Jakarta – A coalition of anticorruption watchdogs kicked off a campaign Friday to improve integrity among members of the House of Representatives.

Transparency International Indonesia, the International Transparency Society and Indonesia Procurement Watch have begun inviting lawmakers sign a pact in which they promise not to commit graft and act ethically.

Mark Forbes, Jakarta – Kartika Gunawan is not a typical Playboy playmate, but neither are her centrefold shots.

Jakarta – The business community is unimpressed with the newly launched financial policy package and doubts the seriousness of the authorities in implementing the contents of the policy aimed at reviving business activities in the country.

Jakarta – A student reported a security guard at the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) office to the Jakarta Police on Thursday for allegedly beating him and an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver last month.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Legislators have accused Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono of a half-hearted commitment to effecting internal reform of the military, evidenced by a lack of accountability in arms procurement and a recent illegal arms scandal.

Abdul Khalik and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The resumption of nearly full military ties with the United States has been prompted by economic and security concerns rather than the improving human rights record of the Indonesian Military (TNI), experts say.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Indonesia, hobbled by graft and slack bureaucratic coordination, has a long way to go before it can adopt a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) plan to offset the negative impact of the liberalized world trade order, economists say.

Jakarta – Too many illegal logging suspects are being acquitted by the courts and others are receiving light sentences, say National Police chief Gen. Sutanto and Forestry Minister M.S. Kaban.

Speaking after a meeting at Kaban's office Wednesday, Sutanto and Kaban said the judgments would undermine people's faith in the justice system.

RR Ariyani, Jakarta – Entrepreneur groups consider that improvement to infrastructures is far more interesting to investors than the granting of fiscal incentives.

Jakarta – The House of Representatives has agreed to resolve internal friction over controversial sharia-inspired bylaws enacted by some regional administrations.

House Speaker Agung Laksono said lawmakers opposed to and those in support of the local government regulations had met with him and agreed to stop questioning these bylaws on gambling, prostitution and liquor.

Bandung – Fifty-two former workers of state aircraft maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia began a long march from Bandung to the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday to demand the government honor its promise to pay part of their pensions in cash.

Other former workers and their family members saw off the marchers who began their trek from the West Java governor's office.

Jakarta – The government and Bank Indonesia (BI) have signed a joint decree to improve coordination between fiscal and monetary authorities and help reform financial markets.

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Rendy Akhmad Witular, Jakarta – National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Syamsir Siregar said Tuesday that military police had found 35 more arms hoarded by late Army officer Brig. Gen. Koesmayadi.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – A criminologist believes the authorities must identify the root causes of the hatred and prejudice which fuel vigilantism amid renewed calls for a crackdown on thuggery.

Jakarta – Indonesian police said they had arrested a former army general and two company directors for alleged involvement in illegal logging on Borneo island.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Lawmakers here Tuesday lashed out at the management of state-owned labor insurance firm PT Jamsostek for failing to boost transparency and professionalism in carrying out social security programs for workers.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Military analysts believe a probe into the recent discovery of a huge arms stash at a deceased Army officer's residence will not offer full disclosure of its findings.

Andy Mukherjee – In Siti Maimunah's Jakarta office, on the wall behind her spartan desk, hangs a placard.

"Decolonize Freeport's imperium in Papua," the poster says, its ire targeted at Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.'s Grasberg gold mine, the world's largest, in eastern Indonesia. "Thirty five years is enough."

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Environmental activists are calling on the government and the public to halt the degradation of marine resources in order to prevent the kinds of disasters that have already caused suffering for millions of people.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The rehashed bill on citizenship has been criticized by a coalition of non-governmental organizations for allowing discrimination against women and endangering their rights.

Hasrul, Kendari – The mood in Pasarwajo city, the capital of Buton Regency in Southeast Sulawesi, was tense Sunday following the shooting of people protesting against the regental election plan.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Bowing to demands from a number of groups, the House of Representatives has decided to halt discussions on an anti-discrimination bill that was already in the pipeline.

The decision was made by the House's special committee tasked with deliberating the bill to eradicate ethnic and racial discrimination.

Ruslan Sangadji, Poso – A bomb believed to be homemade exploded Saturday night at a church in the Central Sulawesi regency of Poso, but no casualties were reported.

Jakarta – The discovery of a large arms stash in a deceased Army officer's home last week underscores problems of transparency and accountability in weapons procurement in the Indonesian Military (TNI), experts said.

Jakarta – Some 10,000 Indonesians have massed in front of the US embassy, to support the Palestinian people and condemn Israel's deadly offensive and the arrest of Palestinian officials.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – A study on the economic impact of building six new inner-city turnpikes has fleshed out the reality of the income gap between the rich and the poor.

Tangerang – Dozens of residents of Sukamanah village in Jambi district ran amok Friday, beating up the village secretary and destroying the village administration office after the administration failed to explain the cut in government direct cash aid.

"One, two, three, heave!" men shout as they strain against a wooden motor boat used to catch green mussels just a few hours before.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Military police discovered almost 30,000 bullets, grenades and 145 rifles and pistols at the home of a high-ranking Army officer who died last week.

Jakarta – Lawmakers are dragging their feet on the witness protection bill, legislation that is expected to help root out major cases of corruption and rights violations, a human rights group says.

Jakarta – The Central Jakarta District Court jailed the leader of a minority religious sect for two years Thursday for blasphemy against Islam, a judgment quickly condemned by her lawyers and moderate religious leaders.

Patrick Walters – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has pledged to intensify his country's counter-terrorism fight, promising close surveillance and pre-emptive measures against suspected terrorists.

Jakarta – The People's Coalition Against Land Evictions (KRTP) opposes Presidential Regulation Number 36/2005 on the Acquisition of Land for the Purpose of Development in the Public Interest as well as revisions to the regulation that flow out of Presidential Regulation Number 65/2006.

Michelle Grattan – John Howard put on a late-night party for Australian officials and travelling media who wanted to watch the soccer. Those in the little Aussie enclave on the fifth floor of a middling resort hotel at Batam, in Indonesia's far west, clutched stress balls as they cheered and groaned their way through the match.

Jakarta – The wife of the late Munir, Suciwati, accompanied by representatives of the Solidarity Action Committee for Munir and senior legal practitioner Adnan Buyung Nasution, met with the head of the Supreme Court, Bagir Manan, on Monday June 26. They were asking the Chief Justice to reexamine the evidence in the Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto case.

Jakarta/Batam – The government plans to relax the implementation of the labor legislation in the newly declared special economic zones (SEZs) on three major islands in Riau Island province, says the head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM).

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Rivers awash in chemical pollutants and untreated sewage, denuded forests and smog-choked cities are putting the Indonesian public at risk in an increasingly toxic environment, a new government report says.

Jakarta – A number of Islamic social organisations from the Islamic Community Forum (FUI) have visited the offices of the Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs to ask that the government be on guard against foreign intervention that could divide the nation. The FUI also asked the government to audit the funds of non-government organisations (NGOs).

Jakarta – The government wants the new state secrets bill to restrict foreigners access to information that could threaten national security, the information minister said Monday.

Jane Perlez, Tangerang – To a passer-by, the dress and demeanor of Lilis Lindawati would have attracted little attention as she waited in the dark in this busy industrial city for a ride home. Lilis Lindawati, a waitress in Tangerang, Indonesia, was convicted of lewd behavior under a new local law.

Cynthia Banham in Paris and Phillip Coorey on Bantam Island – The Prime Minister says he welcomes the resignation of the East Timorese Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri, if it meant an end to instability in that country.

Jakarta – The continued flow of hot mud from a gas drilling well, which has spread over more than 127 hectares of land in Sidoarjo, East Java, could pose a severe threat to human health and create an ecological disaster, activists and experts have warned.

Slamet Susanto and Blontank Poer, Yogyakarta – Thousands of Muslims thronged a sermon here Sunday by firebrand cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who served time over the 2002 Bali bombings.

The sermon closed a two-day meeting of the hard-line Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI), which fights for the implementation of sharia law.

Dennis Shanahan, Batam – Australia and Indonesia are expected to take a giant leap forward in restoring relations today with a statement of common principles and an accelerated timetable for the signing of a defence pact.

Jakarta – The government's move to standardize education in Indonesia through the national exams has been challenged by activists and legislators.

With Australia's Prime Minister John Howard set to meet Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono later today, West Papua campaigners in Australia are pleased but sceptical about reports that the two leaders wont be discussing a new military agreement.

Jakarta – The cost of illegal imports in lost revenue to the government almost doubled last year, with Industry Minister Fahmi Idris warning Friday the practice had reached a critical level that endangered the economy.

After much speculation and rumor, Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani was replaced after only 22 months in office, handing over his command to Insp. Gen. Adang Firman on Wednesday.

Jakarta: A coalition of non-governmental organizations criticized Friday the secretive deliberations of the controversial pornography bill.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Ubud (Bali) – Sidelining customary laws and undermining tribal wisdom in managing Indonesia's rich natural resources is certainly not what the 1945 Constitution espouses, therefore reinterpretation of the supreme law is badly needed to promote prosperity among Indonesians, environmental law and management experts say.