Jakarta – The Indonesian government will pay out 495.8 billion rupiah (S$112 million) in subsidies for the poor and public transport operators to offset planned fuel price hikes.

Singapore – The chief of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) said Tuesday top Indonesian ministers have given "verbal" approval to issue bonds to bail out 48 companies indeb

Editorial and opinion – Competing agendas remain one hindrance to reform within the Indonesian Military, says Damien Kingsbury, the Executive Officer of Monash Asia Institute, who recen

Comment by Max Lane – Socialists and progressive people face an important challenge in the coming few years to match the "solidarity" the Australian ruling class is extending to the new

Hundreds of Indonesian illegal immigrants rioted at a holding centre in Johor.

Pip Hinman – Indonesian House of Representatives speaker and Golkar faction leader Akbar Tandjung wants the Abdurrahman Wahid government to ratify the draconian security law which was p

Semarang – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid said yesterday that his government will propose that the country's next president and vice-president be elected directly by the people

Medan – The provincial authorities have banned the Aceh Community Congress (Konggres Masyarakat Aceh), scheduled to begin on Monday and last through Friday, citing security reasons.

Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has proposed breaking his country's reliance on the United States for military equipment.

Jakarta – An armed mob yesterday torched a market in Jayapura, the capital of Indonesia's eastern province of Irian Jaya, after a youth was stabbed by migrant traders, police said.

Jakarta – Three generals, allegedly involved in quashing a 1984 riot in Jakarta when scores of Muslim militants died, have been identified by the National Commission on Human Rights (Ko

Paul Daley, Canberra – Indonesian military figures associated with the discredited Suharto regime are deliberately smearing Australia with unsubstantiated allegations of unauthorised RA

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid said Indonesia must develop its own military industries, diversify its weapons- sourcing and move away from dependence on the United States.

Michael Richardson, Jakarta – After sidelining the military and consolidating democracy in Indonesia, a country long used to authoritarian rule, the government of President Abdurrahman

Jakarta – The Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) – a watchdog body that monitors abuses involving corruption, collusion, and nepotism (KKN) – commented that President Wahid has not yet s

Jakarta – Police found the remains of at least 34 foetuses yesterday at a burial site on the southern outskirts of Jakarta.

Jakarta – Indonesia's General Elections Commission (KPU), plagued by allegations of corruption, has elected a presidium to replace its chairman, retired General Rudini, who resigned rec

Jakarta – The people of Aceh are planning to hold an all-Aceh congress next month to seek a peaceful settlement to the problems of the troubled Indonesian province, organisers said on W

Jakarta – Thirty years after the military dealt with a communist threat, the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) – the country's highest authority on Islam – is pressing the government to m

Makassar – President Abdurrahman Wahid yesterday said he supported a plan for the construction of three new naval bases – in Sorong, Sumatra and Java – to better assure security in this

Jakarta – Three hundred East Timorese crossed the border to return home from West Timor yesterday, a week before Jakarta cuts off all assistance to the tens of thousands of refugees sti

Jakarta – Indonesian share prices, which fell 1.6 percent this week, are expected to remain flat next week due to a lack of positive sentiment and the market's disappointment with the a

Jose Manuel Tesoro, Jakarta – "Indonesian politics these days is like a Chinese movie," says a disgruntled Indonesian former civil servant.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – The Indonesian government's attempts to negotiate Acehnese demands for independence or autonomy will be fruitless unless violence in the province decreases,

Banda Aceh – Unidentified groups burned 11 school buildings in North Kluet in South Aceh in early hours on Wednesday, leaving Rp 1.8 billion in losses, police said.

Jakarta – Calls for President Abdurrahman Wahid not to ratify the controversial state security bill continued on Thursday with the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBH

Jakarta – Ex-president Soeharto's children were under siege yesterday as son Bambang Trihatmodjo was questioned by state prosecutors while a company controlled by daughter Siti 'Tutut'

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – In a stunning reversal, Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid has praised the Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, for his "strength" in sticking to his controversial v

Melbourne – Prime Minister John Howard today responded to overtures from Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid by praising Mr Wahid's leadership and democratic principles.

United Nations – The United States, Britain and other Security Council members have urged Indonesia to keep its pledge to disarm militias that continue to attack East Timor and to end a

Karen Polglaze, Jakarta – A team to be set up to pursue the investigation of massive human rights violations in East Timor last year has already drawn criticism over its composition and

Banda Aceh – At least six civilians have been killed or found dead this week in the Indonesian province of Aceh which has been wracked by fighting between separatists and soldiers, poli

Dili – The success of East Timor's struggle to become an independent country is crucial in promoting stability throughout neighboring Indonesia, a visiting senior US official said Tuesd

Associated Press in Jakarta – Fresh violence broke out between Christians and Muslims in North Maluku killing five people and injuring dozens more, news reports said on Wednesday.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government said it would investigate the alleged embezzlement of some 117 billion rupiah (S$23.4 million) by the General Elections Commission (KPU) during last

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid has ordered a shake-up of the country's official news agency, Antara, removing its editor-in-chief and demanding it be

Dili – The small, unassuming office of the CPD-RDTL (Council in Defence of the Democratic Republic of East Timor) in Balide belies the debate that is brewing over the restoration of the

Jon Land – The recent spate of pro-integration militia incursions along the western border of East Timor highlights the failure and unwillingness of the Indonesian government to disarm

Vanya Tanaja, Dili – Frustration and discontent spilt over into another demonstration here on March 7 as 300 job seekers gathered outside the offices of the United Nations Transitional

The following is abridged from a statement by MUHAMMAD NAZAR, chairperson of the presidium board of the Aceh Referendum Information Centre (SIRA), to Indonesia's President Abdurrahman W

May Sari, Surabaya – One thousand five hundred workers at PT Surabaya Meka Box in East Java, Indonesia, began a strike on February 21 to protest against the dismissal of three colleague

Pip Hinman – Roger Smith, an Australian who works for the American Centre for International Labor Solidarity, which is funded by the US government and the AFL-CIO, has been threatened w

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Many cite law enforcement as the key to structuring a better way of life in Indonesia.

Pip Hinman – Since his election five months ago, the new president of Indonesia, Abdurrahman Wahid, has managed to create the impression that his is a people-friendly government.

Andrew Marshall, Jakarta – Indonesia's plans to give regions more control over their finances are at the heart of the country's efforts to hold its disparate provinces together.

Vaudine England – President Abdurrahman Wahid's latest salvo in his battle to keep rebellious Aceh as part of Indonesia is a pledge to investigate the alleged beating of 20 villagers la

Associated Press in Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid said on Tuesday that fighters of the separatist Free Aceh Movement group (GAM) could join the Indonesian military following a p

Jakarta – Finance minister Bambang Sudibyo said on Monday that 120 state-owned companies suffered combined financial losses of Rp 47.65 trillion (US$6.39 billion) last year.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – The chairman of Indonesia's National Business Development Council, Mr Sofyan Wanandi, has the task of harnessing business to invest in Indonesia, but concedes that c

Susan Sim, Jakarta – The crew of a Dutch-owned vessel with links to the Habibie family is expected to go on trial in Batam today for allegedly smuggling sand out of the Indonesian islan