Washington – The United States is carefully watching President Abdurrahman Wahid's battle against impeachment in "troubled" Indonesia, Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday.

He also told a Senate committee that the US had cautioned Jakarta against infringing on human rights when its security forces tackled separatism.

Catharine Munro, Jakarta – Human rights, not military ties, would be the key to a new relationship with Indonesia under a Labor government, opposition foreign affairs spokesman Laurie Brereton said today.

Jakarta – At least 147 military personnel from Wirabuana Military Command in Sulawesi have been arrested by the local military police when they were trying to flee from their post in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi province.

Robert Go, Batam – Foreign investors yesterday signalled to the Indonesian government that they wanted a more concrete reform process in place before they could become confident about increasing investments in the country.

Vaudine England – With two weeks left before Parliament decides on possible impeachment moves against President Abdurrahman Wahid, the decibel level of the politicking in Jakarta is increasing.

Jakarta – About 100 demonstrators from the Freedom of Speech and Thought Alliance (AKBB) held a rally at Police Headquarters today. The action was held to fight the threat of the Anti Communist Alliance (AAK), which has been burning 'communist' books.

Jakarta – A rally by students demanding the dissolution of the former ruling Golkar Party turned violent on Monday when demonstrators clashed with police in front of the Ministry of Defense, leaving two students injured and three others missing.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Iced coconut juice seller Budiman, 43, set down his 30-kg gear wearily and fanned himself with a folded tabloid newspaper that occasionally also serves as his sun-shield.

Jakarta – Hundreds of Indonesian students rallied in the streets of the capital on Saturday to mark the third anniversary of the slaying of four students that triggered rioting which helped topple former strongman Suharto.

Jakarta – The management of Shangri-La Hotel has accepted the decision of the government-sanctioned Central Committee for the Settlement of Labor Disputes which granted its request to lay off 248 of the hotel's striking employees.

The number added to the 303 employees who finally resigned last month after staging a strike over improvement in welfare in December last year.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Three years after the shooting of four student protesters from the elite Trisakti University which sparked days of rioting and led to the downfall of ex-President Suharto, the course of Indonesian reform history remains unchanged.

Jakarta – A number of independent labor unions are planning a series of strikes to force the government to revoke an amendment of a ministerial decree on severance and service payments.

Jakarta – The World Bank has expressed its full support of the government's fiscal adjustment package, which contains various measures to prevent the 2001 state budget deficit from growing out of control.

Agencies in Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid raised the stakes in Indonesia's political crisis yesterday, saying he would not hand further powers to his popular deputy and ruling out a reply to a second parliamentary censure for alleged corruption.

Jakarta – A majority of Indonesians are fed up with the ongoing political bickering and protracted economic crisis, and long for the stability of the Suharto era, a survey showed.

Jakarta – Separatist rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province yesterday denied any involvement in a bomb blast in Jakarta that killed two people.

Representatives instead accused the Indonesian military of planting the device at a hostel for Acehnese students to discredit the independence movement and justify a crackdown in the province.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Publishers Association (IKAPI) condemned on Friday a planned sweep and burning of "leftist" books and rejected any ban against them.

Jakarta – PILAR biweekly magazine photographer Rudi P. Singgih was in the midst of covering some long-term investigation when he was shot dead by Bandung Police for allegedly being a car thief.

Jakarta – Separatist guerillas from Indonesia's restive Aceh province on Friday denied involvement in a Jakarta bomb blast as police found a third body at the scene.

Jakarta – Police in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta have raided book sellers, impounding hundreds of titles considered leftist or communist-linked, to save them from being burned by anti-communist zealots, reports said Friday.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The next time rioters run amok through Jakarta's streets, they will come face to face with elite police units armed with Russian AK assault rifles, possibly loaded with live – not rubber – bullets.

The weapons each weigh about 3 kg and feature magazines with 30 rounds each, a sighting range of up to 1000 m, and a 600-rounds-per-minute rate of fire.

Max Lane – Contrary to many predictions circulating in Jakarta during the last few weeks, the Indonesian capital remained calm after the Golkar-Central Axis-led majority in the House of Representatives voted to censure President Abdurrahman Wahid for a second time.

Max Lane – At least 50,000 workers, mostly members of the Indonesian National Front for Labour Struggles (FNPBI), joined protests in 19 cities in Sulawesi, Bali, Java and Sumatra. The largest mobilisations were in Medan and the East Java town of Sidoarjo, where 15,000 workers demonstrated at each. The Medan demonstrations included 7000 FNPBI members.

Seth Mydans, Jakarta – She is the immovable object of Indonesian politics – stolid, silent, imperious, a puzzle to her countrymen even as she commands unrivalled popularity.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Golkar leader Akbar Tandjung once again pushed Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri into a more prominent role in the process of ousting President Abdurrahman Wahid by saying that she is ready to lead a multi-party coalition to govern Indonesia.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Fresh signs of Government fragmentation came last week with the demand from Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri's office that journalists seek special accreditation to cover her activities.

Jakarta – Labor unions are threatening massive strikes following Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Al-Hilal Hamdi's decision to amend controversial Ministerial Decree No. 150/2000 on employment termination which allows employees to receive a substantial payout regardless of whether they resign or are dismissed.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – For more than 30 years until Soeharto's fall in 1998, the writings of Indonesia's pre-eminent novelist and political prisoner, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, were banned in his own country.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – A spate of recent anti-communist incidents and violent threats is part of a plot to destroy Indonesia's fledgling democracy, philosophers and activists say.

"It smells of the New Order," said Dr Franz Magnis Suseno, in a reference to the brutally anti-communist regime of former president Suharto.

Jakarta – Police have arrested both a leader of the ethnic Dayaks who killed more than 500 settlers on Borneo island this year, and the commander of a Muslim militia fighting Christians in the Maluku islands, officials said yesterday.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – The pillaging of the nation's forests has increased dramatically since the fall of former president Suharto and within 10 years the remaining trees will be gone, a report published yesterday warns.

Vaudine England – The survival of several animals key to global biodiversity – the Sumatran tiger, the Asian elephant and the orang-utan – have been put at risk by Indonesia's disappearing forests. Illegal logging and ignorance about the long-term costs are now destroying those habitats at greater speed than ever.

[Despite a legacy of organized crime, Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso has said that freeing Jakarta of thugs is "easy." Researcher Tim Lindsey, Associate Professor and Director of the Asian Law Centre at The University of Melbourne, examines whether the policy is effective.]

Jakarta – Despite a massive crackdown against hoodlums by the city administration, thugs are still operating freely in a number of markets in the city, extorting money from vendors and public transportation drivers.

Jakarta – An anti-communist group in Indonesia has said it will stage vigilante-style raids on book stores in the capital on May 20 to rid them of leftist publications, local media reports said yesterday.

Tomi Soetjipto, Jakarta – As Indonesia's politics descends deeper into gloom, Indonesia's tarnished military is repolishing its image and trying to position itself as the nation's saviour.

Jakarta – The Catholic church in Indonesia on Thursday disassociated itself from a separatist group in the violence-torn Maluku islands.

Jakarta – Manpower and Transmigration Minister Al-Hilal Hamdi revealed on Wednesday that some 80,000 Indonesian laborers overseas have little protection, since they are not registered with the government-run insurance program.

Bagus Kurniawan/FW, Yogyakarta – Students from various universities across the ancient royal city of Yogyakarta took their action to the street to commemorate National Education Day, which falls today, Wednesday.

Jakarta – The Gramedia bookstore here has withdrawn from its shelves all books related to communism, socialism, Marxism and Leninism including the best-seller, Palu Arit (Hammer and Sickle).

Sales supervisor of Lampungs Gramedia, Rachni Wibowo, disclosed yesterday in Bandar Lampung that at least 10 titles of such books have been removed from the store and disposed of.

Jakarta – In the reform era where journalists have more freedom to write, they apparently face violence and intimidation, mostly from the public, government officials and the police.

Pip Hinman – The International Monetary Fund is tightening the screws on President Abdurrahman Wahid to deliver on austerity measures in return for its US$5 billion bailout package.

Jakarta – An increasing number of Indonesian migrant workers find themselves in grim circumstances these days due to unjust salary reductions, along with the threat of rape, repatriation, torture or even death sentence.

Jakarta – Labor rallies held in several major cities to commemorate World Labor Day were predominantly marred by vandalism and clashes between workers and police. Labor figures claimed that the government and parliament have never given enough attention to the problems of laborers.

Jakarta – Indonesian workers took the opportunity of Labor Day on Tuesday to hold rallies and voice their demand for better pay and working conditions.

Max Lane – Between 100,000 to 500,000 supporters of President Abdurrahman Wahid are expected to gather in Jakarta for a mass prayer meeting on April 29, just one day before the Indonesian house of representatives meets to discuss a censure motion against the president over corruption allegations.

Jakarta – A list of the declared wealth of 77 officials and legislators issued by the State Officials' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN) here on Tuesday revealed House of Representatives speaker Akbar Tandjung to be 33 times richer than People's Consultative Assembly speaker Amien Rais. Amien claims to only possess total assets worth Rp 1 billion (US$90,000).

Jakarta – Police shot four people and detained another seven following a riot that broke out in Manokwari, Irian Jaya, Monday afternoon.

Jakarta – Thousands of people braved heavy rain on Monday as they marched through the city's thoroughfares in a display of support for President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, whose political legitimacy slid to a further low after the House of Representatives issued him a second censure.

Shoeb Kagda, Jakarta – Indonesia's Parliament yesterday issued a second censure against embattled President Abdurrahman Wahid, raising the political temperature to a new high, but the besieged leader's political career may not be over just yet.