Richard Galpin, Jakarta – Police in the Indonesian capital Jakarta have detained more than 100 men, some of them armed, as they tried to enter the city from the Moluccan Islands and West Timor.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid expects his first Budget, which tries to meet a multitude of conflicting economic challenges, to return Indonesia to pre-crisis growth levels of 6-7 percent within five years.

Associated Pressm, Washington – The United States gave Indonesia's fledgling democracy a vote of confidence on Thursday by substantially increasing aid to the world's fourth most populous nation.

By Dewi Loveard, Jakarta – A local conflict rooted in long- simmering religious enmity. That is how Jakarta views the Muslim-Christian fighting in Ambon and other parts of the Maluku island chain. Scene of bitter sectarian strife over the past year, the Malukus have seen a fresh outbreak of violence in recent weeks.

Jakarta – Indonesia's new Government unveiled its first Budget yesterday with pledges to reform the bankrupt banking sector. But it shied from granting the country's independence- minded regions more control over their finances.

Vaudine England in Jakarta and Agencies in Mataram – Sporadic looting and attacks on ethnic Chinese and Christians continued for a fourth day on the tourist island of Lombok yesterday.

But by afternoon a measure of calm had been restored by the hundreds of troops and police rushed to the island east of Bali. Tourists on Lombok continued to flee, however.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Indonesia's Government fears that provocateurs linked to elements of the military and the regime of the corrupt former president Soeharto have begun a campaign to provoke religious and separatist violence across the archipelago.

John Aglionby, Jakarta – The foreign office minister John Battle yesterday defended the resumption of British arms sales to Indonesia in spite of the rapidly escalating social unrest, a divided military and warnings from other countries.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government on Thursday asked parliament to approve a 10.5 percent rise in overall defence and security expenditure, but a 71.9 percent cut in development spending for the armed forces.

Margot Cohen, Jakarta – It was a gut-wrenching evening for the Defenders of Islam.

Singapore – About 100 armed protestors have withdrawn from a power plant they illegally occupied at a Singapore-managed industrial park on Indonesia's Bintan island as part of a truce over land compensation claims, officials said Thursday.

Since the coming to power of Indonesia's brutal New Order regime in 1965, discussion and dissemination of Marxist ideas has been banned in Indonesia. However, on November 20, 200 students and activists gathered at the Bandung Institute of Technology campus for a seminar on the ideas of Karl Marx and their relevance in Indonesia.

Jakarta – A team promoting reconciliation in the strife-torn Maluku islands has named four men suspected of stirring up sectarian violence, and linked former president Soeharto and ex- defence chief General Wiranto to the clashes.

Jonathan Thatcher, Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid on Wednesday backed his controversial former top general Wiranto, but said he would have to step down if found guilty of human rights abuses in East Timor.

Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) top brass lashed out at rumors of a coup attempt by the armed forces, saying such a move was contradictory to TNI culture.

TNI Chief of Territorial Affairs, Lt. Gen. Agus Widjojo, said after addressing a seminar on nationalism here that the country's five decade history has never seen a military plan to topple the government.

Vaudine England in Makassar, South Sulawesi and Agencies – Indonesia's leading reformist soldier and the regional commander for Sulawesi, Major-General Agus Wirahadikusumah, wants a neutral peacekeeping force to be deployed in the neighbouring Maluku Islands.

Makassar – A fierce clash between demonstrators, armed with swords and wooden bats, and military troops erupted at about 9pm local time in Makassar on Tuesday evening.

Jakarta – The government has officially revoked Presidential Instruction No. 41/1967, which restricted the observance of Chinese religious practices and traditions.

Ministry of Home Affairs spokesman Herman Ibrahim said on Tuesday that Presidential Decree No. 6/2000 was issued on Monday to revoke the 33-year- old instruction.

Max Lane – For the first time since 1974, a public split has emerged within the Indonesian army's top generals over how best to preserve the political authority of the Indonesian armed forces (TNI). The split has been provoked by the inquiry, launched by the Indonesian National Commission for Human Rights, into the events in East Timor that followed the August 30 referendum.

Jakarta – On Monday, the government announced a planned revision to the 1999 election law which would include dissolving the present General Elections Commission (KPU).

Washington – Indonesia's struggle for democracy is facing tough challenges and must be supported from the outside, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Tuesday.

Andrew Marshall, Jakarta – Indonesia's powerful bank restructuring agency went on the offensive on Tuesday in the battle over control of the country's largest automaker, Astra International, launching a bid to change the firm's management.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has said he plans to continue replacing senior government and military officials in an effort to wipe out corruption and strengthen professionalism.

Terry McCarthy – On the streets of Ambon, people describe what's happening in their homeland as perang – war.

Jakarta – The marginalization of Christians and a power struggle among local politicians are behind bloody year-long clashes in Indonesia's Maluku islands, analysts say.

Jakarta – The government will intensify taxation efforts and reduce new foreign borrowing and investment spending to control the budget deficit for the 2000 fiscal year at a maximum of 5 percent of the gross domestic product, finance minister Bambang Sudibyo said on Friday.

Jakarta – In the wake of mounting criticism for its alleged indifference, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas Ham) set up on Friday a commission to investigate atrocities in Maluku and North Maluku.

Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) claims to have uncovered a plot to provoke violence in Ambon and clashes in other parts of the Maluku province, where thousands have been killed and injured in a year of religious rioting.

Vaudine England – Throughout the telling of their individual stories of fighting and displacement, the Christian refugees now in Bitung, North Sulawesi, are clear on one point – the root of each quarrel which became a killing spree was not religion but ethnic and economic competition.

Jakarta – The government decision to start a fresh investigation into alleged widespread sexual abuse during the May 1998 riot received mixed reactions from female activists concerning the relevance of the inquiry.

New York – The United States warned Indonesia's military on Friday not to overthrow the country's new president and to cooperate with national and UN investigations into human rights abuses in East Timor.

Reuters, Tokyo – Indonesia faces a bank-sector meltdown and a political break-up that could trigger a financial crisis, according to a senior official of the Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC).

Michael Richardson, Singapore – Like many other institutions from the rule of former President Suharto of Indonesia, the headquarters of the central bank in Jakarta has an impressive facade.

Reuters in Jakarta – Indonesia's military said on Friday it would send hundreds of crack troops to the bloodied Malukus to help quell widespread violence between Muslims and Christians.

Sangwon Suh and Tom McCawley, Jakarta – Abdurrahman Wahid must have the toughest job on the planet. As if governing the fourth-most populous nation in the world isn't challenging enough, Indonesia's president has inherited a host of problematic legacies, each of which has the potential to derail a government that is not even 100 days old.

Severin Carrell – Tony Blair is to resume the sale of Hawk jets and other arms to Indonesia by lifting a Europe-wide embargo imposed during the East Timor crisis. Whitehall sources say the Prime Minister and Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary, are expected to vote to allow renewed arms sales to Indonesia at a Council of Ministers meeting in Brussels next week.

Daniel Cooney, Jakarta – Indonesia's president ordered a major shake-up of the military and bureaucracy Thursday, replacing an armed forces' spokesman who had challenged his authority and appointing a new head of military intelligence.

The bureaucratic shake-up in Jakarta included the firing of the chief spokesman for the armed forces, Maj. Gen. Sudradjat.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid yesterday sacked a key economic official over the snail-like pace of banking reform, which is becoming a drag on economic recovery.

Rin Hindryati – Indonesian ad agencies say their business is heating up, thanks to improving consumer demand and a strong holiday season. And foreign multinationals are among the big spenders.

Community and business leaders on the Indonesian island of Bali have asked their local parliament to seek greater autonomy within Indonesia.

The Indonesian Observer newspaper said the proposal, citing Bali's religion and its status as a tourist magnet, was made at a meeting of the leaders of the local parliament's representative faction.

Michael Shari, Jakarta – Indonesia is preparing to take stern measures to regulate its debt-plagued financial system. The new government of President Abdurrahman Wahid plans to audit large military expenditures, punish violators of toughened regulations, and raise capital targets for state banks, according to a confidential government document obtained by Business Week Online.

Peter Symonds – Continued intense fighting between Christian and Muslim groups in the Indonesian provinces of Maluku and North Maluku is fueling religious antagonisms in other parts of the archipelago and threatens to open up divisions within the fragile "national unity" government of President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Hundreds of charred and rotting Muslim corpses are being bulldozed into mass graves on the North Maluku island of Halmahera, say aid workers, police and military sources. "It is difficult to count the bodies ... they were torched and burnt by unidentified people," said Mursal Amal Tomagola of Medical Emergency, a Muslim aid group.

Agence France Presse, Jakarta – The central bank may have violated procedures relating to US$11 billion worth of emergency liquidity for debt-ridden banks during the Asian financial crisis, according to an audit report.

Jakarta – The office of Indonesia's Minister for State Enterprises said fertiliser company PT Pupuk Kaltim, coal mining company PT Bukit Asam and plantation operators PTPN II and IV are among the state companies to be privatized this year.

Marianne Kearney – A week after the East Timorese voted overwhelmingly for independence and hundreds of journalists and observers fled, one thing was obvious. The violence engulfing this half-island wasn't just the work of a ragtag group of pro- Indonesian militia, but rather reflected a highly organized campaign.

Chris McCall, Jakarta – Mounting violence between Christians and Moslems in Indonesia's eastern spice islands threatens to set off a chain of religious unrest nationwide unless handled with utmost urgency.

But the shaky government in Jakarta seems unable to take the firm steps needed to stop the violence, political analysts say.

Nancy-Amelia Collins and Agencies in Jakarta – Tens of thousands of Muslims demonstrated in Jakarta yesterday to demand a holy war against Christians in the violence-torn Maluku Islands.

Retno Heriwati, Sumberkerto – Deep in the remote jungles of Indonesia's East Java a mysterious spate of ninja-style murders has prompted a local Moslem group to take the law into its own hands.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – Mr Soeharto's son-in-law and former army general Mr Prabowo Subianto has returned to Indonesia openly for the first time since he left Indonesia in disgrace in 1998.