Jakarta – Central Jakarta police arrested 54 protesting students, six of them girls, just as they were dispersing after staging an anti-election rally at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Despite a declining trend among most recorded crimes in the city, the number of rape cases has significantly soared – by 25 percent – this year. Women's rights activists, as well as police, blame legal limbo as one of the main factors behind such an astounding rise.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – A military court here began the trial on Monday of 18 police officers charged with attacking protesters in Medan, North Sumatra, three years ago killing two students.

The two victims were shot dead during the May 1, 2000, incident, when police attacked the HKBP Nomensen University.

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Some 1,000 public minivan drivers in Tangerang municipality drove around the city in convoy before staging a protest on Monday in front of the municipal administration and Tangerang Council building over the relocation of a bus terminal from Cimone to Poris Plawad.

Eony Aurora, Jakarta – A group of lawyers will sue at the Cibinong District Court, Bogor regency, on Tuesday large companies for allegedly producing untreated toxic waste that had polluted the air and groundwater in Munjul, east of Jakarta.

Kasparman Piliang, Padang – Despite controversy, President Megawati Soekarnoputri's husband Taufik Kiemas will soon be bestowed with a customary title by leaders of a clan in West Sumatra province.

Joseph Kirschke, Jakarta – It's not the cool tile floors, the open courtyard, or the rendering of Picasso's "La Guernica" hanging on the wall by the front door.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Chief Justice Bagir Manan said on Monday the country's failure to speed up reform within the judiciary was the result of conflicting laws and regulations.

Bagir said that the law making process was often dominated by a conflict of interests among influential groups.

Mataram – Indonesia's human resources development index (IPM) remains low among 175 countries in the world and it is worrying, chairwoman of the Family Planning Board (BKKBN) Sumarjati Arjoso said on Tuesday.

"Of 175 countries in the world, Indonesia is in 112th place ," Sumarjati said in her speech read out by general secretary of the Central BKKBN, L. Sudarmadi, here.

Dewi Santoso, Jakarta – The education of women plays a more pivotal role than the use of contraceptives in curbing population growth, an expert said on Monday.

Sociologist Imam B. Prasodjo of the University of Indonesia said he had noticed in recent surveys that the availability of contraceptives did not automatically lower the fertility rate.

Indonesian lawyers have complained that police had refused them permission to see six students who were deported from Pakistan on suspicion of terror links.

The six include Rusman Gunawan, a younger brother of top Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror suspect Hambali.

Corruption and weak law enforcement are the price which Indonesians are paying for reforms, former Indonesian president B.J. Habibie was quoted as saying.

[Intel: Inside Indonesia's Intelligence Service Ken Conboy, Equinox Publishing, Jakarta, 2004 253 pp.]

Many Indonesians are asking just how unwell former president Suharto really is, amid mounting speculation that he's stagemanaging his daughter's political comeback. In September 2000, a court ruled Mr Suharto was mentally and physically unfit to stand trial on corruption charges.

Suherdjoko, Semarang – A coalition of street children, housewives, students and activists took to the street for a rally here on Friday against rampant people trafficking across the country.

Jakarta – Indonesia's justice system is turning young offenders into hardened criminals because of a lack of funds to set up juvenile detention centres, a top policeman has admitted.

National detective chief Erwin Mappaseng said young people were being locked up alongside adult criminals and repeat offenders.

Samarinda – The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) criticized councillors on Friday for their poor performance in carrying out investigations into rampant illegal logging in the province.

Shawn Donnan, Jakarta – At the end of this month Indonesia will become the last of the economies plunged into chaos by the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis to graduate from the IMF and is looking to plug a budget gap of more than $10 billion.

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – The meeting of the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) was a disappointment because it did not address measures needed to tackle the country's huge debt, International NGO Forum for Indonesia Development (INFID) says.

Jakarta – The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) has urged the Indonesian government to make the education of girls a priority if it is to improve the country's development prospects.

Robert Go, Jakarta – At least 80 soldiers have been questioned in connection with a shootout between the country's police and soldiers early this month.

It was the first of two gun battles between the sides in as many weeks.

Jakarta – About a dozen women Golkar Party members demanded on Friday that their party keep its promise to allocate a 30 percent quota for women to be listed as its legislative candidates.

Ainur R. Sophiaan, Surabaya – The East Java administration has proposed a salary increase of more than 100 percent for provincial legislative council members, prompting enraged criticisms that the local officials lacked a genuine sensitivity toward the impacts of the prolonged economic crisis.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – At least 67 textile companies have had to stop operations in the West Java capital of Bandung this year due to drastic decreases in orders and rising operational costs, businesspeople said on Friday.

The closures had forced around 10,000 workers to lose their jobs, they added.

New Orleans (Associated Ppress) – A shareholder resolution asking that Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. stop payment to the Indonesian military has been filed by the New York City comptroller's office.

That office manages retirement funds holding $28.8 million in Freeport stock. Freeport operates one of the world's largest mines in Indonesia.

Jakarta – Hundreds of Indonesian Youth Struggle Front (FPPI) activists staged a rally outside the parliament building here on Friday calling on the people not to vote for any political party in the 2004 general elections.

The rally turned noisy as many FPPI activists set fire to used cardboard and tires, causing traffic congestion along Gatot Subroto thoroughfare.

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – The two-day annual meeting of the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) kicked off on Wednesday, with donors stressing the importance of intensified efforts to tackle corruption to help improve the investment climate and increase the effectiveness of foreign loans.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Legislators want the government to resume investigations into graft allegations against former president Suharto, after a member of his inner circle revealed that the 84-year-old had been consulted about his daughter's political comeback.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – A coalition of 96 non-governmental organizations called on the government on Wednesday to promptly ratify all international conventions on human rights in order to stem rampant abuses across the country.

Jakarta – South-east Asian militants are divided over the wisdom of attacking hotels, nightclubs and other "soft targets" where Muslims may be killed alongside Westerners – an internal split which could weaken the terrorist enterprise, the authorities said.

Jakarta – The public at large are disappointed with the sluggish process of reform, including in the legal sector, and have begun to hope for the return to the old system under former authoritarian president Soeharto who, with his iron fist, managed to make the people abide by the law, legal observers said on Wednesday.

Jakarta – On Wednesday December 10, hundreds of students, youths and non-government organisation activists, victims of land evictions and farmers came out into the streets to commemorate world human rights day.

Bambang Bider and Abdul Khalik, Pontianak/Jakarta – Indonesia Military (TNI) personnel and police officers clashed on Tuesday in Wanawa, West Kalimantan, leaving one TNI soldier dead, one badly hurt and two police officers severely wounded, just a week after a similar incident in Palopo, South Sulawesi.

Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – As well as Jakarta, lively actions to commemorate world human rights day were also held in other parts of the country.

Johann Hari – September 11 comes around once every three days. One thousand three hundred innocent people are slaughtered with conventional weapons within 24 hours somewhere in the world: by the middle of a third day, the death toll from 9/11 is surpassed.

Richard Norton-Taylor and John Aglionby, Singapore – The legality of Britain's arms sales to Israel and Indonesia is to be challenged in the courts on the grounds that they breach stated government policy, the Guardian has learned.

Jakarta – Some 3000 workers of state telecommunication company PT Telkom staged a rally outside the office of the State Enterprises Minister here on Wednesday to protest the sale of PT Mitra Global Telecommunikasi Indonesia (MGTI)'s shares to PT Alberta Communication.

Andrew Burrell – It's an alarming statistic that helps explain Indonesia's economic, political and social predicament: about 110 million people are scraping by on less than $US2 ($2.70) a day.

Suwarjono, Jakarta - Around 1000 demonstrators held a demonstration commemorating world human rights day at the Presidential Palace on Jalan Merdeka Utara on Wednesday December 10. Although the palace was empty - President Megawati Sukarnoputri is currently visiting Japan - it did not diminish the spirit of the human rights activists.

Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – Around 50 students from various different tendencies, who joined together under the banner of the Anti-Imperialist People's Alliance (Aliansi Rakyat Anti Imperialisme, ARAI), held a demonstration rejecting the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Jakarta – Hundreds of students staged a rally outside the Bank Indonesia building here on Wednesday to protest a meeting of the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) on December 10-12.

The students arrived at the building's gate on Jl. Budi Kemuliaan in Central Jakarta at 02.30 pm local time. However, they were not allowed to enter the Bank Indonesia compounds.

Several Indonesian legislators have urged the attorney general to resume a corruption investigation into former autocratic president Suharto, one of the parliamentarians said.

"I have asked the attorney general's office to be more professional and continue its probe into the case of Suharto," said J.E. Sahetapy.

The country may obtain some US$2.7 billion in fresh loans from the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) to help finance next year's state budget. The amount is the same as that pledged last year by the donor grouping for the current 2003 budget.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Military soldiers deployed to quell the demonstration in Tanjung Priok in 1984 opened fire at the crowd without prior warning shots, a witness told the human rights court on Monday.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – After five years in political hibernation, old forces from former president Suharto's New Order regime are re-emerging in politics.

The strongest indication of this is the comeback of none other than his eldest daughter, Ms Siti 'Tutut' Hardijanti Rukmana.

Three daughters of Indonesia's founding president Sukarno, including incumbent President Megawati Sukarnoputri, will contest next year's general election as leaders of rival political parties.

The majority of people eligible to vote in next year's general election here are politically alienated, intolerant and hoping for a strong leader like former dictator president Soeharto, according to a survey.

With the official announcement by the General Elections Commission (KPU) that 24 political parties have been passed as eligible to contest the 2004 polls, the ideological affiliation of the parties and the potential for polarization between reformist versus pro status quo groups can be determined.

ID Nugroho, Surabayan – Police here said on Monday they had detained two people and were hunting two others suspected of slaying a Muslim cleric from the National Awakening Party (PKB), following increasing pressure to bring the alleged killers to justice.

ID Nugroho, Surabaya – The House of Representatives plans to summon National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, as the National Awakening Party (PKB) has received reports of more death threats made to Muslim clerics in East Java.