Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – The government has expressed concern over the rising infant mortality rate, which has increased from 47 babies per 1,000 births in 1997 to 51 babies in 2001 amid the lingering economic crisis.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's recent decision to revoke free visa-on-arrival facilities for tourists from nearly 40 countries has come under fire for dealing another blow to the tourist industry and jeopardising thousands of jobs in the country.

Stefan Reisner, Bali – Anger, confusion and disbelief – that is the reaction of the tourist industry and the expatriate community following the drastic change in immigration regulations.

Jakarta – Justice Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra on Tuesday defended a much-criticised decree forcing more tourists to obtain visas, saying the policy was vital to protect internal security.

The decision to abolish visa-free entry for short visits for citizens of 38 countries was based on "considerations on internal security aspects," Yusril said.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – The police in Tarutung, North Tapanuli, North Sumatra, arrested on Tuesday three people for preventing log trucks from supplying raw materials to a pulp mill belonging to PT Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL), in Porsea, some 170 kilometers south of Medan.

Arya Abhiseka, Jakarta – The General Elections Commission (KPU) announced on Tuesday the campaign period ahead of the upcoming legislative election would take place between March 11 and April 1, 2004.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – More politicians and observers have demanded that all political parties, be they big or small, be afforded equal chances of nominating their own presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Therefore, the argue, the restrictions limiting the size of the presidential election field must be dropped.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Indonesia's state-run television station, TVRI, yesterday officially became a state-owned company, a status that will give it more commercial freedom and help it stay viable in competition with private stations.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia is in the midst of a crackdown. Between 1997 and 1999, the government lent US$14 billion to ailing banks to keep them from going under.

But audits since then have shown "improprieties" involving as much as 95 per cent of that money, and the bulk of this money appears to have simply disappeared.

When engineering and textiles giant Texmaco announced the first of what promises to be a series of defaults on credit last week, the country got an abrupt reminder of the disgraceful price it is still paying for bailing out near-defunct crony conglomerates.

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – Public demands for a revision of the education bill have been increasing with a call for the House of Representatives to delay its endorsement in order to avert a major rift in society.

In Indonesia, about 5,000 Muslims have staged a rally near the city of Yogyakarta to pray for the people of Iraq.

Members of Islamic boarding schools in and around Yogyakarta in Central Java gathered after midday prayers outside a mosque for the rally. Police said no incidents were reported.

Prosecutors accused Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir of plotting terror bombings in Indonesia and Singapore as part of a campaign to topple the Indonesian government and set up an Islamic state.

Ambon – The Indonesian Military (TNI) warned the separatist Maluku Sovereign Front (FKM) on Friday not to hoist the flag of the South Maluku Republic to mark its anniversary on April 25.

"I will arrest those who hoist the RMS flag," chief of the Pattimura regional military command, Maj. Gen. Agustadi SP, was quoted by Antara as saying.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Legal confusion has emerged regarding the new policy revoking the free-visa-on-arrival facility extended to nationals of 48 countries, with an immigration official saying the ruling would not come into effect until executory guidelines had been issued.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Adding insult to injury of the employees of state-owned Djakarta Transportation bus company (PPD), the government has planned to lay off about 2,000 workers as part of its efforts to improve the company's feasibility.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Unhappiness with the way some countries have been treating its citizens abroad is behind Indonesia's tit-for-tat decision to scrap visa-free entry privileges granted to dozens of nations, including the United States, Australia and Britain.

Shawn Donnan and Taufan Hidayat – When Singapore's ST Telemedia paid $630m last November for a 42 per cent stake in Indosat, Indonesia's number two telecommunications carrier, it was widely seen as a major accomplishment for the government in Jakarta.

Jakarta – The Star Party of Reform (PBR) failed on Wednesday to make good on its earlier boast that it would gather one million supporters in a rally against the US-led attack on Iraq.

Jakarta – Some 600 people rallied on Wednesday outside the US embassy, torching an effigy of a gun-toting US President George Bush and describing the war in Iraq as genocide.

Bandung – Hundreds of elementary school students staged a rally in front of the West Java provincial legislature building, demanding the local administration to waive their monthly school fees.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Internal security and transnational crime will be the biggest threat to Indonesia's security and the military should be given more powers to handle them, a government White Paper released recently says.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Cash-strapped state-owned television station Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI) has 7,158 employees and 395 relay stations in 26 provinces. It reaches out to 81.5 percent of the country's total population, or more than 169 million people, but is being slowly but surely forced off the air.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – The role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to oversee the country's economic reform program is still crucial to help maintain investor confidence in the economy, a seminar concluded on Wednesday.

Jakarta – Some 57 small islands in Indonesia are ready to receive investors willing to develop businesses there, the fishing ministry's Director General for Coastal Areas and Small Islands Widi Agoes Pratikto, said here on Wednesday.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The government has forged ahead with its plan to revoke the visa-free facility extended to nationals of 48 countries despite determined opposition from the country's tourism industry.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – About 3,000 bus drivers, conductors and staff of state-owned Jakarta Transportation company (PPD) planned to strike on Wednesday and attend a rally demanding President Megawati Soekarnoputri solve the company's internal problems.

Sonia Kolesnikov, Singapore – The Indonesian economy has so far proven robust, weathering the Bali storm of last October. During the first quarter, the government posted an unexpected budget surplus, while inflation steadily dropped and growth remained robust.

Jakarta – With the war in Iraq moving closer to its third week old, anti-American protesters in the country displayed no signs of fatigue as they continued to voice their demand for an end to the US-led attack.

Max Lane, Jakarta – On March 30, at least 100,000 people marched through this city's streets to protest against the invasion of Iraq by the United States and its British and Australian appendages. In the wake of the mass anti-war march, there are widespread expressions of anti-war and anti-US attitudes – on the streets, at artistic events, in religious services, on TV and radio.

Jakarta – Indonesia and South Korea are considering co-operating to build a $A334 million nuclear power plant in Madura Island just off the densely populated province of East Java.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Eddie Widiono Suwondo, president of state power utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), is struggling to bring the virtually bankrupt monopoly back into the black. Ironically, he has had help from the onetime arch-enemies of PLN – the independent power producers (IPPs) who in effect own and run PLN's monopoly power-supply network.

A long-running industrial dispute in Indonesia has come to an end. The Shangri-La Hotel has settled with 80 former workers, who have been picketing the five-star hotel in Jakarta since being sacked in December 2000. The dispute attracted the attention of unions world-wide and at one point drew in the World Bank for criticism.

Jakarta – The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) strongly protested the police's decision to declare an editor of Tempo magazine, Ahmad Taufik, as a suspect in a defamation case.

Jakarta – Three student activists were tried in court on Monday for public disorder following a rally near the residence of President Megawati Soekarnoputri in January.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri has urged police to cease their involvement in illegal logging and timber smuggling.

"Do not repeat the mistakes of police involved in illegal practices," she was quoted as saying by state news agency Antara during a visit to the Indonesian Police Academy in Semarang, Central Java, on Saturday.

Jerry Norton, Jakarta – The president of Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, told a conference of Islamic women on Monday that women across the world should launch a movement against war.

Jakarta – The Golkar Party made a belated debut in the anti-war protest stakes on Sunday, more than two weeks after many other groups took to streets across the country to condemn the United States-led attack on Iraq.

Jakarta – Thousands of people on Sunday took part in anti-war protests in several cities across the country, AFP reported.

Bandung – Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) said on Saturday that her party had contributed only a little to the nation.

"If we look at the history of the nation, we should be ashamed that our party has contributed so little compared to what the country has contributed to us," she said.

Tangerang – After a three-day rally, some 900 factory workers of PT Hancook Ceramics Indonesia, in the Pasar Kemis district of Tangerang, went on strike from Friday to Saturday demanding improvement in welfare benefits.

Makassar – McDonald's restaurant at the Ratu Indah Mall here was still closed on Saturday following threats from anti-US demonstrators.

Hundreds of demonstrators on board three trucks thronged the tightly-guarded restaurant on Friday, threatening to set it ablaze unless the American fast-food chain closes and the US ends its assault on Iraq, Antara reported.

Jakarta – The two largest political parties came under fire from a small party on Friday for not joining the antiwar rallies against the United States-led strike on Iraq, which has now entered its 16th day.

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – Indonesia suffers a whopping US$4.7 billion in economic losses per year or $12 per family per month due to its poor sewerage system, a United Nations task force says.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – One thing about abortion in Indonesia is clear: it is easier to get one than to understand the law that regulates them.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – State-owned television station TVRI is no longer broadcasting in North Sumatra, marking another suspension of a TVRI station under a restructuring program to slash state funding for TVRI stations nationwide.

Solo – A crowd of 10,000 people burned a mock Statue of Liberty and chanted "Bush is a terrorist" during a boisterous anti-war rally on Friday in the world's largest Muslim nation.

Jakarta – A director with Indonesia's central bank was jailed yesterday for three years after being found guilty of corruption in failing to properly monitor insolvent banks during the regional financial crisis.

Heru Supraptomo is the second central bank director jailed this week. Fellow Bank Indonesia (BI) supervision director Hendro Budianto was sentenced on Tuesday.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Abu Bakar Bashir had no reason to look lonely as he sat facing the judges who could lock him up for life. After all, he's got 80 lawyers on his team, and nearly a quarter of them were lined up beside him in rows three deep.

Indonesia's vice president Hamzah Haz has lashed out at the US-led war against Iraq, calling President George W Bush the "king of terrorists".

Mr Haz says the United States has always boasted about upholding human rights and democracy, yet it invades Iraq without United Nations approval.