David Gosling, Yogyakarta – Indonesian workers are braving police repression to oppose President Megawati Sukarnoputri's IMF-inspired draft labour laws. So far strikes and protest rallies across the country have succeeded in pushing back the parliamentary debate on the laws until at least October, buying time for workers to organise against them.

Jakarta – Fifteen political parties, each of which won less than 2 percent of the vote in the 1999 general election, are requesting that the application of the electoral threshold be canceled to allow them to contest the 2004 general election.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – The government has agreed to allow mining companies to operate in areas now categorized as protected forests, a decision that has drawn strong protests from environmental groups.

Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Purnomo Yusgiantoro said on Tuesday that the decision was taken in a bid to boost investment and increase economic growth.

Yuliansyah, Banjarmasin – Angered by the fact that South Kalimantan Governor H.M. Sjachriel had ignored their demands for him to leave his official residence, dozens of people, grouped in the People's Suffering Action Forum (Kapera), sealed off the governor's official residence on Tuesday.

Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta – Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) joined on Tuesday opposition against the plan to revive political parties' power to expel dissenting members from legislative bodies, arguing the move would pave the way for authoritarianism by the parties.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Desperate to get away, some female migrant workers now camped in Nunukan close to the Sabah border have resorted to selling their babies to raise money to pay for their return journey to homes in Sulawesi and Java.

Jakarta – Some 800 of employees from five banks facing a merger rallied outside the House of Representatives on Monday, urging legislators to safeguard their jobs.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Over the past five years, the Internet has become a crucial tool for Islamic groups in Indonesia to spread their beliefs and widen mass support. A local search engine shows as many as 200 websites on Islam run by various groups.

Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri, Vice President Hamzah Haz and some other senior state officials are morally responsible for the agribusiness scam involving PT Qurnia Subur Alam Raya (QSAR), lawyer Juniver Girsang said here on Monday.

[In Indonesia, freedom of the press is under the spotlight with controversial plans by the government to prevent the rebroadcast of certain foreign programs on local media. Opponents say its a crude attempt at censorship. If the legislation gets through parliament later this month, it'll directly impact on news services from the BBC, Voice of America and Radio Australia.]

Jakarta – Communications and information minister Syamsul Muarif said here Monday that the government and the House of Representatives (DPR) had agreed to ban by law local broadcasting companies from relaying the programs of foreign stations.

Jakarta – Chinese herbal medicines are growing in popularity here, even among the non-Chinese, as an alternative to Western drugs.

Mike Jendrzejczyk, Washington – Will US training improve the Indonesian military's terrible human-rights record?

Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday Indonesia was on track to achieve single digit inflation by year end, a day after Jakarta reported its first increase in annual inflation in six months.

[Anti-corruption campaigners in Indonesia have charged that new districts and townships are being created out of existing provinces, as the nation's decentralisation programme is hijacked by corrupt local elites.

Robert Go, Jakarta – First it was shoemakers, toy makers and leather workers. Now it is the turn of the textile producers to complain that theirs is an industry choked by Indonesia's inability to compete against Asian countries like China and Vietnam.

Jakarta – Indonesia posted higher inflation in August, the first increase in six months and a figure prompting speculation further interest rate cuts would be limited.

Jakarta – Thousands of illegal Indonesian workers and their families are living in dire conditions in camps near the country's border with Malaysia and one relief worker said a few are selling their babies to raise cash.

Tom Wright, Jakarta – Indonesia's attempts to blame the weekend killing of two US citizens on Papuan separatists may be the first step in a military crackdown in the restive province that could complicate US political and business interests.

Abdullah Alamudi, Jakarta – Indonesia's newly won press freedom is now in limbo as the broadcast bill – nearly at its final reading at the House of Representatives – will prevent local radio and TV stations from relaying foreign-made news, thus curbing the public's right to information.

Jakarta – Health and emergency workers in an Indonesian border town said yesterday they were struggling to ensure thousands of Indonesians fleeing an immigration crackdown in Malaysia had access to clean water and adequate sanitation.

Jakarta – Legislators are drafting new changes to the long running debate on the labor bill, proposing, among other items, a government permit for worker strikes and a ban to outsource workers under temporary contracts.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Hundreds of members of the Indonesian Prosperity Trade Union (SBSI) marched to the West Java provincial legislature compound to demand the local authorities release all detained activists and stay out of industrial disputes.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – A Bill that involves placing a government "spy" in broadcasting agencies here is likely to be passed next month by parliament to regulate the electronic media.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Legal experts and critics yesterday described the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the graft conviction for Central Bank governor Syahril Sabirin as yet another blow to Indonesia's legal system.

They said the ruling was further evidence of the country's corrupt legal system, which has recently handed down a slew of controversial verdicts.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Less than three weeks after lawmakers agreed to scrap the military and police's free seats in the House of Representatives (DPR) and the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) by 2004, Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto has urged his troops to shun the next general election.

Catharine Munro, Jakarta – Indonesia's military (TNI) commander today argued for greater international ties but could not fully guarantee against human rights abuses by his men.

"It's impossible that 100 per cent of all soldiers respect human rights, it's almost impossible," General Endriartono Sutarto told reporters.

Jakarta – President Megawati's sister, Rachmawati Soekarnoputri, proclaimed here on Thursday the establishment of a new party, Partai Pelopor (Pioneer Party).

Jakarta – In yet another sign of a return to New Order policies, the government is now drafting a bill that will give more power to political parties to expel non-conformist legislators from the House of Representatives, likely quelling opposition voices, an essential ingredient in a healthy democracy.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Jakarta – Heavily-armed police in the West Java capital of Bandung have arrested two more labor activists in apparent attempts to suppress the labor movement in the province.

So far, a total of 34 labor activists have been arrested in line with mounting opposition to two labor bills currently being deliberated by the House of Representatives.

Jakarta – Ten representatives of temporarily employed teachers here came to the City Council on Wednesday to complain about the various problems they were facing, including unfair dismissal, low-salaries and other examples of allegedly discriminatory treatment.

Jakarta – Indonesia's biggest mainstream Muslim organisation said on Thursday it strongly opposed any US attack on Iraq. Hasyim Muzadi, head of the 40-million strong Nahdlatul Ulama, said his group would protest if the United States launched military action against Iraq, although he declined to say how.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – New districts and regencies are mushrooming across Indonesia as ambitious politicians try to carve out fiefdoms to increase their political power and attract more funds to the newly created districts.

There are worrying signs that Indonesia's timber barons are trying to accelerate their destruction of Indonesia's last remaining forests.

In a series of underhanded campaigns, the tycoons are posing as conservationists in order to increase their profits and productivity.

Jakarta – Berlin-based Transparency International (TI) has still ranked Indonesia among the most corrupt countries in the world, with scores of two or less, while Finland, Denmark and New Zealand were the "cleanest", with scores of between nine and ten.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – A total of 49 non-governmental organizations on Wednesday demanded that President Megawati Soekarnoputri stop the ongoing Jakarta gubernatorial election process, stressing that it was being carried out undemocratically and against the prevailing regulations.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Jakarta has seen its security situation worsen considerably recently as indicated by the increase in street crime over the last three years, and many people are now afraid of utilizing public facilities, a seminar concluded here on Wednesday.

[The Australian engineering firm Thiess is seeking a court order to sack six hundred workers from its coal mining operation in Indonesia's southern Kalimantan province. Thiess says it's the worst dispute its encountered in the 30 years the company has operated in Indonesia.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Women use it to entice the opposite sex, celebrities often resort to it to boost popularity and politicians turn to it to further their careers – the supernatural.

They are all clients of Indonesian psychics, practitioners of the occult and others with knowledge of the supernatural – all enjoying booming business despite the economic crisis.

The group of demonstrators who protested outside the Malaysian embassy in Jakarta yesterday is suspected to have links with Indonesian military forces and armed groups involved in the East Timor massacre three years ago.

Vincent Lingga, Jakarta – Raising revenues for the state budget is only one of the objectives of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency's (IBRA) massive auction sale of Rp 135.4 trillion (US$15 billion) in bad loans which began last month, and not the most important one for that matter.

Brendan Pereira, Kuala Lumpur – Malaysian politicians yesterday asked the Indonesian government to rein in troublemakers in Jakarta or face the prospect of a more trying period in bilateral relations with its Asean neighbour.

Implicit in the message was the point that Indonesia had more to lose if the current spat became worse.

The governor of the Indonesian province of Central Kalimantan has threatened jail terms for people who set fires to clear land as haze thickened over the area and halted many flights, officials said.

Governor Asmawi Agani has issued a circular warning offenders they may face up to three years in jail, said provincial spokesman, Hadi, on Wednesday.

Jakarta – Jailed Indonesian businessman Tommy Suharto has complained about night-time mosquito bites but is otherwise adapting to simple prison food and the lack of privileges at his new prison on the island of Nusakambangan.

Jakarta – An Indonesian group protesting Kuala Lumpur's decision to whip illegal immigrants toppled the main gate of the Malaysian embassy in Jakarta on Monday, AFP reported.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Indonesian business leaders and politicians are privately unhappy with what they see as Malaysia's harsh treatment of illegal foreign workers in the country.

Singapore has said it wants a group of suspected terrorists holed up in Southeast Asia to be extradited over a plot to blow up American, Israeli and other targets in the city-state.

Vincent Lingga, Jakarta – Most analysts view the government's estimate of 5 percent economic growth for 2003 as too optimistic since consumer spending, one of the biggest locomotives of economic expansion besides export, is expected to slacken as a result of the contractible fiscal policy, while foreign investment will likely remain moribund.

John O'Callaghan, Singapore – Southeast Asia will suffer more dry weather and smoke from fires in Indonesia before monsoon winds offer a reprieve in November, environmental officials in Singapore said on Tuesday.

John Roberts – Indonesia's People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which met in Jakarta from August 1-11, has approved a series of constitutional changes that are aimed at ending some of the more blatantly anti-democratic provisions of the country's political system.