Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Thousands of people from all walks of life, from becak (pedicab) drivers and street vendors to bankers and stock exchange brokers, staged rallies in different parts of the city to object to Governor Sutiyoso's accountability speech, which was presented before the City Council on Thursday.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Anti-corruption activists say widespread corruption in procurements of goods and services in most units of the city administration cannot be stopped due to the alleged involvement of the City Audit Agency (Bawasda).

Robert Go, Jakarta – Facing a meltdown in its transportation system, the Jakarta government now dreams of a high-speed subway, elevated trains and modern buses to efficiently move its 12 million inhabitants.

Experts conducting a S$15-million study hope to ease the severe gridlock that often turns a 5-km trip into a half-hour crawl.

Maria Ressa, Jakarta – An Indonesian man is being linked to the top echelons of the al Qaeda terrorist network with officials saying he allegedly helped bring hundreds of operatives from Europe to a training camp he set up in Indonesia.

Agus Dwikarna was arrested in March in the Philippines and sentenced last week to up to ten years in prison for possession of explosives.

"Yesterday's action by the Senate Appropriations Committee restoring full International Military Education and Training (IMET) for Indonesia sets back the pursuit of justice for East Timor, as well as military reform and democracy in Indonesia.

Muhammad Nafik and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri, once a popular opposition leader, has developed authoritarian and aloof traits during her one year as the nation's leader, a tendency that could undermine democracy, say analysts.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri has come under fire for issuing a decree ordering members of her Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) to support controversial Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso's re-election. Those who defy her order could face severe sanctions from the party.

[An Australian defence think tank says there's a growing risk of Indonesia reverting violently to an authoritarian government backed by the military. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute says that unlike the Suharto regime, such an Indonesian Government might be xenophobic and anti-Australian.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Confusion over the powers of local regents, or district heads, who have been empowered under Indonesia's messy autonomy laws, has finally come to a head with Jakarta delegating powers to governors.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Anti-corruption campaigners questioned on Wednesday a demand from the House of Representatives (DPR) for additional funds for bill deliberations, arguing that the legislators' disappointing performance did not warrant a financial reward.

Berni K. Moestafa, Jakarta – On his third day of his mission to investigate the independence of Indonesia's judiciary, a United Nations legal expert said on Wednesday that it had serious problems.

UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Dato' Param Cumaraswamy said his impression stemmed from the frequent corruption reports in the local media.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Collusion and corruption are still rampant in procurements of goods and services in nearly all units of the city administration.

Jakarta – Sycophantic officials are getting on the Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri's nerves. Some of them, she complained yesterday, have developed a habit of asal ibu senang or "keeping Madam President happy".

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri has called upon party leaders to speed up the passing of key Bills which are holding up economic reforms.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Inadequate naval patrolling and officials who can be paid off to turn a blind eye are the weak links enabling a thriving weapons trade through which Thai middlemen supply hundreds of guns, grenade and rocket propellers to the Aceh rebels.

John McBeth, Jakarta – His office overlooking Jakarta's central business district, the shirt-sleeved boss of a Western mining company gestures to a graph on his computer screen. It looks very much like the outline of Switzerland's Matterhorn, the right rock-face plunging precipitously onto a flat plain about the year 2005.

Rita A. Widiadana, Denpasar – The office of Animal Conservation for Life (KSBK) has reported that some members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) are involved in the transportation of hundreds of protected birds including parrots from Maluku and Papua provinces.

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – As the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) opened on Wednesday the bidding for its ambitious sale of some Rp 145 trillion (US$16 billion) worth of non-performing bank loans, taxpayers may face a bitter reality that most of the loan assets could be retaken by their old owners at huge discounts off of face value.

American military cooperation with Jakarta, suspended during the Suharto dictatorship over the Indonesian Army's human rights abuses, should not be resumed without strict conditions and careful controls.

John Roberts – Under considerable international pressure, the Supreme Court of Indonesia on July 8 overruled a decision by the country's Commercial Court declaring bankrupt the local subsidiary of the Canadian-based Manulife Financial Corporation.

Jim Lobe – More than 50 human rights groups in Washington D.C. are pressing a key Senate committee to retain tough conditions on military aid to Indonesia which the administration of President George W. Bush sees as an important ally in its "war on terrorism."

Kathy Fairfax, Sydney – Husaini Hasan, chairperson of the Government Council of the Free Acheh Movement (MPGAM), told a meeting on July 11 that his people's struggle for a referendum would not be realised without international solidarity. The meeting was organised by Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific (APSN). Hasan has lived in exile in Sweden for many years.

Max Lane, Jakarta – Sukarno, the first president of Indonesia, was 27 years old when he became chairperson of the Indonesian National Party in the 1920s. Mohammed Hatta was a similar age when he took over the leadership of the nationalist Pendidikan Nasional Indonesia a little later.

The Indonesian embassy appealed to all its citizens living in Malaysia illegally to return home before an amnesty period ends in two weeks.

Ambassador Hadi Wayarabi Alhadar said only 216,000 Indonesians have responded to the Malaysian amnesty, which runs from March 21 to July 31 to allow illegals to leave the country without being prosecuted.

Cilacap – Hundreds of fishermen in Donan subdistrict here have protested to state oil company Pertamina for allegedly polluting the river from which they making their living.

The fishermen went to the local legislature to seek its support for their fight against Pertamina, which for some time has been dumping waste from its refinery in Cilacap into the Donan river.

Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta – Senior politicians from Muslim-based parties met again here on Monday in an apparent move to counter a coalition between the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and the Golkar Party, the two largest political parties.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Two of the largest parties in the Indonesian Parliament, the ruling PDI-P and Golkar, are trying to dislodge Mr Amien Rais as the National Assembly Speaker next month in an apparent bid to thwart his presidential ambitions.

Theresia Sufa, Bogor – Hundreds of residents from Kampung Walahir in Nambo village, Klapa Nunggal district, protested on Monday to demand the closure of a waste treatment plant located in the village. The plant is owned by PT Prasadha Pamunah Limbah Industry.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Former president Suharto's children enjoy a measure of protection from the establishment even today, analysts said after prosecutors pressed for a lighter sentence for murder suspect Tommy Suharto.

Ainur R. Sophiaan, Surabaya – Some 300 people rallied in front of the Surabaya legislative council on Monday, claiming its decision to dismiss the city's mayor last week was illegal.

The protesters, calling themselves the National Generation Forum, urged the council to lift its motion against Surabaya mayor Bambang Dwi Hartono, otherwise it would have to be dissolved.

Grace Nirang, Jakarta – Indonesia's plans to impose higher tariffs on a string of agricultural commodities might not help farmers as intended but instead raise consumer prices and encourage smuggling, analysts say.

They also say the benefits are likely be swallowed up by traders and intermediaries ahead of farmers in Indonesia's long and convoluted trading chain.

Apriadi Gunawan and Jacob Herin, Medan/Maumere – More than 430 workers from East Java occupied the North Sumatra legislature building out of fear of being traded like slaves in neighboring country Malaysia, demanding the government send them back home as soon as possible.

Michael Shari, Surabaya – When Indonesia's President Suharto fell from power in 1998 and the business empires of his cronies melted down, young Hary Tanoesoedibjo saw a chance to snap up cheap businesses.

John Garnaut – Forget luring Allan Jones to 2GB, or his role in rescuing Channel 10 – John Singleton looks set to realise his most lucrative media deal tomorrow.

Twenty per cent of Indonesian TV station SCTV has been floated and will list on the Jakarta Stock Exchange at lunchtime tomorrow, delivering a 100 per cent return for Singleton's consortium in less just 18 months.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The rampant practice of exorbitant mark-ups will likely continue as a senior defense official responsible for equipment procurement has refused to cut out the role of contractors.

The involvement of the Soeharto family in the country's arms procurement business only started in the early 1990s. Nevertheless, in a short time, their reach had quickly spread to various quarters of the military.

Debbie A. Lubis, Jakarta – With HIV spreading rapidly in Indonesia, the country cannot expect much from the government but instead many non-governmental organizations and foreign groups are tackling the problems.

The government is moving slowly with its eight-year-old National AIDS Commission (KPA) to prevent the possible emergence of an out-of-control HIV epidemic.

Leo Wahyudi S, Jakarta – With the new school year beginning, parents are facing increased financial demands. Those parents unable to come up with their children's school fees are forced to turn to pawnshops to raise the necessary cash.

A radical Indonesian Muslim cleric that Singapore accuses of leading a terrorist network, has accused Washington of being behind a recent Philippine court's jailing of an Indonesian over weapons possession.

A teenager was killed and four other people were wounded when a bomb exploded outside their bus in the troubled Poso district of Central Sulawesi, according to police.

It is the latest challenge to a peace deal signed between Muslims and Christians in the area last December.

Jakarta/Medan – West Kalimantan Governor Aspar Aswin declared his province on top alert on Thursday, urging local governments to tackle forest fire outbreaks which have been blanketing the province in a haze for the past week.

Jakarta – The Democratic People's Party (PRD) launched on Thursday the Democracy Front to unite like-minded reformers within a forum in a bid to revive the country's original reform movement.

PRD secretary-general Natalia Scholastika said the Democracy Front could prove to become a viable opposition force to the government and the legislature.

Yogita Tahilramani and Edith Hartanto, East Java – This year's drought has dealt a severe blow to East Java province causing the country's major rice producing area to suffer losses to the tune of Rp 8.4 billion.

The loss has been caused mainly by a water shortage, ravaging hundreds of thousands of hectares of paddy fields and crops in 12 regencies.

Debbie A. Lubis and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Most people still think that the spread of HIV/AIDS here is mainly caused by the sharing of syringes – usually between drug users – and unsafe sex. However, one may also be infected by HIV/AIDS via a blood transfusion.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Indonesia's offer to act as the honest broker between the two Koreas, made during North Korean number two leader Kim Yong Nam's first visit here, has been greeted with scepticism.

Observers point out that President Megawati Sukarnoputri has only the slimmest of chances to ease tensions and revive dialogue between the two feuding neighbours.

Jakarta – Garbage problems continue to haunt the Jakarta city administration.

The Bekasi legislative council complained on Thursday about what they saw as poor management of the garbage dumped at the Bantar Gebang site by the Jakarta Sanitation Agency.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) denied on Wednesday that al Qaeda, the terrorist network led by Osama bin Laden, had a presence in war-torn Aceh.

Jakarta – An Indonesian judge yesterday ordered prosecutors to check on Tommy Suharto in jail after the youngest son of former president Suharto sent a sick note to his murder and weapons trial.

Prosecutors were due yesterday to present final arguments and recommend a sentence should the five judges find him guilty. Both charges are punishable by death.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Four male gorillas which arrived here recently are proving to be some of Jakarta's most controversial guests.

Residents are outraged that the government plans to spend 3.2 billion rupiah on imported fruits for the primates – much more than the 625 million rupiah allocated for the city's poor people last year.

Sri Wahyuni and Kurniawan Hari, Yogyakarta/Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri locked horns on Wednesday with legislators over the need to establish an independent constitutional commission.