Richel Langit, Jakarta – Indonesia's fledging democracy has come under threat as the country's power-hungry military is seeking to regain its old powers lost to reform movements since 1998.

Dewi Santoso, Jakarta – A controversial harm reduction program that was introduced by the government on Friday has split opinion among activists over how effective it will be in containing the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Jakarta – An independent political research organization predicted here Tuesday that Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), winner of the first round of Indonesia's first-ever direct presidential election last July 5, will also prevail in the runoff poll on September 20.

The Indonesian government has sent a delegation, led by representative from the Ministry of Industry and Trade Directorate General of International Cooperation Pos M. Hutabarat, to the World Trade Organization (WTO) general council meeting in Geneva.

Jakarta – Amid regional autonomy, state-owned PT Jamsostek has begun forging cooperation with regions to enlarge the coverage of the social security scheme not only for workers in the formal sector but also for those employed in the informal sector.

Dennis Shanahan and Nigel Wilson – Mark Latham's pledge to start new boundary talks with East Timor is threatening the tiny country's economic future, with owners of a $5 billion gas project saying they will stop development plans if present arrangements are not honoured.

Richard Robison, Jakarta – When the new president is finally confirmed later in September, she or he will confront the immediate task of assembling enough power to rule effectively. More fundamentally, though, is the task of arresting a seemingly inexorable slide into the sort of 'savage capitalism' that often accompanies parliamentary systems in their early years.

Sari P. Setiogi, Jakarta – Campaign workers for the two remaining presidential candidates, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Megawati Soekarnoputri, expressed on Tuesday what appeared to be only lackluster support for press freedom.

A. Junaidi, Jakarta – Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Megawati Soekarnoputri have their work cut out for them in wooing undecided voters whose first picks fell by the wayside in the July 5 election, analysts say.

Jakarta, Antara – Army chief of staff General Ryamizard Ryacudu has suggested that opposition against the draft law on the TNI (armed forces) within a number of circles is because of interference by foreigners who want to divide and weaken the Indonesian nation.

Jakarta/Semarang/Yogyakarta – While President Megawati Soekarnoputri again distanced herself from the tragedy of July 27, 1996 – which identified her as then president Soeharto's political victim – the eighth commemoration of the incident on Tuesday was marked by an attempt to link her opponent in the election, Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, to the tragedy.

Max Lane – On the evening of July 22, more than 300 people gathered at the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Democratic Party (PRD).

Kurniawan Hari and Evi Mariani, Jakarta – An explosion halted the finalizing of the presidential election vote count by the General Elections Commission (KPU) for several hours on Monday afternoon.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – A bomb exploded inside the headquarters of Indonesia's Election Commission yesterday just as the members were preparing to announce the results of the July 5 presidential poll.

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar – The tragic events of July 27, 1996, were instrumental in Megawati Sukarnoputri's path to the Indonesian presidency. With the release of official results from the July 5 elections on Monday showing her in second place, Megawati hopes that the events of this seventh-anniversary week will pave the way to her re-election.

Monday's explosion at the General Elections Commission (KPU) office aside, there was not a lot of excitement to mark the announcement of the official results of the July 5 presidential election.

Former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is still favourite to win Indonesia's presidential election run-off in September but the race will be close, analysts say.

IN their testy negotiations over oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea, the Australian and East Timorese sides have been driven solely by their respective national interests. This is good and proper. If Australia wants to provide assistance to East Timor, it should do so through the transparent mechanism of aid, not by giving way on maritime boundaries and ceding bits of Australia.

Jakarta – Former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid turned down a judge's suggestion on Monday that he settle his dispute with the General Elections Commission (KPU) out of court.

"There will be no amicable settlement," Gus Dur said at the Central Jakarta District Court.

Nana Rukmana, Indramayu – The Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) said on Monday it was investigating a boycott of a presidential election revote at the Al-Zaytun Islamic boarding school in Indramayu regency, West Java.

Melbourne – Australia has warned that it may suspend the next round of negotiations with East Timor on a maritime border in the resource rich Timor Sea that will decide the ownership of billions of dollars worth of oil and gas.

Australia and East Timor held talks in April and are scheduled to meet again in September.

Palu – Around 100 protesters grouped in the Cross-religious Forum for Central Sulawesi, staged a rally here on Monday to demand that the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) probe a recent church shooting.

Abdul Khalik and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Police admitted on Monday that a video compact disc (VCD) recording of a police meeting in Banyumas, Central Java, was genuine but denied accusations that they had sided with Megawati Soekarnoputri in the July 5 presidential election.

Tiarma Siboro and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The final results of the presidential election announced on Monday show that the number of people who did not use their right to vote on July 5 increased to 32,044,063, or about 20.9 percent of registered voters.

Risna – On July 27, 1996, a bloody tragedy occurred which began with an attack on the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party headquarters in Central Jakarta by a group organised by the military.

Fadli, Batam – The Batam municipal government will soon launch a raid against unmarried couples living together.

The plan will be executed in August this year, following the recent order by Batam Mayor Nyat Kadir, said Rayanis Aminah, the spokesman of the Batam social affairs office.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A recent study conducted by the Asian Labor Network on International Financial Institution (ALNI) has shown that a number of ongoing projects financed by the World Bank in Bali, infringe on core labor standards.

Jakarta – Hundreds of supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) reaffirmed on Tuesday their stance against any candidate with a military background, following Monday's announcement of the ballot results.

Jakarta – All convictions of the Bali bombers remain in force despite a legal decision that the law under which they were tried is unconstitutional, the head of the court which made the ruling said yesterday.

Indra Shalihin, Jakarta – An action commemorating July 27 in front of the city's government offices in Jakarta has ended in clashes. Students who were demanding that Jakarta governor Sutiyoso be tried in relation to the July 27 attack(1) were involved in a clash with Pamong Praja security guards after they forced their way onto the grounds.

Triono Wahyu Sudibyo, Semarang – Two student groups have held actions to commemorate July 27(1). One of the groups presented the Central Java National Election Commission (KPU) with a gift of rotten tomatoes while another group brought flowers. Both condemned the repressiveness of the military and demanded that cases involving the shooting of students be investigated.

Jafar G. Bua, Palu – If July 27 commemorations are usually identified with President Megawati Sukarnoputri, this was not the case in city of Palu, Central Sulawesi, where the commemorations was instead marked by actions rejecting Megawati and presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY).

Sisira Jayasuriya and Chris Manning, Canberra – The recent announcement by the Investment Coordinating Board Chairman that foreign direct investment (FDI) was down by one-third in the first half of 2004 is hardly news these days (The Jakarta Post, July 15).

Canberra – The government threatened Sunday to suspend the second round of talks with East Timor over a maritime boundary between the two neighbors after the opposition called for a fresh start to negotiations on how seabed oil and gas riches will be shared.

Matthew Moore – Just an "advisory opinion" is how Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has for three days been playing down Friday's stunning decision by Indonesia's highest court upholding an appeal by one of the Bali bombers.

Wahyuana, Bekasi – The stench along the Kalimalang River that runs beside a road linking Bekasi and Jakarta had long been overlooked by residents and motorists until the Bekasi environmental management agency found hazardous levels of toxic substances in the river.

Jakarta – Controversy over Newmont's operations, sparked by allegations from non-governmental organizations that the firm polluted waters in North Sulawesi, has dealt another blow to the nation's mining industry and hurt investment in the sector, an official and expert said on Sunday.

Jon Afrizal and Indra Harsaputra, Jambi/Surabaya – The celebration of National Children's Day on Friday, may be already over, but there is work to be done, for people of all walks of life in the country, especially the government on issues that need to be addressed immediately.

A. Junaidi, Jakarta – A group of non-governmental organizations demanded on Saturday that the Attorney General's Office resume its investigation into Sjamsul Nursalim, saying the President's order to stop the legal process against the business tycoon violated the Anticorruption Law.

Nana Rukmana, Indramayu – More than 11,500 voters from the Al-Zaytun Islamic boarding school boycotted the presidential election revote on Sunday, but committee officials declared the poll results valid, while observers called for a criminal investigation into the matter.

A bomb has rocked the offices of Indonesia's election commission, delaying the announcement of the winner of this month's presidential poll.

Jakarta – A final tally of most votes in Indonesia's presidential election has confirmed ex-general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as the winner, the election authority said yesterday, a day before the official results were to be announced.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – The trial tomorrow of the alleged financier of the Bali bombings will be the first case affected by Friday's landmark decision disallowing the law used to prosecute the bombers.

The lawyer representing Idris, the alleged money man, said the Constitutional Court decision meant prosecutors may have to abandon the case.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Several members of the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) network are still planning to launch terror attacks in various parts of the country despite the arrest of some of their leaders, a senior police officer said.

JI is listed by the United Nations as an organization that is linked to the Al Qaeda terrorist group.

Sydney – Australia's foreign minister has threatened to suspend talks with East Timor on disputed multi-billion-dollar Timor Sea gas and oil fields, saying the opposition Labor Party had politicised the issue.

The Federal Opposition says it is the Government that is playing politics over Australia's negotiations with East Timor over the boundaries in the Timor Sea, which determine control over oil and gas reserves.

Opposition Leader Mark Latham says it appears there has been bad blood in the negotiations so far and if Labor is elected, it would restart the talks.

Matthew Moore, Mark Forbes – The Bali bombers may be set free after a ruling from Indonesia's Constitutional Court that the terrorism law used to convict them is illegal.

Suherdjoko and Slamet Susanto, Semarang/Yogyakarta – The dry season has started in Central Java and Yogyakarta, leading to critical water shortages and serious damage to rice crops, officials say.

Margo Kingston – G'day. I'e just heard the news that Indonesia's top appeal court has ruled the conviction of a Bali bomber unconstitutional because he was convicted under retrospective criminal laws in breach of Indonesia's constitution. This could be another Howard scandal in the making.

Luhur Hertanto, Jakarta – The level of golput(1) in the first round of the presidential elections was higher in comparison with the legislative elections. In comparison with international standards however, the level of golput in Indonesia is still small.