Australia's Defence Minister says Asia must confront the unpalatable fact that it's a breeding ground for Islamic extremism. Senator Robert Hill was speaking at the first meeting in Australia of Asia Pacific special forces military – including officers from Indonesia's Kopassus force.

Presenter/Interviewer: Graeme Dobell

Robert Go, Jakarta – Pollsters, who gained credibility after they predicted a win for the Golkar party ahead of April's parliamentary elections, are now forecasting a landslide victory for former military general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the presidential elections. The numbers so far are stunning.

A resumption of counter-terrorism training between Australia and Indonesia's controversial Kopassus forces appears closer, with Indonesia's top counter-terrorism officer attending a conference in Australia this week.

Defence Minister Robert Hill, who addressed the conference on Thursday, extolled the benefits of cooperation between regional counter-terrorism forces.

Abdul Khalik and Suherdjoko, Jakarta/Semarang – The Jakarta Prosecutor's Office received on Tuesday the last two dossiers of the July 27 case from National Police headquarters, including that of Governor Sutiyoso.

Pekanbaru – Hundreds of students from the Sultan Syarif Kasim State Islamic University prevented a discussion involving vice presidential candidate Jusuf Kalla, the running mate of presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, from going ahead after staging a rally against his presence on their campus on Wednesday.

Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta – The rapid expansion of modern retail outlets like hypermarkets and minimarkets in big cities may have forced many traditional grocery stores to close down, creating huge job losses, according to a preliminary finding of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

Jakarta – Yusuf Hasyim, the head of the Tebu Ireng Islamic boarding school in Jombang, East Java, filed a complaint with the General Elections Commission on Tuesday over the use of images of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) founder Hasyim Asy'ari.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Where are the crowds? Campaigning for Indonesia's first presidential polls began two weeks ago with a lot of bluster.

The banners of the five candidates and their running mates are still hoisted on flagpoles and trees to remind everyone this is an election year.

Jakarta – Some 669 people have died in a widespread dengue fever outbreak in Indonesia in the first five months of this year and the disease still remains a dangerous threat, Health Minister Achmad Suyudi said Wednesday.

As of May 31, some 59,321 people had been infected with the mosquito-borne disease and 669 of them had died, he said.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Indonesia's election authority has banned President Megawati Soekarnoputri from holding outdoor rallies in Denpasar in her heartland of Bali in a further blow to her election efforts.

Jakarta – Experts have played down the impact of negative campaigning targeting candidates in the presidential election, saying it only stated the obvious about the contenders.

Eugene Low – The cukongs (wealthy Indonesian businessmen) are back in force. Business tycoons in Indonesia are aligning themselves with key presidential candidates, who are also out to woo them for financial backing.

Jakarta – The two front running candidates in Indonesia's presidential election sparred yesterday over policies to deal with separatism in Aceh province and endemic graft in the world's fourth most populous country.

Robert Go, Yogyakarta – Trailing her opponents by as much as 30 percentage points in the latest opinion polls, President Megawati Sukarnoputri has much ground to cover. But with just two weeks left in the campaigning period, she's hitting it walking.

Jakarta – After two weeks of the presidential campaign, Golkar leaders have urged party executives to show support for their candidate, retired general Wiranto and running mate Solahuddin Wahid.

Angelus Tito, Jakarta – The Indonesia Human Rights Monitor (Imparsial) is urging President Megawati Sukarnoputri to cancel her order to law enforcers to postpone the legal investigation into the July 27 case(1).

Salim Osman – Presidential front runner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono wants to put an end to a raging controversy over one issue that has threatened his bid for the top job in the country.

The Supreme Court, as widely expected, duly overturned the Jakarta Commercial Court's bankruptcy ruling of April 23 against the Indonesian subsidiary of British insurance company Prudential PLC, asserting that the case had been mishandled.

An Indonesian court has rejected a lawsuit brought by lawyers for terror suspect Abu Bakar Bashir which sought his release from police detention.

Khairul Ikhwan, Medan – Burning photographs of a presidential candidate has become commonplace. In the South Sumatra provincial capital of Medan however, five photographs of candidates for the national leadership were burnt at the same time.

Salim Osman – Thousands of people lined the streets as presidential front runner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono turned up on his first campaign trail stop in the North Sulawesi capital.

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – A political expert and an anticorruption activist said Saturday that heads of local government administrations may also be involved in the recent spate of corruption cases committed by local legislative members.

Astrid Felicia Lim, Jakarta – The People's Democratic Party (PRD) is pushing for the investigation into the July 27 case(1) to be continued including the investigation of the generals [who have been implicated in the affair]. If former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) is found to be involved then he must be disqualified as a presidential candidate.

Suryani Ika Sari, Jakartar – The People's Democratic Party (PRD) is calling for the government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri to conduct a thorough investigation into the July 27 case(1) and the human rights violations which were committed during the period of the New Order regime of former President Suharto.

Jakarta – Jakarta city authorities on Monday started the construction of a 600-million-dollar monorail project aimed at easing the Indonesian capital's gridlock traffic and chronic pollution.

A. Junaidi, Jakarta – The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) said on Saturday that the victimization of women was on the rise in recent years.

Komnas Perempuan's deputy chairwoman Myra Diarsi said her commission had recorded over 6,000 cases of violence nationwide in 2003, up from some 5,000 in the previous year.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – An independent forestry research group in Medan shared on Saturday its findings that the development of a road connecting Karo and Langkat regencies was environmentally damaging to Mount Leuser National Park.

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Some 82 percent of 1,061 of industrial firms in Tangerang municipality do not have waste treatment facilities as required by law. Therefore, most of them do not process their waste effectively. Some even just dump their untreated waste directly into the river.

Laksamana.Net – Divestment of the country's largest banks may not proceed as the government or the central bank plan as Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) gears up to expand through a merger and push for the retrieval of funds stolen last year.

Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta – The number of jobs in key industries such as manufacturing, construction and trade has contracted significantly as an unfavorable labor environment has prompted companies to hire fewer workers and cancel investment plans, according to the latest government labor data.

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – Transparency International (TI) Indonesia alleges that all five presidential candidates have been involved in some form of vote-buying, known as money politics, during their electoral campaigns.

Jakarta – Sales of new vehicles in Indonesia jumped 41% on year in May to 39,955 from 28,272 in the same month a year ago, the Indonesian car assemblers' association Gaikindo said Monday.

It added that new vehicle sales in the country rose 0.3% in May from 39,841 in April. Falling interest rates in Indonesia have helped motor vehicle sales in the country.

On the face of it, Indonesia's presidential election campaign is so polite that even a debate between candidates has been ruled out in case they criticise each other.

Behind the scenes though, supporters and opponents of the three leading contenders are using both traditional and hi-tech smear tactics in the run-up to the country's first direct presidential poll on July 5.

Abdul Khalik/Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The amount of counterfeit money circulating in the country increased just before and during the April 5 legislative elections, authorities have said.

Devi Asmarani, Bengkulu – Golkar Party workers here had declared in the local paper that the Wiranto campaign would draw some 25,000 people from all over this Sumatra province when it came to town.

Jakarta – Former army general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is moving closer to an outright victory in Indonesia's July presidential election, a pollster said yesterday.

Budi Hartadi, Surabaya – Twenty activists form the Indonesian National Student League for Democracy (LMND) are holding a hunger strike to reject the 2004 presidential elections because they believe that only candidates from the former state ruling party Golkar, the military and the fake reformists are involved.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – A Jakarta-based pollster confirmed on Thursday the popular appeal of Democratic Party candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in its latest survey.

Triono Wahyu Sudibyo, Semarang – Imitating the actions by Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Kiais [Islamic boarding school teachers] in East Java, scores of students from the Walisongo State Institute for Islamic Studies in Semarang issued an "religious edict" rejecting presidential candidates from the military and status quo forces.

Despite growing suspicions over the motives for the re-opening of the July 27 tragedy in the midst of the presidential campaign, the momentum is growing for a final accounting of what happened in the 1996 assault on the headquarters of Megawati's Sukarnoputri's former Democratic Party of Indonesia (PDI).

Aboeprijadi Santoso, Amsterdam – They opted for ballots and promised changes; yet, the rise of former generals in the presidential election raises questions as to ex-militaries' potentials to lead the nation and strengthen Indonesia's incipient democracy. At issue are their associations with the New Order's methods, institutions and networks.

The latest must-see video compact disc (VCD) in Indonesia doesn't show students having steamy sex or sultry celebrities getting undressed – but is all about the alleged wrongdoings of Golkar Party's presidential candidate, former military chief Wiranto.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The Muslim ground in Indonesia is turning into a major battlefield for votes.

All five contenders in the July 5 presidential race are seeking desperately to court the huge bloc of Muslim voters that may well tilt the political balance in favour of any one.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – On paper, Mr Wiranto has the strongest support from the Muslim camp. Given his endorsement by the Nation Awakening Party (PKB), he is likely to enjoy the backing of a large number of followers of the 40-million strong Nadhlatul Ulama (NU), which founded the party.

Robert Go, Jakarta – In the minds of those supporting incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri, her running mate Hasyim Muzadi is not only a leader of Muslims, but also one who will deliver millions of votes come the presidential election on July 5.

Salim Osman – Presidential front runner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is now the target of a hate campaign to discredit his Muslim credentials.

Having become such a thorn in the side of his rivals because of his soaring popularity, he has been forced to fend off mudslinging that touches on religion.

Budi Sugiharto, Surabaya – Very strange and mysterious. When demonstrators from the People's Democratic Party (PRD) wanted to set fire to five posters of the respective presidential and vice-presidential candidates, police rushed in to save President Megawati Sukarnoputri's picture. Meanwhile they left the four posters of the other candidates to burn.

A. Junaidi, Jakarta – Thousands of farmers from Central Java, West Java and Banten provinces hit the capital's streets on Wednesday to protest against the plantation bill and presidential candidates with military backgrounds.

Khairul Ikhwan, Medan – Around 100 students from the People's Youth Community (Komunitas Muda Rakyat) held a demonstration in Medan at the General Elections Commission (KPU) offices on Thursday June 10 in which they rejected the involvement of the New Order regime of former President Suharto and the military in the up-coming presidential elections.

Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri will make sure that Indonesia's former dictator Suharto is brought to trial if she is re-elected in next month's voting, a top adviser said on Wednesday.