Jakarta – Despite widespread public disproval, the city administration has apparently bowed to councillors demands and allocated them Rp 40.43 billion (US$4.5 million) of the 2000 City Budget to buy land and cars.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – The South Jakarta Court's decision yesterday to close the fraud case against former president Suharto poses one of the gravest challenges yet to the Government of President Abdurrahman Wahid, and is unlikely to provide closure for many Indonesians.

Jakarta – In stunning TV footage, an Indonesian police officer aimed his grenade launcher into the face of a cowering protester and fired point-blank.

The protester, indignant at a court's dismissal of corruption charges against former President Suharto, was one of hundreds who had poured into rain-swept streets on Thursday.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – An Indonesian court yesterday dismissed corruption charges against former president Soeharto as the Government intensified its confrontation with his family and angry protesters clashed with police on the streets.

Jakarta – The South Jakarta District Court dropped on Thursday multimillion-dollar graft charges against former president Soeharto after hearing medical arguments from an independent team of doctors that he was mentally and physically unfit to stand trial.

Jakarta – City authorities say they are fully prepared for violent protests, strikes and shortages when fuel prices are raised on Sunday.

The authorities said on Thursday 200 buses were on standby should bus drivers in the capital go on strike to protest the 12 percent fuel price hike.

Jakarta – Five people were shot dead by police who were attempting to fend off a mob attacking a police station in the East Java town of Bondowoso, National Police chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro said on Thursday.

Marianne Kearney Jakarta – Malam Minggu or Saturday night is always busy in the glass and granite shopping centres that serve as Jakarta's social hubs.

Dini Djalal, Jakarta – Tragedy is routine for Munir, Indonesia's foremost human-rights advocate. But the early September day when he learned of the death of Jafar Siddique Hamzah was especially grim. The body of the 36-year-old human-rights worker, an American citizen, was among five found in a ravine near Medan, trussed and bearing the marks of torture.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Prosecutors were deciding yesterday whether to arrest the youngest son of former president Suharto after a surprise ruling by the Supreme Court sentencing him to 18 months' jail on graft charges. Lawyers for Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra said they were planning an appeal against the decision, which reversed a lower court acquittal last October.

Jakarta – The economic crisis is still gripping the country, with the number of poor families rising from 6.9 million last year to 7.7 families this year, according to the results of a new survey. The number of poor families make up over 16 percent of the estimated total number of families in the country.

Jakarta – At least 32 Christians were killed in a day-long attack by Muslims on an outlying village in Ambon, the capital of Indonesia's Maluku islands, a church worker said yesterday.

Padang – As many as 127 families from Aceh, who had to leave the restive town for security reasons, are facing uncertainty in West Sumatra. The families, supposed to be resettled in the Silaut VI resettlement area in the Pesisir Selatan regency, have yet to be properly handled. The local administration seems to be unprepared to receive them.

Jakarta – Six young Christians said Thursday they spent a sleepless night in the grounds of the Swiss embassy after jumping into the mission to highlight the sectarian conflict in the Maluku islands.

Jakarta – Security authorities confiscated hundreds of rounds of ammunition, explosive materials and several M-16 rifles from a ship which was attempting to dock at East Halmahera in the North Maluku province. The weapons and ammunition were seized from the motor boat Albatim which had traveled from Bitung in North Sulawesi to the Maba district, the capital of Central Halmahera.

Jakarta – The leader of a youth group linked to the Indonesian military has been detained for allegedly instigating and funding an attack on a United States consulate office to protest against US involvement in Timor.

Jakarta – Two activists testified in a pre-trial hearing on Tuesday that they saw the police using force to expel four of their colleagues, who were on a hunger strike, from the People's Consultative Assembly complex last month.

Preparing the draft 2001 state budget that will be unveiled to the House of Representatives next week should be one of the most daunting jobs for the one month-old Cabinet, notably its economic team.

Budi Sugiharto/FW, Surabaya – Thousands farmers from all over East Javanese regional districts poured on to the streets in Surabaya, capital city of East Java province. They have been holding a rally on Wednesday demanding the East Java regional government to pay more attention to their declining standard of living.

Agencies in Jakarta – Two soldiers among 28 suspects arrested over a spate of bombings in the capital planted the explosives at the Jakarta Stock Exchange which killed 15 people, police said yesterday. But police said they were still looking for the mastermind behind the blasts.

Ali Kotarumalos, Jakarta – A bomb exploded outside the office of a prominent Indonesian human rights group Wednesday, just hours before the corruption trial of ex-dictator Suharto was set to resume. There were no injuries in bombing, the latest in series of blasts that have terrorized Jakarta, and damage was minimal.

MMI Ahyani/GB, Bandung – Thousands of peasants have descended on the provincial parliament in Bandung, the capital of West Java. They joined hundreds of textile workers occupying the building. The peasants protested their fate at the hands of corrupt government officials and institutions which have impoverished them and demanded the parliament be disbursed.

Jakarta – At least nine people were killed and 15 others injured in an attack by Muslims Tuesday on a Christian village in Ambon, the capital of Indonesia's restive Maluku islands, a report and church worker said.

Ambon – A fresh community clash broke out in Ambon Island on Monday morning when residents from Tial and Tulehu villages attacked nearby Suli village, injuring at least five residents and destroying dozens of houses, an official said.

Makassar – Around 200 students took to the streets here on Monday protesting the fuel price hike, effective next month. The students, from the Student Movement for People, said the policy was not popular and would "kill the people with low incomes." The rally started at 10am local time, congesting the traffic on Jl. Urip Sumohardjo thoroughfare.

Lukmanul Hakim/Hendra, Jakarta – On 24 September 1999, five students were shot dead in the Semanggi district of the Indonesian capital Jakarta by the military while protesting the proposed implementation of special military powers.

Terry Mccarthy, Jakarta – Saludin, a newly hired driver for Coca-Cola in Jakarta, was waiting in his car in the underground parking lot of Jakarta's stock exchange when a bomb exploded last Wednesday.

Khairul Ikhwan D/BI & GB, Jakarta – The notorious 'Petrus' killings of the 1980s, when possibly thousands of underworld figures were eliminated by the security forces under orders from former president Suharto, might seem like a distant memory in the new democratic Indonesia. Not so.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – As wary residents brace themselves for more surprise attacks after the bombing of the Jakarta Stock Exchange building, businesses offering security-related products have moved to cash in on the moment.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid said yesterday he had sacked the national police chief because the latter had refused to arrest a son of former president Suharto and a Muslim leader he had linked to the recent bomb attacks in Jakarta.

Jakarta – A full-scale brawl, involving more than a thousand students from the Christian University of Indonesia (UKI) and the University of Bung Karno (UBK), left scores of people injured in the capital.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Parliament plans to investigate allegations of a 189-billion-rupiah (S$38 million) corruption scandal at a foundation run by the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad), although the allegation has been dismissed.

Jakarta – Indonesia's Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman said the country's legal system is in desperate need of a complete overhaul in order to restore confidence in the judiciary.

Penny Crisp and Dewi Loveard, Jakarta – It was, said President Abdurrahman Wahid, an incident designed to embarrass him.

Ambon – At least 10 people were killed when fighting between Muslims and Christians erupted Friday in the eastern Indonesian island of Saparua, a Muslim official said.

Thamrin Elly, the coordinator of the Muslim task force, said dozens of other people were also injured in the fighting that broke out after Friday prayers.

Jakarta – Two elderly Indonesian ex-servicemen have been jailed for printing 2.2 million dollars worth of fake bills, despite pleading the army chief had ordered them to make the money to pay Timorese militiamen, reports said Friday. A Jakarta district court judge Thursday jailed Ismail Putra and Eddy Kereh for seven and four years respectively, the Jakarta Post said.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's tycoons are privately selling millions of dollars worth of assets to their foreign partners, but government officials who are just becoming aware of the trend want to clamp down on such deals.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government is to open its railways sector to outside capital, allowing foreign investors to hold up to 95 percent stakes in new rail lines, a report said Thursday.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid yesterday dismissed a second senior general as his government raised the ante to try and solve the growing violence in Indonesia.

John McBeth, Jakarta and Michael Vatikiotis, Washington – It was a humiliating moment for Abdurrahman Wahid.

Indonesia, the fourth most populous country in the world and a cornerstone of security and economic development in Southeast Asia, is a continuing source of international concern amid worries that President Abdurrahman Wahid is not in control.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – The trial of former president Suharto's golfing partner, Mohammad "Bob" Hasan, opened yesterday but was adjourned for a week after prosecutors outlined corruption charges against him. The prosecution accused Hasan of "enriching himself" at the state's expense. If found guilty, he faces up to 20 years' jail.

Suwardjono/Fitri & GB, Jakarta – In Indonesia, the appearance of leaked documents outlining high-level plots to promote the interests of certain groups is becoming a regular feature of the political wranglings of the President and his enemies.

Sydney – Leading figures in the Indonesian Government have said some extraordinary things about events on both sides of the Timor border over the years, but nothing to match recent comments by the new Defence Minister, Mr Mahfud.

Simon Butler – Nike is the world market leader in sports shoes. Its profits amounted to US$965 million in 1999. This huge figure in part flows from the sales generated from the vast volume of advertising Nike subjects the planet to. But mostly, Nike's profit margins are huge because it thoroughly exploits its workers.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – An Indonesian Army auditing team has cleared a general of corruption allegations after it concluded an investigation that sceptics suspect is a mere cover-up.

Lindsay Murdoch – Probably more than any other country Indonesia needs international help as it undergoes a historic and difficult transition from dictatorship to democracy. But its leaders are showing deep resentment to outside criticism, particularly from Western countries, and a propensity to blame others when the Government falters.

Jakarta – Two people died and 19 others were wounded on Tuesday when a ferry carrying 100 Christians was attacked in the bay of Indonesia's strife-torn city of Ambon, hospital staff and a report said. The two died of gunshot wounds, a duty anesthetist at the intensive care unit of the state Haulussy hospital told AFP.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government said Tuesday it plans to extend the repayment period for millions of dollars in emergency liquidity extended to banks in 1998 if the bank owners inject additional assets and offer personal guarantees.

Jakarta – Hundreds of people of different professions rallied at the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) building on Monday, condemning last week's bomb attack at the building which left at least 11 dead and dozens injured.