Jakarta – Indonesian President Suharto's second son Bambang Trihatmodjo announced Wednesday the withdrawal of a lawsuit against the government over the closure of his bank earlier this month for the sake of "broader national interest."

Jakarta – Mr Bambang Trihatmodjo, the second son of President Suharto, will take control of Bank Victoria as compensation for the closure of his Bank Andromeda, Bisnis Indonesia said.

Ian MacKenzie, Jakarta – Ribbons of fire along irrigation channels designed to drain a huge peat bog are helping sustain noxious smog across Indonesia's Kalimantan provinces, forestry and agricultural experts said on Tuesday.

Jakarta – Indonesia's Finance Minister Mar'ie Muhammad yesterday defended the closure of 16 banks, asserting the government had followed proper procedures before winding them up in a move to reform the banking sector.

Jakarta – At least 50 companies have proposed to the government that they can downsize their employees following the unstable economy due to recent monetary crisis.

Jenny Grant, Jakarta – Three isolated tribes in the Molucca Islands are being forced to leave their settlements in search of food as the drought bites harder in the eastern provinces.

Already it has cost more than 500 lives.

Michael Shari in Jakarta and Sheri Prasso in New York – For a region that has felt shock after shock since July, some relief came in the final days of October. The $40 billion International Monetary Fund bailout of Indonesia boosted the rupiah – battered by a 30% plunge since July – by more than 10% and brought a breath of life back to the stock market.

Jim Della-Giacoma, Jakarta – Indonesia faces a mixed week ahead with praise expected from the IMF for its economic reform plans, but also the start of a court challenge to cleaning up the key banking sector.

The Alliance of Independent Journalists has issued a statement protesting against attempts by the Indonesian armed forces (ABRI) to prevent the press from reporting statements by Bambang Trihatmojo and Probosutejo about the closure of 16 banks.

Kenneth Van Toll, Banjar Rejo – Mardjosantono waved his wiry arms over his head as he stood on the crusty sun-baked bottom of Lake Keruku in East Java.

"Usually there's water to the north, south and west of here. The water level reaches 3.5 metres (11.5 feet)," the slightly built farmer said gesturing across the dried-out lake.

Jakarta – Moves to deregulate the Indonesian economy following an IMF review are more a compromise than a reform measure, analysts say.

The government's decision to remove the National Logistics Agency's monopoly on the importing of wheat flour and replace it with a monopoly on distributing wheat flour is "a compromise solution," economist Rizal Ramli said.

Jay Solomon, Jakarta – The U.S. further underlined its commitment to helping Indonesia recover from its financial crisis Wednesday, in the hope of finally putting a stop to the contagion effect rippling out of Southeast Asia.

Holman W. Jenkins Jr – Not often do you hear an Asian dealmaker wishing an unpleasant fate on the head of one of the biggest founts of Asian dealmaking, the Suharto family circle of Indonesia.

Last week just such a fellow told me if there was to be a silver lining to the region's economic troubles, "the whole lot of them would be lined up against a wall."

Jim Della-Giacoma, Jakarta – Indonesian President Suharto's half-brother Probosutedjo said he had kept his PT Bank Jakarta open on Tuesday, defying a government order closing down the institution along with 15 other sick banks.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – Mobs of angry customers and employees gathered outside the branches of Indonesia's 16 liquidated banks yesterday, many refusing to believe they had lost most of their savings under the first reforms of the massive $US38 billion dollar ($54 billion) international bailout package.

Jakarta – The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) said it welcomed Prosecutor Amrin Nain's call for the release of Dwi Sumaji alias Iwik, the accused in the case of the murder of Bernas journalist Fuad Moh. Syafruddin alias Udin. The prosecutor called for Udin's [should read Iwik - JB] release during the a court session at the Bantul regional court on Monday, 3 November.

Jakarta – Early this year, 31-year-old Bimo, who works in the private sector, and his wife decided to buy a house where they could raise their newborn daughter.

The couple was set to obtain a housing loan to buy a medium-sized house in Jakarta's suburbs. Their plan was going smoothly until August.

Jakarta – Bambang Trihatmodjo, the middle son of Indonesian President Suharto, stepped up his attack on Indonesian Finance Minister Mar'ie Muhammad Tuesday over the liquidation of a bank of which he is a major shareholder.

Jakarta – The Indonesian armed forces are to send more officers abroad for training, especially to Britain and the United States, a report said here Tuesday.

Richard Borsuk, Jakarta – Indonesian bankers braced for a tense day of business Monday following Saturday's closure of 16 banks.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – The Soeharto Government has urged the public not to panic at the opening of business today after announcing the immediate liquidation of 16 non-performing Indonesian banks under an international economic rescue package worth up to $US40 billion ($57 billion).

Louise Williams, Jakarta – The massive bailout package for Indonesia goes some way to addressing economic distortions such as nepotism, favouritism and politically connected monopolies, but analysts say they are awaiting further details as well as the reaction of stock and money markets when trading opens today.

Raphael Pura, Semarang – PT Bank Harapan Sentosa depositors who came to its big branch here Monday looking for what remains of their money were met by armed police rather than smiling tellers.

"You might as well all go home, we have no more announcements to make," a security officer of the bank told them through a bullhorn. "There's no need to be here."

Indonesia announced a spate of measures to shore up its economy as conditions to receive more than $30 billion in aid from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

Separately, Timor Putra removed President Suharto's son from his post at the Indonesian auto maker in a partial concession to calm concerns over the national car project.

S N Vasuki, Jakarta – Private power firms, which are investing billions of dollars in new projects in Indonesia, are desperately trying to stall a government move to renegotiate power tariffs.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – Indonesia announced last night that it had reached agreement with the International Monetary Fund on a rescue package for its ailing economy.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – For fifteen days Pak Waska has been ready: waiting under the vast, concrete highway overpass, his work bag packed, his shirt neat and clean, the thick fumes of the crawling traffic swirling around his face.

Geoff Spencer, Jakarta – Indonesia shut down 16 insolvent banks and planned other austerity measures Saturday, a day after receiving word of $33 billion in foreign loans to revive an economy hit hard by financial declines across Asia.

Finance Minister Mar'ie Muhammad called for calm and stressed the government would reimburse depositors.

When President Soeharto built himself a modern office block in the late 1960s, it was known for a time as the KISS building, an abbreviation of words borrowed from English – koordinasi, integrasi, stabilisasi and sinkronisasi. It was not long, however, before Indonesians were saying KISS stood for "ke istana sendiri-sendiri" – "to the palace one by one".

Chris Lydgate in Singapore and Louise Williams in Jakarta – The Indonesian President's comments that the Singapore Government had agreed to offer a $US10 billion ($14.2 billion) aid package to Jakarta, separate from ongoing negotiations over an International Monetary Fund rescue package, have caused shock and confusion among the region's economic analysts.

The national car

Tony Wright, Jakarta – The Prime Minister has told Indonesia's President Soeharto that Australia, in the spirit of "regional mateship", stands ready to dig deep as part of a major international rescue package for Indonesia's ailing economy.

Jakarta – The government is necessary to stop isolating ethnic Chinese from political life, an expert said.

"It is not healthy for our political development as the isolation will invite broad public curiosity," Sayidiman Suryohadiprojo told a gathering here on Tuesday.

Bernice Han, Singapore – Indonesia's National Logistics Agency (Bulog), the state-owned food price regulator, is seen targeted by the International Monetary Fund for reform, a senior agricultural specialist based in Jakarta told Dow Jones Tuesday.

Jakarta – Police and soldiers used sticks to break up anti-government protests by hundreds of students today in two cities.

Some students said they were protesting the planned re-nomination of Indonesia's President Suharto, who is likely to be re-elected unopposed to a seventh-consecutive term in March.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund's rescue package for Indonesia is expected to be delayed until later this week after private talks reportedly stalled over politically sensitive issues such as the subsidised national car project.

Michael Shari in Jakarta, with Joyce Barnathan in Hong Kong – The 60 Indonesian blue-chip company executives summoned to Bank Indonesia, the country's central bank, on Oct. 10 all had something in common.

Jakarta – The number of cities covered by the thick haze from rampant forest and bush fires nearly doubled yesterday, amid uncertainty over when the annual monsoon rains would arrive.

Meteorologists said the number of cities covered by the haze rose from 22 to 41 as at yesterday morning, while at least four airports shut down because of poor visibility.

K.T. Arasu, Jakarta – The effects of the El Nino-induced drought hitting Indonesia could worsen sharply in the coming months, causing disease and hunger in many parts of the country, experts say.

Seth Mydans, Kuala Lumpur – Tigers and elephants are fleeing the burning jungles. Birds are falling from the murky skies. Schoolchildren are fainting at their desks. Ships are colliding at sea.

Chris Johnson, Singapore – Choking yellow-grey smog over Southeast Asia has already closed factories, cancelled flights and lengthened queues in doctors' waiting-rooms.

But much worse could be in store if the raging forest fires across Indonesia are not put out soon – and for good.

Jakarta – The worst drought in half a century has devastated crop harvests by as much as 40 percent, the government said Friday. Officials had earlier warned of rice harvest failures in some drought-ravaged areas.

Lewa Pardomuan, Jakarta – Thick smog from rampant forest and bush fires spread to more cities in Indonesia on Sunday while uncertainties over the start of the annual monsoon rains lingered, meteorologists said.

Jakarta – Outspoken Muslim scholar Amien Rais has suggested a national poll be held to determine whether the majority of Indonesians want President Suharto re-elected next year for a record seventh five-year term, the Jakarta Post reported yesterday.

John McBeth with Fanny Lioe in Jakarta – On October 10, two days after Indonesia announced it was going to seek the International Monetary Fund's help in salvaging its economy, Jakarta newspapers carried pictures of a smiling President Suharto playing golf with his industrialist friend, Muhammad "Bob" Hasan.

Lewa Pardomuan, Jakarta – Indonesia's state-owned aircraft manufacturer Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN) said on Thursday it had found counter-trade deals beneficial and denied the bartering option had been taken because of difficulty in selling its planes.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – The Indonesian Government has warned that forest fires and smoke haze are getting worse, and monsoon rains are expected to be further delayed, while another fatal haze-related shipping accident was reported in Kalimantan.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – In a new effort to arrest the slide of the rupiah, Indonesia's Central Bank has announced that commercial banks may lend hundreds of millions of US dollars from their reserves.

Trevor Royle – Traditionally Britain's foreign interests have been dominated by a mixture of strategic initiatives to protect national interests and direct action, as the Foreign Office puts it, "to promote Britain's interests overseas" and "to enhance the prosperity of the United Kingdom".

Lewa Pardomuan, Jakarta – Military helicopters flew rice and noodles to famine-stricken areas in Indonesia's remote Irian Jaya province on Monday as government officials said food shortages had also spread to Sumatra island.