Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The government dispelled public fears on Monday over the number of political parties participating in the 2004 general election, saying that all parties would undergo a strict screening process before they were allowed to contest in the event held once every five years.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – A multi-million-dollar scandal involving an agro-business company has put several Indonesian officials, including Vice-President Hamzah Haz, under the spotlight for publicly endorsing investment schemes that have now left thousands broke.

Jakarta – Indonesia's foreign direct investment approvals dived to $2.67 billion in the first seven months of 2002 from $5.55 billion in the same period last year, government figures showed on Tuesday. The drop was in line with analysts' expectations.

Jakarta – Dozens of human bones have been found in a 67 metre deep hole in a village in East Java.

Residents of the Lorejo Village were aware of the presence of the human remains for more than three decades but chose to stay silent, Kompas daily reported yesterday.

Berni K. Moestafa, Jakarta – Calls to reshuffle the Cabinet are again mounting. Analysts have blamed the development on the Cabinet's poor teamwork and asked whether a reshuffle would benefit President Megawati Soekarnoputri. The answer appears to be both yes and no.

Vincent Lingga, Jakarta – The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) seems not to be fully aware yet that credibility and accountability should be its basic capital in executing its primary task, which is disposing of the billions of dollars of distressed assets under its management.

Matthew Moore – In the grimy rooms of Jakarta's Hotel Borneo, a dwindling bunch of mostly Afghan asylum seekers sit around and wait for the end of another slow day.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Fed up with Jakarta's inability to control haze-inducing fires and to help residents of two provinces smothered by smoke, environmental groups are taking matters into their own hands.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Incidents of mob justice have become almost daily occurrences in Jakarta, as residents frustrated with a justice system that is seen as anything but just take the law into their own hands to mete out harsh punishments on suspected criminals.

Jakarta – Indonesia has raised more than US$2.5 billion from the sale of bad loans that it took over following the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesians are crazy about academic degrees and will spend money to get fake ones, prompting top educators and politicians to suggest a crackdown against those who sell or buy such accreditations.

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – Gender-biased politics in Indonesia could be substantially changed if political parties were required to let women make up 30 percent of legislative candidates, analysts said on Saturday.

They demanded that the proposal be accommodated in the general elections bill now being deliberated in the House of Representatives.

Jakarta – Schools reopened and residents went without masks in parts of Kalimantan and Sumatra yesterday as rain cleared smoke-filled skies that had hung over the region during weeks of raging forest and brush fires.

Officials in West Kalimantan said the haze had lifted, allowing students to return to schools that had been shut because of the smoke.

Jakarta – Many foreign manufacturers have shut down or relocated their businesses in Indonesia to other countries due to lingering labour conflicts, Industry and Trade Minister Rini Suwandi has said.

Oyos Saroso H.N., Kalianda, South Lampung – Lampung farmers have demanded the court take a decision on the ownership of local communal land, which they say has been illegally taken over from them by private and state-run estate companies that have not provided them with adequate compensation.

Choking smoke haze from forest and ground fires persisted over several parts of Indonesia as Jakarta came under pressure from its regional neighbours to tackle the annual problem.

Hundreds of Indonesian schools remained closed, flights were disrupted and many residents of Borneo and Sumatra islands again donned masks before venturing out Friday.

Surabaya – Twenty-three percent, or 300,000 hectares of forested areas in East Java are in critical condition due to rampant illegal logging, land clearance and the absence of a serious reforestation program, says Governor Imam Utomo.

Mysticism and money have always had a role in Indonesian politics. But when the country's Religious Affairs Minister Said Agiel Al Munawar took the advice of a mystic to hunt for buried treasure that would pay off the national debt, he was clearly going too far.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The Indonesian capital is vulnerable to another bout of severe flooding early next year, top public works officials have warned, pointing out that although about US$10 million has been spent on flood prevention this year, many crucial projects remain unfinished.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Two demonstrators went on trial Wednesday for allegedly insulting the president and vice president by stepping on their pictures during a rally in front of the State Palace on June 24.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Fighting off stiff competition from other low-cost and high-productivity countries such as China and Vietnam, Indonesia is likely to reform some labour laws as part of attempts to stem the outflow of investors and to bring in fresh investments.

Nana Rukmana, Kuningan, West Java – Frustrated by declining coffee prices, many farmers in West Java are now cutting down their coffee plants and replacing them with vegetables and other crops in order to survive.

Jakarta – An Indonesian army deserter who has been arrested for allegedly masterminding a bombing campaign in the capital may have had connections with an international terrorist network.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Illegal drugs are moving out of Jakarta's inner-city slums into the suburbs.

Recent police raids found that many houses on the outskirts have been turned into simple factories churning out Ecstasy, a drug popular in nightclubs.

Jakarta – The Indonesian minister who said he was personally supervising a treasure hunt to raise money for the state has been forced to tender a public apology and may be investigated for violating a law which carries a 10-year jail term.

Schools closed and residents donned smog masks as air pollution from forest and brush fires soared way above danger level in one Indonesian region.

Chief of the Australian Defense Force General Peter Cosgrove says his country is keen to intensify future military relations with Indonesia.

Jakarta – A number of trade unions in Central Java have rejected the bill on manpower supervision and protection, and the bill on the settlement of industrial disputes.

Kornelius Purba and Rita A. Widiadana, Kuta – Indonesia has been successfully dealing with transnational crimes and combating terrorism without much publicity either domestically or internationally, a senior cabinet minister says.

Ainur R. Sophiaan, Surabaya – Already hard hit by the economic crisis that has been assailing the nation since 1997, more Indonesians are now facing the prospect of being plunged into severe poverty due to drought.

Jakarta – Some 3,000 workers from PT Doson Indonesia, a company which produces Nike athletic shoes, staged a demonstration on Tuesday in front of the US Embassy to protest plans by the giant shoemaker to terminate its contract with the company next month.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung/Jakarta – The Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) and the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) condemned the shooting of two workers in Bandung, West Java, on Monday, saying it showed the security authorities were using violence to deal with industrial disputes.

Robert Go, Jakarta – As the number of hotspots in Indonesia rises, Jakarta officials yesterday said that they were unable to do much to stop the fires causing the choking haze in the region.

Their reasons: Lack of funds and personnel, and the public's ignorance about the health, transportation and diplomatic problems fires can cause.

As of the end of July, the number of political parties registered with the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights for the 2004 general election had reached a staggering 204.

The number of parties far exceeds the figure in 1999, when 149 parties registered for the first election held in the post-New Order era.

Jakarta – Some 2,000 people have taken refuge in safer areas in Poso town following a spate of recent attacks in Poso regency, a senior local official said on Tuesday.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Having been in office for a year, President Megawati Soekarnoputri has spent a staggering US$22.8 million on overseas trips, according to a finding revealed by the Alliance for New Indonesia (PIB).

A thick haze from forest and ground fires has blanketed several Indonesian regions on Borneo island, choking residents and disrupting road and air traffic.

One scheduled landing was cancelled Tuesday morning at the airport at Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan and another cancellation was likely later on, said an official there.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Bandung, the provincial capital of West Java, is still tense following a violent labor rally in which two demonstrators were shot and a police officer was injured.

Patricia Nunan, Jakarta – About 2,000 factory workers marched through the Indonesian capital Jakarta Tuesday to protest being laid off from their jobs making Nike products. The workers say they want to keep their jobs or else they want more compensation for losing them.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri has reportedly spent a whopping $22.8 million on overseas trips during her first year in office and no one in parliament is complaining – disgraceful given that one of the excuses used to oust her predecessor Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid was that he spent too much time and money abroad.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – An observer has criticized the government's decision to raise the budget allocations for the military and police without obliging them to promote financial transparency.

Jacqueline Koch, Jakarta – Last week's acquittals of six army commanders accused of inciting terror in East Timor graphically illustrate the distance Indonesia still has to travel before its military is brought under firm civilian control, foreign governments and human rights groups say.

Kupang – Police and Army troops, backed by local civilians scuffled on Monday at Maumere, Sikka regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) on the island of Flores, leaving more than 10 people, including seven policemen seriously wounded.

The Maumere police office was also damaged as a gang of Army soldiers and locals stormed the building.

La Remy and Muhammad Nafik, Palu/Jakarta – Central Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Zainal Abidin said on Monday his office would soon summon at least 16 people suspected of masterminding or provoking unrest in the conflict-torn regency of Poso.

Jakarta – A Christian separatist leader went on trial yesterday for allegedly plotting a rebellion in Indonesia's religiously divided Maluku islands.

[The Ad Hoc Human Rights Tribunal has acquitted six military and police officers charged with crimes against humanity for failing to prevent the bloodshed in East Timor in 1999. The Jakarta Post's Ati Nurbaiti talked about the verdicts to Asmara Nababan of the National Commission on Human Rights.]

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Disillusioned Indonesians are paying tribute to one of the nation's forgotten heroes and founding fathers, the late Mohammad Hatta.

The media has been retelling the tale of his political struggle, strong leadership and modest lifestyle to mark his 100th birth anniversary which fell on August 12.

Jakarta – Economists said the government was being too optimistic with its economic growth target of 5 percent for next year, as stated in its 2003 state budget draft, as they argued that the future course of the global economy remained uncertain.

M. Munab Islah Ahyani, Bandung – A demonstration by workers in Bandung [West Java] has resulted in a worker being shot. At the time a number of workers were ganging up on a Bandung police officer Ipda Hotman Gultom. The workers [were trying to] take Hotman's pistol but the pistol suddently discharged and hit a worker in the leg.

Kenneth Roth, New York – Following the spate of recent business scandals in the United States, President George W. Bush called for "a new ethic of personal responsibility in the business world." Yet the State Department has recommended dismissal of a lawsuit alleging corporate complicity in violent human rights abuse in Indonesia.