Jambi/Yogyakarta – Nurhayati looks worried and seems reluctant to go to school. The 11-year-old sixth grader has reason to worry. She does not have the money to pay her teacher at SDN 51/IV elementary school in Telanaipura district in Jambi city for textbooks.

Figures from various religions, including Muslim scholars Dawam Rahardjo and Syafii Anwar, and priest Anand Krishna, attended the event on Thursday.

Michael Vatikiotis, Jakarta – Every city has a heart; Jakarta's is a concrete overpass called Semanggi – the Indonesian word for cloverleaf. Its place in the nation's history far outweighs its mundane function of funneling traffic north and south, east and west.

Jakarta – Indonesia may need three to four years to become a net oil exporter again, with new oil refinery projects expected to shore up domestic fuel supplies, said Finance Minister Jusuf Anwar.

'We're trying to open new refineries to add production, so that within three to four years we are back to being a net oil exporter,' Anwar said last night.

Jakarta – Fuel imports undertaken by state oil and gas company PT Pertamina have exceeded annual consumption by more than 50 percent, an official said on Thursday.

This month alone Pertamina would import 17.8 million barrels of fuel, consisting of gasoline and diesel oil, Achmad Faisal, chairman of Pertamina's fuel division, said.

Ng Boon Yian, Singapore – Years after being battered by the financial crisis, the Indonesian banking sector seems to have picked itself up again, luring more foreign investors to take up stakes in local banks.

Last week's disclosure of indications of money laundering involving hundreds of billions of rupiah related to the personal accounts of 15 police officers is the biggest test yet of the leadership and integrity of new National Police chief Gen. Sutanto.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – Some 50 members of hard-line Muslim groups gathered outside the Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday, while dozens of others clad in white robes packed a courtroom on the second floor.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The US government is trying to persuade Congress to fully lift the military embargo imposed on Indonesia as cooperation between the armed forces of the two countries in the wake of last year's tsunami provides yet further proof of stronger military ties.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – The US is to provide $20 million worth of technical assistance to help reform Indonesia's much-maligned court system. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) last week signed a memorandum of understanding on the assistance with the country's Supreme Court.

New York – A draft law on Indonesia's national intelligence body denies basic rights to detainees and violates Indonesian criminal law and international human rights law, Human Rights Watch said in a new legal analysis today.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – When reform swept across the country in 1998, forcing authoritarian ruler Soeharto to step down, everybody hoped the movement would improve the life of the nation.

Indonesia has since taken several steps, including four constitutional amendments and direct legislative and presidential elections, to build a thriving democracy.

Jakarta – The ongoing increases in global oil prices and a volatile rupiah exchange rate have become major obstacles for the government to meet its 2005 state budget targets, according to a report.

Manado – The Manado District Court ruled in favor of mining company PT Newmont Minahasa Raya in a defamation case against an environmentalist on Tuesday.

Ruslan Sangadji, Palu – Three non-governmental groups slammed the Central Sulawesi provincial administration on Tuesday for extending the security operation in Poso, saying the operation had failed to maintain security in the regency.

Fedhly Averouss Bey, Jakarta – A court hearing of a class action by ex-members of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) was marred by a demonstration by the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). During the action, demonstrators almost broke down the gates to the Central Jakarta State Court.

Jakarta – Noted Indonesian antigraft campaigner Teten Masduki has been named as one of the six recipients of this year's Ramon Magsaysay awards, organizer announced on Monday.

Jakarta – A draft law on Indonesia's national intelligence body denies detainees basic rights and violates local and international laws, an international rights group said.

Jakarta – US mining giant Newmont Mining Corp. voiced optimism that it would win a high-profile and protracted legal battle in Indonesia over charges that its local unit polluted a bay near its mine.

Kuala Lumpur – Forest fires in Indonesia's Sumatra province covered Kuala Lumpur and 32 other areas of Malaysia with a smoky haze Tuesday, reducing visibility in some places to a half-mile.

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's biggest city and financial capital, traffic slowed to a crawl and the acrid smell of burning vegetation filled the air.

Hera Diani and Slamet Susanto, Jakarta, Yogyakarta – More condemnation has been heaped on the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) for issuing draconian fatwas outlawing liberal Islamic thought and pluralism, raising the question as to whether the Council should be dissolved.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Calls for the government to begin training programs for millions of unskilled workers using billions of dollars in dedicated funds may be impossible to answer due to irregularities in the use of the funds over the years.

Canberra – Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network bankrolled last year's bombing outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, a key militant charged for the attack told Indonesian police, the Australian newspaper said on Monday.

Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta – Twenty-five years after Indonesia ratified a UN convention on the rights of women, experts are criticizing the government for failing to protect women from abuse.

Women activists and legal experts urged on Saturday the government to eliminate existing rulings they said discriminated against women.

Concluding its seventh congress last week, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued eleven fatwa that sparked concern over its increasingly conservative stance.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Question: Is it a working visit if it's just a visit without working? Will it still be called a study tour if it's just about touring but no studying? If legislators, the so-called people's representatives, who get caught on expensive shopping expeditions on what are supposed to be study tours abroad cannot justify their trips to the public, then who can?

Slamet Susanto, Yogyakarta – A lack of students might cause 53 of the 106 private universities in Yogyakarta go bankrupt this year because they could not afford to meet operational costs.

Asia News Network, Jakarta – Indonesia's economy is once again at a crossroads as it enters the second half of the year. Can it sustain the growth it enjoyed in the first two quarters, or will it experience a slowdown due to recent unfavorable circumstances?

Ambon, Maluku – Hundreds of displaced persons living in shelters across Ambon are suffering from malnutrition, a health official says.

Ambon City Health Office head Hans Lisaay said Thursday information from community health centers in the city found most malnutrition cases were found near refugee shelters, especially those in Waihaong Park and Batumerah.

Jakarta is again pondering restricting the number of older cars in the city. It is also mulling the banning of motorcycles from main thoroughfares. Traffic congestion and the environment top the list of concerns in both cases.

Brian McAfee – "The military and Suharto had said their justification for their massive crime was an imminent takeover of Indonesia by the PKI. In recent years documents have proven this excuse to be a fabrication. From 1965 until 1999 the Indonesian dictatorship had received the support of the US government."

Tiarma Siboro and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Interfaith leaders condemned on Friday the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) for its issuance of fatwas on Thursday that outlawed liberal Islamic thought and pluralism, while urging Muslims to resist the orders.

Niniek Karmini, Jakarta – Indonesia denied Saturday that any of its security forces trained in the United States had a history of human rights violations, as alleged in a report released by a US congressional investigative office.

Jakarta – Although no-one can ever be absolutely certain, it is estimated that there are about 800 children aged 14 to 18 years old who are employed as sex workers in the red light cafes of Bambu Apus, East Jakarta.

Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta – Police say they detained on Thursday four people accused of inciting a riot in Kaur regency, Bengkulu province, involving thousands of people protesting the result of the recent regental election.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Labor exporters are urging the government to utilize billions of dollars collected from labor exports and foreign workers to finance training and retraining programs that Indonesian workers need to compete in the global labor market.

Jakarta – In what was widely seen as an apparent campaign against freedom of thought and religion, the state-sanctioned Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued on Thursday a fatwa outlawing liberal Islamic thoughts.

Jakarta – More prudent budgeting and the removal of fuel subsidies are important challenges ahead for the government, if it wants to consolidate the progress Indonesia has made in recent years, the International Monetary Fund says.

Jakarta – A coalition of environmental organizations are demanding that timber firms on Sumatra island that are operating based on licenses from local chief executives stop clearing forests there, as the central government is reviewing these permits.

Jakarta – Supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government to restart investigations into the bloody July 27, 1996, mob attack on their former headquarters as they commemorated the incident on Wednesday.

Karima Anjani, Jakarta – The world's largest gold miner goes on trial in Indonesia next week in a dispute over pollution that has left the government torn between environmentalists and potential investors in the fourth most populous country.

Theresia Sufa, Bogor – "If they call for war, I will step in to protect the area we live in," proclaimed Saidah, a homemaker of Kampong Rawajeler in Bojong, Bogor.

She was one of hundreds of women and children who on Wednesday were preparing to stop a planned trial of the controversial Bojong waste treatment plant.

Primastuti Handayani, Beijing – Since opening a special PO Box and call center over a month ago, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has received 2,500 letters and 140,000 text messages from people offering advice and suggestions.

Most of the text messages contained reports of corruption cases.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The government's plan to increase the take-home pay of the President, Vice President, ministers, and high-ranking state officials met with mixed reactions on Wednesday amid the government's appeal for the public to be thrifty.

Bandung – No Indonesian province is now free from HIV infection, with the recorded number of people living with the virus in the country standing at 7,098.

Head of the HIV/AIDS Eradication Commission Alwi Shihab said on Wednesday the commission had remained unable to significantly curb the growth rate of HIV infections one year after its reinstatement.

Jakarta – Regional offices of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) are calling for strong measures to prevent Muslims from converting to other religions.

Reports presented to a plenary meeting by delegates to the MUI congress on Wednesday reflected general concerns over the issue of conversion.

Washington – The International Monetary Fund said Wednesday it welcomed the continuing improvement in Indonesia's economy in recent years.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – After wrapping up his Friday prayers with a hasty request for prosperity, Arman – not his real name – rushed to the canteen to meet his colleagues.

Jakarta – Some 10,000 people went on a rampage on Monday in Kaur regency, Bengkulu province, setting fire to government offices and houses in the area to express their disappointment with the regental election result, which elected Syaukani Saleh and Warman Suwardi as regent and deputy regent.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Indonesia may not be able to immediately benefit from the opening of the labor market in the Southeast Asian region next year due to poor preparation and the low education of the majority of its workers, experts have said.