[In the wake of the October 12 bombing on the Sari Club at Kuta Beach, tourist arrivals to the island of Bali have fallen by 75 percent. Now, for each hotel bed that is occupied, six more lie empty. The impact is being felt throughout Indonesia – and if holiday makers don't come back, then more than two and a half million people could be permanently out of a job.

Denise Leith and John Wing – Over the past few years a growing body of evidence has linked the Indonesian military (TNI) with the activities of terrorist groups within the republic.

James Dunn – For the Howard Government to move to restore links with Indonesia's special forces command, Kopassus, at this time, would be an act of indecent haste.

Last week, the Defence Minister, Robert Hill, said: "Kopassus is the counter-terrorist capability in Indonesia and to defeat terrorists requires co-operation and mutual support."

Former president Suharto's youngest son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandla Putra, currently serving a 15 year jail sentence for murder, weapons possession and fleeing justice, is likely to be granted a one-month remission in conjunction with the Islamic holiday of Idul Fitri next month.

Alison Dellit – "It was under the military rule of Suharto that Indonesia experienced the only decades of stability that it has so far enjoyed. They were decades of corruption and suppression, but also of increasing prosperity and stability.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – The capital went into mourning on November 13, 1998, when 12 people were killed and dozens of others were injured, mostly by gunfire, during clashes between antigovernment protesters led by students and heavily armed police officers and soldiers.

Bambang Bider and Oyos Saroso H.N. Pontianak/Bandar Lampung – The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) staged a demonstration to protest attacks against three journalists in Lampung and Pontianak, and demanded authorities to investigate the incidents thoroughly.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The morning after a deadly bomb ripped apart a popular nightclub in Bali, three senior generals huddled together for a meeting with President Megawati Sukarnoputri at her residence.

Jane Perlez in Denpasar – Two early breaks, including the discovery of a red getaway motorbike, combined with old-fashioned detective work, led Indonesian police to the first suspect in the Bali terrorist attack.

Linda Mottram – Out of control and not to be trusted: that's the caution being sounded this morning to the Federal Government about Kopassus, as Canberra contemplates re-establishing links with Indonesia's disgraced special forces unit, which is also the country's special counter-terrorism unit.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Shocking government statistics show that more than 25 percent of Indonesia's 18 million under five-year-old children are suffering from malnutrition.

And experts are warning the "alarming" figure is worsening due to the government's lack of will to deal with the problem.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Press activists criticized the government's plan to establish a public information dissemination agency for fear that it would only pave the way for a return to the New Order's tight information policy.

Jennifer Hewett – The Minister for Defence, Robert Hill, has given his strongest backing yet to the controversial idea of Australia working with the Indonesian special forces unit Kopassus, despite concerns about its human rights abuses and possible links with some Islamic terrorist groups.

Todung Mulya Lubis – The Bali tragedy, which killed over 190 people and wounded countless others, has finally jolted the government into admitting the existence of terrorism in Indonesia.

Fitri Wulandari and A'an Suryana, Jakarta/Bali – Oddities in the police investigation into the Bali bombing need further explanation for the sake of credibility, an intelligence analyst said on Sunday.

Debbie A. Lubis, Jakarta – Embattled former ruling party Golkar has recruited a number of retired police and military officers into its ranks, which analysts described as a move to maintain or even improve its performance in the 2004 general elections.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri inaugurated on Sunday the Seroja Memorial, located inside the compound of the Indonesian Military (TNI) Headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, as part of a ceremony commemorating National Heroes Day.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – A few days before the Bali bombing, a Yemen national quietly slipped into Indonesia.

When neighbours become ensnared by mutual insults and perceived slights the easiest, and most perilous, course of action is to escalate the dispute.

Mark Baker, Sarah Crichton, Mark Riley and agencies – The suspect who has allegedly admitted taking part in the Bali bombings has told police he wanted to kill as many Americans as possible and "wasn't happy" that Australians died.

[Just what was Jakarta trying to achieve two days ago by sending its acting ambassador scurrying back to Canberra with threats that the Government might have to withdraw its cooperation in the Bali investigation?

Bill Guerin – Indonesian investors are to be wooed in a deliberate effort to release the potential of the domestic economy and get money flowing through the business infrastructures.

Robert Go, Jakarta – A radical group, infamous for using Islamic teachings to justify threats against Westerners and attacks on nightclubs and bars, has announced that it is suspending its activities.

This is seen as yet another sign that radical Islam followers could be losing ground support.

Central Java Governor Mardiyanto has asked former members of the recently disbanded radical Islamic group Laskar Jihad to help the province cope with natural disasters and major accidents.

Serang, Banten – The Muhammadiyah Students Association (IMM), a student wing of the Muhammadiyah Muslim organization, during its 16th national congress from November 4-6, will confer the "Terrorism Award" to the United States, its chairman Piet Hizbullah Haidir disclosed here on Thursday.

Matthew Moore, Mark Riley and Mark Baker – The Indonesian President, Megawati Soekarnoputri, has cautioned Australia not to overreact to the terrorism threat and not to harass Indonesian nationals, as the increasingly brittle relationship between the countries became further strained.

Jakarta – The leader of a worker union at the Pondok Indah hospital in South Jakarta went on trial Wednesday for allegedly torturing his supervisor two months ago.

Prosecutor Hari Wahyudi told the South Jakarta District Court that defendant Edi Waluyo attempted to choke Nugroho Marwanto after the hospital management reprimanded him for neglecting patients.

David Costello – Should Australia conduct joint exercises and training with Indonesia's special forces to boost the fight against terrorism and the hunt for the Bali bombers? The question has become a political football in Canberra and Washington.

Yuliansyah, Banjarmasin – Some 463 workers at Pelaihari Sugar Company in Tanah Laut regency, South Kalimantan, have lost their jobs without compensation after their once reputable firm was liquidated by the Office of the State Minister of State Enterprises last month.

The workers have been out of work for three months since the company ceased operations.

The Australian Government is continuing to discuss the prospect of renewing military links with Indonesia's notorious Special Forces, Kopassus.

The Defence Minister, Robert Hill has previously said Australia might work with Kopassus to fight terrorism in the region.

Jakarta – As many as 20 military officers went on trial Wednesday for allegedly involvement in the deadly attack at the Langkat police station and the Binjai Mobile Brigade headquarters in September.

Robert Go, Tabanan (Bali) – Some of Indonesia's top businessmen are thumbing their noses at the nation's latest bid to collect outstanding debts worth more than US$13 billion, leaving officials frustrated over their blatant attempt to use the legal system to their advantage.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The latest draft of the broadcasting law, to be deliberated in the next two weeks, reveals the ignorance of the House of Representatives and the government in regards public demands for revision of several contentious articles.

Vice president Hamzah Haz said that he was not sure of the involvement of international terrorist groups or the al-Qaeda network in last month's bombings in Bali, El Shinta radio station reported.

Hamzah's remarks were quoted by the head of the Indonesian Islamic Student (PII), Zulfikar, following a meeting at the Vice Presidential palace.

Tom Fawthrop – The highly politicized Indonesian military, trained in waging terror during more than 30 years of General Suharto's dictatorship, are among the suspects in last month's Bali bombing, according to a respected Indonesian commentator.

Dan Murphy, Jakarta – Investigators on three continents are moving closer to definitively tying Al Qaeda and its Indonesian allies to the October 12 bomb blast at the Sari Club on the island of Bali that killed at least 190 people.

Max Lane, Jakarta – The "war on terror" propaganda campaign being conducted by the Australian and US governments is providing ammunition for xenophobic right-wing political forces in Indonesia.

Roger Maynard, Sydney – The claim that Australia's spy agency passed on intelligence reports to the United States which implicate the Indonesian military in the West Papua mine ambush could add tension to the already uneasy relationship between Canberra and Jakarta.

[Indonesian police say they have made significant progress in the hunt for the perpetrators of the Bali bombings. They say they've arrested the owner of a minivan which they believe was used in the car-bomb attack last month. But again, questions are again being raised about the efficiency of the Indonesian police in pursuing the investigation.]

The number of people with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has increased drastically by 340 percent to 359 in June, 2002 from 51 in 1999 due to the approach used to handle HIV/AIDS cases, according to a local foundation.

Hundreds of demonstrators marched on the Australian embassy in Jakarta yesterday, angry over Australia's raids on Indonesians suspected of having links to the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah.

Protesters blocked the entrance to the embassy, waving banners including "Indonesia under attack" and "Go to hell".

The Federal Opposition is backing away from a Government proposal for Australia to resume military ties with elite Kopassus units from the Indonesian Army.

The move has been proposed by Defence Minister Robert Hill, as part of the response to the Bali bombings.

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Labor unions demanded City Governor Sutiyoso on Monday to review its decree on the 2003 provincial minimum wage which rules an increase of 7 percent from the current Rp 590,000 to Rp 631,000 per month.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – Thousands of workers from eight textile and textile-products factories in Greater Jakarta have been left without jobs and payment after their foreign employers abruptly stopped operations and fled the country in the first half of this year.

Catherine Porter – John Rumbiak has a theory about the recent bombing in his native Indonesia. It wasn't the work of Muslim extremists in cahoots with the Al Qaeda terrorist network, the human-rights activist says.

Hamish McDonald and Matthew Moore – Early this week, a military attache with a Western embassy in Jakarta was given a tip-off by senior officers in Indonesian armed forces headquarters: the head of the counter-terrorism unit with the Indonesian army's special forces had been identified as a source of the explosives used in the October 12 bombings in Bali.

Leonard C. Sebastian – The Indonesian government has responded to the Bali bombing by issuing two anti-terrorism regulations generally modelled on Canada's anti-terrorism legislation Bill C-36.

Bill Guerin – The financial crisis of 1997 brought Indonesia's previously spectacular economic growth to an abrupt halt. Going through the ensuing rigors of massive political change, economic reform and decentralization has left the country ill-equipped to face the very latest challenges of encouraging new inward investment.

News that Indonesian soldiers might have been involved in an August ambush in Papua that killed two Americans and an Indonesian and wounded 11 isn't surprising. The history of the chaotic province has been marked by separatist revolts and reprisals; civilian deaths at the hands of the army have occurred before.

Jakarta – Undeterred by fierce criticism of his policy, Jakarta governor Sutiyoso has reiterated his intention to close the city to migrants who do not have sufficient money to live on, job offers or a house to stay in.