Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Indonesian Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono said yesterday that the police and military did not have sufficient funding to deal with the sectarian and separatist violence that has dogged the country and spooked investors.

Yang Razali Kassim - The general is not saying. But it's what he fails to say that confirms it: dissatisfaction is building up within the military against President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Palu – Three people were killed and 15 others injured while scores of houses were set ablaze in fierce clashes that erupted in the town of Poso on Tuesday.

May Sair, Jakarta – Textile company Texmaco has black-listed 15 workers who led a strike at a factory here for better wages. It is refusing to allow the 15 to join the workers' negotiating team or to re-register for employment.

Bandung – Some 200 textile companies in the West Java chapter of the Indonesian Textile Association (API) threatened on Tuesday to stop production if the electricity rate hike was not revised within a week.

Paul Jacob – The Indonesian military's territorial affairs chief yesterday cautioned against any move towards a federal system, saying it could expose the country to "larger costs and higher risks".

Cameron W. Barr, Jakarta – For Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesia's first democratically elected president, the honeymoon is over. At least by the political standards of mere mortals.

Jakarta – The city witnessed another wave of anti-Soeharto protests on Monday when over 1,200 university students from different groups rallied at the Presidential Palace, Attorney General's Office and near the residence of former president Soeharto.

Susan Sim, Jakarta – The Indonesian military will begin a pilot project by the end of the year to phase out the territorial units that used to operate all over the country on behalf of political and other vested interests in Jakarta, the chief of its territorial affairs said yesterday.

Chris McCall, Jakarta – They catch the thief, beat him, often burn him alive. When the police arrive they find a corpse and no one knows who the killers are.

Michael Shari, Jakarta – What happens when a government puts its biggest bank up for sale and no one's much interested? Cacuk Sudarijanto doesn't even want to think about it. As head of Indonesia's vast debt cleanup operation, he's responsible for unloading Bank of Central Asia later this month.

Jakarta – On the eve of the second anniversary of Suharto's downfall, more than 500 students protested in front of the ex- dictator's home Saturday, demanding he be brought to trial for alleged corruption during 32 years in power.

Brendan Nicholson – Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid plans to visit Australia in July – the first Indonesian leader to do so in 26 years.

As fresh violence erupts in Indonesia's North Maluku, an Australian-based mining firm trapped in a no-man's land has its own battle to fight. Lindsay Murdoch reports.

Islamic extremists have obtained a large cache of high-powered weapons they plan to use in a jihad, or holy war, on an isolated island in eastern Indonesia.

Ambon – Troops were issued with shoot-on-sight orders and three people were shot dead by snipers yesterday, as Christians called for UN troops to intervene in the escalating sectarian violence in Ambon. Meanwhile, trapped civilians tried to flee the troubled city.

Jakarta – In the words of a close advisor, Indonesian President Abdurrahman's Wahid's honeymoon, especially with the country's press, is "sliding away fast" after only six months in office.

Kwangju – A coalition is very possible between the Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI-P) and the Golkar Party to build a force in the General Session of the MPR in August 2000. The chairperson of the People's Advisory Assembly (MPR) Amien Rais stated this because of the disappointment of the efficient work of Abdurrahman Wahid's government.

Jakarta – Graphic campaigns promoting condom use to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS have failed to change sexual behavior, an expert said.

Publisher of the Jakarta-based journal WartAIDS Chris W. Green told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that "if there was a reason not to use condoms, then people will use that reason".

Jakarta – A government sweep in Tarakan, East Kalimantan last week allegedly found indications of involvement in the multi- billion dollar Borneo illegal timber trade of Malaysian military elements and timber companies, Forestry and Plantations Ministry secretary general Suripto said.

Jakarta – Some 150 Indonesian reporters accredited to the presidential palace went on strike yesterday to protest against shrinking access to information there.

The boycott followed the expulsion by presidential guards of journalists covering the arrival of ministers in the front yard of the Bina Graha, the office of President Abdurrahman Wahid, said one of the reporters.

Ambon – Nine people were killed and at least 60 injured Thursday as clashes raged for a third straight day between Muslims and Christian in the eastern Indonesian city of Ambon, witnesses said.

The violence came a day after at least 23 people were killed in the worst clashes in a month between Muslims and Christians in Ambon, the capital of Maluku province.

Agencies in Ambon – At least 23 people were killed and more than 50 injured as fighting between Muslims and Christians intensified in Ambon in the Maluku islands.

Those killed since late on Tuesday included two members of the security forces, at least 12 Muslims and at least one Christian, officials, witnesses and the state Antara news agency said yesterday.

Jakarta – Two years after former Indonesian president Suharto was ousted from office, large parts of the industrial empire that was forged by his family are still very much in business.

Jonathan Thatcher, Jakarta – A cloud of gloom has descended over Indonesia. Its financial markets have been plunging, along with hopes that a shambling government can lead the country out of economic ruin and political bedlam.

Jakarta – Mobs who have taken the law into their own hands in the face of weak law enforcement in and around the Indonesian capital have killed 40 people this year, police disclosed yesterday.

"Increasing mob justice indicates a slide in the respect for the law," the Antara national news agency quoted Jakarta police chief Major General Nurfaizi as saying.

Singapore – Mild haze in Singapore and Malaysia could rapidly get worse, with more smoke blowing in from forest fires on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, officials said Wednesday.

In Malaysia, a gray pall hung over Kuala Lumpur, obscuring the upper floors of the city's skyscrapers and the Petronas Twin Towers, the world's tallest building.

John Gauci, Sydney – "The goal of our union is to create prosperity as a welfare state similar to that of Europe or the US", Indonesian union leader Muchtar Pakpahan told 50 unionists gathered in the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union hall here on May 9.

Jakarta – The slide in Indonesia's currrency, the rupiah, has been caused by political and not economic problems, a senior presidential advisor on the economy said here Wednesday.

Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Wednesday the Indonesian economy was now on the right track, and that it would not lower its 2000 economic growth rate forecast of three to four percent, despite the weakening rupiah.

Leigh Murray, Jakarta – Indonesia signed Wednesday the International Monetary Fund letter of intent that outlines key economic reform programs for the government to revamp the economy.

Jakarta – An environmental group demanded a temporary halt to operations of mining company PT Freeport Indonesia following a May 4 accident which resulted in four missing workers.

The chairwoman of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) Emmy Hafild also announced on Monday the organization's plans to sue Freeport on charges of environmental damage.

Daniel Cooney, Jakarta – Indonesia's economy grew slower than expected in the first quarter, leading a senior government official to warn that political instability could set back the country's recovery.

Jakarta – Angry residents have again blocked access to a gold mine in Indonesia's East Kalimantan region, an official said Monday as a row over land compensation threatened closure of the mine.

Jakarta – The theft and smuggling of logs in the country is highly organized and supported by security personnel and some officials, a top government official said.

Secretary-general of the Ministry of Forestry and Plantations Suripto told journalists in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, on Saturday that the thieves equipped themselves with sophisticated communication devices.

Jay Solomon, Jakarta – The rupiah's continuing plunge is exposing rifts inside President Abdurrahman Wahid's government and eroding confidence among many Indonesians in the country's economic prospects.

Grace Nirang, Sukra – Tarjan stands barechested in the middle of his small rice field. Dejected. Already suffering from three years of economic crisis in Indonesia, Tarjan has watched rice prices tumble this season, forced down by too much rain and a flood of cheap imports.

Jakarta – The military takeover in Pakistan because of the failure in democracy there should be a warning to Indonesia, an Indonesian general involved in the reform of the armed forces has said.

Agencies in Jakarta – Indonesian police fired tear-gas yesterday to disperse militant student protesters trying to reach the home of former president Suharto to demand he be taken to court.

Associated Press in Jakarta – Police fired tear gas and warning shots at an angry mob of people in Chinatown on Saturday in a clash that began when officials tried to remove street vendors from the area's crowded sidewalks, authorities said.

Mathew Dearnaley – Indonesia's corruption inquiry into the vast wealth amassed during the Suharto clan's long stranglehold on power reaches deep into New Zealand's heartland.

New Zealand, the United States and Switzerland have been asked to help recover billions of dollars that Indonesia's new Government suspects are salted away around the world.

Jakarta – The rupiah continued falling on Friday, breaking through the 8,500 mark against the US dollar as investors remained concerned over the future of the country's economy and the prospect of a hike in US interest rates.

Jakarta – Police say former Army chief Hartono signed the order for the 1996 attack on the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

Hartono and five other retired generals, including ex-president Soeharto, will soon be summoned for questioning over their alleged roles in the attack, police said yesterday.

Thomas Wagner, Jakarta – About 25 youths held a protest outside the presidential palace on Thursday that appeared to be the first public demonstration by Indonesia's ethnic Chinese minority in many years.

Jakarta – The government of President Abdurrahman Wahid has expressed concern over the increasing number of abortions in Indonesia, having noted that at least 2.3 million women resorted to terminating their pregnancies last year.

Geoffrey Barker – Specially modified RAAF PC3 Orion aircraft are flying electronic spy missions against Indonesia in secret operations that gravely threaten Canberra's efforts to restore relations with Jakarta.

Jakarta – In what is seen here as another blow to the Indonesian justice system, the Attorney General's Office admitted that five state prosecutors are suspected of taking a 12 billion rupiah (S$2.4 million) bribe to conceal evidence.

Jakarta – The Indonesian rupiah dropped sharply in panic selling Friday, breaching the psychological support level of 8,500 against the dollar before strengthening on state bank intervention, foreign exchange dealers said.

Jakarta – The Dharmais Foundation, formerly controlled by ex- president Soeharto, has admitted that it channeled funds to timber tycoon Mohamad "Bob" Hasan's widely diversified Nusamba Group.

Jakarta – After two decades of opposition, the Petisi 50 (Petition 50) group was unrelenting on Tuesday, marking its anniversary with a strong warning that allies of its old foes, the New Order regime, were still threatening democratization.

Jakarta – Indonesian student protestors on Wednesday urged Attorney General Marzuki Darusman to speed up a government probe into the wealth of former president Suharto which has dragged on for almost two years.