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.

Julia Perkins, Jakarta – After marching with thousands of other workers on Parliament House here on May 1, 1500 workers from the Indian-owned textile company Texmaco camped outside overnight to protest against their treatment by their employer and demand higher wages.

In the wake of Labor leader Kim Beazley's meeting last week in Jakarta with Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid and PM John Howard's response to Wahid's announcement on April 27 that he was postponing his May visit to Australia, media commentators have claimed that there is a major policy difference between Beazley and Howard over Australia's "relationship" with Indonesia.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – The discredited former special forces commander, Prabowo Subianto, has announced in Jakarta that his almost two-year exile in Jordan is over and that he is transferring his commercial activities back to Indonesia.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) urged politicians and the government on Tuesday to enhance political stability by not exaggerating political differences.

Jakarta – Virtually no new money has entered the forestry and plantation sectors the past two years because potential investors have been frightened off, an executive said on Tuesday.

Thousands of people protested in Indonesia on April 1 against policies demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange for loans – these include cuts to subsides on fuel, public transport, electricity and education. An increase in prices on basic needs will drastically affect the lives of millions of poor Indonesian people.

Budiman Sujatmiko, chairperson of Indonesia's People's Democratic Party (PRD), has been active in the movement for democracy in his country since 1988, when he was a student at Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University.

Ambon – Up to 200 members of the Laskar Jihad (Jihad Force) Muslim group have entered riot-torn Ambon from Namlea Port on neighboring Buru island, police said. Maluku Police spokesman Maj. Jakriel Phillip said on Monday that police and intelligence officers have been deployed to monitor the group's activities.

Jakarta – Despite being more democratically elected and rambunctious in its work, the current legislature is seen to be less qualified and productive than previous ones, a senior observer and politician has said.

Jakarta – A gold mining firm has started vacating its mine in Indonesia's East Kalimantan following a three-week blockade by residents angered over land compensation issues, a mine official said Tuesday.

Jakarta – An Indonesian newspaper has agreed to run a front- page apology for seven days and build a mosque following protests over an article which angered a Muslim group, a journalist and a report said yesterday.

Jakarta – Indonesia's economic growth this year should easily meet official forecasts of between three and four percent, the government said in the latest revised letter of intent to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Bandung – Continuing worker protests may prompt at least 20 foreign manufacturing companies to relocate outside Indonesia, the Indonesian Business Council says.

Council chairman Sofyan Wanandi said the companies, mostly owned by South Korean investors, included 13 firms operating in Jakarta and its surrounding areas and seven in Karawang, West Java.

Jakarta – The Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Military have agreed to work together to create a conducive and safe environment for businesses operating in the country, according to Minister of Industry and Trade Luhut Pandjaitan.

Jakarta – Once powerful generals are facing inquiries into various crimes. Munir, co-founder and advisory board member of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) shares his reasons for pessimism with The Jakarta Post. An excerpt of Thursday's interview follows:

Bogor – A group of 100 masked-men brandishing sharp weapons and wooden sticks raided and burned nine dimly lit kiosks and a discotheque at Kampung Kemang and Kampung Kirey at noon Sunday.

Warren Caragata, Jakarta – Can the country's grocers fight off foreign giants? The new Carrefour supermarket on Jalan Sudirman, Jakarta's busy main thoroughfare, may look like the French hypermarches in Paris or Marseille: food on one side; electronics, books, and clothing near the door. But the resemblance ends there. The deli carries no goose-liver pate or Camembert.

Jakarta – The first wave of hardline Muslim jihad fighters arrived in Indonesia's bloodied Spice Islands yesterday with the army saying it was powerless to stop them.

Jakarta – Two retired generals separately testified before National Police investigators on Thursday and Friday that the country's former "political patron" was behind the July 27, 1996, violence.

Surabaya – Police at Indonesia's second biggest port of Surabaya yesterday allowed hundreds of hardline Muslim jihad fighters to board a commercial ship sailing to the strife-torn spice islands or Maluku.

Jakarta – The future of post-Suharto Indonesia hinges on how the nation handles its military, according to a report by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) released Thursday.

Wellington – Foreign Minister Phil Goff Friday sent Jakarta a list of assets held by former Indonesian president Suharto and his family in New Zealand. The list was sent to Indonesia's Attorney General Marzuki Darusman and included a multi-million dollar alpine lodge, Lilybank Station.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – For five days this week Indonesia's media was in hot pursuit of the story that President Abdurrahman Wahid planned to retire on his 60th birthday in September this year.

Jose Manuel Tesoro, Jakarta – On April 20, in a house on Irian Street in Jakarta's residential district of Menteng, two top Indonesian leaders broke fast together.

Jakarta – The rupiah is undervalued due to lingering volatility on the Indonesian political front, according to an executive of a foreign hedge fund.

"Theoretically the rupiah is still undervalued. It should range between Rp 6,500 and Rp 7,000 [against the dollar]," Calvin Y. L. Ho, senior portfolio manager at Citicorp Investment Bank Ltd. of Singapore, said on Wednesday.

Jakarta – Indonesia will more than double monthly allowances for impoverished state teachers, Finance Minister Bambang Sudibyo said yesterday, but rejected their demands for a 300-per-cent wage hike.

Jakarta – Former vice president Gen. (ret) Try Sutrisno and former armed forces commander Gen. (ret) L.B. Moerdani were questioned on Wednesday over their roles in a 1984 shooting in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, that left at least 40 people dead.

Lindsay Murdoch and Tony Wright Jakarta and Jerusalem – Opposition Leader Kim Beazley has urged that Australia's defence forces resume cooperation with Indonesia's military just six months after the country's soldiers were involved in widespread violence and destruction in East Timor.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – With little fanfare, President Abdurrahman Wahid's Government has so far managed to forestall efforts by radical Muslim groups to send a "jihad" fighting force to the Maluku Islands.

Indonesian legislators have "doubled" their own pay despite protests from trade unionists and student organisations. Local media reports say the average monthly wage of the 500 members of the House of Representatives is now about US$1,200. This came after the Legislature voted to approve the bill last month and the pay hikes took effect on 1 April.

Helen Jarvis, Jakarta – April 15 marked the first anniversary of the establishment of an extraordinary organisation, the Indonesian Institute for the Study of 1965-1966 Massacre (YPKP).

Jakarta – The re-election of Yusril Ihza Mahendra as Crescent Star Party (PBB) chairman has brought about a split within the party. Sixteen senior members said they would reject the results of the congress and hold a separate special congress of their own.

Jakarta – Workers across the country rallied in observance of International Labor Day on Monday to voice their demands, including a 100 percent pay increase. At least 1,500 workers from various organizations grouped under the National Front Struggle for Indonesian Workers (FNPBI) held a demonstration at the House of Representatives to air their demands.

Jakarta – A violent clash on Monday between student protesters and police in Medan, North Sumatra, claimed the life of at least two students and injured 17 others.

Both victims were reportedly shot in the neck. The dead were identified as Kelvin Nababan and Rikardo, both economy faculty students from Nomensen Christian University.