Abdul Haerah HR/BI, Makassar – Up to a hundred low paid workers and waterside labourers who demanded a 100% pay rise have been forcefully removed from Makassar harbour side in Makassar on Saturday . Security officers from the Makassar Police force have removed the protestors who have been conducting their protest in the area since Friday.

Warren Caragata, Jakarta – If anything represents the uneasy muddle that is Indonesian politics these days, it may well be Golkar, the party of discredited ex-president Suharto.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid led on Thursday a solemn commemoration of Indonesia's 55th anniversary on the grounds of the official residence, Istana Merdeka, as students staged noisy demonstrations in the Monas Square nearby the palace.

Jakarta – Six students who pulled down the Indonesian flag at the Attorney General's Office in South Jakarta yesterday could be imprisoned for up to four years.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – A leading armed forces reformer has made an unprecedented attack on corrupt generals.

Lieutenant-General Agus Wirahadikusumah called on the Government to cleanse the military and police of what he called the cancer of corruption. "It's now up to the Government – to act or not to act," he wrote in the latest issue of the magazine Tempo .

Maryadi/Fitri & Lyndal Meehan, Pontianak – Today is Indonesian Independence Day. In West Kalimantan, thousands of people are expected to mark the day with a mixture of celebration and protest involving all elements of society, including Madurese refugees of sectarian violence which erupted in 1997.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Removing the military from politics was one of the key agendas of the reform movement in 1998, yet legislators on a People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) committee recommended this week that the military retain its dual role until 2009.

Jakarta – About 1,000 university students staged a peaceful demonstration in Central Jakarta yesterday, to celebrate Independence Day with calls for further reform.

Hestiana Dharmastuti/Hendra & Lyndal Meehan, Jakarta – Disgraced former dictator Suharto and his cronies can not yet breathe easily. Once again, students gathered together with the City Forum (Forkot) have demanded they be taken to court and again planned to besiege his residence, known as Cendana after the street on which it is located.

Marianne Kearney Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid's pre-Independence Day address to Parliament yesterday began and ended with his trademark humour and, this time, legislators laughed with him, indicating that much of the tension between the two sides had dissipated.

Robert Go, Jakarta – If a recent Tempo Magazine poll is correct, Indonesians have little patience left for the manoeuvrings of Jakarta's political elite. The people crave concrete signs that economic and social conditions are improving.

Surabaya – Dozens of the banners denouncing political figures and parties which have been erected since the start of the People's Consultative Assembly Annual Session are being taken down by police in a bid to cool the climate in the city.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – As politician after politician attacked President Abdurrahman Wahid during this week's general assembly for failing to care for the welfare of Indonesia's "little people", the irony was not lost on these "little people".

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Amid loose talk of a constitutional coup, President Abdurrahman Wahid says he will run his Government through a gang of four.

On July 10, a new labour rights bill was unanimously passed by the Indonesian House of Representatives. It still requires President Abdurrahman Wahid's approval to become law.

Jakarta – Indonesian police on Wednesday said they had identified 22 suspects in connection with a violent military-backed attack on the then-party headquarters of Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri in 1996.

James Balowski – After months of delays, false starts and a performance to rival Christopher Skase's "Now I'm sick, now I'm not", former president Suharto is finally to stand trial for embezzlement of Indonesian state funds.

Chris McCall, Pekanbaru – When Indonesia's politicians and pundits talk about the separatist movements that plague the country, two provinces on the opposite ends of the archipelago are mentioned first: Aceh and Irian Jaya. But tagged on to the end of the discussion is Riau.

Jakarta – After eight relatively peaceful and calm days outside the Parliament building, the ninth day of the current annual general session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) yesterday was marred by a major turnout of demonstrators.

Jakarta – Over 1,000 people from different groups rallied on Monday in front of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), voicing various demands ranging from support for the government of President Abdurrahman Wahid to the expulsion of the military/police faction in the nation's highest law-making body.

Djoko Tjiptono/BI & LM, Jakarta – A large metal gate at the parliament was torn down by members of the City Front (Front Kota) student group when their protest turned tense and nasty after a lively demonstration at the parliament building on Tuesday.

Jakarta – Workers' protests at gas company Vico Indonesia Ltd might cause a total cut in the natural gas supply to the country's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer PT Badak in Bontang, East Kalimantan, a spokesman of state oil and gas company Pertamina said here on Saturday.

Arifin A/Lyndal Meehan, Jakarta – NGOs and students in the province of Jambi, Sumatra, have called on the Minister of Forestry and Plantations, Nurmahmudi Ismail, to immediately close PT Inhutani V due to the extensive environmental damage caused by the state-owned enterprise and that the local Forestry Ministry official be sacked for corruption.

Jakarta – Jakarta City Councilmen questioned on Saturday the absence of police officers on several raids conducted recently by local officials against gambling dens in the capital.

Council Deputy Speaker Djafar Badjeber of the United Development Party said the presence of the police during such operations is necessary to avoid any unexpected obstacles.

Bagus Kurniawan/BI & LM, Jakarta – The nightmare of unemployment has been weighing on the minds of thousands of members of the state-sponsored civilian security forces, known as Kamra, which are set to be officially disbanded at the end of the year.

Djoko Tjiptono/BI & LM, Jakarta – During the busiest day of demonstrations yet seen during this year's session of the People's Consultative assembly, the Indonesian Parliament grounds have been the perfect arena for democracy activists wishing to become actors, actors pretending to be politicians and politicians disguised as democracy activists.

Ian Timberlake Indonesia – Vigilante mobs have slain more than 100 people on the streets of Jakarta already this year, reflecting a loss of faith in the police since former dictator Suharto stepped down two years ago.

Thomas Omestad, Jakarta – "The old man at No. 8 Cendana Street sits by his satellite TV, watching local sitcoms and nature shows on the Discovery, National Geographic, and Animal Planet channels. After three strokes, he is on a low-fat, low-stress regimen, and his doctors think it best that he avoid newspapers and magazines.

Matthew Draper – Political elites who sit on a low-profile committee of Indonesia's highest legislative body, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), are jeopardizing the nation's attempts at constitutional reform.

Ambon – Ambon was still tense on Sunday following clashes between troops and armed rioters at the border between Batu Merah and Mardika areas that left at least six people dead and 18 others wounded, officials and witnesses said.

Jakarta – Members of the Indonesian Workers Prosperity Union (SBSI) yesterday continued their blockade of a coal mining company's site in East Kalimantan. Officials at PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) said the industrial dispute at the Sangatta site had entered its 10th day.

Michael Sheridan, Manado – The martyrdom of the village of Duma began with the gathering of spectral figures in white shrouds chanting about holy war and death. By the time it ended, 208 Christian villagers taking refuge in a church had been slaughtered by Muslims who call themselves the Laskar Jihad, or holy warriors.

Jakarta – Scores of people who witnessed and survived the 1984 massacre at Tanjung Priok, yesterday rallied outside the Attorney General's Office in Blok M, South Jakarta, demanding that action be taken against retired generals who ordered the slaughter of an estimated 400 Muslims at the North Jakarta port area.

Jakarta – Indonesia's national assembly is expected to shy away this week from committing itself on controversial amendments to the country's 55-year-old constitution, including a proposal to cement the military's place in politics, observers and politicians said.

Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Jakarta – Shortly after taking office in the autumn, President Abdurrahman Wahid, who is nearly blind, quipped to group of visitors in the presidential palace that he and his taciturn vice president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, made "the best team". "I can't see," Mr. Wahid chortled, "and she can't speak."

Indonesia is in a mess, but President Wahid's latest attempts to ease the turmoil have backfired. Lindsay Murdoch reports.

Indonesia is rumbling. And the political tremors are more alarming to the country's 210 million people than the infrequent earthquakes that shake Jakarta's high-rise buildings.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) became the latest organization on Friday to criticize the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) for its reluctance to end military and police representation in the legislative body.

Bandung – Two groups of Bandung students greeted Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Friday with a demonstration, criticizing the government for failing to uphold law enforcement.

Jakarta – The number of student rallies has increased since the Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly opened on Monday with at least 300 students staging rallies in front of the Assembly complex here on Friday.

Jakarta – Indonesian soldiers shot dead at least five people who defied warnings and attacked soldiers attempting to disperse Christian and Muslim mobs from a street in conflict-torn Ambon on Friday, Indonesia's state-run news agency Antara reported Saturday.

Rayhan Anas Lubis/Lyndal Meehan, Jakarta – In an effort to improve the welfare of motorised pedicab drivers and cap the number of the vehicles serving the public in the troubled province of Aceh, 1500 drivers have formed a new union.

Santa Fe, New Mexico – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid will harm his country's stature if he follows through on plans to visit Iraq this year, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Saturday.

Jakarta – The first trial of a lawsuit filed by the Democratic People's Party (PRD) against Soeharto regime was postponed on Thursday after only four lawyers showed up.

On the fourth day of the annual session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) demonstrations were held by a number of organisations and students.

Facing a hostile parliament and a deteriorating national economy, Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid handed over a portion of his duties to Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri on August 9.

Tom McCawley – A patter of applause from the floor of the 700- member People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) greeted the appointment this week by Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesian president, of Megawati Sukarnoputri to manage the day-to-day affairs of the cabinet.

Jay Solomon, Jakarta – Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri's appointment to manage the Indonesian government's daily business has calmed legislators who feared political gridlock if President Abdurrahman Wahid didn't overhaul his beleaguered administration.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – A proposed article in the Constitution that stipulates the implementation of the Islamic Law for Indonesian Muslims has received little support from legislators in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid's "rainbow" Cabinet is losing its lustre. Other than yesterday's resignation of top Economics Minister Kwik Kian Gie, five other ministers have resigned or been dismissed from the Cabinet.

Kuala Lumpur – Some 120 Indonesian maids fleeing physical abuse or attempted rape by employers or agents have taken refuge at their country's consulate in an east Malaysian state, a report said Thursday.