Jakarta – Indonesia warned yesterday that protests disrupting production by one of the country's largest oil producers could damage the budget and the economy. Jobless locals demanding work have blocked the entrance to PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia (CPI) oil field in Riau province on Sumatra island, hitting operations.

Jakarta – The police chief of Riau province yesterday apologized to university students for a clash that erupted earlier this week when security forces resorted to violence to disperse a protest against vice.

I apologize to all people, especially to Riau students for the October 11 incident, Brigadier General Maman Supratman was quoted as saying by Antara.

Jakarta – Many Indonesians are dying each year of tobacco-related diseases, but the country's heavy dependence on revenues contributed by the clove cigarette industry is hampering efforts to curb the smoking habit.

Jakarta – Angry villagers in Riau province yesterday continued to occupy a water treatment plant operated by oil company PT Caltex Pacific Indonesias (CPI). They also blockaded a contractors drilling rig at Kopar region, and held six CPI vehicles, one which they set ablaze.

Jakarta – The World Bank will tell foreign aid donors set to decide on fresh loans to Indonesia that the country's government system needs major reforms, according to advance briefing notes for a conference next week.

Nuriddin Lazuardi/PT & GB, Jakarta – Dozens of police clashed with students from the Jakarta branch of the Association of Islamic Students (HMI) during an anti-Israel and America protest in front of the American Embassy, Friday.

Chaidir A. Tanjung/PT & GB, Pekanbaru – The island of Batam in Riau province is thought to be a major gateway for the illegal trade in firearms in Indonesia. "Batam's close proximity with other nations has been exploited to smuggle in firearms," said a spokesman for the Riau police.

Jakarta – Unrest broke out again in the Malukan city of Ambon on Thursday, with houses torched and unconfirmed reports of deaths and casualties, residents there said.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid has rejected a summons to be questioned by MPs over two palace financial scandals, creating a new threat to his government.

Arifin/GB, Jakarta – Two more active military servicemen have been detained for selling weapons based on evidence obtained from a suspect in the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) bombing. The two officers were actually detained last Monday but their detention was only confirmed Thursday.

Bern – Six Indonesian Christians, who have been holed up in the Swiss embassy in Jakarta since September 27 to press for political asylum, have left the premises, the Swiss foreign ministry said Thursday.

One of the Indonesians left Wednesday evening and the five others stepped out late Thursday afternoon, said the statement which gave no further details.

Jakarta – A fire badly damaged the Audit and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP) building in Central Jakarta yesterday, destroying documents on the huge liquidity loans given by the central bank to ailing banks.

Budi Santosa/Hendra & GB, Jakarta – The government has admitted that cash transfers to be used as fuel subsidies have not been distributed uniformly. Not only have some areas missed out altogether, but even those allocated funds have yet to receive them.

Bandar Lampung – Students from campuses around the city rallied and marched on September 28 to mark the first anniversary of the murder of two students, Yusuf Rizal and Saidatul Fitria, by the military during a political demonstration.

Pip Hinman – Protests by tens of thousands of workers and students have rocked Indonesia since the government of President Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Sukarnoputri, under pressure from international creditors, decreed an average 12% increase in the price of domestic fuel on October 1.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Indonesia's former armed forces chief, General Wiranto, has intensified his criticism of attempts to prosecute military officers over last year's violence in East Timor, declaring them innocent and accusing the United Nations of "vulgar fraud".

Jakarta – Groups of local residents in Riau, demanding jobs from contractors of an oil company, have seized cars and blocked rigs trying to enter the company's premises, virtually crippling its operations.

Jakarta – Hundreds of Indonesian workers protested outside the presidential palace on Tuesday to demand that a recent fuel price hike be cancelled.

Michael Richardson, Jakarta – When the Indonesian armed forces commemorated their 55th anniversary recently, the display was less elaborate than in past years. There were no air force jets screaming low overhead, no parachutists dropping from the sky for precision landings in front of the military brass and VIPs. Even the marching bands had been cut back.

Adam Schwarz – It's not as if the administration of Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid doesn't have enough on its plate already. Unfortunately for the beleaguered Mr. Wahid, his plate is about to get more crowded.

Jeremy Wagstaff and Puspa Madani, Jakarta – Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid swore in new army and navy commanders after failing to persuade increasingly assertive generals to accept one of his favored officers as deputy commander of the army.

Ambon – Muslims from two villages on Ambon island Tuesday attacked a nearby Christian hamlet, torching empty houses, residents here said.

"Suli Bawah, where most of the houses have already been vacated by their occupants, was attacked early this morning," a local journalist said from Ambon, some 20 kilometres west of Suli.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid blinked first in the standoff with hawkish generals after being forced into a compromise over the choice for the coveted post of army chief. Whatever hopes there were of civilian supremacy over the military in post-Suharto Indonesia took a step back.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Indonesian army chief General Tyasno Sudarto has been replaced only weeks after court evidence implicated him in an alleged multi-million-dollar counterfeit operation to finance clandestine military operations in East Timor last year.

Budi Sugiharto/Hendra & AP, Surabaya – Labor action is disrupting Surabaya, with around 15 thousand laborers demanding to directly speak to the Mayor of Surabaya. The laborers, who took over the mayoral offices today at 10.30am, are demanding an increase in the minimum cost of living allowance.

Chaidir Anwar Tanjung/GB, Pekanbaru – Villagers from the Sungai Rangau area, Tanah Putih subdistrict, Bengkalis, Riau province, Sumatra, have virtually taken over the local oilfields mined by international mining giant Caltex. After seizing 37 vehicles, the villagers moved on to occupy five oilfields, halting operations completely.

Nurul Hidayati/PT & GB, Jakarta – Civil unrest has flared in Bontang, East Kalimantan, Monday. Locals blockaded the American-owned Tanjung Santan Unocal Terminal oil refinery, clashed with security forces and 23 locals suffered gun shot wounds.

Ambon – Sporadic attacks occurred at several locations across Saparua and Ambon islands in Maluku province over the weekend, leaving one dead.

Yogyakarta – Minister of Defense Mahfud M.D. said his ministry in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and the Attorney General's Office is currently drafting a bill to enable military personnel to be tried under a civil court if they are indicted for violating civil laws.

Sydney – Foreign Minister Alexander Downer renewed an invitation Sunday to Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid to visit Australia after the Indonesian parliament last week vetoed the trip.

James Conachy – A week after the September 28 Jakarta court ruling that former Indonesian dictator Suharto was "medically unfit" to stand trial, the government of President Abdurrahman Wahid is seeking to have the decision overturned.

Makassar – The conflict between the Alauddin State Islamic Institute (IAIN) and the South Sulawesi gubernatorial office continued on Wednesday with the detention of six civil servants by the students.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Defence Minister Mahfud M.D. yesterday conceded that army elements were behind the spate of violence in Indonesia to destabilise the government. He said that the problems in outlying provinces like Aceh and Maluku and the recent explosions in the capital were the doing of generals linked to former president Suharto.

Jakarta – Coordinator of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) Hendardi said on Wednesday that the police were likely to soon release most of the suspects in the bombing of the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) building.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – A protest organiser who hired demonstrators to rail against fuel price rises became the target of the mob he had rented when he failed to pay them and they missed out on a free lunch.

Jakarta – Hundreds of students of privately-run Krisna Dwipayana University mobbed four members of the student paramilitary regiment (Menwa) and razed two campus facilities to the ground on Wednesday. The violence erupted at the end of a peaceful protest by the students demanding the abolition of Menwa in their campus in Jatiwaringin, East Jakarta.

Jakarta – Experts and activists strongly criticized the Indonesian Military (TNI) for alleged unaccountable profits gained from commercial activities in the private sector and called for a transparent account of the matter.

James Balowski – Some 30 people were injured and at least 46 arrested in Jakarta on September 27 in a series of clashes between anti-Suharto and pro-Suharto protesters and the police, following the dismissal of corruption charges against the former Indonesian president.

Jim Mcilroy, Jakarta – One thousand peasants from various regions of Indonesia rallied and marched here on September 24 to demand government action on human rights and economic justice.

Makassar – Chaos and brutality continued here on Tuesday as thousands of students protesting the fuel price hike vandalized the governor's office, burned more cars and clashed with provincial administration civil servants.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Indonesia is set to clear the former armed forces chief General Wiranto over last year's violence in East Timor, despite intense international pressure for his prosecution.

Jakarta – The government will take to court four regents from East Kalimantan for allegedly selling forest concessions, a senior official of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said on Tuesday.

It was the movement which finally toppled the dictator Suharto in 1998 which made Romawaty Sinaga realise that workers and students had to unite to achieve any lasting fundamental change.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – They arrived without warning in two minibuses, brandishing clubs, swords and guns and wearing black masks. JeJe's nightclub, the most popular place for foreigners to meet in Jakarta, was packed with 600 patrons.

Jakarta – Indonesia's reformist government is reviewing official histories of key moments in the country's past that it says were misrepresented by former President Suharto's regime.

Maryadi/BI & GB, Pontianak – Hundreds of truck drivers at the Dwikora port in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, went on strike Monday. The drivers have conveyed their demand for an increase of 100% to the tariff for the rental of transport vehicles at the port to the Indonesian Expedition and Forwarder Group (Gafeksi) in Pontianak.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The new revenue-sharing formula between Jakarta and regional governments presents a medium-term Pandora's box, but its immediate effect is the reduction of the central government's ability to jumpstart the economy at the national level.

Jakarta – The first day of the fuel price hike passed without major public upheaval on Sunday, despite a few protests in Jakarta and Bandung, and rumors of bigger demonstrations in other towns.

In Jakarta, about 1,000 people from several labor unions protested in front of the Presidential Palace demanding that the government cancel the fuel price increase.

Jakarta – Five Indonesian students were injured when police opened fire on a protest against a rise in fuel prices, in Indonesia's South Sulawesi province, witnesses said.

Bagus Kurniawan/BI & GB, Yogyakarta – Thousands of students from the Muhammadiyah High School in Yogyakarta, Central Java, have staged a rowdy protest on Monday at the Provincial Legislative Council building demanding the police take responsibility for the shooting of a student.