Ambon – Fresh violence erupted in Hatualang village in Pirus district, West Seram island in Central Maluku on Wednesday, resulting in the death of a soldier.

Jakarta – The foreign minister of East Timor's transitional goverment – in a shock move on Wednesday – threw his support behind Jakarta's calls for the US to ease its arms embargo against Indonesia.

Budi Sugiharto/Hendra & GB, Surabaya – 182 village heads from Sampang regency, on the island of Madura, East Java province, have occupied the office of the East Java Governor in the provincial capital Surabaya.

Accompanied by 11 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO), they urged the Governor, Imam Utomo, to immediately inaugurate Fadhilah Budiono.

Jakarta – The left-wing Peoples Democratic Party (PRD) and the nations biggest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) are to hold a joint rally against forces opposed to democracy.

PRD leader Budiman Sudjatmiko yesterday met with NU Chairman Hasyim Muzadi to discuss the agenda of the rally.

Jakarta – An ad hoc committee of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) for the amendment of the 1945 Constitution will discuss numerous crucial issues that could raise complicated and serious problems for the public, a legislator said on Tuesday.

Jakarta – The US administration of George W. Bush will continue to support Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid in his efforts to build a strong democracy and market economy, US ambassador Robert Gelbard said here Wednesday.

John Gauci, Sydney – One hundred and fifty people rallied outside the Australian Defence Force headquarters here on January 20 to support self-determination for the Indonesian province of Aceh. The action coincided with a self-determination rally of 300 activists in Banda Aceh.

The public should watch out for military control of civilian institutions, says political analyst Kusnanto Anggoro of the Jakarta-based Center of Strategic International Studies and a lecturer of post graduate studies at the University of Indonesia.

Jakarta – Crowds of ethnic Chinese, with mixed feelings of fear and a new sense of pride, flocked openly to temples in Jakarta Wednesday to celebrate 'Imlek', as the Lunar New year is known here.

John Mcbeth, Jakarta – The deadly Christmas and New Year bombings in Indonesia and Manila, which killed 40 people and left hundreds injured, have Indonesians and Filipinos puzzled. Is radical Islam, they wonder, entering a dangerous new phase in Southeast Asia?

Jakarta – Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto told soldiers on Monday not to be discouraged by claims by certain groups that the military was behind all the security problems in the country.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid on Monday left legislators dumbfounded as he abruptly walked out of a meeting with the House of Representatives' special committee investigating the Bulog and Brunei scandals.

Aulia Andri/GB, Jakarta – Around 500 members of the notorious Ka'bah Youth Movement (GPK) snuck in through the back gate at the parliament and staged a demonstration demanding the House fully investigate the Buloggate-Bruneigate scandals. All were replete in their military style uniforms and the women and girls present also wore jilbabs.

Jakarta – Unlike in the past, political parties are now the vanguard of corruption in the country, as a result of democratization and decentralization, the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) revealed in its year-end report on Monday.

Ambon – Eight Muslims were killed and 19 injured Monday after an attack on an Indonesian military patrol in Ambon, a city ravaged by two years of Muslim-Christian violence.

Budi Sugiharto/Fitri & GB, Surabaya – Surabaya bus terminal, the biggest terminal in Surabaya, capital of East Java, has been paralysed by a strike.

Jakarta – The World Bank's board in Washington has approved a new lending program for Indonesia of $400 million annually over the next three years, much lower than the $1.3 billion average yearly funding in the mid-1990s.

Jakarta – Police said on Saturday a woman arrested at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) on Friday in the possession of three bombs admitted she received the bombs from Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the fugitive son of former president Soeharto.

They also said they had uncovered a number of clues that pointed to Tommy's possible involvement in the Christmas Eve bombings.

Associated Press in Sydney – Protesters seeking independence for the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh called on Saturday for Australia to cut military links with Jakarta to protest alleged human rights abuses.

More than 100 pro-independence demonstrators made the demand at a protest outside the Australian Department of Defence in downtown Sydney.

Jakarta – Employers tend to try to block the establishment of labor unions, and this is a violation of the law, the head of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) labor unit Rita Olivia said on Friday.

Associated Press in Jakarta – Four people have died in fresh violence in Indonesia's troubled Maluku islands, a Muslim cleric said on Saturday.

Ambon – The Ambon capital of Maluku was paralyzed on Friday in the wake of the commemoration of start of the bloody conflicts that have gripped the Malukus for the last two years.

Shefali Rekhi – The man behind the reforms and privatisation efforts of Indonesia's state-owned enterprises has criticised his government for the slow progress in its privatisation process.

Jakarta – In yet another desperate attempt to locate the fugitive Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, police announced plans on Thursday to drill and break into at least three other spots in his house.

Jakarta – The political history of bombings in Indonesia took a sharp turn after the 1998 May riots, in which all of the cases involving bomb explosions have never been solved, the Indonesian Forum for Peace (FID) secretary Munir said on Thursday.

Jakarta – The Army's Special Force (Kopassus) will be reorganized to meet the demands of security environment in the future, a senior military officer said on Thursday.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said the elite force would slim its organization and decrease the number of its personnel as well.

Vaudine England – President Abdurrahman Wahid yesterday brushed off calls for his resignation from students and lawmakers, saying his opponents were the tools of "those who are hungry for power".

In an exclusive interview, Mr Wahid said the military leadership was behind him and he had never doubted his ability to win what he called the country's "political civil war".

Gay Alcorn, Washington – The new Bush administration wants Australia to take the lead in dealing with Indonesia's problems of violence and political instability, according to incoming secretary of state Colin Powell.

Dini Djala, North Sulawesi and West Kalimantan – At a crowded refugee camp in Bitung, North Sulawesi, some 3,000 children pass their days jumping rope, throwing ball or playing a game they call "war." The girls pretend to be nurses, busily tending the wounded, while the boys take up fake guns to fight mock battles.

Sadanand Dhume, Jakarta – With a shaky currency, the former president's son on the run from police and a series of recent bomb blasts in major cities, you would be forgiven for thinking that Indonesia has more than its share of troubles.

Jakarta – The Central Jakarta District Court commenced the trial of Bank Indonesia (Central Bank) governor Syahril Sabirin on Wednesday regarding his alleged involvement in the disbursement of Rp 904 billion (US$96.2 million) of Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) funds to Bank Bali.

Jakarta – Police fired warning shots at stone throwing protesters outside a trial of three Christians accused of provoking bloody sectarian riots in central Indonesian, news reports said Thursday.

Makassar – The South Sulawesi Police sent 300 personnel from its Mobile Brigade (Brimob) unit to the restive regency of Poso in Central Sulawesi following an escalation in sectarian tension, South Sulawesi Police chief Insp. Gen. Sofyan Jacob said on Tuesday.

Jakarta – The generals are back. With civilian leaders mired in political infighting and unable to tackle Indonesia's mounting crises, the army brass – on the defensive since the ouster of the dictatorship it backed for 32 years – is reasserting its dominance in the country's politics.

Jakarta – Speaker of the House of Representatives Akbar Tandjung rejected calls by the National Awakening Party (PKB) faction for an investigation into an alleged financial leakage in the July 2000 House rehabilitation projects and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) conference last September.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Indonesian police yesterday denied reports that they were investigating the involvement of former army generals in the Christmas Eve bombings, linking the fatal attacks that killed 19 people instead to the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Kerryn Williams – "We see the potential energy among urban poor youth, whose power has been shown many times in Indonesian history. They are brave, energetic and not afraid of new ideas and changes.

Max Lane – The process of overthrowing the Suharto dictatorship did not go sufficiently deep enough to deliver a deathblow to the political ambitions of the old regime, of Suharto's former ruling party, Golkar, and the armed forces, the TNI. During 2000, they have steadily inched their way back into position and are readying themselves for an attempt to take back their power.

Jakarta – Police on Wednesday fired volleys of teargas at 2,500 protestors who gathered outside parliament calling on Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid to answer corruption charges or step down.

There were no casualties, an AFP reporter said, and the demonstrators briefly fell back before regrouping on a road running past the main gate of the parliament complex.

Jakarta – An Indonesian court has dismissed a case against an author charged seven years ago with insulting former president Suharto by suggesting that the former dictator masterminded a 1965 coup blamed on the then-Communist Party of Indonesia.

Jakarta – A group representing the Chinese community in Indonesia yesterday met Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid to ask for help in removing discriminatory legislation against the ethnic group.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Indonesia's Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri has vowed to clean up her Indonesian Democratic Party-Perjuangan (PDI-P), amid allegations that corrupt MPs within its ranks sold their votes to rival parties in local polls across the country.

Jakarta – Indonesian Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri Sunday told 100,000 supporters of her Indonesian Democracy Party- Struggle (PDIP) that national unity was at stake and called on them to defend its integrity, but without violence.

Jakarta – The government is under the control of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and has to obtain IMF approval for every economic step taken, says chairman of the National Mandate Party [PAN] Amien Rais.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab has reassured Asean members that the South-east Asia grouping is still central to Indonesia's foreign policy.

"Asean is the cornerstone of our foreign policy and as a founding father, it is impossible for us to leave Asean," Mr Alwi told journalists on Friday.

Jakarta – Vice President and chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) Megawati Soekarnoputri scolded unscrupulous party legislators on Saturday for having tarnished the image of the party and of the parliament.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Even though the police are taking extra precaution to secure the capital against mass demonstrations rumoured to begin tomorrow, commentators say the real political onslaught might be delayed for several weeks.

Ambon – One hundred people marched to the Maluku Police Headquarters in Batumeja on Friday to protest Thursday's arrest of Alex Manuputty, chief executive of the Maluku Sovereignty Front (FKM).

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Banking magnate James Riady's conviction for illegal funding of US politicians will ruffle feathers in the US Congress and government but is unlikely to scare off American businessmen from Indonesia.

Jakarta – Indonesian police have detected an underground bunker below the central Jakarta home of former president Suharto's fugitive son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra.