Andreas Harsono, Jakarta – Hendra Putra said a final prayer at a Christmas vigil Mass on Sunday evening and offered a friend a ride home. Talking quietly, the two men headed to Putra's small Honda motorbike in a little parking area fenced with chicken wire, part of a Catholic school compound next to Jakarta's Church of St. Joseph.

Kuala Lumpur – One-thousand-two-hundred illegal Indonesian workers boarded an Indonesian warship for deportation back to their country, Malaysia's national news agency Bernama and news reports said Monday.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government has officially announced an average hike of 33.5 per cent in the monthly minimum wage in 24 provinces which is expected to become effective on January 1. The 24 provinces mentioned include the eight provinces where minimum wage increases were already announced last month.

Jakarta – Hundreds of Muslims burned Israeli and US flags in a spate of pro-Palestinian protests in six Indonesian cities including the capital yesterday, witnesses and the state Antara news agency said.

Haidir Anwar Tanjung/BI & GB, Pekan Baru – When the 'Laskar Jihad', or Jihad Warriors, of Riau on Sumatra island burned down 100 properties belonging to people they claimed were involved in prostitution during the holy fasting month, little did they know it would unleash a wave of violence in the broader community.

Jakarta – The Catholic church in Indonesia's embattled Maluku islands has appealed to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for foreign troops to help contain the bloody two-year conflict between Muslims and Christians there.

Louise Williams and agencies – The forced conversion of Christians to Islam in the violence-racked province of Maluku is part of a wider effort by the Indonesian military to discredit President Abdurrahman Wahid, the Uniting Church in Australia says.

Hestiana Dharmastuti/Fitri & BI, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid's end year report card is apparently full of bad marks. The Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation has slammed Gus Dur – as the president is known – for unsuccessful leadership throughout the year 2000 and for manipulating the law to protect the powerful under former regimes.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid has failed to fulfil his promise to protect human rights and re mains hobbled by a reactionary old guard left over from the disgraced Suharto regime. The criticism comes in a year-end report by the Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy (Elsham), which awarded Mr Wahid low marks for his efforts.

Jakarta – Authorities have canceled the passport of the fugitive son of former President Suharto to prevent him from fleeing Indonesia, officials said Friday.

Jakarta – Managers and owners of major cafes and entertainment venues in the Indonesian capital have hired guards to safeguard their businesses on New Year's Eve in anticipation of possible attacks by Muslim groups.

Jakarta – Indonesian shares, which dropped 1.7 percent in value in the last trading week of the year and around 35 percent for the year, will need a strong breakthrough and sound government economic policies to attract players next year, analysts said Friday.

Warren Caragata, Jakarta – Syahril Sabirin is back at work after six months away, and there's something of a celebration on. Jacket tossed over his shoulder, Indonesia's mild-mannered banking chief wades through a crowd of central bank employees welcoming him back like some dear uncle. The odd thing is, he's just spent half a year under house arrest, on charges of corruption.

Jakarta – Muslim youth leaders on Friday joined a plea by lawyers and rights advocates for police to stop allowing violent vigilante raids on Indonesian nightspots in the name of Islam go unpunished.

"Violence, in any name, is nothing but intentional destruction," Imam Addaruqudni, head of the 30-million strong Muhammadiyah youth wing, told a joint media conference here.

Jakarta – Indonesia's first democratically-elected president, under flak for failing to lead the nation out of its crippling problems, faces a decisive year ahead as pressure grows for his ouster.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Indonesian police are investigating a bomb found in a hospital bathroom in Yogyakarta, central Java, which the royal capital's reigning sultan blamed on provocateurs.

Sadanand Dhume, Jakarta – Whoever thinks central banks are dull and stodgy probably hasn't been to Indonesia recently. Take, for instance, the latest drama to be enacted in Jakarta's corridors of power. On December 6, Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin strode back into his office after nearly six months of house arrest on unproven corruption charges.

Jakarta – Despite facing threats of violent protest, the government will continue with its plan to dissolve the civilian guards of the People's Security (Kamra) on Wednesday. "Due to the National Police's tight agenda for its year-end activities, Kamra will officially be dissolved tomorrow (Wednesday)," spokesman for the Ministry of Defense for foreign cooperation Commodore A.F.M.

Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will disburse its next loan tranche to Indonesia only after the House of Representatives completes a crucial amendment of the central bank law, Minister of Finance Prijadi Praptosuhardjo said on Tuesday.

Susan Sim, Jakarta – The first Cabinet of President Abdurrahman Wahid had been in place barely one week before he began telling aides he wanted to sack some of them.

His second, hand-picked Cabinet is enjoying, it would appear, a longer lifespan: Talk of its reshuffle only began in earnest last week, some 15 weeks after it was sworn in.

Christine T. Tjandraningsih, Jakarta – Despite offers of reconciliation from Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, novelist Pramoedya Ananta Toer, who spent 14 years in prison under the repressive Suharto regime for "communist activities," said Tuesday reconciliation is impossible.

Hestiana Dharmastuti/BI & GB, Jakarta – Around 50 female activists under the auspices of Indonesian Women's Solidarity (SPI) staged a rally at the famous Hotel Indonesia roundabout in the heart of Jakarta to commemorate International Migrant Workers' Day.

Jakarta – The youngest daughter of former Indonesian leader Suharto was sentenced yesterday to a 10-day suspended jail term for failing to report the loss of a pistol.

Hamish McDonald – The Indonesian Government is hoping the new administration of George W. Bush will quickly end the American arms embargo that threatens to cripple its armed forces.

It also hopes for an end to the public criticism of its approach to militia violence in Timor and other human rights questions by the United States ambassador in Jakarta, Mr Robert Gelbard.

MMI Ahyani/BI & GB, Bandung – Rather than receive the end of the year bonus enjoyed by millions of others, workers from the PT Warna Indah Samajaya (WIS) textile factory have been threatened with dismissal, apparently for forming a union. In protest, the workers arrived at the West Java Provincial Legislative Council Monday.

Kereng Pangi – Unrest broke out in Kereng Pangi, Katingan Hilir district, Kotawaringin Timur regency, Central Kalimantan on Saturday, leaving two migrants in critical condition.

Antara reported that some 100 Dayak ethnics attacked the houses of migrants at Kereng Pangi, some 100 kilometers from the Central Kalimantan capital of Palangkaraya, early Saturday morning.

Jakarta – The Financial Sector Policy Committee (FSPC) has issued a new ruling that will provide a legal basis for creditors to accelerate debt restructuring procedures for their debtors.

Jakarta – Indonesian police have warned hard-line Muslim gangs raiding and smashing bars, discos and red-light areas in and around the capital, that they had gone too far.

Auckland – Australia does not want Indonesia to break up and is strongly opposed to its various separatist movements, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said here Saturday.

Downer and his New Zealand counterpart Phil Goff completed a day of talks here which included discussions on the worsening situation in the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya.

Susan Sim, Jakarta – As an article of faith, the logic is sound: Once the economy picks up, the government will be strong again and happy hours will be over for the opposition parties.

Jakarta – A businessman offered a bribe to a special parliamentary committee to stop investigating a financial scandal that allegedly involves Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, a committee member has said.

Bangkok – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid said Friday that individual wrongdoers, not institution, must be punished in the crackdown against human rights violations by his country's military.

Jakarta – Three bodies were found and some 40 people were missing and feared dead after an attack on a boat carrying Muslims from Indonesia's Ternate island to a port in northern Halmahera, a port official said Thursday.

Jakarta – The British government is planning to provide scholarships and training for Indonesian Air Force personnel, including fighter pilots, as part of its aid to improve the quality of the Air force's human resources, Antara reported.

Chris Brummitt, Jakarta – Posters plastered around Jakarta by the Islamic Defenders Front are clear enough: "Burn the nightspots that refuse to close for Ramadan," reads one. Another promises to destroy whoever "soils the holiness" of Islam's fasting month.

Richard C. Paddock, Jakarta – For Suharto, once the all-powerful ruler of Indonesia, life today is a tangle of medical tubes, criminal charges and political intrigue.

Now 79, the former military dictator who ruled for 32 years lives quietly in seclusion in his Jakarta home as family members struggle to save his reputation and their own vast fortunes.

Jakarta – At least eight people were killed when gunmen opened fire on a boat carrying Muslim refugees in Indonesia's troubled Maluku islands, witnesses were quoted as saying Wednesday.

Chris McCall, Jakarta – Grassroots leaders of Indonesia's devastated Maluku Islands left a conference yesterday with a provisional plan to end two years of civil war.

Christians and Muslims greeted the plan with cautious optimism, anxious to end the tit-for-tat violence that has killed thousands on both sides across the archipelago.

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.