Jakarta/Sidoarjo – House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Soetardjo Soerdjogoeritno was criticized Wednesday by fellow lawmakers for reversing a decision to question the government on the mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java.

Agnes Winarti, Jakarta – Dozens of people with tense faces and a set of documents in their hands on Wednesday huddled in front of a healthcare counter for the poor (Askeskin), at state-owned Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Central Jakarta.

Agnes Winarti – While other provinces have taken advantage of the health care system managed by state-owned insurance firm PT Askes (Askeskin), the Jakarta administration has chosen to run its own.

Mustafa Silalahi, Jakarta – Based on data from the Metro Jaya regional police Traffic Management Centre, at least five different protest actions will enliven Jakarta and Depok today.

Novia D.Rulistia and Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – Hundreds of meat sellers from Greater Jakarta protested at the State Palace in Central Jakarta on Wednesday, demanding the government stabilize rising meat prices.

The government has finally settled the sharia debate, which has dogged Indonesia these past few years, essentially rejecting demands that sharia-based laws introduced in many regencies be rejected on constitutional grounds. Whether this is acceptable or not is another question entirely.

Charlotte Wheatley, Jakarta – You can learn a lot about someone over a cup of tea – starting with the way they drink it. Black with just one spoonful of sugar is all that's needed for the Cuban Ambassador to Indonesia.

Jakarta – Despite slower growth in some business sub-sectors, Indonesia is not suffering from "de-industrialization", with manufacturing continuing to play a significant and stable role in the economy, a seminar heard Wednesday.

Kupang – The Independent Journalists Alliance (AJI) has condemned alleged violence against three journalists in East Nusa Tenggara over the past week, saying press freedom had been put under threat.

Jakarta – The murder of human rights activists Munir will be one of the cases taken up in the annual report on human rights in Indonesia, which will be presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva in April. This is being done as a means to accelerate a resolution of the case.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Residents of Papua's Pegunungan Bintang regency on Tuesday voiced their opposition to the proposed formation of a new province.

After five regents on Monday issued a joint statement in Jayapura for an autonomous province that would include Pegunungan Bintang, people in Oksibil, the regency's capital, staged a rally rejecting the plan.

Novia D. Rulistia, Jakarta – The rigidity of the 2003 Labor Act, particularly its severance provisions, has forced entrepreneurs to use outsourcing, a panelist told a seminar on Tuesday.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The United States deems supporting democratization in Indonesia a priority, and whoever wins the American presidency will consider the Southeast Asian country an important partner, a US congressman says.

Philip Setunga, Hong Kong/China – It may seem a simple matter of coincidence that the week Indonesian ex-president Soeharto was buried with state honors, the killers of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib, were given prison sentences by the state legal apparatus.

Tony Iltis – East Timorese President Jose Ramos Horta was rushed to Darwin to undergo emergency surgery after being shot three times in a February 11 attack on his residence by armed rebels. The apparent leader of the assailants, Major Alfredo Reinado, was killed in the incident.

The politics of the mudflow have become even, well, muddier, recently. The latest news to bubble up from the dark depths of the containment dams is that a House of Representatives special team has suggested Sidoarjo, East Java, last seen sinking beneath several meters of ooze, be declared the site of a natural disaster.

Geoffrey York, Dili – Passengers arriving at East Timor's airport are greeted with an ominous sign posted by the authorities, warning of the roving gangs of child extortionists who threaten physical harm to anyone refusing their "baggage services."

For Timor-Leste victims of the Japanese military's sexual slavery system – Restore their honor, give them their rights!

(Sixty-six years from the day of the Japanese invasion of Timor)

Ahmad Pathoni, Dili – Delvina da Costa complained of squalid conditions and a shortage of food in the refugee camp where she has lived for almost two years, but the prospect of returning to her old neighbourhood in Dili fills her with dread.

Jakarta – Poverty in tsunami-struck Aceh has fallen below the pre-disaster level, a new World Bank report shows, due to both peace and the large reconstruction effort.

The Aceh Poverty Assessment 2008 report shows poverty in Aceh increased slightly in the aftermath of the tsunami, from 28.4 percent in 2004 to 32.6 percent in 2005.

Angela Macdonald-Smith, Sydney – Woodside Petroleum should delay plans to develop the Sunrise natural gas field in the Timor Sea for up to 10 years to extend the time East Timor will get royalties, an East Timor non-government group says.

Jakarta – The six children of late Indonesian president Suharto failed to appear in court Tuesday after being summonsed to defend a civil corruption case against the former leader.

Jakarta – Hundreds of substitute teachers in Jakarta staged a rally at the City Council on Monday to complain about the amount of time it was taking the administration to make them civil servants.

Susan Wellings – One of East Timor's most bloody massacres is finally to be investigated by a team of Australian forensic scientists who plan to excavate a mass grave and identify up to 400 missing people.

Rizal Harahap, Pekanbaru – The four main rivers in Riau province are contaminated by hazardous levels of cadmium and zinc, posing a serious threat to the health of residents, say local authorities.

Banjarnegara, Central Java – Poverty has been blamed as the main cause of the rising divorce rate in Banjarnegara, Central Java, where most divorces are sought by women.

At least 1,460 out of 1,839 divorce petitions at the Banjarnegara Religious Affairs Court in 2007 were motivated by economic issues, according to data.

Paul Toohey, Dili – Some 90 of Alfredo Reinado's rebels, most of them armed, broke the East Timor-wide 8pm curfew and entered Dili late on Wednesday night to pay their last respects as their leader and his offsider, Leopoldino Exposto, lay in coffins awaiting burial the following day.

Indra Subagja, Jakarta – Protest actions will be taking place again today in Jakarta, Monday February 18. As usual, government institutions will be the targets. Drivers should be careful therefore when passing through areas where demonstrations are being held.

Angela Flassy, Jayapura – Two Papuan intellectuals have expressed deep concern over a bill on the formation of four new provinces in Papua, which they said would benefit Jakarta and could sow conflict among tribes.

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Ignoring intense criticism and threats of lawsuits, the Tangerang city administration continues to pursue its vision of a moralistic society through controversial regulations banning alcohol and prostitution.

Belinda Lopez – East Timor, a fragile young democracy rocked by assaults on its two top leaders last week, must work to overcome grinding poverty and a divisive politics to achieve stability, analysts say.

[Against calls to make Suharto a national hero, human rights activists want the world to remember his deadly legacy. Bella Galhos, who escaped to tell the world about the genocide in East Timor, says very little has changed.]

Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – The country's economy grew the fastest in the past 10 years in 2007 due in particular to robust investment and exports, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported Friday.

Bob Boughton – The mayhem in Dili last Monday, in which rebel soldier Alfredo Reinado was shot dead and East Timor's President Jose Ramos Horta badly injured, raises a fundamental question: How was Reinado, a minor military figure, allowed to become and remain such a dangerous force in Timorese politics?

Desy Nurhayati and Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The government has shrugged off demands it revoke or review sharia-inspired local regulations, which many critics say violate the Constitution.

Paul Toohey, Dili – East Timor is a changed land, with what remained of its simple innocence lost the moment gunmen opened fire on its most revered statesmen.

Jakarta – The government's economic growth target for 2007 of 6.3 percent has been reached. But growth in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors – which supports real sector growth – continues to weaken. As a result, job opportunities are not being created because the economy is being propped up by the capital intensive and technological sectors.

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – A chill breeze was blowing across the ruins of the old Portuguese fort on a hill overlooking the small town of Maubisse in East Timor's rugged mountains. Alfredo Reinado was comfortable with the venue for his meeting with the country's President, Jose Ramos Horta.

Mark Forbes – Relations between East Timor and Indonesia have leapt ahead, even as ambivalence remains in the tiny nation's ties with Australia.

The man who claims to be the new leader of East Timor's fugitive rebels says he's heavily armed and will not surrender without a fight.

Kevin Rudd's mission to East Timor yesterday was as much about fact-finding as it was about bolstering a government in crisis. On Monday after the shooting of President Jose Ramos Horta Rudd had agreed immediately to Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao's request for more troops and police, and announced he would visit Dili as soon as possible.

Jonathan Head, Dili – They gave Alfredo Reinado a hero's burial, his coffin draped in the red, black and yellow flag of East Timor.

His bearded face looked down defiantly from banners in a revolutionary pose that deliberately aped the portraits they used to hoist of Xanana Gusmao, the one-time guerrilla leader who is now prime minister.

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – More than 150 villagers in Tulangbawang regency, Lampung, have sought protection from provincial authorities due to alleged intimidation from a private company.

Donald Greenlees, Dili – When the rain-laden clouds open up, as they frequently do this time of year, the tarpaulin over Alicia Pinto's bed leaks and the pathway outside her tent home becomes a quagmire.

John Martinkus – Tonight on Al Jazeera, Xanana Gusmao will answer allegations that he was the late rebel leader Alfredo Reinado's puppet master in the 2006 violence that plunged East Timor into crisis

Dili – Timor-Leste's prosecutor-general, Longuinhos Montiero, has now issued 12 arrest warrants for suspects in the 11 February assassination attempts against President Jose Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.

Montiero expects to issue five more in the immediate future, and one other warrant is pending, awaiting further investigation.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The government threatened Thursday to revoke licenses of 21 natural forest concession holders for their failure to meet requirements in sustaining their forest estates.

Forestry Minister Malam Sambat Kaban said among 40 forest concession holders that underwent a sustainable operations audit last year, only 19 companies met the standards.

Yogyakarta – Street actions demanding a reduction in the price of basic commodities are commonplace. But the action held by the Poor Politic-Indonesian Student League for Democracy (LMND-PRM) at the post office intersection in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta on the afternoon of Thursday February 14 was more interesting then usual.

Alfredo Reinado 1966-2008

Jill Jolliffe – Alfredo Reinado became a hero to East Timor's disenchanted urban youth in May 2006 after the army major refused orders to fight 600 protesting fellow soldiers and fled to the mountains with a small band of armed followers.

The House of Representatives plenary session Monday on Bank Indonesia's emergency liquidity credits to distressed banks during the economic crisis only strengthened public frustration over the lack of sense of urgency among the childish and trifling lawmakers regarding the nation's problems.