Fadli, Batam – Squatters in Tanah Longsor, Batam, who had earlier rejected the compensation offered by the local government in return for their vacating a site owned by the state, continued to press their demands on Friday for more money before they would agree to go quietly.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – After years of silence, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) demanded on Friday a thorough investigation into the May 1998 tragedy.

Jakarta – A consortium of Indonesian and foreign investors yesterday said they will build a monorail system to ease Jakarta's notorious traffic congestion.

The investors signed a memorandum of understanding to build the 27km line worth about US$600 million. Jakarta's controversial governor Sutiyoso also signed the agreement at Jakarta city hall.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Observers are blaming poor education, inadequate training and the absence of external control as the root causes of police violence and inability to anticipate conflict across the country.

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – As the central bank moved to tighten the rules on foreign exchange transactions to minimize speculation on the rupiah, the local unit slumped on Friday to a fresh 14-month low on the greenback's continued strength.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – The Asian Development Bank has predicted that Indonesia's economy will grow by only 4.5 percent in 2004 and 2005, and warned that foreign direct investment (FDI) was urgently needed to improve infrastructure, especially in transport, power and telecommunications.

Jakarta – Head of Wiranto's team of lawyers handling the East Timor case Dr Muladi said those who had been accusing the one-time military (TNI) chief to have committed human rights violations in East Timor have breached international law.

Surabaya – Vice presidential candidate Siswono Yudohusodo pleged that if he and presidential aspirant Amien Rais of the National Mandate Party (PAN) became the nation's top leaders, he will stop the country's debts in four or five years.

Jakarta – The General Elections Commission (KPU) and the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) will soon issue a joint decree encouraging television stations to air the track records of presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

Woro Swasti, Jakarta – The coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Usman Hamid, says that if Wiranto is elected as president the investigation into [former President] Suharto's crimes will come to a halt.

Budi Sugiharto, Surabaya - A demonstration opposing presidential candidates from [former President Suharto's state ruling party] Golkar and the military on Thursday May 13 ended in demonstrators tearing down the main eastern gate of the State Grahadi Building on Jalan Gubernur Suryo in Surabaya (East Java) and forcing their way into the grounds of the building.

Andreas Harsono, Jakarta – The six pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates for the Indonesian election in July, revealed on Wednesday, are an interesting mix of secular and Islamic-based politicians.

Jakarta Post, Cirebon/Kupang/Yogya – Demonstrations continued on Wednesday in several parts of the country against an apparent military comeback in the political sphere following the nominations of a number of retired generals as presidential candidates.

M. Taufiqurrahman and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – "If you can't beat them, join them" seems to be Solahuddin Wahid's motto.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Six years after the onset of the reform movement that was triggered by the death of four Trisakti University students in Jakarta in May 1998 at the hands of security personnel, the nation has yet to see substantial changes in political, economic and social life, activists say.

A. Junaidi, Jakarta – Rejecting accusations of partiality, the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) has again placed the Democratic Party's cofounder Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as the presidential election front-runner in its latest poll.

Abdul Khalik/Nana Rukmana, Jakarta/Cirebon – Scholars warned on Tuesday that the candidacy of several top figures from Nahdatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah's endorsement of Amien Rais would have an adverse impact on the role of those organizations as pillars of civil society.

Jakarta – The unprecedented presidential election in July looks certain to see six pairs of contenders, with the incumbent Megawati Soekarnoputri and her deputy-cum-challenger Hamzah Haz being the last to register.

Robert Go, Jakarta – A battery of 520 questions from psychiatrists checking for psychosis, neurosis, retardation or personality complexes; up to 30 minutes on the treadmill to determine cardio-fitness; and spirometry tests to assess lung capacity.

Luhur Hertanto, Jakarta – Lively demonstrations against ex-military presidential and vice-presidential candidates are continuing. On the afternoon of Wednesday May 12, around 100 people "run amuck" over the National Election Commission's (KPU) decision to accept presidential candidates from the military. The KPU was even pelted with eggs.

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – A National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) team found indications on Tuesdays of human rights violations in an incident in which dozens of police officers stormed the Indonesian Muslim University (UMI) in Makassar, South Sulawesi, early this month.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Noted Muslim scholars played down on Tuesday fears of rising radicalism among Indonesian Muslims, saying the phenomenon would not last long and would only affect a small number of people.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Plans by the US Federal Reserve to increase its interest rate could cause a devastating impact on the Indonesian economy particularly in the form of massive capital flight, economists warned.

M. Munab Islah Ahyani, Bandung – Army chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu says that there is a modern war conspiracy which has and is being carried out by aggressor nations in order to destroy and take control of Indonesia. Stages I and II of this modern war are already underway within the country.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – The Jakarta stock market fell precipitously for the eighth straight trading day on Monday as regional stock markets also plunged on growing fears that the US Federal Reserve would increase its interest rate in June.

Luhur Hertanto, Jakarta – Anti-military demonstrations dogged [former armed forces chief] Wiranto and Gus Solah [National Human Rights Commission member Solahuddin Wahid] as they left the National Election Commission (KPU) after registering as Golkar Party presidential and vice-presidential candidates on Tuesday May 11.

A. Junaidi, Jakarta – The political ambitions of some leaders of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) may create friction within the nation's largest Muslim organization, but the conflict would not affect members at the grass roots, observers say.

"Conflicts are an ordinary phenomena of NU's culture," scholar Muslim Abdurrahman told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Jakarta/Surabaya – United Development Party (PPP) leader Hamzah Haz has added his name to the list of presidential candidates when he announced on Monday he would join the race, picking Cabinet minister Gen. (ret.) Agum Gumelar as his running mate.

Muchus Budi R., Solo – Democratic Party presidential candidate and retired general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono alias SBY says he is saddened by the wave of demonstrations opposing presidential candidates with a military background. In his assessment, these opponents are holding the actions within the framework of democracy however in fact they are betraying democracy itself.

Muchus Budi R., Solo – Democratic Party presidential candidate, [former coordinating minister for politics and security] Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) has admitted that he doesn't know who entered the data on the Democratic Party's web site which gives the impression that one of the party's programs is to abolish the army's territorial command structure from Koramil (sub-district m

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – A police disciplinary committee dismissed here on Monday three high-ranking officers in South Sulawesi from their posts for their roles in a recent brutal attack on the Indonesian Muslim University (UMI), Makassar.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The House of Representatives (DPR) on Monday opened the debates of the bill on the truth and reconciliation commission with the Military/Police faction rejecting it outright before deliberations began.

Spokesman for the Military/Police faction Maj. Gen. Djasri Marin said the faction wanted the removal of the word "truth" from the bill's title.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – The inflow of smuggled goods to the country surged during the first quarter of this year, according to an internal report from the Directorate General of Customs and Excise.

Nethy Dharma Somba and Rusman, Jayapura/Samarinda Illegal logging continues unchecked in East Kalimantan province and Papua, Indonesia's westernmost province, sparking fears among government officials and environmentalists that pristine forests in the two provinces will soon disappear.

Leony Aurora, Jakarta – "Do you know how it feels to work hard but not see any results?" asked midwife Ni Luh Sutini of Cakung public health center, East Jakarta, located near the Cakung industrial area. A tone of sadness rang through the morning air.

Dian Intannia, Jakarta – If before they were being criticised, now scores of demonstrators have gone to the Indonesian police headquarters to support them. The demonstrators are of the view that the condemnations against police are a rotten conspiracy to sow discord in the nation.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The race for Indonesia's top job heated up yesterday with former president Abdurrahman Wahid, barred from the July 5 election for health reasons, declaring he would still run after talks with leading Muslim clerics.

Jakarta – The Golkar Party at its central executive board meeting has declared an associate chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Solahuddin Wahid, as vice presidential candidate to accompany the party's front-runner Wiranto.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Poll watchdogs have urged presidential candidates to allocate a big chunk of their budgets to deploy witnesses to polling stations, and during ballot counting, to prevent vote-rigging in the July 5 election.

Oyos Saroso H.N., Kotaagung, Lampung – Some 30,270 hectares of forest out of a total of 360,000 hectares in the South Bukit Barisan National Park (TNBBS) have been devastated by illegal logging.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – "I see a great degree of promiscuity in Indonesian politics. Anyone can get married to anybody." That is how Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a former adviser to Indonesia's third president, B J Habibie, describes the drive by candidates in the July presidential election to form "unholy alliances of secular and religious parties".

Two big pictures of Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri and her new running mate Hasyim Muzadi fell to the ground as she approached the podium last week to announce their partnership.

Omen or not, analysts say Muzadi is unlikely to be of much help to the embattled Megawati in Indonesia's first direct presidential election on July 5.

Woro Swasti, Jakarta – Next Wednesday, May 12, thousands of students from 23 campuses across Greater Jakarta plan to hold simultaneous actions rejecting presidential candidates from the military. The actions will start at their respective campuses at 11am after which they will move off to the national parliament (DPR) on Jalan Gatot Subroto in South Jakarta.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – The Kupang District Court sentenced nine civilian defendants on Friday to one year in prison each for their involvement in last year's attack on a court building and prosecutor's office on Flores Island, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia could experience more security problems and political instability ahead of its first direct presidential election on July 5, a top Cabinet minister said yesterday.

Businessmen, however, maintained an upbeat perspective and said the trouble brewing in spots faraway from Jakarta would not dampen investors' interest here just yet.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) has concluded that the dissolved Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) performed its duty of restructuring the majority of troubled banks, but refused to judge its performance.

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar – Religious-inspired violence is old news in Indonesia. Muslim extremists were behind the Bali bombings of October 2002 and, allegedly, the Marriott Hotel blast last August. The secessionist movement in resource-rich Aceh cloaks itself in strict Islamic clothing.

Budi Hartadi, Surabaya – A wave of demonstrations hit the East Java city of Surabaya on Thursday May 6.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri teamed up with the head of Indonesia's largest Islamic organisation in an attempt to re-energise her flagging campaign for a second term.

Megawati announced that Hasyim Muzadi, head of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) which claims 40 million followers, would be her vice-presidential running-mate for the July 5 election.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, facing an uphill battle for a second term in July's election, yesterday criticised politicians who had promised free education.

"Those statements are not only against reality but also misleading," she said, speaking at a ceremony to mark National Education Day.