Jakarta – Lawmakers are calling for the government to replace the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief, citing poor performance and a perceived unwillingness to take responsibility for intelligence miscues.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Confirming what the public has long suspected, a government-sanctioned fact-finding team has announced that safety standards in the airline industry have been gravely compromised.

Heri Retnowati, Sidoarjo – A torrent of mud that has inundated villages on Indonesia's Java island shows no signs of abating despite efforts to plug it by dropping hundreds of concrete balls into its source, an official said on Tuesday.

We have acted irresponsibly toward the 10,000 people in Sidoarjo, East Java, displaced by the mudflow. They have been suffering for almost 10 months, and yet we seem not to care about their fate.

Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Jakarta – Research institute Kantata Research Indonesia has said Islamic boarding schools, especially non-mainstream ones, need to teach more work-based skills to prevent students from adopting radical teachings after graduation.

Jeff Kingston – East Timor is an ill-starred land that has endured more than its share of violence, neglect and deprivation. Since February 2007 there has been a renewed surge in violence, initially due to gang turf battles and increasingly aggressive clashes between gangs and international peacekeepers.

Jakarta – Indonesia's second fatal airplane disaster this year has piled pressure on the government to act over safety lapses ahead of the publication of a key report later this week.

Jakarta – As Sutiyoso's time as governor draws to a close, the people around him are working against time to ensure his plan to establish an inland water transportation system gets off the ground by the middle of the year.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The Jakarta administration is organizing a series of "No Car Days" in May, barring all private cars from entering certain streets with the aim of promoting the public transportation system.

Indra Harsaputra, Sidoarjo – Mudflow victims from a housing complex in Sidoarjo, East Java, snubbed a promise of relocation by the central government, continuing their demand for cash compensation Friday.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – A recent deal between the government and US software giant Microsoft on the software used in state institutions is "inappropriate" as it potentially sidelines other solutions, the country's monopoly watchdog says.

Mark Forbes, Yogyakarta – Garuda airlines flight GA200 was full, 140 passengers and crew aboard. Left behind in Jakarta were several journalists unable to squeeze onto the 6am flight to cover Wednesday's trip to Yogyakarta by the Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer.

Jakarta – Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh said Friday his office would present more evidence at a British trial to support his argument that Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra's funds at an overseas bank were obtained through graft.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The country's second largest party faction at the House of Representatives told the government on Friday that it needed to address human rights violation cases.

Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) will take human rights violations in the country to the international arena to counter "notoriously lax handling by the government".

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam provincial administration is set to declare a moratorium on the logging of forested regions in the province. Aceh governor Irwandi Yusuf said Thursday that both legal and illegal logging had caused severe environmental destruction in the province, which posed a threat to the lives of the people there.

Dennis Shanahan – It used to be a proud boast of Australian troops on the ground in East Timor in the latest security assignment that they had never fired a shot. Not one; not into the air and certainly not at people.

A measure of calm has returned to the streets of Dili after the violence which erupted again last weekend in the wake of the failed attempt to capture fugitive rebel leader Alfredo Reinado. Some fear this is merely the calm before a bigger storm. And calm is a relative term.

Rod McGuirk, Dili – East Timorese election authorities said Saturday that all eight candidates had been approved to contest this divided nation's presidential polls next month.

Roy Callinan, Same – A few hours before dawn on Feb. 26, East Timor's most wanted man, rebel leader Major Alfredo Reinado, drove into the small town of Same, 50 km south of Dili, with about 70 armed supporters. Many residents of the town sympathized with Reinado, who has been a focus of anti-government feeling since he led a mass desertion from the Army last April.

Hannah Beech, Dili – Every day, the fancy jeeps cruise past Palmira Pereira's shack on the northern coast of East Timor. Sometimes, the passengers inside the air-conditioned vehicles raise their hands in greeting, and Pereira, or one of her 10 children, waves back.

Damian Kingsbury – The decision by East Timor's courts to convict and jail former interior minister, Rogerio Lobato, on charges of manslaughter and arming gangs last year should come as a welcome sign that this small, teetering state can still pull back from the brink.

Soeryo Winoto, Jakarta – It was quite a shock to learn Saturday of a minister's desire to have the political satire News Dot Com, or Republik Mimpi (Republic of Dreams) as it is otherwise known, withdrawn from television.

Information and Communications Minister Sofyan Djalil has accused the program, aired Sundays on Metro TV, of providing a negative political education.

Mark Forbes, Yogyakarta – A pilot coming in to land too fast has been blamed for the crash yesterday in which five Australians and 18 Indonesians are feared to have died. Their Garuda Boeing 737, with 140 people aboard, overshot the runway at Yogyakarta's airport and exploded into a fireball.

Banda Aceh – Acehnese women from the Gender Working Group (GWG) held a peaceful action to commemorate International Women's Day (IWD) on Thursday March 8.

Nur Raihan, Banda Aceh – Hundreds of Acehnese women's activists held a march from the Baiturrahman Great Mosque in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh to the offices of the Aceh Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) on March 8. The action was organised to commemorate International Women's day.

Armia AM, Lhokseumawe – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has declared its commitment to fight for cases of past human rights cases. In addition to this, GAM has also admitted that it will continue to seek amendments to Law Number 11/2006 on Aceh Governance.

Jakarta – Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh said Wednesday that the Association of Relatives of Missing People (IKOHI) would not be able to bring the case of 13 missing activists to the Human Rights Court of the United Nations.

Jakarta – The number of reported cases of violence against women has continued to increase despite ongoing anti-violence campaigns, a National Commission on Violence Against Women survey has indicated.

The commission noted, however, that many women were now confident enough to report the perpetration of violence against them.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Questions have been raised on the rights of the disabled, but no special policies or concrete actions have yet been taken to empower the more than 1.48 million disabled people in this country.

Duncan Graham, Jakarta – Lawmakers pushing for tighter controls on Indonesia's rampant tobacco habit are facing heavy-duty hostility from the multibillion-dollar industry's powerful lobby groups, which to date have ensured that the country is the only one in Southeast Asia that has not signed or ratified the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Jalil Hamid, Bukit Tinggi – Living in a squalid tent following earthquakes in Indonesia's Sumatra, Seri Hartati says she may be forced to beg to feed her five children with no signs of financial help from the government.

Jayapura – A student activist said Wednesday the establishment of autonomous regencies and provinces in Papua is designed to serve the interests of the political elite, and will lead to more corruption.

Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Jakarta – Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh on Wednesday dismissed claims by a Cabinet minister that his office had assured a French bank that money held there by Tommy Soeharto was corruption-free.

Mark Forbes, Jakarta – The Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir leads the Jemaah Islamiah terrorist network and inspire its operatives, despite being cleared of terrorism charges and being released, says the Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer.

John Crowley – In an era when jet travel has become the safest mode of travel around the world, Indonesia stands as an exception to the rule.

Vannessa Hearman – Australian soldiers fired on three youths in Dili on February 23. One youth died at the scene – a camp for internally displaced people (IDP) near Dili Airport. The others were injured; one later died in hospital.

Damien Kingsbury – The assault in East Timor by Australian troops on outlaw Major Alfredo Reinado and his gang in Same, and the worsening of violence and destruction in Dili, has highlighted that political conflict in East Timor is a long way from over.

Lindsay Murdoch in Dili and agencies – About 20 youths attacked the Dili Club, a restaurant-bar owned by an Australian and popular with foreigners, roughing up patrons before United Nations police arrived. No one was seriously injured.

Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From:

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Malang – A national land reform program aimed at redistributing state land to the poor has run up against a major obstacle: most of the land targeted in the program is outside of Java, which is exactly where most of the poor live.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) will have to prioritize its major tasks as a recent 15 percent increase to defense budget will still not provide enough money for its minimum requirements.

Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta – Hard-line Muslim leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir upped his campaign for Islamic law when he marched with dozens of his followers to the presidential office on Feb. 22.

The rally followed his recent tour of several parts of Indonesia to promote sharia after having completed his 30-month jail term in June 2006 for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings.

Fabio Scarpello, Denpasar – Indonesia's already faltering war against corruption risks grinding to a total halt if a new anti-corruption draft law now circulating in Parliament and executive offices is finally passed.

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, Padang – The Padang city administration in West Java has ordered three school textbook publishers to revise their Islamic books for elementary schools, claiming the texts are misleading.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Illegal logging has been blamed for Saturday's landslides and floods in Flores Island's Manggarai regency, while the death toll from the disaster now stands at 34 with 40 more people still missing.

Indra Harsaputra, Sidoarjo – Mudflow victims from the Tanggulangin Sejahtera housing complex in Sidoarjo, East Java staged a fresh protest Monday near their flooded homes demanding the company responsible for the disaster pay them compensation.

Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Jakarta – Transportation analyst Agus Pambagyo said Monday that the personnel changes being made at the Transportation Ministry were "meaningless" and without a "structural overhaul" there could be another transportation disaster.

Sunil Jagtiani, Jakarta – A powerful earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Tuesday, killing at least 70 people, flattening buildings and sparking panic in the streets of Malaysia and Singapore.

Sydney – Reporters Without Borders has hailed the warrant issued on 1 March 2007 by Sydney coroner Dorelle Pinch for the arrest of Yunus Yosfiah, the former Indonesian army officer who led the attack on the East Timor border town of Balibo on 16 October 1975 in which five journalists working for two Australian TV stations were killed.