said the government wanted to end a separatist war there peacefully but at the same time he issued a tough warning to the rebels.

Vice President Hamzah Haz has pointed a finger of blame at disgruntled generals who, he implied, have been destabilizing the restive province of Aceh by penetrating the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Amid the controversy concerning the government's plan to impose martial law in response to the continuing violence in Aceh, Haz has questioned who is the mastermind behind GAM.

Jakarta – A baby was shot and killed and its mother left fighting for her life in violence which claimed at least 10 lives in the war-ravaged Indonesian province of Aceh on Sunday and Monday, sources said.

The dead also include a soldier, two alleged Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatists and a 79-year-old man and his son.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Every Monday and Thursday at 5 pm, office clerk Danial Erwin makes his most important calls of the week – to his bookie, to check winning numbers.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Dozens of people claiming to represent thousands of East Timorese refugees sheltering in camps in West Timor rallied at the gubernatorial office in the regional capital of Kupang on Tuesday to demand a quick disbursement of US$5.38 in humanitarian aid from the Japanese government.

The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has denied a report that claims it was in cahoots with Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda terrorist network.

A spokesman for GAM's exiled leaders in Sweden, Zaini Abdullah, on Wednesday told Japan's Kyodo News the source of the report presumably came from the Indonesian government, which wants to discredit the separatist group.

Debbie A. Lubis, Jakarta – People living with HIV/AIDS in Indonesia are having difficulty gaining access to imported live-saving antiretroviral drugs because of the exorbitant price of patented drugs and a limited supply of the generic version.

Wahyu Dhyatmika, Jakarta – People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Amien Rais has guaranteed that this August's MPR Annual Session would not become a special session to topple President Megawati Soekarnoputri as there's no agenda to request an accountability report from the president.

Jim Lobe – If Indonesia declares martial law in oil-rich Aceh province, as suggested last weekend by top military officials, the government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri may find it more difficult to resume military-to-military ties with the United States, according to analysts in Washington.

Dili – UN Police officials today announced they have seized two trucks loaded with sandalwood apparently destined for sale outside East Timor.

Officials would not disclose where the sandalwood originated but said there has been a recent upsurge in cases of this type. A number of people are being questioned in relation to the incident.

Tom McCawley, Jakarta – Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesia's chief security minister, arrived in the troubled Aceh province on Tuesday as Jakarta considered declaring a civil emergency to end a 26-year war with separatists.

The European Union is to give humanitarian aid worth nearly euros 2 million to East Timorese refugees still living in camps in Indonesian West Timor, it was announced Tuesday in Brussels.

The assistance includes food aid for the severely malnourished and supplementary feeding for nearly 10,000 children and 1,700 pregnant or breast feeding women.

Maria Ressa, Manila – Intelligence officials tell CNN that Osama bin Laden wanted to move the base of operations for his al Qaeda terrorist network from Afghanistan to Southeast Asia in 2000.

The plan, according to these officials' intelligence report, was to move the base to Aceh in Indonesia, where members of the Free Aceh movement (or GAM) were working with al Qaeda.

East Timor's parliament approved a draft bill Tuesday on maritime borders, paving the way for the ratification of the potentially lucrative Timor Sea oil and gas treaty, signed in May by Dili and Canberra during the new nation's independence celebrations.

Renewed clashes in the troubled Indonesian province over the past few days have also claimed the lives of three civilians in a grenade blast, and three more rebels, officials said.

Indonesia's Security Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is visiting the northern province to decide whether to institute tougher measures to end the 26-year-long separatist insurgency.

Jakarta – With the new academic year drawing near, some 13,000 junior high school graduates across South Kalimantan are facing the possibility of having to give up their formal education due to a limited number of places in senior high schools, an official said.

The Indonesian government has raised the import duty on sugar by up to 30 per cent to protect local sugar cane farmers from cheaper imports.

The rise follows widespread violent protests by sugar cane farmers against cheaper imports.

Indonesia in 2000 imported 1.2 million tonnes of sugar, mainly from Thailand.

Nana Rukmana, Cirebon – Hundreds of street vendors and becak (pedicab) drivers occupied the municipal office here on Monday, in protest over their forced eviction from areas around shopping malls.

The protesters demanded the local government allow them to operate in the areas around the shopping malls.

Jakarta – The post of Indonesian ambassador to Australia remains unfilled because of a political struggle in Jakarta over who appoints the country's diplomats.

Indonesia's Department of Foreign Affairs has refrained from nominating a new ambassador after the outgoing envoy, Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat, was last month recalled early to be promoted in Jakarta.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Every 30 minutes, one Indonesian woman dies while giving birth and out of 100 babies born here, six won't reach the age of five – statistics that show the sorry state of the country's health-care system.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday defended her party's decision not to seek a parliamentary inquiry into alleged graft by the Speaker, saying legislators have more important things to do.

Jakarta – A choking and dangerous haze that has been blanketing the Indonesian city of Pontianak in the early morning has caused delays in flight arrivals and departures, officials said yesterday.

An airport official at the city in West Kalimantan, said one landing was delayed yesterday and about six flights were delayed over the weekend.

Jakarta – As the government continued to secure more support for its plan to intensify military operations in Aceh, experts warned that an increased military presence in Aceh would not solve problems but would only create state-sanctioned violence against innocent civilians there.

Jakarta – Traditional food supplements for children are selling well in Indonesia's capital city with parents convinced of their benefits despite many containing ingredients not suitable for children's consumption.

Catharine Munro – To walk into the world of Yunus Makasau is to enter a wonderland of exotic creatures stolen from across the – vast and sprawling Indonesian archipelago.

Mr Makasau is engaged in the risky work of confiscating endangered animals from Indonesia's rich and powerful and returning them to the wilderness.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – The city administration have turned a deaf ear to the warnings of experts that future floods could be worse if they fail to maintain or even expand the number of green areas in the city.

Jakarta – Indonesian police questioned the local franchise holder of fast-food chain McDonald's for seven hours on Monday over a suspected graft scandal involving millions of dollars.

Banda Aceh – At least two civilians and two suspected guerillas were killed in the latest violence to hit Aceh, residents and the military said yesterday.

But in Jakarta, the authorities and parliament have not yet reached the conclusion that a state of emergency is needed in Aceh.

Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights has launched an investigation into last year's massacre of 31 residents in Langsa, Aceh, Antara reported on Saturday.

B.N. Marbun, a member of the commission, said the team arrived in Langsa on Thursday and will return to Jakarta on Monday.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Cities around Indonesia are increasingly drowning under a sea of rubbish as local governments struggle to cope with the mountains of garbage produced every day.

But in Yogyakarta, residents have found an unusual way of processing their city's rubbish by using mobile and natural recyclers – cows.

Bernie K. Moestafa, Jakarta – With a United Nations fact-finding mission yet to set foot on Indonesian soil, legal experts said it would likely find here a judiciary far from being independent, and hostage to money and politics.

Patricia Nunan, Bangkok – Indonesia's Supreme Court has overturned a controversial bankruptcy ruling against the Jakarta branch of a Canadian insurance company. The case against Manulife-Indonesia had raised serious questions about the independence of Indonesia's judiciary and alarmed foreign investors.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Around 300 foreign vessels believed to be from Thailand are looting fish stocks in North Sumatran waters and robbing local fishermen of their livelihoods, according to Governor T. Rizal Nurdin.

East Timor's minister of health has said that his country has all the conditions necessary for the outbreak of an Aids epidemic and urgent measure are needed to prevent this.

Rui Araujo, currently attending a world conference on HIV/AIDS in Barcelona, said that Timor possessed "all the ingredients" needed for a serious epidemic.

Dili – Amnesty should not be offered to those responsible for crimes against humanity during the violence that surrounded East Timor's 1999 bid for independence, said Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo of Dili.

Jakarta – At least 1,800 hot spots have emerged in fire-prone areas of Sumatra and Kalimantan this year with the dry weather, satellite images revealed.

Reporter: Ross Coulthart

Producer: In collaboration with Max Stahl of Gillan Films

Manila – The authorities in the Philippines said yesterday that they had received reliable reports that an Indonesian detained since March was involved in deadly bomb blasts in Manila and Jakarta.

Justice Under-Secretary Jose Calida said the reports, relayed by undisclosed international contacts, implicated Agus Dwikarna, a suspected Islamic militant, in the two bombings.

The Indonesian government has asked parliament to approve "emergency" funds of more than 111 million dollars to help the military and police operate in areas of conflict like Aceh.

The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) yesterday transferred six trainer aircraft to its Indonesian counterpart, and will deliver another 13 more by the end of the year, Singapore's Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The Indonesian government will dig out 900 billion rupiah from its cash-strapped coffers to counter El Nino-induced droughts that could devastate this year's harvests and spark haze-forming fires.

Jill Jolliffe, Maubisse – Like most country folk in East Timor, the 18,000 people of the Maubisse district are enthusiastic about independence, but worried about their future. The enormous challenges of survival they face are tougher than those facing their city counterparts.

Jakarta/Kupang – The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday that 1,500 East Timorese children, placed in orphanages across Indonesia in 1999, had not yet been reunited with their parents in newly independent East Timor.

Nana Rukmana, Cirebon – Thousands of sugarcane growers and workers at sugar plants in Cirebon, West Java, rallied on Friday to demand the government reduce sugar imports blamed for the steep fall in sugar prices.

Rendi A. Witular and Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The increasing number of incidents of labor unrest here has not only affected the flow of foreign direct investment but has also hit the country's export sector, Minister of Industry and Trade Rini MS Soewandi warned.