Kornelius Purba, Tokyo – There is strong corporate culture in Indonesia of refusing to honor commitments. This is shown by the reluctance of the Indonesian debtors to repay their domestic and offshore debts, according a veteran International Monetary Fund (IMF) official said over the weekend.

Jakarta – Responding to criticism against their sluggishness in enforcing the law to groups which continuously raid entertainment centers in the capital, policemen shot at a truck loaded with members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) who had just vandalized entertainment centers early Monday.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – A year under President Abdurrahman Wahid has led to a continuation of human-rights violations.

The total number of deaths, summary arrests, disappearances and tortures in some regions had reportedly far outweighed the violations during President B.J. Habibie's presidency.

Jakarta – The prolonged monetary crisis has resulted in six million children dropping out of school in Indonesia, according to the National Education Ministry.

Sydney – Relations between Indonesia and Australia are greatly improved following last week's two-day meeting between ministers of the two countries in Canberra, Prime Minister John Howard said Sunday.

Slobodan Lekic, Jakarta – More than three decades after Gen. Suharto seized power from President Sukarno, Sukarno's former bodyguard faced a court Friday for challenging the military's official version of the overthrow.

Jakarta – Dozens of local residents at the Pertamina housing complex inTugu Selatan area, North Jakarta, engaged in a brawl with some 50 members of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) on Thursday night after the latter, armed with daggers and swords, marched into the complex, a police report said. Two FPI members were injured during the clash.

Robert Go, Jakarta – In a development that might send Indonesia's economy into yet another tailspin, International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials warned yesterday of possible delays to the agency's next US$400 million instalment to Jakarta due to serious questions over the government's reform progress and policies.

Washington – As Indonesia lurches further towards democracy, major obstacles remained in the way of ensuring respect for human rights and bringing violators to justice, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said in a report.

Muchus Budi Rahayu/Hendra & BI, Solo – Around 350 laborers from a textile company PT Sariwarna Asli, Solo, Central Java have staged a strike action their employer. They are demanding a 200% increase for their Christmas and Ramadhan allowance (THR) on top of their basic salary. This bonus is compulsory bonus given in the lead up to the religious celebrations.

The Federal Government has proposed new defence ties with Indonesia after the release on Wednesday of a new Defence white paper called for a bigger regional role for the Australian military.

Sydney – Senior Indonesian and Australian ministers sat down yesterday for long-awaited talks marking a thaw in bilateral ties still strained over East Timor. The two-day meeting, originally planned for October but cancelled at short notice by Jakarta, is seen as an important precursor to a visit by Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Yogi Arief Nugraha/Hendra & BI, Pekanbaru – Illegal logging activities have continued to go on in Riau forests South Sumatra. These illegal activities occurred at Air Hitam and Kembang Bunga village; regency of Telelawan, Pekanbaru, and South Sumatra has been cut down illegally by a syndicate using a pulp company's identity.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Governor Syahril Sabirin reclaimed the helm at Bank Indonesia yesterday after a six-month detention period, escalating the three-way power tussle between President Abdurrahman Wahid's government, the Parliament and the country's central bank.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Jakarta will cancel its controversial programme of transmigration under which millions of people have been forcibly moved from the crowded islands of Java and Bali to less populated provinces.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – How many provinces are there in Indonesia now? This was a simple question for most Indonesians two years ago – 27 provinces – but it will likely puzzle an ordinary Indonesian now.

A top government official, when asked this question recently, was startled for a second before coming up with: 'Twenty-nine? 30? I'm not sure anymore.'

Maryadi/Fitri & BI, Pontianak – Up to 700 government sponsored 'People's Security Guards' known as Kamra from the West Kalimantan province gathered for a rally that turned into a riot. The protesters ransacked Gubernatorial office in Pontianak, Wednesday after realising that their future was still in limbo.

Jakarta – Governor Sutiyoso, a suspect in the July 27, 1996 violent attack on the Megawati Soekarnoputri-led PDI headquarters, insisted on Tuesday that the attack was based on the order of his superiors at the time.

Jakarta – Australia's plans for a new and closer defence relationship with Indonesia, should not be seen as an alliance, a senior Australian diplomat said here Wednesday.

Jakarta – Home-made bombs were thrown into a Christian procession in Ambon city, capital of the riot-torn Indonesian province of Maluku Wednesday, killing one soldier and injuring at least seven others people, doctors and the military said. Another man, a Muslim, was killed and four wounded during clashes that followed the bombing, the state Antara news agency said.

Jakarta – Muslims have slaughtered 93 Christians since last week on a small island of the Maluku chain for refusing to convert to Islam, a church activist said yesterday quoting a survivor.

Jakarta – The government plans to scrap the 10% import taxes on logs and raise export taxes on the commodity in a bid to liberalize the forestry industry, economics czar Rizal Ramli said yesterday. The plan is in line with the government's effort to tackle rampant log smuggling.

Simon Montlake, Jakarta – Texmaco, the country's largest corporate debtor, liquidated or diverted ownership of some of its prize assets around the time it was taken over by the Indonesian government, according to documents reviewed by Dow Jones Newswires.

Jakarta – The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) has disclosed that between 40,000 and 70,000 Indonesian children – 'mostly girls' – are being sexually exploited commercially and are bonded to child-prostitution networks.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – The whistle, whine and thump of nightly explosions has rocked Jakarta for more than a week, and some of those incendiary devices have President Abdurrahman Wahid's name on them.

Sibylle Kaczorek, Baucau – On November 26-30, 40 or so members of the Asia Pacific Coalition for East Timor (APCET) met here to discuss international solidarity with East Timor. The international guests were joined by around the same number of East Timorese representatives from local non-government organisations.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – A spreading clampdown on media coverage of events in Indonesia's "hot-spots" has been highlighted by the arrest of a Swiss man in the troubled province of Irian Jaya for not having proper documentation.

Ambon – The Maluku Police Chief, Brig. Gen. Police Firman Gani, announced an investigation into the capture of 16 renegade Mobile Brigade policemen. The Joint Battalion members seized the policemen in the Kairatu district of western Seram Island in Central Maluku.

Jakarta – The newly established State Official Wealth Audit Agency (KPKPN) is set to audit the wealth of some 50,000 state officials, ranging from President Abdurrahman Wahid to officials at regency and mayoralty levels nationwide.

R. Senthilnathan, Geneva – Canada's trade ties with its largest Asean partner Indonesia have suffered a blow as Ottawa has asked local companies to think twice before buying up assets of their troubled business partners in Indonesia.

Jakarta – The Chinese Indonesian community is still being discriminated against by the authorities despite the move by President Abdurrahman Wahid to allow them to openly practise their religion and perform traditional Chinese ceremonies, said a local sociologist.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Indonesian Islamic groups, which attacked several nightspots this week, have threatened to close down nightclubs, karaoke bars and other entertainment outlets. The threat comes after the government failed to impose a blanket ban on them during the Muslim fasting month.

Surabaya – A land dispute erupted between civilians and the Army in Sukorejo village, Buduran district, Sidoarjo, East Java. On Friday, December 1, residents gathered at the disputed land occupied by the Army. The East Java House Commission A accompanied the people during the attempted reoccupation of the land by men and some old women.

The Indonesian justice system is in crisis as former President Suharto's son, Tommy, is on the run from an 18-month jail term for corruption and notorious militia leader, Eurico Guterres, implicated in crimes against humanity in East Timor, is feted as a national hero. A new law on human rights courts has been passed, but may not be effective in dealing with past crimes.

Jakarta – At 53 years of age, Murad is about to start a new life. After almost two decades of living and working in Aceh, Murad has been forced to return to his hometown in Java, with just the clothes on his back and the few items he and his family could carry.

Jakarta – Former forestry ministers Hasjrul Harahap and Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo shifted the blame for two allegedly fraudulent mapping projects involving defendant Mohamad "Bob" Hasan to former president Soeharto on Thursday.

Jakarta – The South Jakarta District Court cleared on Thursday Indonesian Democratic Union Party (PUDI) chairman Sri Bintang Pamungkas of subversion charges and ordered the government to publicly rehabilitate his name.

Jakarta – Indonesian share prices, which dropped 1.54 percent over the week, were likely to remain static in the coming week amid ongoing political tension and a holiday-shortened trading month, analysts said Friday.

Jakarta – Muslim activists condemned on Thursday the raids on various entertainment centers conducted by the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), saying that the group did not represent the whole Muslim community.

Rizal Maslan/Fitri & BI, Jakarta – Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI) blamed excessive exploitation on natural resources as well as environment degradation as on of the significant factors that cause spate of floods in Java and Sumatra recently.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Confusion in Indonesia surrounding the whereabouts of Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra has reached new levels with the naming of his father-in-law as a possible conspirator in his disappearance, and persistent rumours of a deal with the President to allow his escape.

Jakarta – One hundred and fifty one members of Indonesia's 500- member lower house of parliament have issued a petition calling for the censure of President Abdurrahman Wahid, whom they accuse of constitutional violations. The petition, which urges the house to issue a memorandum censuring Wahid, was handed to house speaker Akbar Tanjung late Wednesday.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Fighting between Christian and Muslim villages has flared again in the provinces of Maluku and North Maluku, as experts forecast an eventual partition of the islands with communities of displaced persons.

Jakarta – An Indonesian Christian activist claimed Thursday that 46 people had been slaughtered on a small island of the Malukus chain for refusing to convert to Islam.

Max Lane – Since August, a new left-wing theoretical magazine, Jurnal Kiri (Left Journal), has been published in Indonesia.

Three editions of the 160-page magazine have appeared. Its general editor is Marlin, who is also member of the editorial board of Links, an Australian-based Marxist journal.

Budi Sugiharto/Hendra & GB, Surabaya – Around 60 private school teachers from the Private School Teachers Communication Forum (FKGS) staged a demonstration at the Surabaya City Legislative Council in East Java. They urged the Council to clarify legal protection and private school teachers' rights.

Max Lane, Jakarta – Demonstrations and protests are a daily feature of life in Indonesia today. "Traffic jam, pak, two demos today" is a common refrain from taxi drivers.

The TV news and newspapers are also peppered with reports of different "showings of feelings" from all around the country.

Budi Sugiharto/Fitri & BI, Jakarta – A massive but peaceful rally staged factory workers had turned into a riot, when a group angry demonstrators started to destroy and loot a total of nine vehicles parked at the government's buildings, in Surabaya, East Java on Tuesday.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Ramadan in Indonesia is a time for heightened tempers on the subject of sin, and this year it could mean a month of unemployment for everyone in the entertainment industry.