Robert Go, Jakarta – Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Illegal migrant workers recently kicked out of Malaysia now have to deal with thugs who target and squeeze hefty fees from them as they try to make their way home.

Thousands of Muslims turned out to march toward a meeting of Indonesian parliamentarians to demand they incorporate Islamic law into the constitution.

Summary of counter-terrorism proposals for Jakarta

About 100 university students have dumped cow manure outside a Jakarta hotel where delegates to Indonesia's top constitutional assembly are staying.

Some 100 police personnel erected barbed wire barricades outside the hotel housing delegates to the current annual meeting of the People's Consultative Assembly, but no clashes were reported.

Jakarta – A judge yesterday delayed the trial of Indonesia's best-known Islamic militant on charges of inciting violence against Christians, saying the defendant "looked pale".

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – The jailed son of former president Suharto, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, said yesterday that he would not appeal against his 15-year jail sentence for masterminding a murder, because he would not get justice.

The United States is ready for greater military cooperation with Indonesia and is confident Jakarta can handle any terrorist threats, visiting US Secretary of State Colin Powell said.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Labor activists rallied on Wednesday in front of the Malaysian Embassy on Jl. Rasuna Said in South Jakarta in protest of a strict immigration law that will take effect in that country on August 1, and which will impact hundreds of thousands of Indonesians working illegally in the country.

Following in the footsteps of its main rival Reebok, athletics-shoe manufacturer Nike has announced that it will also be reducing production in Indonesia – a move that could spark protests from workers.

Debbie A. Lubis, Jakarta – Noted Muslim leaders cautioned the United States on Wednesday against forcing Indonesia to crack down on hardline religious groups in the country.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Indonesian judges are in the spotlight again, incurring the wrath of corruption watchdogs, for refusing to make their wealth public.

Muklis Ali and Dean Yates, Jakarta – Indonesia's president insisted on Thursday there were no quick fixes to the country's many woes and said crippling a rebel movement in Aceh was vital to ending violence that has killed thousands in the troubled province.

Jakarta – The government has asked US-based copper and gold mining company PT Freeport Indonesia to immediately deal with the pollution emanating from its mines near the Papuan towns of Tembagapura and Timika.

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – The 1945 Constitution (UUD 1945) has gone through at least seven crucial phases since it was endorsed by the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence (PPKI) on August 18, 1945, just one day after the Declaration of Independence.

Tiarma Siboro and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – With just one day to go until the convening of the People's Consultative Assembly Annual Session, noted legal practitioner and human rights activist Todung Mulya Lubis warned of a possible vacuum should the political parties not agree to proceed with the constitutional amendment process.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Public pressure is now growing for the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to establish an independent constitutional commission, just two days before the Assembly begins its Annual Session to endorse changes agreed in the fourth phase of the constitutional amendment process.

New York – US Secretary of State Colin Powell should urge Indonesia to demonstrate effective civilian control of the military and take action to hold senior military officers accountable for human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said in a backgrounder released today.

Brendan Pereira, Malaysia – As expected, Asean ministers flagged terrorism as a major threat at the end of its annual ministerial meeting in Brunei.

Along the corridors of the cavernous convention centre, diplomats from member countries spoke passionately about the need to make the region an inhospitable place for terror cells.

Max Lane, Jakarta – On July 22, several political parties organised a seminar to discuss the contemporary implications of the July 27, 1996, attack by pro-Suharto thugs on the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI). During that raid, PDI members loyal to Megawati Sukarnoputri were killed, injured and some have disappeared.

Dan Murphy, Jakarta – Pius Lustrilanang says he's bled his last drop for President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

In 1998, as Indonesia's Suharto dictatorship fought to restrain the democracy movement Megawati had inspired, Mr. Lustrilanang was snatched off a Jakarta street and taken to a dank military interrogation center. His crime: leading a pro-Megawati student group.

[Tomorrow Indonesia's National Assembly the MPR is to begin its annual session. Over ten days 500 assembly members will vote on groundbreaking changes to Indonesia's constitution. But first up on the MPR agenda is President Megawati Sukarnoputri's 12 month progress report to the assembly.

Berni K. Moestafa, Jakarta – A poll shows that 69.5 percent of 4,133 respondents are ready to vote in a direct presidential election, as lawmakers will meet next week to decide whether to adopt a direct election in 2004.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – As the Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) draws near, the Indonesian Military (TNI), along with the National Police, has maintained its opposition to the ongoing constitutional amendment process and is calling for a return to the (unamended) 1945 Constitution.

Jakarta – Both employers and labor unions slammed the House of Representatives and the government for the much-criticized labor bills, saying the House and the government team preparing the two bills had failed to bridge the gap between employers and workers.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Military Police Commander Maj. Gen Sulaiman A.B. announced on Tuesday that Governor Sutiyoso was a suspect of the July 27, 1996 incident when hundreds of progovernment civilians and military attacked the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

Jakarta – Setting fire to a giant cardboard replica of a Reebok shoe, more than a thousand workers from the US-based manufacturer protested outside the American Embassy in Jakarta over a cut in orders they claimed has left 5,400 workers jobless.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – The urban centres of Batam, Java and Sumatra will be swamped by at least 100,000 workers returning from Malaysia this week – and they won't be welcome.

Jakarta – Reebok International Ltd, the world's No. 2 athletic shoe-maker, said on Tuesday it is committed to production in Indonesia after 1,000 workers staged a protest against it in Jakarta the day before.

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – The government has paid no attention to the plight of child domestics, many of whom have fallen victim to sexual harassment by their employers, activists say.

Simon Cameron-Moore and Elaine Monaghan, Bandar Seri Begawan/Singapore – Indonesia defended its record in fighting terrorism on Tuesday as US Secretary of State Colin Powell lent support, hinting Washington was ready to consider resuming military ties.

Berni K. Moestafa, Jakarta – With new political parties sprouting fast, analysts said their prospects at the 2004 general election were dim as most of them lacked a clear support base at the grassroots level.

Banjarmasin – Activists of two student groups rallied on Monday to demand that South Kalimantan Governor Sjachriel Darham step down for incompetence.

On separate occasions, the Pro-Revolution Student Solidarity (SMPR) and the provincial chapter of the Indonesian Youth Committee (KNPI) said that Sjachriel was incapable to develop South Kalimantan during his tenure.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Convict Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra received important guests on Monday as more than 30 legislators, accompanied by hundreds of reporters, paid a visit to Cipinang penitentiary in East Jakarta.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – The victims of the July 27 incident are unlikely to see justice served in the near future as legal enforcers are reluctant to handle the case seriously, particularly if it touches on former high-ranking officials, legislators said.

Robert Go. Jakarta – HIV rates in Indonesia could be on the rise after revelations by the local Red Cross unit (PMI) that there has been a dramatic increase over the last five years in the number of donated blood samples that contain the lethal virus.

Jakarta – What was President Megawati Soekarnoputri doing when thousands of her die-hard supporters and victims of the July 27 bloody attack were crying out for justice last Saturday? Throwing a party for her children, brothers and sisters of her businessman husband Taufik Kiemas, and several family business friends to celebrate her one year in office.

Jakarta – Indonesia's top Islamic organisation Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) yesterday demanded that an article guaranteeing religious freedom be kept untouched in the country's Constitution.

NU reiterated its stand at the close of its congress that it opposed efforts to make religious practice and syariah law obligatory for Indonesian Muslims.

[First to Indonesia, where the convicted favourite son of former President Suharto is likely to appeal a 15-year jail sentence for masterminding the murder of a judge and other crimes.

Jakarta – Indonesian police have been questioning witnesses to a bomb blast that ripped through a crowded market, injuring 53 people in a Christian neighbourhood of the religiously divided province of Maluku.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – In a move to net potential voters who have been disappointed with the performances of existing political parties represented in the country's supreme law-making body, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), two noted political observers declared a new party on Sunday.

Grace Nirang, Jakarta – Life had returned to normal on the streets of Indonesia's troubled eastern city of Ambon on Sunday, police said, a day after a bomb blast that injured 53 people and may raise fresh doubts about a regional peace pact.

Bandar Seri Begawan – Tommy Suharto's conviction augurs well for the independence of the judiciary in Indonesia, according to Datuk Param Cumaraswamy, the United Nations special rapporteur who had last week said the country's legal system was the worst he had ever seen.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Life behind bars must be terrible, especially in the notorious Cipinang penitentiary in East Jakarta.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The judges heaved a sigh of relief, the prosecutors claimed justice had been done, the defence lawyers cried foul, but the media responded to Friday's guilty verdict and the 15-year sentence against former president Suharto's favourite son with plenty of scepticism.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Defence lawyers for former President Suharto's youngest son, who was convicted on Friday of ordering the killing of a judge, intend to focus their appeal to the High Court on a technicality – the judges delivered the verdict and 15-year sentence to an empty chair.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Around 1,000 people gathered on Saturday on Jl. Diponegoro in Central Jakarta, to commemorate the July 27, 1996 incident when hundreds of people attacked supporters of the then-ousted chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Poverty and desperation almost drove Dinda to prostitution in her teenage years.

She needed the money for her destitute family neglected by a drunk and chronic gambler father. But she was saved from a cruel fate by her renewed faith in Islam. And to reaffirm her conviction, she decided to wear the Muslim headscarf or jilbab.

Michael Casey, Jakarta – A bomb exploded in a crowded marketplace in Indonesia's religiously divided province of Maluku Saturday, injuring 53 people, police said.

The 9am blast ripped through a market packed with shoppers in a Christian neighborhood of Ambon, a provincial capital that is divided between warring Christian and Muslim sides.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – An alliance of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) criticized the government on Friday for its lack of transparency in implementing policies to end regional conflicts, especially those in Aceh and Maluku.

The Central Jakarta District Court finally handed down the verdict for Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra without the presence of the defendant, who claimed to be sick. Several people share their cynical views on the case and on the judiciary in general.

Iskandar, 20, a hawker on city buses, who comes from Lampung and has been living in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, since 1994.