Jakarta – The key turning point yesterday for seasoned observers was not so much the applause President Abdurrahman Wahid received from legislators for his two apologies, but the interjections from the floor even before he spoke.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The majority of Indonesia's legislators indicated yesterday that they would give President Abdurrahman Wahid more time to prove his ability to govern the trouble-ridden country. But they remained critical of the President's progress report in his long-awaited "state of the union address" at the national assembly.

Vaudine England – The celebration was traditional, but Abdurrahman Wahid's 60th birthday party at the Cipanas presidential palace was not, perhaps, as reflective as it should have been.

Well-known Toko Buku Wali Songo, a bookstore on Jalan Kwitang in central Jakarta, is piled to the ceiling with religious books. From the Quran and its translations to works on the Syariah (Islamic laws) and so forth, apart from the Islamic peripherals such as the sejadah (praying mat) and framed Quranic verses.

Simon Mann, London – A British political consultant, hired to help lift the deteriorating public image of President Abdurrahman Wahid of Indonesia, has quit after his methods came under scrutiny.

Jakarta – Embattled Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid's long-awaited accountability speech will be the main order of business on Monday at the country's top legislature, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). Following are details of the 700- seat MPR, which will convene from August 7-18 at a cost of 25 billion rupiah ($2.9 million):

Jay Solomon, Jakarta – The Indonesian state is facing $16 billion in potential losses due to the misuse of emergency loans extended to a number of prominent business groups during this nation's financial crisis, a report by the government's Supreme Audit Agency said.

Washington – The United States has reaffirmed its position that rooting out graft is key to economic growth following Jakarta's move to charge former president Suharto with corruption.

Jakarta – Indonesia's national assembly will Monday open its first annual session as analysts dismiss the meeting as unnecessary and its agenda as too ambitious.

Jakarta – More than 2,000 Christians fleeing attacks by Muslim fighters in their village have been evacuated from mountainous jungle in eastern Indonesia's Maluku islands.

Jakarta – Forced to flee their homes by rampaging Muslim militants, hundreds of Christian refugees sheltering in remote mountains in the Maluku islands are facing starvation, international aid workers said Saturday.

Don Greenlees, Jakarta – Jaya Suprana is the rotund and very jolly host of a talk show on an Indonesian television channel owned by ex-president Suharto's eldest daughter, Siti Hardiyanti "Tutut" Rukmana.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Prosecutors say they will be ready to deliver a detailed indictment of former president Suharto on corruption charges in a Jakarta courtroom on Monday. But independent corruption investigators say the legal process is a sham.

Jakarta – More than 95 percent of the 144.5 trillion rupiah (16.8 billion dollars) of central bank liquidity credits extended to Indonesian institutions between 1997-1999 were misused, press reports said Saturday.

Jakarta – The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) announced here on Friday a higher than expected growth rate in the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter but business analysts warned that the fragile condition in the political field could drag down the upward trend in the economy.

Jakarta – A combination of incompetence and legacies from past regimes are inhibiting the government from upholding the law and protecting human rights, a watchdog chairman said on Thursday.

Jose Manuel Tesoro, Jakarta – There can often be more than one Abdurrahman Wahid. There is Wahid the brave idealist, whose belief in political reconciliation rivals his convictions on religious freedom. There is Wahid the cunning strategist, for whom there is no difference between allies and rivals.

Dewi Loveard, Jakarta – Shortly before Gus Dur (as President Abdurrahman Wahid is popularly known) was to face parliament in the interpellation session, he made an unexpected announcement to his cabinet: His partner, Megawati Sukarnoputri, would read his response to the parliamentarians' questions about the sacking of former ministers Laksamana Sukardi and Jusuf Kalla.

Tom Wright, Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid will likely survive a grilling by the nation's highest legislative body next week, but he will need to make major changes to his leadership style to avoid impeachment later this year, analysts say.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Significant though the corruption charges filed yesterday against former president Suharto are, his forthcoming trial barely scratches the surface of the bundle of crimes most Indonesians believe he committed.

Dikhy Sasra/SWA, Jakarta – Approaching the Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly on 7-18 August 2000, demonstrations are becoming more frequent. The Presidential Office, located on Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara, Central Jakarta, was today the target of demonstrators from the National League of Democratic Students (LMND).

The need for military support by the government and internal rivalry led to the latest military reshuffle, says military analyst Kusnanto Anggoro of the Jakarta-based Centre of Strategic and International Studies.

John McBeth, Jakarta – The sight of an elected president defying members of parliament who helped put him in office is hardly an advertisement for democracy.

Roderick Bowen, Palembang – The vegetation fires along the Riau – North Sumatra border that started on July 7 and sent smoke across the Straits of Malacca until July 20 should have been no surprise to anybody.

The decision announced today by the Indonesian government that Suharto, the former dictator, will go on trial later this month on charges of corruption is a totally inadequate response to the horrendous crimes for which he was responsible.

Jakarta – So who benefited from Tuesday's Yogyakarta meeting of the Big Four? Birthday boy Sultan Hamengkubuwono certainly did, catapulting himself onto centre stage as a unifier heads above the squabbling politicians, the man who might just have saved a presidency and so be a suitable alternative.

Bandung – After 13 years, the struggle of 800 farmers in Cimacan village, Cianjur regency, brings result. The 34-hectare land that so far had been captured by PT Bandung Asri Mulya (BAM) and converted into a golf field was recaptured.

L Hakim, I Shalihin/SWA & AH, Jakarta – Although former president Suharto's case file has been handed over to the Public Prosecutor, demonstrators from infamous City Forum (Forkot) , LMND, City Network (Jarkot) and Karat groups are not satisfied. Today they marched to Suharto's residence on the famous Cendana Street, demanding Suharto be put on trial right away.

Ambon – Explosions erupted and gunshots rang out again in ravaged Ambon city on Wednesday, leaving at least 11 people injured. Heavily armed rioters raided the areas of Trikora, Pohon Pule, Diponegoro and Paradise Tengah in downtown Ambon at about 11am, causing panic among passersby, motorists and local residents.

Jakarta – Indonesia's National Logistics Agency (Bulog) has said that, as rice stocks were still plentiful, there was no need to sign any more contracts to import rice this year.

Vaudine England, Yogyakarta – Indonesia's top leaders chose statesmanship over party politics yesterday when they answered the Sultan of Yogyakarta's call to meet and settle their differences.

Jakarta – Indonesia plans to develop two million hectares of new paddy fields outside Java to secure rice supplies for the growing population.

Max Lane - Protest actions took place in several Indonesian cities on July 27 to commemorate the 1996 attacks on the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) and the crackdown on the People's Democratic Party (PRD) that followed.

Paul Dillon, Ambon – The detention of five members of Indonesia's notorious Kopassus (Special Forces) in the Maluku islands has raised fears the Australian-trained commandos are engaging in an East Timor-style dirty tricks campaign.

Pip Hinman – It took the July 24 murder of Leonard Manning, a New Zealand United Nations soldier in East Timor, to remind the world that the Indonesian military hasn't changed its spots. But just four days earlier, Indonesia's defence minister Juwono Sudarsono announced that Australia had offered to resume training Indonesian military (TNI) personnel.

Jakarta – Housewives, motorists and taxi drivers hailed on Tuesday the Central Jakarta District Court's ruling allowing becak (three-wheeled pedicabs) to operate in the capital.

Jakarta – Motorists in and around the capital are probably familiar with the sight of teenage boys and young men chasing after passing fuel trucks, opening the valves on the back of the vehicles, collecting drops of fuel in small buckets and scattering.

Chris McCall, Jakarta – The military yesterday booted its most outspoken reformist general out of the command of the elite Kostrad strategic reserve, a post he had occupied for just four months.

Kafil Yamin, Bandung – A good soldier knows what he is supposed to give as a present to his commander when he returns from duty in the jungle. Not fresh fruit or live fish, but a rare species of monkey, bird or deer.

Hamish McDonald, Jakarta – The sudden transfer of a leading reformist general out of the Indonesian Army's most important combat command threatens a new chill in Jakarta's relations with Western governments, and puts off any immediate prospect of a resumption in military aid.

Jakarta – The destruction of Tanjung Puting National Park in Central Kalimantan shows no sign of stopping, leaving its few remaining orangutans – Asia's only great ape – on a desperate plight, environmentalists have warned.

Jakarta – They may have become an annual ritual, but Indonesia's forest fires are by no means welcome events in this country – as well as in neighbouring nations that often ended up choking in the resulting thick smoke.

Jakarta – Over 1,000 people crammed into the Central Jakarta District Courthouse and joyfully screamed after the judges ruled in favor of becak (pedicab) drivers, declaring unlawful the Jakarta governor's ban on pedicabs in the capital.

Jakarta – State-owned oil and gas corporation Pertamina has dismissed 19,000 employees in a bid to reduce inefficiency.

Pertamina President Director Baihaqi Hakim told the press at the Finance Ministry here yesterday that the company now has 27,000 employees, down from a previous total of 46,000.

Jakarta – Muslim assailants killed at least 23 Christians fleeing from an attack on their village into the jungles of the Indonesian island of Ambon, a Christian activist said Tuesday. The dead were among some 4,000 people who had fled the village in fear of their lives, he said.

Yogyakarta – Five top Indonesian political figures pledged here on Tuesday to set aside their differences and work together to safeguard the country's territorial integrity and economic recovery.

Yogyakarta – More than 1,000 farmers flocked the campus of Gadjah Mada University here on Saturday to ask Yogyakarta King Sultan Hamengkubuwono X to give them royal land in order to improve their lives.

Manado – Over half of the country's legislators, many ministers, generals and other high-ranking government officials were evading tax payments, Director General of Tax Machfud Sidik said.

Jakarta – Indonesian Defence Forces (TNI) spokesman Vice Marshall Graito Usodo yesterday said that TNI is set to announce a reshuffle of several senior officers on Monday, including the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) chief Lieut. Gen. Agus Wirahadikusumah.

Jakarta – "I am really ashamed every time my counterparts from Malaysia and Singapore call me to complain about the haze coming from Sumatra," State Minister of Environment Sony Keraf said in an interview with The Jakarta Post recently.