Robert Go, Jakarta – For cabby Sutardjo, the petrol-price increase scheduled for this coming Friday could erode his daily take-home earnings of around 40,000 rupiah (S$6.80) by as much as 20 per cent.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's new Attorney-General pledged yesterday to restart corruption proceedings against former President Suharto, who spent his 80th birthday praying at a mosque and giving out charity packages to orphans.

Soraya Permatasari, Jakarta – Indonesian police said on Saturday that more than 30 foreigners, including a four-year-old girl, detained at a human rights seminar were suspected of immigration violations and would be questioned next week.

Agence France Presse in Jakarta – Disgraced and ailing former dictator Suharto was moved to tears by an orphan when he marked his 80th birthday yesterday, two days after the man he overthrew, founding president Sukarno, would have turned 100.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – In a further sign of the animosity between Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri and President Abdurrahman Wahid, Ms Megawati yesterday snubbed a Cabinet meeting she was supposed to chair.

Susan Sim, Jakarta – Opposition politicians with no skeletons in their closets need not fear the new Attorney-General.

Chris Brummitt, Jakarta – With calls growing for her to lead the nation, Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri lashed out at critics who say she lacks the experience for the presidency.

Surabaya – An investigation team formed by the National Awakening Party (PKB) faction at the East Java provincial legislature claims to have found evidence that people arrested following riots in Pasuruan were tortured during police questioning.

Jakarta – Indonesia's Parliament wants stiffer cuts in petrol subsidies and price hikes more drastic than the 30 per cent jump already slated by the government – a development that could inject additional fuel to the escalated political tension in Jakarta and spark further mass demonstrations later this month.

Sadanand Dhume and Dini Djalal, Jakarta – In most democracies, a president who has lost the confidence of parliament, the army and the business community would be expected to slink away quietly. Not in Indonesia, where President Abdurrahman Wahid continues to cling to office.

Jakarta – Jakarta stocks edged higher on Thursday, but the market was under pressure from rumours, later denied, that politically isolated President Abdurrahman Wahid would sack the armed forces commander in a bid to hang on to the leadership.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – The younger sister of Indonesian Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri lashed out at Parliament yesterday, accusing it of organising a virtual coup d'etat by attempting to impeach President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Jakarta – Legal activists made a fresh call on Wednesday for the abolishment of military courts and joint civilian-military tribunals which, they said, were often used to protect the military's impunity.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – The word being debated among foreign journalists in Jakarta is "mutiny". The police chief sacked last week by President Abdurrahman Wahid has refused to step down and his stance is being interpreted by the security forces as a reason for defiance of their own.

Bagus Kurniawan/HD, Yogyakarta – On Wednesday, around 100 students calling themselves Anti New Order People Front (Frarob) from various universities in Yogyakarta staged a demonstration at the Yogyakarta Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD) aimed at dissolving the Golkar Party and purging the parliament from any New Order elements.

Jakarta – Tensions around Indonesia's leadership crisis seeped into a centenary commemoration Wednesday of the country's founding ruler Sukarno when a partisan crowd cheered his daughter, the vice president, but jeered the embattled leader.

Max Lane, Jakarta – On May 30, an alliance of members of parliament from Golkar (the party of former Indonesian dictator Suharto), the armed forces (TNI), the muslim right-wing Central Axis parties and vice-president Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) passed a resolution in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR, Indonesia's parliament) to hold a

Associated Press in Jakarta – Corruption in Indonesia's law courts is so deeply ingrained that it might take more than two decades to purge them of graft, the newly installed attorney general was quoted as saying by newspapers on Wednesday.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – He was autocratic, plunged Indonesia into a period of economic disaster and widespread poverty and flirted with communism. Yet, Indonesians today can't get enough of Sukarno – Indonesia's founding president.

Thousands are expected to flock to Blitar, his burial site in East Java, for today's celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth.

Jakarta – The political party of Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid on Tuesday accused the sacked national police chief and his allies of treason for refusing to accept his dismissal by Wahid.

"[General Suroyo] Bimantoro's behaviour amounts to treason," legislator Effendy Choirie of Wahid's National Awakening Party told AFP.

Jakarta – More than 8,000 Indonesian police and troops staged a show of unity and defiance near the presidential palace Tuesday, pledging allegiance to the national police chief sacked by President Abdurrahman Wahid last week.

Jakarta – Indonesia's charismatic founding president Sukarno is enjoying a surge in popularity 31 years after his death, as his country sinks deeper into political and communal squabbling, analysts said.

Djoko Tjiptono/HD, Jakarta – Anti-Golkar Party demonstration keeps to move. This Tuesday, around 400 residents from Jakarta came to the Supreme Court (MA) building on Jl Medan Merdeka Utara, Central Jakarta. They came to demand the disbandment of the Golkar Party. At the same time, second court against Golkar continues aimed at dissolving the Golkar Party.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Observing the behaviour of President Abdurrahman Wahid, it is easy to paint a picture of a crazy, erratic, inconsistent and ailing old man, lashing out wildly at his opponents like a wounded animal trapped in a corner.

Duri – It is a costly cat-and-mouse game played out daily by guards, the workers who install oil-exploration equipment and the thieves who scavenge its metal for scrap.

"We install it, they steal it," moaned Mr Akson Brahmantyo, an engineer at Indonesia's largest oilfield operated by the US energy company Caltex.

Karaniya Dharmasaputra, Adi Prasetya and Wens Manggut – Suddenly the move to force an early session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to impeach President Abdurrahman Wahid is grinding to a halt.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – When President Abdurrahman Wahid feels cornered, he will lash out and strike his opponents.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid had long distrusted three of the four Cabinet ministers he sacked yesterday, regarding them as potential "traitors" to his government, one of his close family members said.

Robert Go, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid's latest move to avert dishonour yesterday included the appointment of Mr Baharudin Lopa – a loyalist who legislators said would at once dig up corruption cases against opposition leaders – as Indonesia's new Attorney-General.

Jakarta – Students of the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) were involved in clashes yesterday with Police and Military who were tasked to safeguard Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri during her visit to the ITB campus to inaugurate a statue of Soekarno, Indonesias first president which was erected on the campus where he studied technical science and obtained his diploma from.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Indonesia's political crisis was close to spinning out of control last night after an increasingly isolated President Wahid, desperate to fend off impeachment, sacked four ministers.

Wens Manggut and Andari Karina Anom – Where are all the laughter and hand clapping of yesteryear? They have all but disappeared from Golkar's party headquarters in Slipi, West Jakarta. It's as if the former political vehicle of the Suharto regime is black and blue, within and without.

Bogor – Democratic People's Party (PRD) chairman Budiman Sudjatmiko alleged on Friday that the recent explosions at his parents' home in the Sukaresmi subdistrict of Tanah Sareal was a premeditated act of terror.

Washington – The United States said it was watching events in Indonesia closely as it faces a test to its democracy, and called on the country's leaders to solve its political crisis through peaceful, constitutional means.

US State Department spokesman Philip Reeker told reporters that Washington was "watching events in Indonesia very closely".

Surabaya – As many as 150 people were reported missing in the town of Pasuruan on Thursday as life gradually returned to normal following an interfaith meeting between senior local ulemas and Christian clergymen on Wednesday evening.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Without clear leadership at the top, Indonesia's bureaucracy could break down over the next two lame-duck months, analysts warned. The predictions came despite assurances from senior officials at various ministries, who claim the government will carry on despite impeachment proceedings against President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Susan Sim, Jakarta – Do not say anything, just focus on the G-15 meeting and your new grandson – that is the advice key Cabinet ministers are giving the President the day after impeachment became an inescapable reality.

Hongkong – Despite feeling uneasy over the recent political turmoil in Indonesia, the head of the International Monetary Fund yesterday said he was willing to work with any new policymakers chosen by the nation.

Hamish McDonald – As Megawati Sukarnoputri edges closer to assuming the Indonesian presidency, she has given some signs of a more conciliatory approach to Australia and breakaway East Timor than indicated so far by her huffy nationalist stance in public.

Surabaya – Protesters in East Java have admitted that they were paid to hit the streets in support of President Abdurrahman Wahid, local police said.

Reuters in Sydney – With President Wahid fighting for his political survival and his supporters vowing to lay down their lives for him, aid agencies are preparing for a humanitarian crisis.

Jeremy Hobbs, executive director of Oxfam Community Aid Abroad, said the Australian charity already had contingency plans for a humanitarian catastrophe.

Bogor – There was a second explosion at the house of the parents of Budiman Sudjatmiko, chairman of the People's Democratic Party (PRD), in the village of Sukaresmi here on Thursday, following an explosion a day earlier.

Hamish McDonald – Warning of a new financial crisis in Indonesia, the Federal Opposition yesterday urged a softer approach by international lenders to the country's huge debt burden left by the collapsed Soeharto regime.

Jakarta – Some 10,000 supporters of President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid occupied on Wednesday the office of Situbondo local administration in East Java, paralyzing government activities in the coastal town.

Jakarta – Indonesia's intelligence agency has named a prominent Australian academic as a potential security threat, in the latest sign of the Megawati government's heightened sensitivity to criticism ahead of the July presidential election.

Jakarta – A day ahead of the much-anticipated plenary session of the House of Representatives (DPR), thousands of President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid supporters staged a protest at Monas (the National Monument) in Central Jakarta on Tuesday.

Max Lane, Jakarta – If opponents of President Abdurrahman Wahid have their way, when it meets on May 30 the Indonesian parliament will call a special session of the People's Consultative Assembly, the only body which has the power to impeach and oust the president, for as early as late July.

Surabaya – Security forces fired warning shots into the air in an attempt to disperse thousands of supporters of President Abdurrahman Wahid who tried to forcibly enter the provincial legislative council building here on Tuesday.

Jakarta – Pro-democracy activists, alarmed of strong signs of a reappearance of the military within politics, warned the Indonesian Military (TNI) on Monday not to enter the political contest, saying that this would be the biggest contribution it could make to democracy.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Abandoned by almost all of Jakarta's political elite, some of whom think he has lost grasp of reality, Abdurrahman Wahid is showing there is little he will not do to remain president.