Raymond Bonner and Muktita Suhartono, Kedungbendo – It started as a natural gas well. It has become geysers of mud and water, and in a country plagued by earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis another calamity in the making, though this one is largely man-made.

Nograhany Widhi, Jakarta – Feeling that there has been a miscarriage of justice, the families of the defendants in the Abepura case have lodged a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM). They claim that there are three new pieces of evidence linked to the case that has already become a focus of attention in the international community.

Cath Hart – Labor has thrown its support behind Coalition moves to ensure the asylum system is not manipulated for international political purposes.

Opposition immigration spokesman Tony Burke yesterday offered support to the Government after revelations in The Australian last week that a group of 43 Papuans had manipulated the system.

Try, Jakarta – Who knows if it's just for fun or has a political purpose, but T-shirts with a picture of the hammer and sickle (the symbol of the Indonesian Communist Party or PKI) are circulating in several parts of East Java. The T-shirts are even being sold in public.

Dili – East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao expressed on Thursday his gratitude for the Cuban medical and education cooperation in his nation and pleaded for its continued development and expansion to other fields.

Shinta Shinaga, Jakarta – Female circumcision is indeed already a tradition in Indonesia. However the medical world is now becoming concerned about the practice of removing the clitoris. The results of a Detik.com poll indicated that female circumcision must be banned.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – As it observes its 61st anniversary, the Indonesian Military (TNI) is still reluctant to abandon its old political culture, politicians and analysts say.

As in the previous few years, the anniversary of the Indonesian Military (TNI) will be commemorated without fanfare. The ceremony to mark the 61st armed forces day Thursday will be a modest one, in line with the spirit of the fasting month of Ramadhan.

Jakarta – House of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono asked Gen. Sutanto on Tuesday to clarify Corruption Eradication Commission findings his personal wealth had soared since becoming National Police chief.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) has slapped a disclaimer on the government's 2005 annual budget accounts, citing continuing glaring problems as regards transparency and accountability in the management of the state finances last year.

It means the agency has for six consecutive years slapped a disclaimer on the government's annual budget accounts.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The management of state-owned workers' insurance firm PT Jamsostek is coming under increasing fire from its union members for its decision to demote 12 outspoken unionists and senior staff officials.

Zaky Yamani, Bandung – She is tall and slim, her skin is clean and her hair drops down to her shoulders. When speaking, she does so with a soft, polite voice.

Mbak (sister) Riri, as she is known to her friends, heads Srikandi Pasundan Foundation, a non-governmental organization that provides counseling on HIV/AIDS for transvestites in West Java.

With their leaders continuing to bicker over their political differences, there's no end in sight to the troubles of the hapless East Timorese. The conflict goes on, albeit sporadically these days, though just last week, the ruling Fretilin Party's headquarters in Dili were torched. But what about the ordinary East Timorese?

Hera Diani, Jakarta – A police officer in Bekasi, West Java, attempted suicide in late August after he shot his wife to death. Media reports said one of the reasons he shot her, after a heated argument, was that she was more successful in her career as an army officer.

Bhimanto Suwastoyo, Jakarta – Indonesia's Supreme Court has quashed a murder conviction handed last year to a pilot over the death of a leading human rights activist on a flight to Amsterdam in 2004, a court spokesman said.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – The Indonesian military is scrambling to distance itself from claims it is linked to terrorist networks after the arrest of a retired general in American Guam on arms smuggling and money laundering charges.

Helen Hill – If accurate, recent revelations by John Martinkus about East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao are disturbing but not altogether unexpected.

Morgan Mellish – On the main road into Jayapura, a large two-storey building is being erected – the bureaucrats of Papua's provincial capital are upgrading themselves to better lodgings.

For decades, Indonesia's central government neglected Papua. Now, a lot of funds are flowing into the country's second-poorest province. But not much is reaching the people.

Dennis Shanahan and Stephen Fitzpatrick – Papuan asylum-seekers face tougher scrutiny in Australia over fears that political activists are manipulating the system to guarantee successful applications for asylum that are damaging relations with Indonesia.

Carmela Baranowska – When the Australian Federal Police (AFP) fired tear gas towards the refugee camp, the young men who had launched the initial attack with stones and bows and arrows had already fled. But they had run away from the refugees in the opposite direction and not towards the camp.

Reporter: Geoff Thompson

A group of Papuan separatists says it is planning another exodus of asylum seekers to Australia, to follow the 42 who were given temporary shelter earlier this year. Transcript.

Dita Indah Sari, Jakarta – For more then 60 years they have lived overseas after the land where they spilled their blood denied them an entry. This is not a sort of fairy tale, but an episode of history – la Indonesia.

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – Sexual minority groups demanded Monday the government revoke dozens of regional bylaws they described as discriminatory.

"Such ordinances are politically charged to please the majority," Arus Pelangi director Rido Triawan told a discussion at the Justice and Human Rights Ministry office.

Tito Sianipar/Eko Ari Wibowo, Jakarta – The Attorney General's Office (AGO) will ban a number of school books from the 2004 curriculum.

Reporter: Gillian Bradford

Eleanor Hall: The lawyer representing many of the Papuans who've been given protection in Australia, says the public should not lose sympathy for them just because their bid to come here was highly organised.

Jakarta – Indonesia's military denied on Tuesday any links with four Indonesians charged in the United States with a conspiracy to export arms.

US officials said last week that six people had been arrested in Guam, a US territory in the Pacific, and charged with conspiring to sell arms to Sri Lankan rebels and customers in Indonesia.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Last week's arrest of four Indonesians in the US reveals the chaos in arms procurement, involving both partners of the Indonesian Military (TNI) and its current and retired officers, analysts and politicians said Monday.

They called on the government to follow official procedures and uphold the principle of accountability in arms procurement.

Malcolm Cook and Ivan Cook – Unlike people, countries cannot choose their next-door neighbours or the neighbourhood they live in. Australia's position next to Asia - and far from the cultural origins of most of us – has deeply affected our views of Australia's place in the world. The good news is that Australia's "Asian angst" is history.

Andi Haswidi, Jakarta – High global demand for non-oil and gas commodities, including crude palm oil, coal and rubber, has once again helped the country's total exports reach a record growth level.

Anissa S. Febrina, Jakarta – For those who are fasting, this is said to be a time for increasing social empathy by actually experiencing the hunger and thirst that the poor feel almost every day.

Can temporary deprivation lead one to understand what is it like being trapped in poverty?

Jakarta – About 20 people staged a rowdy demonstration outside the Justice and Human Rights Ministry office Monday demanding the speedy release of Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putera from jail. The son of former president Soeharto is serving time for murder.

David O'Brien, Jakarta – The issue of continued slow recovery of the Indonesian economy and in particular the perception of Indonesia as a suitable investment destination has again hit the spotlight. I particularly enjoyed the views expressed by Budiono Kusumohamidjojo in his article in The Jakarta Post of Sept. 18 and his conclusion that there is a need for courageous reforms.

Jakarta – The military presence in Indonesia's troubled region of Papua is necessary to prevent a slide into tribal warfare, Jakarta's defence minister said on Monday amid allegations the army abused indigenous Papuans.

The military presence in Indonesia's troubled region of Papua was necessary to prevent a slide into tribal warfare, Jakarta's defence minister said, amid allegations the army has abused indigenous Papuans.

The U-N mission in East Timor has been thrown into disarray with the appointment of the new mission chief revoked. Antonio Macarenhas Monteiro was appointed as Timor's new UN envoy earlier this month to replace the outgoing Sukehiro Hasegawa. That leaves Timor without a U-N head of mission and the timing couldn't be worse, with more violence on the streets of Dili this week.

Anissa S. Febrina, Jakarta – It was not yet afternoon, but North Jakarta's sun had already exhausted 11-year-old Syaiful last Saturday.

Beads of perspiration ran down his forehead, soaked his worn-out T-shirt and trickled down his right arm that gripped a black bucket with a yellowish plastic bottle in it. His bare feet were black and dusty.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) has denied any links Sunday with a retired admiral arrested in the United States last week for allegedly conspiring to sell arms and equipment to Sri Lanka rebels and Indonesian customers.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Greenomics Indonesia and the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) urged the government Sunday to cancel its plan to write off Rp 1 trillion (about US$1.1 billion) of the debts of forestry companies.

Fanny Febiana, Jakarta – The Attorney General's Office (AGO) is still investigating the reason why the words "(defunct) Indonesian Communist Party (PKI)" are not included in the "Gerakan 30 September (abortive coup by the PKI)" phrase in history books for elementary up to senior high schools.

Ruslan Sangadji, Poso, Central Sulawesi – Paramilitary police are being deployed here after a series of attacks and bombings during the weekend amid rising religious tensions following the executions of three Christian militants.

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar – In the beginning, Bali had a wet season and a dry season. When Western artists, actors and anthropologist Margaret Mead came in the early 20th century, Bali added tourist season to its calendar.

Efforts to stop the unprecedented flow of hot mud in the East Java town of Sidoarjo are continuing, but truly extraordinary measures are needed to help the more than 3,000 affected families and end the disaster.

Benito Lopulalan, Jimbaran – Survivors and relatives of the 20 people killed in suicide bombings on Indonesia's Bali one year ago held a sombre memorial Sunday amid stepped-up security on the resort island.

Dili – Unidentified men set the Dili headquarters of East Timor's main political party Fretilin on fire today, but there were no casualties, a member of the fire brigade said.

The fire partially gutted the office building and spread to three nearby homes, sending plumes of thick black smoke into the air.

Kadek Krishna Adidharma, Ubud – Despite the lateness of the hour for the sleepy artisan town of Ubud, a star-studded cast began to gather at 8:30 p.m. at the open stage of Puri Saraswati on Friday night for Tribute to Pramoedya.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Former political prisoners linked to the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), and human rights activists are unhappy about the government's seeming unwillingness to establish the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (KKR).

They said Saturday the commission was their last hope to have their reputations rehabilitated and their rights recognized.

Bandar Lampung – The Bandar Lampung City Preparatory Committee for the National Liberation Party of Unity (KP-Papernas) plans to start socialising the new party this afternoon at the Lampung Cultural Gardens.

Jakarta – New political parties continue to surface. After 27 new political parties registered recently with the department of justice and human rights, there is now one more party, the National Liberation Party of Unity (PPPN or Papernas), that is ready to follow suit.

At the end of November, a new broad, left party will hold its founding congress in Indonesia. The National Liberation Party of Unity, or PAPERNAS, is an initiative of the main revolutionary organisation in the country, the People's Democratic Party, PRD.

Jakarta – Indonesia is angry at Washington's refusal to give it access to a suspected al-Qaeda member and Indonesian citizen held in Guantanamo Bay.