Jakarta – The announcement of the Supreme Court verdict on Thursday in the graft case involving House of Representatives speaker Akbar Tandjung was marred by violent protests nationwide, with at least 60 protesting students in Jakarta injured in an ugly melee with riot police.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – In the end, it was not to be.

Rivals of Golkar leader Akbar Tandjung had long hoped that a guilty verdict against him would have barred the party chief from entering the presidential race.

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar – A group of 35 Indonesian economists launched a campaign against privatization of state-owned companies on Tuesday in Jakarta. The group calls itself Indonesia Bangkit (Indonesia Awakens), but the group seems to have slept through the sad history of state businesses and banks during the past six years.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – In the two weeks of full operation, the busway has seen an increase in passengers each day, but their total number is only a third of the 60,000 commuters that previously traveled between Blok M in South Jakarta and Kota in West Jakarta on the regular buses.

Sari P. Setiogi and Multa Fidrus, Jakarta/Tangerang – After millions of chickens have been killed due to bird flu and other diseases over the past several months, poultry farmers are now anticipating greater losses caused by the decline in demand for Indonesian poultry products.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Employers and workers joined forces on Thursday to oppose the bill on national social security (SJSN) which they said would cause legal uncertainty and confusion among the public.

Jakarta – Former Republican Senate majority leader Bob Dole wants to help Indonesia in Washington but has not been hired as a lobbyist, the foreign ministry said Friday.

"It is not correct that Bob Dole has been appointed as an Indonesian lobbyist," spokesman Marty Natalegawa told a press conference. "There is no type of blanket contract."

The Supreme Court's ruling yesterday to acquit Akbar Tandjung of all charges of corruption, thereby overturning two earlier lower court verdicts sentencing the House of Representatives speaker to three years in prison, is certain to have serious consequences for this country for a long time to come.

Tomi Soetjipto and Olivia Rondonuwo, Jakarta – Indonesia's Supreme Court quashed parliament speaker Akbar Tandjung's graft conviction on Thursday, clearing the way for him to seek the presidency later this year.

Moch. N. Kurniawan and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The General Elections Commission (KPU) assured the public on Wednesday that despite technical and logistical problems, the upcoming general election would run smoothly and on schedule.

Surabaya – Around 100 students held a demonstration in front of the Grahadi State building in Surabaya, East Java, on Thursday February 12. They were demanding that the Supreme Court reject the appeal by [Golkar Party chief] Akbar Tanjung in the corruption case involving 40 billion rupiah of Bulog (State Logistics Agency) non-budgetary funds.

Jakarta – According to the action coordinator from the University of Indonesia Student Executive Council, Ahmad Nur Hidayat, 15 of his friends were injured in a clash with police.

Jakarta – Chaos erupted at a demonstration by the Greater Jakarta and Greater Bandung Student Executive Councils while they were waiting for the Supreme Court's verdict in the case of [Golkar Party chief] Akbar Tanjung in front of the Supreme Court building at 3.40pm.

Fedhly Averouss Bey, Jakarta – A clash with police has resulted in 10 students being wounded. The victims were seen to be bleeding. Meanwhile around 30 students were arrested by police.

Jakarta – The police recorded 15 cases of election violations in Jakarta, Tangerang, Bekasi and Depok, most of which were early campaigning. The latest figures showed an addition of seven cases within the last two weeks.

Haidir Anwar Tanjung, Pekanbaru – Thousands of teachers and students in Kampar regency, some 60 kilometers west of the Riau capital of Pekanbaru, took to the streets again on Wednesday, forcing schools in the regency to close for a second day.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Lawmakers' hopes of endorsing the presidency bill during their term dimmed after the government rejected on Wednesday the draft unless it is overhauled.

Claiming that almost 70 percent of the draft contents are outdated and contradict the amended 1945 Constitution, the government said the bill should be dropped.

Kurniawan Hari and A. Junaidi, Jakarta – Criticism greeted the official support from the country's second largest Muslim organization Muhammadiyah for Amien Rais' presidential bid on Wednesday, with a political observer expressing fear that the move would jeopardize the moderate orientation of the organization.

Kuala Lumpur – Malaysian ports are turning a blind eye to the passage of illegally logged timber, fuelling a trade that is wrecking Indonesian forests, environmental campaign groups said on Thursday.

Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto held talks with visiting United States Pacific Commander Adm. Thomas B. Fargo at the TNI Headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, on Wednesday.

Jakarta – Although the struggle was not fully completed, the reform movement which was put into motion by student activists in 1998 was not in vain. Although it is still sporadic in character, a [new popular] resistance against the misuse of power has emerged. The people have begun to be more radical in struggling for their interests than the student movement itself.

Jakarta – The Indonesian military (TNI) is keen to improve ties with the US military without being disturbed by political issues, the top military commander said here Thursday.

Richard Norton-Taylor – Human rights campaigners have accused the government of relaxing demands on Indonesia over the use of British military equipment in the country.

Just possibly, a former general in Indonesia's military could become the next president of the country. But if former armed-forces chief Wiranto is elected leader of this key country in the war on terrorism, and decides to pay a visit to Washington – which would not only be likely, but inevitable – it could create a diplomatic embarrassment for the US.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Confronted with increasing population growth figures, President Megawati Soekarnoputri appealed to religious leaders on Monday to take part in promoting the family planning program.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the National Family Planning Coordinating Agency (BKKBN) meeting, Megawati said that the movement needed to be revitalized.

Agus Maryono, Purwokerto – Seventeen students of the Jendral Soedirman University (Unsoed) continued with their hunger strike on Monday. They are protesting an additional fee imposed on them by the university last year.

The strike started on Thursday last week, with 19 students fasting. Two have already stopped due to the deterioration of their health.

Depok – Some 500 students from the University of Indonesia staged a rally on Monday to protest the university's plan to increase tuition.

The students said that although the increase was not yet official, a report in circulation stated that the rector's office had proposed a 300 percent hike to the university's board of trustees.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Cabinet ministers will have to leave office if they decide to contest the presidential election, a draft government regulation says in response to controversy on the issue.

Suherdjoko, Semarang – Work on the much-disputed Muria nuclear power plant (PLTN) in Jepara regency, Central Java, will start soon, a senior government official said in Semarang on Monday.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – As if the contrast between high-rise buildings and riverbank slums were not enough to indicate the social gap among Jakartans, different kinds of movie theater across the capital provide more than just favorite flicks.

Tiarma Siboro and A. Junaidi – Rampant corruption, including price markups, at the Ministry of Religious Affairs involved many officials, businesspeople, politicians and foreigners, a respected Muslim leader alleged on Monday.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has gathered a new medical team to examine former president Soeharto's health to determine whether or not it could resume investigations into his alleged corruption.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The press will undergo a crucial test of its independence in the face of the upcoming general election since the intervention of interest groups in the mass media will be unavoidable, says an election executive.

Jakarta – All 24 political parties eligible to join the general election have signed a nine-point agreement to maintain peace before, during and after the April 5 polls.

The agreement was signed on Friday at the General Elections Commission (KPU) building.

Astrid Felicia Lim, Jakarta – Non-government organisation (NGO) activists from the Committee for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Institute for Public Research and Advocacy (Elsam), the Indonesian Legal Aid Association (PBHI) and the Association of Families of Missing Persons (Ikatan Keluarga Orang Hilang, Ikohi) are again urging the government, the People's Re

An Indonesian court jailed an Islamic militant for life for preparing explosives for the Bali nightclub bombings which killed 202 people.

Suranto Abdul Ghoni, who crushed chemicals for the deadlier of the two bombs which ripped through crowded nightspots, is the fourth man to receive a life sentence.

Jakarta – Indonesia's anti-terror laws are tough enough and the country does not need to adopt US and Australian legal tools in the war on terror because they could endanger human rights, the justice minister said on Monday.

Endy M. Bayuni – The media in Indonesia has come under fire once again. Unlike the Soeharto years, when the attacks came directly from the government, this time it is coming from the wealthy and the powerful in league with the courts – their battleground of choice. Sadly, the media rarely wins these "legal" tussles.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – A number of judges at the Medan district and North Sumatra high courts were guilty of extortion and other malpractice, Medan lawyers said on Saturday.

Lawyer Januari Siregar said he recently filed a report to the Supreme Court in Jakarta about a judge at the Medan district court, whom he accused extorting money from his client's family.

Frans Surdiasis, Jakarta – Adi Sasono is way past his days of being a young activist and minister; and in the 1999 elections, when he still wielded some influence, his earlier party which once alleged of corruption, did not even pass the electoral threshold. So why is he back?

Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta – Despite the Child Protection Law, the problems of displaced children and child abuse have not been resolved by the government, which sparked criticism from the Committee on the Rights of Children (CRC).

Bontang – As he flew over the coal mines and shrimp farms that dot Indonesia's part of Borneo island, a smiling Gen. Wiranto couldn't contain himself. "Did you see how they touched me," he said. "It was as if I was Michael Jackson and they were my fans."

Bob Burton, Canberra – One month after an unarmed protester against the construction of a Australian-owned mine in Indonesia was shot and killed, the Australian government is refusing to warn companies against paying Indonesian security forces for protection.

A. Junaidi, Jakarta – Observers warned the nation on Thursday that press freedom was back under threat, despite the downfall of authoritarian president Soeharto six years ago.

The media has come increasingly under threat with state officials and businesspeople lodging criminal and civil charges against media enterprises without taking the Press Law into account.

Damar Harsanto and Evi Mariani, Jakarta – Taxpayers should fight the three-in-one traffic policy if they believed it was disadvantaging them, community activists said on Thursday.

Jakarta – Three non-governmental organizations concerned about labor and poverty announced on Thursday political parties and politicians considered to be unscrupulous, and therefore unworthy of support.

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – Former minister of religious affairs Tarmizi Taher complained to the Jakarta Police on Thursday that he had been defamed by a group of students who included his name on a list of "70 politicians with a bad record".

Jakarta – The environmental group Greenpeace said yesterday that it had documented massive illegal logging in a protected national park that houses orangutans in Kalimantan.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Three non-governmental organizations filed a lawsuit against President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Thursday at the Central Jakarta District Court for issuing Presidential Instruction No. 5/2003 on an economic policy package with International Monetary Fund (IMF) monitoring.

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – The General Elections Commission (KPU) issued on Thursday a list of 7,786 legislative candidates eligible to contest the polls, one week behind the original schedule.

There were some corrections made to the list as the commission had declared 7,756 aspirants qualified for the April general election last week.