Dewi Santoso, Jakarta – With HIV/AIDS emerging as an increasingly ominous threat, the government appears to lack concrete plans to fight the virus, non-governmental organization activists and a legislator have said.

Sandy Darmosumarto, Jakarta – The lack of financial institutions in the eastern part of Indonesia is the main reason for the state-owned pawnshop company Perum Pegadaian to further expand operations in the region, where Islamic-based pawnshop activities have been on the rise.

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – Hundreds of evicted fishermen and their families living along the banks of the Muara Angke river in North Jakarta will again be forced to move, as the Jakarta administration started widening the river over the weekend to ease flooding.

Irvan NR, Palu – Four people were killed in two separate attacks on a single village in the Central Sulawesi town of Poso over the weekend, apparently targeting Balinese migrants. A bomb also exploded at a traditional market, but no casualties were reported.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The latest Indonesian banking scandal, in which hundreds of millions of dollars disappeared into thin air, may seem like a run-of-the-mill bank-fraud case, but besides worrying potential investors, it could also affect the outcome of next year's election.

Jakarta – As the globe commemorates World AIDS Day on December 1, Indonesia's response continues to remain dangerously slow while millions of its people continue to obliviously engage in high risk behavior.

Ian Timberlake, Jakarta – On paper Indonesia doesn't have much of a problem with HIV and AIDS. But the huge country's relatively low adult HIV infection rate belies a rapidly escalating level of infection among prostitutes, their customers, injection drug users and prisoners, an AIDS worker said.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Contrary to the general fear that security issues could be the major threat to the success of the 2004 general elections in Papua, a local election official cited the province's geographical condition as the most serious electoral constraint.

Ben Terrall – George W. Bush's late October visit to Indonesia was heavy on the superficial, upbeat sloganeering that characterizes his Administration's explanations of US foreign policy.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Just when investors might have been thinking it was safe to look at Indonesia a little less skeptically, the biggest banking scandal to hit the country since the central bank liquidity scandal, this one involving Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) and allegedly fraudulent letters of credit, has shattered confidence yet again.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday lashed out at members of her own party, calling them "thugs" who are out of touch with voters – an apparent attempt to rein in corrupt cadres seen as hindering her re-election next year.

Jakarta – The Army's special forces (Kopassus) chief must stand trial for crimes against humanity over a massacre which took place almost 20 years ago, the country's human rights court ruled Thursday.

Judges rejected defence claims that they have no right to put Maj. Gen. Sriyanto Muntarsan, who now heads the Kopassus special forces, on trial.

Jakarta – An influential politician who helped topple Indonesia's previous president explained Thursday why he believes current leader Megawati Soekarnoputri should also go.

Jakarta – Secular-nationalist parties in Indonesia will have the vote of Muslim voters in next year's election.

That is the result of a study carried out by the independent Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) which found the majority of respondents backed Golkar or President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party – Struggle (PDI-P).

Jakarta – A plenary meeting of the House of Representatives endorsed on Thursday 13 bills on the creation of 24 new regencies in 13 provinces into law.

The 24 regencies approved include Kolaka Utara, Kolaka Utara, Bombana and Wakatobi in the province of Southeast Sulawesi, Sumbawa Barat (West Nusa Tenggara) and Lingga (Riau).

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Indonesia's director general of taxation, Hadi Purnomo, under strong pressure to increase income tax receipts, has responded by using gijzeling – the Dutch term for detention without trial used in the Indonesian legal system – to jail foreigners, and his approach is sending a serious shudder through Jakarta's expatriate business community.

Indonesia could become a world-class mining country but new investors are steering clear because of legal uncertainty and red tape, according to an annual survey of the industry.

"Investment spending on exploration and new mines has now been very low for several years," said the report by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Jakarta – The proposed resumption of marine sand exports to Malaysia and Singapore is part of a certain political party's scheme to raise funds for its 2004 general election campaign, a non-governmental organization claimed here recently.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Experts have expressed concern that a planned Truth and Reconciliation Commission will serve as a legal whitewash of past gross human rights abuses, allowing perpetrators to avoid prosecution.

Jakarta – Approved foreign investment in Indonesia rose sharply in the first ten months of this year to US$9.31 billion from $6.81 billion a year earlier, the National Investment Coordinating Board said in a report seen Tuesday.

However, the 37 percent rise was largely due to a change in investment status of many projects rather than new projects, the board said.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Thousands of troops were deployed to Poso in Central Sulawesi yesterday as residents braced themselves for more violence following reports of murder and unrest over the shooting of a terror suspect.

About 2,300 troops have been deployed here from Jakarta and nearby provinces.

ID Nugroho, Malang – Chairman of the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) Teten Masduki proposed that both Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah issue election guides suggesting followers not to vote for legislative candidates and political parties with unclean track records.

Irvan NR, Palu – Poso Police headquarters was besieged on Sunday by thousands of people protesting the death of terrorist suspect Hamid Sudin, who was shot and killed by police attempting to arrest him in relation to the bloody attacks on three Christian villages in Central Sulawesi on October 12.

ID Nugroho and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Surabaya/Jakarta – Nahdlatul Ulama chairman Hasyim Muzadi called for a moral movement to eradicate corruption because the law had proven toothless.

Jakarta – Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) chairman Hasyim Muzadi criticized the country's security authorities for issuing repeated warnings of possible disturbances ahead of the 2004 elections, saying this would only succeed in causing anxiety.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Indonesia's House of Representatives, now debating privatizing the country's water supply, should probably take a close look at the one place in the nation where water distribution is already in private hands – Jakarta, where a comedy of errors has produced skyrocketing costs and little else.

Sidney Jones (Dow Jones Newswires) – Indonesians are not happy with the war against terrorism, despite the success of their police in fighting it, primarily because they don't trust the United States government and don't want to be part of a US-led campaign.

Keith Andrew Bettinger, Washington – The unilateralism and anti-terror policies of the United States are increasingly damaging its relations with the largest Muslim nation in the world, Indonesia, where many view the "war on terror" as anti-Islam. Meanwhile, China is quietly moving closer to the archipelago.

Jakarta – Two witnesses of the bloody 1984 Tanjung Priok incident withdrew on Tuesday their written and signed statements in the dossier against defendant Maj. Gen. (ret) Pranowo.

Dewi Santoso, Jakarta – In less than two months, dozens of squatters living under a section of Pluit-Cawang overpass toll road in North Jakarta will not only lose their makeshift tents but their access to free healthcare as well.

Dadan Wijaksana and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – While at first it was deemed solely a run-of-the-mill scam confined to the banking sector, the Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) scandal has now taken on a political dimension, which could lead to a brutal political war ahead of the 2004 elections, a top political analyst said.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The tragic tale of Sumaryono – a young man who had been living with part of his intestinal tract protruding through an abdominal incision due to apparent malpractice – exemplified the poor's lack of access to professional medical service in the capital.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Beleaguered by the unpopular policies that prompted many of its cadres to join other parties, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) has enlisted actors and actresses as its legislative candidates in the upcoming elections.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Irked by allegations of involvement in numerous human rights abuses, spokesmen from the Indonesian Military (TNI) expressed on Tuesday their opposition to a truth and reconciliation commission.

Otto Syamsuddin Ishak, Sociologist, Jakarta – The government has prioritized the extension of martial law over an evaluation of achievements made in the last six months. One could ask in jest: What party would most potentially be in a state of emergency after November 19, 2003?

Jakarta – TNI (armed forces) chief General Endriartono Sutarto has asserted that the TNI are not soldiers for hire. Therefore if there are companies which need security services, the companies concerned do not have a contract with the TNI, but with the government.

Tiarma Siboro and Teuku Agam Muzakkir, Jakarta/Lhokseumawe – Hundreds of protesters from the country's two troubled provinces took to the streets on Saturday to demand for an end to martial law in Aceh and attempts to partition Papua.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Samani, a man in his late 40s, works as a night guard at the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta). He had always received his Rp 1 million salary on time, until three months ago when the institute's management told him that they had to cut his pay by 20 percent due to financial constraints.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Legal and human rights leaders deplored a threat by two civilian security groups, who are apparently linked with Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea, to occupy the office of Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), after the watchdog apparently angered the minister.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Medan – An investigation by the Leuser Management Unit (UML) concluded over the weekend that the recent flash flood that swept through a North Sumatran resort town, which claimed hundreds of lives, was an indirect result of the rampant deforestation of Mount Leuser National Park.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's second-largest political party, Golkar, is working behind the scenes to turn the recent deadly clash between its cadres and supporters of President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party – Struggle (PDI-P) into a long-running campaign issue.

Moch. N. Kurniawan and ID Nugroho, Jakarta/Surabaya – An independent election watchdog has alleged that some political parties are charging legislator hopefuls administrative fees of up to Rp 16 million (US$1,900).

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has no other choice but to disband the many civilian security and militia groups to prevent conflicts ahead of the 2004 elections, an international think tank group says.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The betting game is on: Who will be Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri's running mate in the 2004 presidential election? Clearly in recent months, the incumbent's choices have narrowed down to three: security czar Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Muslim moderate leader Hasyim Muzadi and possibly a leading Golkar figure.

John McBeth, Singapore – The US is funding, training and arming specially screened Indonesian policemen in a new pilot program that will ultimately leave Indonesia with a self- contained, 400-strong counterterrorism unit capable of tackling everything from bomb investigations and terrorist acts to hostage-taking and armed assaults.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Having consistently failed to reach its privatization targets, and battered once again by a bank lending scandal, the Indonesian government is seeking to sell off yet another of its crown jewels – a major chunk of the state-owned gas distribution and marketing company PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN).

Tony Sitathan, Jakarta – Idris Kemal, a senior security guard at the famous 1001 Nightclub in the Kota district of West Jakarta, popularly known as Chinatown, has been having restless evenings of late. He listens intently to the evening prayer call followed by the rolling of drums from a mosque nearby symbolizing the end of the fasting day for Ramadan.

Jakarta – Indonesia's environment minister on Wednesday branded illegal loggers as terrorists after a flood disaster blamed on tree-felling killed an estimated 190 people in North Sumatra.

Nabiel Makarim criticised the army and police for involvement in the practice, which is rampant across much of the huge archipelago.

Jakarta/Medan – Government officials have joined environmental activists in blaming inconsistent forest management and poor law enforcement as the main causes of rampant deforestation that resulted in the flash flood which killed at least 103 people on Sunday. Hundreds are missing following the flood in Langkat regency, North Sumatra.

Geneva – Indonesia, Guatemala and Serbia-Montenegro won an award Wednesday for failing to address a massive problem of homelessness and slums, while Scotland was praised for its "rare" protection of the right to housing, an advocacy group said.