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.

Shoeb Kagda, Jakarta – Whichever way one looks at the issue, Indonesia's new leadership is in no-man's land when trying to deal with the massive energy and gas contracts endorsed by the former Suharto government.

Jakarta – Some 600 students grouped in the Indonesian Muslim Student Action Union (KAMMI) protested outside the vice presidential palace on Wednesday, demanding Megawati Soekarnoputri be held responsible for the prolonged sectarian unrest in Maluku.

They accused the Vice President of being sluggish in her attempts to solve the strife which began a year ago.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – How long can the general stay on top? From the Soeharto era, which ended in May 1998, through to the beginning of the Wahid presidency, General Wiranto is the only one of Indonesia's political players to continuously maintain a senior role in the Indonesian Government.

Agencies in Jakarta and Ambon – Muslim students yesterday threatened a holy war against Christians unless the Government stems sectarian clashes in the eastern Maluku islands that have left more than 700 dead in two weeks.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid installed on Wednesday two veteran government critics, who are also close associates of his, as top aides, amid mounting criticism of the effectiveness of his government.

Abdurrahman installed Marsilam Simajuntak as Cabinet secretary and Bondan Gunawan as secretary of government supervision in a brief ceremony at the State Palace.

Jakarta – The country's property sector is predicted to show a healthy growth in 2001 if the economy continues to be on the right track to recovery.

Property observer Panangian Simanjutak said the property sector would grow 4.5% this year and 7% in 2001. Last year the sector still suffer a contraction of 10%.

Jakarta – A local Muslim group has accused an Australian gold mining company of involvement in the Muslim-Christian bloodshed in eastern Indonesia's North Maluku islands, the state Antara news agency said Thursday.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Government's internal auditor has accused former President Soeharto and other government officials of receiving bribes from a consortium run by United States and Japanese companies to allow the construction of a power plant at an inflated cost.

Singapore – A noted Southeast Asian political scientist warned Thursday that Indonesia's military may overthrow the democratically-elected government of President Abdurrahman Wahid if he stumbled on the future of strife-torn Aceh province.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) top brass tend to blame lower-ranking officers for the mayhem in the ravaged territory of East Timor after the August 30 self-determination ballot, a member of the government-sanctioned inquiry team said on Sunday.

David Lamb – After more than 50 years of unchecked power and widespread human rights abuse, the Indonesian military suddenly finds itself humiliated and on the defensive, besieged by a wrathful public demanding accountability for past misdeeds.

Jakarta – The military in Indonesia's Maluku islands, where more than 300 people have died in the past two weeks, has begun seizing weapons and arresting suspects in a fresh bid to pacify warring Muslims and Christians.

"The operation to seize weapons is continuing," Second Private Abidin of the Maluku military command told AFP on Monday from the main city of Ambon.

Jakarta – A year of bloody conflict between Muslims and Christians in Indonesia's Maluku islands has left 1,134 killed, and over 2,300 injured, according to security forces.

Jakarta – At least 265 people have been killed in clashes between Christians and Muslims on Halmahera island in North Maluku over the last three days.

The number of casualties brought the death toll in sporadic communal clashes across the spice islands of Maluku to nearly 330 since the new wave of violence broke out on Sunday, just after a peaceful Christmas.

Jakarta – Just two months after taking over the reins of national leadership, observers and opinion polls are already heaping doubt on the leadership of Abdurrahman Wahid.

Surabaya – A 65-year-old woman became the latest victim of the two-week-old killing spree in the Malang area, which has so far claimed nine lives. Alimah Saniwar was found dead in the wee hours of Wednesday morning at her home in Sumber Runcing village, Pagak district, Malang, some 90 kilometers south of Surabaya.

Makassar – Some 100 protesting students intercepted visiting President Abdurrahman Wahid's entourage on Thursday to demand the government promptly resolve the violence in Ambon.

Jakarta – Indonesia's central bank, Bank Indonesia, said early Saturday that it passed the year date change – Y2K – without any computer glitches.

"We have tested connections with all of our branches all over the country and there wasn't any problem," said Brenda Sutrisno, an official with Bank Indonesia.

Jakarta – Share prices on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) ended the year with a 70% gain, making the bourse one of the world's best performing markets.

According to data compiled by the Indonesian Capital Market Supervisory Agency (Bapepam), the JSX ranked third among the world's best performing markets in 1999 after South Korea's Seoul and Singapore stock exchanges.

Jakarta – Indonesia's trade surplus in November slid 7.8% to $2.35 billion from $2.55 billion in October, raising concerns that it may take some time to revive non-oil exports despite the improved domestic political climate after the October presidential election.

I Made Sentana, Jakarta – Indonesia's inflation rate of 2.01% in December was higher than analyst expectations of a 1.62% rate.

However, the December figure isn't raising concerns that price growth will get out of hand again next year like in 1998 when it soared as high as 77.63%.

Jakarta – Indonesia's economy is predicted to grow by between three and four percent in 2000 in a new expansion phase following two years of political, economic and financial turmoil, an official said Friday.

"Economic growth will reach three to four percent in the year 2000," said the head of the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), Suwito Sugito.

Jakarta – Muslim-Christian violence raged for the third day running in the eastern Indonesian city of Ambon on Tuesday, after claiming at least 33 lives the previous day, residents said.

The sound of gunfire and explosions from grenades and home-made bombs has echoed around the city since dawn, the sources said, adding that a number of buildings were in flames.

Jakarta – Jakarta-based thugs are offering large rewards to hunt down and kill suspected black magic warlocks leading to eight horrific deaths so far, security officials alleged in a report Tuesday.

Jakarta – Six men were killed when police opened fire on hundreds of angry fishermen who stormed and burned 10 fish warehouses in the North Sumatra port of Belawan on Tuesday, reports reaching here said.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government will impose import duties of 30 percent on rice and 25 percent on sugar from January 1, reports said Friday.

Yogita Tahil Ramani, Jakarta – Violence in the capital has known no boundaries this year. With vicious murders, countless armed robberies, bomb blasts and gruesome street justice, the year 1999 can be safely declared a year of crime.

Jakarta – Around 8,000 workers at two Indonesian factories producing Nike shoes went on a violent rampage in protest at dragging negotiations over bonuses, a report said Thursday.

The workers from the PT Astra's Shoe Industry Division in Tanggerang, west of Jakarta, on Wednesday vandalized seven vehicles inside the factory compound and smashed factory windows with stones.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government Thursday released 105 political prisoners, the last still held in the country's jails, Minister of Law and Legislation Yusril Ihza Mahendra said.

"There are practically no more political prisoners and detainees," Mahendra told journalists at the presidential office after announcing the releases.

Reuters in Jakarta – At least 43 people have been killed in bloody gang battles between Christians and Muslims in Indonesia's troubled Spice Islands, ignoring presidential pleas for peace.

More than 170 homes, churches and other buildings had been torched during the bloodshed on Buru island and hundreds of villagers had fled to the police headquarters, officials said.

Jakarta – The Jakarta city administration has rounded up about 2,000 insane people from the streets over the past week and is now holding them at Panti Laras Asylum in Cipayung, East Jakarta.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Rahadi winds in and out of the buses pulling into Pulo Gading, one of Jakarta's main bus stations. As soon as the buses are emptied of passengers, he jumps on and starts sweeping and mopping the rubbish-strewn floor and seats.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – The political elite is using religion to incite conflicts to suit its own ends, according to Indonesia's Religious Affairs Minister Tolchah Hasan.

He said incidents such as last week's burning of a Christian compound might be part of a wider pattern, loosely described as "bringing Ambon to Jakarta".

Jakarta – Teachers at elementary and junior high schools in remote areas of Central Sulawesi province say they are so badly paid they cannot afford staple foods amid these tough economic times.