Yuliansyah, Banjarmasin – The Association of Indonesian Private School Employees (Asokadikta) Banjarmasin chapter said Friday that it was planning to stage a large-scale rally to demand that the government give serious attention to the Rp 4 billion in overtime pay for temporary teachers that is still being held by the education office there.

Jakarta – Experts welcomed on Friday the government's plan to provide incentives for rice farmers, but said that the government must also curb the smuggling of cheap rice into the country, which has been hurting farmers' income.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri's backing for the re-election of Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso has undermined her anti-graft drive, said analysts critical of her support for a politician widely seen as corrupt and ineffective.

Ainur R. Sophia'an and Nana Rukmana, Surabaya/Cirebon – Thousands of sugar farmers and peasants employed by sugar plantations in West and East Java went on strike Thursday to protest sugar imports that have affected the sugar industry at home.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Suhari spends almost one-third of his day on the road. It is not because he is a driver. The employee of a company in Kota, Central Jakarta, spends, on average, nearly six hours in public vehicles because he lives in East Bekasi, which is about 40 kilometers away from his workplace.

Richard Galpin, Jakarta – A senior police official in Indonesia has confirmed reports that 30 people demonstrating on Wednesday against the re-election of the governor of Jakarta were poisoned with cyanide.

[Indonesia, like other predominantly Islamic countries in the Asia Pacific region, has felt the impact of the September 11 attacks on the US. The effects have at times threatened to destabilise the balance between President Megawati Sukarnoputri's secular rule and the demands of a devout Muslim population.

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – Over 550,000 poor families will no longer receive government assistance through "Rice for the Poor" program in 2003 due to a reduction in the subsidy and anticipated higher rice prices, the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) chief said on Wednesday.

Berni K. Moestafa and Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta – Local analysts expressed doubt on Wednesday that al-Qaeda had any organized cells here, but warned that the country was ripe for radicalism, while at least one Muslim scholar said he had evidence of links between al-Qaeda and a local group.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Police yesterday fired blank warning shots, tear gas and water cannons to disperse thousands of protesters as Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso won a parliamentary vote for another five years in office.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Three assessment companies appointed by the Ministry of Forestry to help filter out bad forest concession holders are being suspected of having links to certain concession holders including timber tycoon Bob Hasan.

Lee Kim Chew – Last week's three-year jail sentence for Akbar Tandjung, Indonesia's Lower House Speaker and Golkar party chairman, is another new milestone in the country's legal history.

Even as Akbar fights to stay in the saddle – he is appealing against his conviction for corruption – the reformers have claimed yet another sweet victory.

Berni K. Moestafa and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Activists have welcomed the submission of the anti-race and ethnic discrimination bill to the House of Representatives saying that it will ensure equal rights of all citizens.

Medan – At least 700 workers from six regencies in North Sumatra grouped under The North Sumatra Labor Union NGO Forum held a rally on Wednesday at the provincial legislature to oppose the bills on labor protection and industrial dispute settlement.

Medan – Hundreds of employees of a regional construction company staged a demo at the city council building in Medan, North Sumatra, on Monday demanding a guarantee for their future employment status following the state owned firm's management transfer.

US Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph L. Boyce has advised American investors not to make any new investments in Indonesia until the investment and security climate improves.

Jakarta – Indonesia's economy is forecast to grow 3.86 percent year-on-year in the third quarter and 5.76 percent year-on-year in the fourth due to expected higher output ahead of year-end celebrations, Finance Minister Boediono said on Wednesday.

Representatives of protesters rejecting the likely re-election of Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso scuffled with police after they were refused entry to the voting room at the city legislative assembly building.

Jakarta – Despite improvements in health over the past decades, Indonesia is listed as being among the countries that contribute 40 percent of the world's maternal deaths.

Novan Iman Santosa, Jakarta – In a last minute attempt to foil governor Sutiyoso's nomination in the gubernatorial election on Wednesday, thousands of people from various groups – some brought along two cows with them -packed the City Council building on Jl. Kebon Sirih, Central Jakarta on Monday.

Manuela Saragosa – Indonesia has the world's second largest reserves of natural forest but the World Bank has warned it could all disappear within the next decade.

Critics say the country's forests have been exploited with little regard for their sustainability as a valuable resource.

Bill Guerin – Despite growing "anti-IMF" sentiment among some Indonesian politicians, last month's draft budget for 2003 was crafted to appease the International Monetary Fund and ensure that the country continues to receive the remaining tranches of a long-drawn-out US$5 billion rescue program.

Tangerang – Hundreds of passengers were stranded across Tangerang on Monday following a strike by public minivan drivers serving three routes from Cimone to Cikupa, Tigaraksa and Perumnas.

Earlier in the day, drivers parked their vans at Kadewaran intersection in Bitung and then marched to the regency legislative council office to voice their protest.

Police fired blank ammunition, tear gas and water cannons on Wednesday to stop a brawl between about 300 student protesters demanding the dissolution of the former ruling Golkar Party and dozens of thugs loyal to the party.

Greg Sheridan – The Bush Administration was shocked at the extent of al-Qa'ida's penetration of southeast Asia, says US Deputy Defence Secretary and former ambassador to Indonesia Paul Wolfowitz.

Wolfowitz's view flatly rejects the claims of some commentators that regional governments have exaggerated the terrorist network's links for domestic political purposes.

Chris McCall – Virtual pariahs after their bloody destruction of East Timor, the Indonesian military and police were turned overnight into prospective friends of the West by September 11.

[Political pressure is mounting for the resignation of Indonesian Attorney-General Muhammad Abdurrahman. Following allegations that he has underdisclosed his personal wealth he has become a target for anti-corruption campaigners and political rivals of the President.

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – Labor union activists and businessmen have expressed discontent with the changes to the labor bill being deliberated at the House of Representatives, saying the revision fails to accommodate their respective aspirations.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri has been on a seven-nation tour abroad while President Gloria Arroyo has personally visited illegal workers deported from Malaysia.

Fitri Wulandari and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Nunukan – Rustan was dreaming of streets paved in gold when he took the offer to work in Malaysia last year. He left his hometown of Rappang in South Sulawesi, bringing with him his wife Pasah and their two-month-old son, Ruslan.

Dean Yates, Jakarta – In the struggle for the public face of Islam in Indonesia, militant Muslims rarely encounter anyone willing to confront them head on.

But Ulil Abshar-Abdalla, a young moderate Muslim intellectual, has taken the battle to the militants on the radio airwaves and through newspaper columns to defend Indonesia's traditional Islamic tolerance.

Ken Dalecki – If your company does business overseas, keep an eye on several lawsuits against US corporations alleging that they are "vicariously liable" for human rights abuses committed by others in countries where they do business.

Jalil Hamid, Nunukan – Indonesian officials say 35 deportees from Malaysia have died at sprawling makeshift camps in Borneo as they await the arrival of a navy vessel bringing medical help.

Jakarta – Four people, including three teenage girl athletes, died in a powerful explosion at a sports stadium in Indonesia's strife-torn Ambon city, police said yesterday.

The move by some 4,000 Indonesian villagers to sue the Japanese government and its aid agencies over losses caused by the Kota Panjang dam is a sad repeat of earlier fiascos that, when the dam was first envisaged, were not supposed to happen.

Jakarta – Two days after House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung was convicted of graft, his future has been narrowed down to two choices: resign or have legislators dismiss him through an honorary council.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Most Jakartans are familiar with the presence of street children at most intersections in the city every day. They take their existence for granted as another dark side of the city.

Washington – The United States Under Secretary for Defense Paul Wolfowitz said here on Wednesday that the US government was very "disappointed" with the apparent lack of will to prosecute human rights abusers, particularly those from the Indonesian military (TNI), but added that it would be a mistake to paint the whole institution with the same brush.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The Indonesian government wants to allow open-pit mining in protected forest areas in a bid to get more cash out of the country's vast natural resources and to speed up the pace of development in its eastern provinces.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI), a Muslim militant Muslim group which allegedly has links to al-Qaeda, threatened on Friday to launch "sweeps" against foreign nationals working illegally in major Indonesian cities, DPA news agency reported.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – A conviction on corruption charges and a three-year jail sentence have eroded Indonesian parliamentary Speaker Akbar Tandjung's chances of contesting the 2004 presidential elections.

Jakarta – Indonesian prosecutors yesterday indicted the half-brother of former president Suharto for embezzling state reforestation funds.

They charged Probosutejo, 72, with misusing 100.93 billion rupiah worth of funds designated by the Forestry Ministry for two of his companies in 1993, chief prosecutor I Ketut Murtika said.

Jakarta (Agencies) – A powerful exploded at a stand in Merdeka Stadium in Ambon on Thursday, killing three junior high-school students and injuring 11 others, some seriously.

Antara identified two of the dead as Carla P, 15, from State Junior High School (SMPN) 4 and Yoke Siahaya from SMPN 6. Some of the injured are being treated at the GPM Hospital.

Jakarta – Though kicked out of parliament, the army is still a force to be reckoned with. When Indonesia's parliament voted recently to abolish the 38 seats it reserves for the armed forces, pundits hailed the move as proof that the chief instrument of repression during the 32-year dictatorship of Suharto had finally been brought under civilian control.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's military will not get out of business just yet but could set up holding companies to consolidate and clean up the hundreds of enterprises under its control, according to top generals and sources.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – The conviction of parliamentary Speaker Akbar Tandjung, the second case in which a politically connected person has been sentenced to jail in the past two months, is being seen as another positive step for Indonesia's legal system.

Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta – Criticism of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Foundation (YLBHI) has mounted following the taking control of the once respected non-governmental organization by senior lawyers linked to the military and graft suspects.

Jakarta – Hundreds of university students demonstrated in front of the Jakarta City Council building on Wednesday to protest against incumbent Governor Sutiyoso's reelection bid.

Demonstrator Syarif Effrina, from Jakarta State University (UNJ), said councillors should not be reelect Sutiyoso on Sept. 11 as he was inept, among other things.

[World Bank outgoing country director for Indonesia Mark Baird assumed the position in 1999 when the country was still struggling from a deep economic crisis, making him one of the few people intimately familiar with the country's economic development.

[Leading law-makers in Indonesia are calling for the suspension of Akbar Tanjung as parliamentary speaker following his conviction for corruption. A Jakarta court has sentenced Mr Tanjung to three years' jail, for misusing over US four-million dollars in state funds, meant for the poor.