Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Mount Leuser National Park (TNGL) in North Sumatra province is facing further degradation, as illegal logging and occupation of land in this protected forest by Acehnese refugees has continued unchecked.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – In a bitter power struggle, young Golkar hardliners are fighting a move by the more senior members to expel detained party chief Akbar Tandjung.

The Parliamentary Speaker, who was arrested last week, is seen as a liability by the senior leaders who are eager to cut off association with him to distance the party from the case against him.

Jakarta – In a show of force to oppose the sale of Bank Central Asia (BCA) to foreign investors, thousands of employees of the country's largest retail bank staged a mass protest in several major cities on Monday.

Dean Yates, Jakarta – Indonesia's former ruling Golkar party said it would not withdraw its ministers from the coalition government despite the detention of its chief over a graft scandal, taking political heat off the president.

[Corruption investigations into the speaker of Indonesia's parliament have taken a bizarre turn. House speaker Akbar Tanjung is under arrest over the diversion of 40 billion rupiah – or about 8 million Australian dollars – from a government agency.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – The sudden return of 32.5 billion rupiah (S$5.8 million) in missing funds by an associate of detained parliamentary Speaker Akbar Tandjung is being seen here as an attempt to help the powerful politician escape prosecution.

Jakarta – Nearly 39,000 weapons have been surrendered following a peace agreement in December between warring Christian and Muslim residents in Indonesia's region of Poso, a police spokesman said Monday.

The situation in Poso has greatly improved since Muslim and Christian leaders signed the peace pact on December 20, Adjunct Senior Commissioner Agus Sugianto said.

Octavianus Pinontoan, Ambon – Peace remains elusive in Maluku province as a number of militant groups continue to oppose the Malino peace accord, which was mediated by the government last month to end the three-year-old sectarian conflict.

Catharine Munro, Jakarta – Indonesia's military said it has provided legal assistance to militia leaders accused of human rights abuses in East Timor in 1999 ahead of the start of human rights trials in Jakarta this week.

A court rejected a request by prosecutors to resume the corruption trial of former Indonesian dictator Suharto, saying he is still too ill.

The head of the South Jakarta district court, Lalu Mariyun, told reporters Friday that he had returned files on Suharto, 80, to the prosecutors' office.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The Indonesian government yesterday threw out a controversial plan to allow some of its biggest debtors more time to repay money, and instead demanded full settlement, within four months, of the nearly US$10 billion (S$18.3 billion) that is still outstanding.

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) found last year 1,076 cases of irregularities in the state budget, which potentially caused a total of Rp 2.8 trillion (around US$280 million) in losses to the country.

Indonesian prosecutors said they would detain Indonesia's parliament speaker Akbar Tanjung after questioning him for seven hours at the attorney-general's office about graft allegations.

But plans to incarcerate the top politician hit a snag when he refused to sign documents relating to his own arrest, as required by Indonesian law.

Richel Langit, Jakarta – Barring the unexpected, Indonesia's long-awaited human-rights trials will kick off next Thursday, with military and police personnel as well as civilian authorities responsible for the bloody violence in East Timor in 1999 taking the defendant's chair.

Jakarta – The youngest son of former Indonesian president Suharto was formally charged yesterday with ordering the murder of a judge, a crime punishable by death.

Jakarta – Fire has ravaged 11,569 hectares of plantations and commercial forests in Riau province over the past month, a local environment expert said in the provincial capital of Pekanbaru on Thursday.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Residents of Jakarta have been feeling increasingly insecure these days, with the specter of crime seemingly hanging over the entire city. This insecurity has also crept into the city's schools, where students are victimized daily by their classmates.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – The Australian Government yesterday announced its first specific moves to rebuild ties with Indonesia's military since 1999's East Timor crisis. The moves include co-operation on fighting terrorism and talks on renewing joint exercises.

Don Greenlees, Jakarta – Australia is playing down differences with Indonesia over terrorism and human rights as it moves cautiously to rebuild a once-intimate defence relationship shattered during the East Timor crisis in 1999.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – The newly installed public face of the Indonesian armed forces, Major-General Sjafrie Sjamsuddin, took office this week amid continuing debate about his appointment.

Jakarta – Indonesia's President Megawati Sukarnoputri shocked employees at the palace complex in central Jakarta with a snap inspection for cleanliness, a report said Thursday.

Kurniawan Hari and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The Golkar Party is employing a strategy of intimidation and threats to block a plan on Thursday to establish an inquiry into a Rp 40 billion (US$4 million) corruption scandal, popularly known as Bulogate II, that implicates its chairman Akbar Tandjung.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – After several delays, the Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN) announced on Wednesday the names of legislators who had not submitted a list of their assets.

Jakarta – Hundreds of supporters of Indonesia's former ruling party Golkar staged a show of strength outside parliament Thursday as legislators debated whether to call a special inquiry into corruption charges against Golkar leader Akbar Tanjung.

Jakarta – Striking workers at state-owned aircraft industry PT Dirgantara Indonesia are likely to return to work on Thursday following the government's assurance that the company's management would be reshuffled.

Joanne Collins, Jakarta – Sportswear giants Nike Inc and Adidas-Salomon have taken steps to shed their sweatshop image in Indonesia but employees are still overworked and underpaid, a leading aid agency said.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Dozens of members of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) rallied in front of City Hall on Wednesday to demand that Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso not be elected for a second term.

John McBeth/Jakarta and Murray Hiebert/Washington – Two-and-a-half years after Indonesian troops and local militias went on the rampage against pro-independence voters in East Timor, it is not clear whether Jakarta's top military brass is ready to accept responsibility for the bloodshed.

Jakarta – Australia and Indonesia are considering resuming joint military exercises, which Jakarta suspended in 1999 over Canberra's role in East Timor, as part of efforts to counter terrorism, visiting Defence Minister Robert Hill said Thursday.

New York – Athletic shoe giant Nike Inc. on Thursday welcomed an aid agency report alleging its workers in Indonesia are overworked and underpaid, but said it had already made improvements to shed its sweatshop image.

Max Lane – On February 26, Australian defence minister Robert Hill told reporters at the Asian Aerospace 2002 conference in Singapore that Canberra wanted to encourage the Indonesian authorities to "combat terrorist groupings within Indonesia more effectively than what they have been able to do to date".

Nana Rukmana, Cirebon – Of more than 1,270 companies employing a total of 95,000 workers in the West Java regencies of Cirebon, Indramayu, Majalengka and Kuningan, only 40 percent have participated in the obligatory social security programs, an official says.

At least 52 people have died of various diseases following floods that inundated much of the Indonesian capital Jakarta last month, an official said.

Jakarta – The rupiah broke through on Tuesday the Rp 10,000 level against the U.S. dollar for the first time in five months, on what dealers attributed to rising confidence in a successful sale of Bank Central Asia (BCA).

Jakarta – Around 100 PDI Perjuangan members from Surabaya, East Java, demonstrated at the party's headquarters on Jl. Pecenongan in Central Jakarta on Tuesday, prompting the cancellation of party chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri's arrival.

John McBeth and Murray Hiebert – As the nation with the world's biggest Muslim population, Indonesia is high on Washington's list as a potential partner in the anti-terror war.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Complications have thwarted progress in the labor disputes at state-owned aircraft manufacturing industry PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PT DI) after the management and the Forum of Communications for Employees, the company's labor union, took matters into their own hands.

Jakarta – Indonesia made progress in some areas last year in its transition to democracy but the government's human rights record remains poor, the US State Department says.

Jakarta – The government has decided to look the other way and write-off the expenditure incurred on 46 legislators who allegedly used their status to gain access to state facilities during personal haj pilgrimages in Saudi Arabia last month.

Jakarta – The government confirmed on Monday plans to sell its stakes in five firms to meet the privatization target of Rp 3.5 trillion (some US$340 million) for the first half of the year, State Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi said on Monday.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Controversy continued to dog the selection of Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin as the new Indonesian Military (TNI) spokesman, as he disclosed a new policy that would restrict access to him.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – A labor strike involving more than 8,000 workers again affected the country's only state-owned aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PT DI) in the West Java capital of Bandung on Monday. The workers are demanding the replacement of the company's board of directors.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – The territorial function the Indonesian Military (TNI) has adopted for the past four decades is no longer relevant and should be immediately phased out, a seminar concluded.

Indonesian police allowed a small group of Falungong practitioners to hold a protest outside the Chinese embassy in Jakarta after banning a march by hundreds of the sect's supporters the previous day.

The Chinese embassy confirmed Monday it had approached police and government officials about Sunday's planned march by what it called an "evil cult."

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Gourmet snacks and wine, not stiff seats and long queues, await well-heeled patrons at Indonesia's first luxury cinema, which opened at a glitzy mall two weeks ago.

The Premiere, which is located in the city's Plaza Senayan mall, opened for business on Valentine's Day, and has been drawing in steady crowds ever since.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Slimming product advertisements that have been bombarding people, especially women, have turned out to provide misleading information. Many of these products do not include sufficient information to warn consumers properly of the possible side effects of substances they contain.

Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri urged employers and their employees on Saturday to exercise restraint when seeking settlements to industrial disputes.

The President suggested that both parties sit down and talk together to seek a favorable solution that would leave nobody to feel they had lost out.

Jakarta – Money talks. Even though prostitution and gambling is officially illegal, the Kalijodo red light area in Pejagalan subdistrict, North Jakarta, which later also developed into a gambling den, had been going strong for five decades.

Jakarta – Rumours that the construction of a bridge linking Indonesia's densely-populated East Java province with Madura island would need the sacrifice of a child have caused fear and panic among parents there, a report said Sunday.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – National Assembly Speaker Amien Rais has openly declared that he will quit the leadership of the National Mandate Party (PAN) in a move seen as a public relation gimmick to pave the way for him to contest the 2004 presidential election.