Children as young as 13 are engaged in the drugs trade in the Indonesian capital and about four percent of all users are aged under 17, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said.

Jakarta – Minister of Defence Matori Abdul Djalil has criticised a number of NGOs which only talk about human rights when considering the situation in parts of Indonesia in which conflicts are raging.

Jakarta – An estimated two million Indonesians have abortions each year, mainly through unsafe procedures, a researcher told an abortion seminar in Yogyakarta on Saturday.

Ambon – Even as the military campaign to quell the separatist movement in Aceh shows no sign of coming to a speedy end, fresh trouble is brewing in another trouble spot – Maluku, where separatist and sectarian violence is threatening the province.

Meidyatama Suryodiningrat, Jakarta – News of the affirmation by Nurcholish Madjid, better known as Cak Nur, that he would enter the Golkar Party convention process in a bid to secure a presidential nomination has been met with incredulity, trepidation and abhorrence.

Jakarta – The House of Representatives (DPR), in its plenary meeting presided over by Deputy House Speaker Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno here on Monday, agreed to pass the bill on presidential election into law.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The management of 68H radio news lodged a strong protest on Friday with the martial law administration in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam over an assault the previous day on one of its journalists, Alif Imam Nurlambang, in Panton Luas, South Aceh.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has declared it will proceed with buying Russian fighter jets despite controversy raging in Parliament about the deal.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – High school graduates, suspects, or convicted persons can be nominated as presidential candidates in 2004 when the country will organize the first direct presidential elections following a consensus of the nine House factions on those issues on Friday.

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – The presidential race kicked off within the country's second biggest party, Golkar, on Friday, with five would-be candidates presenting their visions and missions on the first day of a three-day meeting of Golkar-affiliated mass organizations in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – After 13 years studying it, and eight years living in it, Thomas Walton feels confident to nominate his No. 1 issue: "Urban air quality is the single worst environment problem in Indonesia ... so many people are affected and they can't get away from it."

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – In Indonesia's better hotels you will sometimes see signs that read: "No Durians Past This Point." Because the prickly green fruit has a smell that lingers like a blocked drain, staff are taught to treat it like non-paying guests.

Jakarta – It is not enough to hold a judicial review of the anti-terrorist laws numbers 15/2003 and 16/2003 which were promulgated three months ago. These laws must be totally revised or amended so they do not allow for their misuse by the authorities.

Jakarta – Indonesia's Director General of Foreign Trade Sudar yesterday said the purchase of Russian-made jet fighters and helicopters was free from collusive practices.

"I am responsible for that," he said after a meeting with the House of Representatives' working committee tasked to look into the purchase.

Jakarta – Indonesian police yesterday warned of fresh terrorist attacks in the country after disclosing that key suspects are still in the country and are seeking funds for another bombing.

Moch. N Kurniawan, Jakarta – Public outrage is increasing over the government's move to allow mining in conservation forests in Sulawesi and Kalimantan.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Experts criticized President Soekarnoputri on Wednesday for supporting the establishment of citizens' defense groups, saying that such moves would only heighten fanaticism and the culture of violence in society.

Jakarta – A five-year jail term given to a prominent activist in Indonesia's rebellious Aceh was harsh and heightens the "apparent intimidation" of those trying to monitor rights abuses in the province, the US government said.

Indonesian's top security minister, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, is reportedly preferred over incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri as the country's next president.

According to a poll conducted by the Centre for the Study of Development and Democracy ,13 percent of 3,000 respondents in 13 provinces have picked Mr Yudhoyono. Mrs Megawati trails in second place with seven percent.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – Nothing was as usual on Wednesday at the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta), located at Jl. Mendut No. 1 in Central Jakarta, which used to be crowded with justice seekers and activists throughout the day.

Jakarta – The most senior Indonesian military officer indicted by Jakarta's special tribunal for the violence in East Timor in 1999, Major-General Adam Damiri, made a heartfelt plea this week for mercy from the five judges trying his case. The verdict is to be announced on August 5.

Richard Norton-Taylor, London – The value of British arms cleared for export to Indonesia rose from 2 million Pounds in 2000 ($A4.9 million) to more than 40 million Pounds last year, a 20-fold increase.

Ethnic violence has broken out again in West Kalimantan province, while hundreds of people in South Sulawesi province have run amok during a protest demanding the creation of a new province.

In Jakarta, around 1000 people, the majority women from the Women's Claim Alliance (APM), commemorated March 8, International Women's Day (IWD), by condemning increases to fuel prices and calling for a reduction in prices and the resignation of President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The government-initiated re-registration of civil servants failed to gain momentum on its initial day on Tuesday with civil servants appearing decidedly unenthusiastic.

Jakarta – The number of students taking the 2003 state university admission exam (SPMB) declined by 12.11 percent to 350,306 students from 398,589 in 2002.

Andrew Burrell – They may not like being lumped together, but Indonesia's radical Islamic terrorists and the nation's military commanders have more in common than they would care to admit.

Most glaringly, they are both accused of using or authorising shocking violence, often leading to the death of many innocent civilians, in the pursuit of their goals.

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – The Banda Aceh District Court handed an unwanted birthday present to Muhammad Nazar, the chairman of the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA), in the form of a five-year jail term for "displaying hostility" to the government through his campaign for a self-determination referendum in Aceh.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday called for civilian militias to be set up in Indonesia as the military and police struggle to contain insurgencies and widespread lawlessness in the country.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Papua Provincial Legislative Council decided on Friday that it would refuse to implement the newly endorsed bill on national education in the province, saying that the bill would only compartmentalize citizens based on religion and could further trigger national disintegration.

Jakarta – About 500 people from eight villages in three subdistricts, including Jonggol, Bogor, staged a rally over the weekend to oppose the Jakarta administration's plan to use land there as a dumpsite.

"We reject the construction of a dumpsite as it would be a disaster for locals," one of the protesters, Triasa Cahyaputra, was quoted as saying by Antara on Saturday.

Lhok Sukon, Banda Aceh – The management of PT ExxonMobil Indonesia began dismissing around 1000 workers on Monday, this is the third time the company has dismissed contract workers this year.

In protest against the dismissals, employees held a demonstration in the area around ExxonMobil in Lhok Sukon on Monday, this demonstration being the fifth [to date].

Bogor – Protected forests in Bogor, such as those on the slopes of Mt. Salak, Mt. Pangrango and Mt. Pongkor, are being destroyed by illegal logging and mining, an expert says.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Human rights activists denounced the excavation of mass graves in Aceh by the Indonesian Military (TNI), saying it violated normal investigation procedures for possible gross violations of human rights.

Jakarta – Alleged irregularities in the purchase of Russian-made Sukhoi jet fighters are expected to come into the open slowly as lawmakers begin their investigation on Monday into the highly politicized case.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – The newspaper editor Supratman is standing by his punchy page one headlines, even though they could send him to jail for six years.

Lumajang – Some 15 activists of the Moslem University Students Action Group (KAMMI) from some districts in East Java were released on Sunday afternoon after police earlier arrested and held them for a couple of hours.

"They were released after we interrogate them for several hours," Adjunct Commissioner Fransiscus Sasono, chief of the Lumajang police crime unit, said here.

[The Politics of Power Freeport in Soeharto's Indonesia By Denise Leith University of Hawaii Press, 372 pp, $55.]

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Politicians have blocked public demands for transparency in the campaign funds channeled to and spent by presidential candidates, casting doubt over their commitment to a fair and honest election, observers say.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – A group of senior Indonesian MPs is in the spotlight after media reports here said that they and their families had lived it up on a recent tour of Europe at taxpayers' expense.

Jakarta – The media criticized on Friday new guidelines for media coverage in Aceh, saying that rules were effectively hampering the press from obtaining balanced reports on the current integrated operations in the conflict-torn province.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Just five weeks into its renewed war against separatist rebels in Aceh, Indonesia has been accused of, in effect, banning foreign journalists from the province.

The party is over but at least we have been left with some great lessons. The recent celebration of Jakarta's 476th anniversary at the National Monument square was a failure, or so say many residents. Only a few Jakartans, in fact, were aware that June 22 was the climax of the celebration.

Jakarta – A Japanese photojournalist has been arrested in the war-torn Aceh , apparently for working without a permit, police and the military said on Friday.

"He is now apparently being detained in South Aceh. We're checking it," Aceh police spokesman Sayed Husaini told AFP. He did not give further details.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Sobbing witnesses, lawyers walking out in protest against the judges' decision, and a defendant who never looked up from a book he was reading throughout the trial – even courtroom scenes in television soaps are rarely this exciting.

Jakarta/Medan – Indonesia marked International Anti-drug Day 2003 on Thursday with grave concerns about the rapid growth in the drug trade.

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said the fact that half the prisons across the country were housing large numbers of drug convicts proved that drug abuse was a serious challenge facing the police.

Hanoi – President Megawati Soekarnoputri deplored US Secteraty of State Colin Powell's statement on alleged human rights abuses in Papua province, especially in the Timika ambush which killed two Americans and an Indonesian.

"I think Mr.Colin Powell exaggerated things somewhat," the Indonesian head of state told a press briefing at Melia Hotel here Thursday evening.

Alan Sipress, Jakarta – Five years after Gen. Suharto was ousted and a newly democratic Indonesia pledged to reform the military, the ambitious effort has largely stalled and the generals are resurgent, according to Indonesian and Western analysts.

Kasparman, Padang – Hundreds of people in Padang, West Sumatra clashed on Wednesday with security officers over a housing dispute, causing 20 people to be arrested by the police.

Journalists who are based in Lhokseumawe boycotted on Wednesday a press briefing at the military operation center in protest over unfair treatment they received from military operation commander Brig. Gen. Bambang Darmono.