Jakarta – The Indonesian government – which is starved of funds to help the country's poor – will increase pressure on former bank owners to repay billions of dollars in state loans, the top economics minister, Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, said Tuesday.

Oyos Saroso HN, Bandar Lampung – An alliance of 36 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has threatened to call for a mass protest against the 2002 Lampung budget, which they say only benefits the local elite.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – More Indonesian banks are converting themselves into Syariah banks as people become "more Islamic" and their trust in the conventional banking system erodes. Syariah banks are those which apply the Islamic no-interest principle – borrowers pay no interest while depositors get a share of profits.

Conservationists say the rate at which Indonesia is losing its forests has doubled since the 1980s. They say the lowland forests, the richest in the country, will not survive for long on some of the biggest islands. They blame corruption for driving "an epidemic of illegal logging".

Jakarta – Police fear the city administration's abrupt decision to close the Kalijodo prostitution and gambling complex in North Jakarta may increase the crime rate in the area as the government has not made efforts to provide alternative employment for the thugs and sex workers operating there.

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – City Council announced on Tuesday that more than 90 percent of developers in the city have violated regulations, requiring them to set aside 40 percent of their space for public and social facilities.

Nana Rukmana, Cirebon – Amid increasing public outrage, authorities in Cirebon have agreed to fully investigate the failed attempt to smuggle luxury cars into Indonesia and allegations the customs department later unlawfully played a role in forwarding the items to a local businessman.

Tangerang – About 850 workers at garment manufacturer PT Hyun Indonesia on Jl. Telesonic No. 1, Jatiuwung, Tangerang, launched a massive strike on Monday. They rejected the company's plan to eliminate transportation and food allowances for workersfollowing the increase in the minimum regional wage (UMR).

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – In 1965, Mr Mujiman Jumakir, a member of the now dissolved Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), miraculously survived when Indonesian soldiers dumped him into a river near his village in Pematang Siantar, North Sumatra.

Jakarta – Corporate governance reform is crucial to the Indonesian government's effort to attract more investors to the country, the World Bank said Tuesday.

"Corporate governance reform is key in attracting more investors to Indonesia," the World Bank said in a statement citing the conclusions of a workshop organized by the bank here Tuesday.

Jakarta – Forest and ground fires, mainly blamed on land clearing practices, have led to the return of haze over parts of the Indonesian province of Riau in Sumatra island, officials and police said.

The announcement that Major-General Sjafrie Sjamsuddin is to become the head of public relations and the official spokesperson of TNI, the Indonesian armed forces, has provoked angry denunciations in Indonesia.

A workers' rights group has accused factory managers in several cities of using the notorious Pemuda Pancasila thugs-for-hire group to intimidate and attack laborers involved in trade union movements.

Lewa Pardomuan, Sandakan (Malaysia) – Occasional trucks carrying palmoil fruits to nearby mills are the only sound shattering the calm for Indonesian plantation worker Nur Hajirah and her family in this quiet corner of Malaysia.

Jakarta – Indonesia's unhusked rice production is forecast to reach 48.65 million tonnes this year, 1.9 percent less than 2001, an Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) official said Monday.

Tangerang – Nine-year-old Mahmud can only stare at the hospital room ceiling with empty eyes. His head looks bigger than it should be, his rib protrude and his stomach is extended. Bothhis hands and legs are stunted.

Jakarta – One man was killed and 46 other people were arrested following riots in the Kalijodo prostitution complex in North Jakarta on Saturday.

Jakarta – Indonesia announced Monday its economy grew by 3.32 percent last year, lower than the government's forecast of 3.5 percent but higher than many of its neighbours.

Jakarta – The protracted economic crisis affecting Indonesia since 1997 has swelled the ranks of the country's poor to around 60 percent of the 215 million-strong population, an official said.

Jakarta – Indonesia is to establish counter-terrorism units to deal with regional security threats, according to the chief of the nation's armed forces.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Adm. Widodo AS admitted on Thursday that the institution was in the midst of a major reshuffle, while adding that replacements in the level of top brass remained undecided.

Jupriadi and Annastashya Emmanuelle, Jakarta/Makassar – The peace accord for Maluku signed in Malino, Central Sulawesi on February 12, 2001 was tested once again as protesters greeted the delegates upon their return in Ambon, the Maluku provincial capital, on Thursday.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Some recent developments suggest that Indonesia's economy is moving on the right track, but observers also warned that there is no light at the end of the tunnel yet given the severity of the problems faced by President Megawati Sukarnoputri's government.

Jakarta – A series of blasts rocked Ambon a day after a peace pact was signed by the warring Muslim and Christian camps, drawing condemnation from Indonesian Vice-President Hamzah Haz yesterday.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – The labor union for the state-owned railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) demanded on Thursday that the company's newly appointed board of directors immediately step down or the employees would hold a general strike and halt train operations in Java and Sumatra.

Tangerang – Some 300 workers, who were dismissed by PT Koinus Jaya Garment last December, held a rally to protest against their dismissal and ask for severance pay at the Tangerang municipal administration office on Thursday.

Hamish McDonald and Desmond Ball – As an army major with access to the most highly classified intelligence flowing into Canberra, Chris Jones admits he used to feel tempted when he saw protests against the Indonesian occupation of East Timor back in the late 1970s.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – There are about 200 small lakes that function as water catchment areas in Greater Jakarta, but most of them have been damaged and some disappeared.

Jan. 19, 1999: The beating of a Christian passenger by a group of bus crew members in Batu Merah in Ambon triggers a mass brawl.

March 9, 1999: A military special team meets the reconciliation team, both agreeing that building a feeling of security is an initial steps toward peace.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Christian and Muslim leaders yesterday hailed a Government-brokered agreement as the best chance yet to end a three-year war in the Maluku islands that has killed more than 5000 people and forced about 700,000 from their homes.

Palu, Central Sulawesi – Environmentalists have accused some plantation and forestry companies here of damaging hundreds of thousands of hectares of forests across Banggai regency.

They said that most of the companies pretended to clear land for plantation by cutting down trees, but later logged them out, and abandoned the areas.

Asip A. Hasani, Yogyakarta – Dozens of activists blocked the entrance gate of Yogyakarta's provincial legislative council (DPRD) on Wednesday in a protest against two corruption scandals that they believe directly implicate local legislators.

Indonesia's armed forces (TNI) need foreign military cooperation in intelligence exchanges and joint exercises to help fight terrorism, the military chief said.

On Thursday, Amed Forces Chief Admiral Widodo Adisucipto said in enhancing the capabilities of its anti-terrorism units the military would prefer "exchange of information and intelligence" with foreign countries.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – All mainstream religious groups in Indonesia have suggested that the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) retain Article 29 of the 1945 Constitution in its present form, on the grounds that it has done an adequate job in promoting religious harmony in the predominantly Muslim country.

Tangerang – About 200 angry gamblers attacked and destroyed Sgt. Maj. Jupri's house on Jl. Jati, Jatiuwung, Tangerang, on Tuesday night after the Military Police officer failed to pay off the winners in an illegal numbers racket that the Army personnel runs.

jakarta – Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda yesterday played down a report by The Straits Times outlining an apparent aborted terrorist plan to launch bomb explosions in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.

Jakarta – American businessmen indicated an interest in investing in Indonesia at a meeting here on Tuesday.

Among the 20 members of the US-Indonesian Business Council who met the country's economic ministers were companies like ExxonMobil Indonesia, Motorola and New York Life Insurance.

Jakarta – A paramilitary Muslim group which had waged a "holy war" against Christians in the Malukus said it would not leave the eastern islands despite the signing of a pact to end three years of sectarian bloodshed there.

Jakarta – The chief prosecutor in the Indonesian province of Yogyakarta is planning to summons all 51 provincial MPs over suspected bribery linked to a local election and a building project, a report said Wednesday.

Dita Sari, Jakarta – The driving forces of globalisation are the movement and expansion of capital and technology, through multinational companies. Globalisation, some people argue, has contributed a lot to the creation of a new world, with global welfare and justice for all. But in practice, globalisation is producing neither universal welfare nor global peace.

Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) called Wednesday for a "clear strategy" from the Indonesian government to recover loans worth billions of dollars which were extended to save the country's banks.

Jakarta – In a stinging rebuke of the bureaucracy, President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday described the administration as a "trash can" and told officials to go out and check reports instead of staying desk-bound.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Confronted with strong opposition from regents and experts on her move to revise the current autonomy law, President Megawati Soekarnoputri lashed out at regional authorities on Monday for what she termed excessive and ridiculous regionalism in recruiting civil servants.

Jakarta – The government backed down on Monday from its initial plan to temporarily halt new construction in greater Jakarta amid strong opposition from various opposition groups, saying it would only temporarily withhold new licenses for some housing projects.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – The city administration revealed on Monday that it had sold one of 22 small lakes in the Greater Jakarta area to private developers.

Jakarta – Rival Christian and Muslim factions from Indonesia's Maluku province agreed Tuesday to end their three-year war that has devastated the province and killed 10,000 people, a top Cabinet minister said.

Kurniawan Hari and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – House of Representatives legislators turned a deaf ear on Monday to demands for military and police officers to appear for questioning at a human rights inquiry in connection with three high-profile incidents in 1998 and 1999.

Jacob Herin, Flores – Police in East Flores regency clashed with local youths early on Monday, leaving at least one person killed and 12 others wounded.

Jakarta – Ethnic Chinese in Indonesia marked the start of the Lunar New Year amid new-found freedom to celebrate their most important festival but an activist said discrimination still exists.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Some 500 flood victims demonstrated on Monday to demand compensation from the Jakarta administration for its poor handling of major flooding that hit the capital since January 28.