Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – Military Police chief Maj. Gen. Hendardji Soepandji said Friday he would not give lawmakers the names of people probed in connection with an illegal arms stash.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – Amid international criticism that it is not doing enough to contain bird flu, the government launched a public awareness campaign Friday about the deadly virus that has killed more people here than anywhere else in the world.

Multa Fidrus and Theresia Sufa, Tangerang/Bogor – The lymphatic disease elephantiasis is on the rise in Java, with Tangerang and Bogor both recording recent outbreaks.

Farid Muttaqin, Athens, Ohio – It is important to begin any discussion on homosexuality in Islam with a look at how some hegemonic cultures and traditions before Islam influenced Islamic teachings. Greek Hellenism and ancient Arabic society were two important groups that supported a type of Islamic law on homosexuality.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Recent heated debates about misleading poverty statistics may finally be settled, with the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reporting that the country's poor population increased to 39.05 million as of March.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Despite its adverse impact in stoking tribalism, regional autonomy is an irreversible process and the central government must not attempt to abrogate it, analysts say.

Fadli, Batam – Unhappy with the thought that hundreds of activists from 40 countries might flock Batam Island to attend an international forum has made Riau Islands Police think twice about issuing a permit for the event.

Andi Haswidi, Jakarta – The estimated drop in global economic growth within the next two years could pose serious setbacks to developing countries like Indonesia if governments failed to act properly, the International Monetary Fund warned Thursday.

Gagah Wijoseno, Jakarta – A variety of political party flags adorn the site of the fire in the Penjaringan area of North Jakarta.

Indra Harsaputra and ID Nugroho, Sidoarjo – Disruption in service continued on the Surabaya-Gempol turnpike Thursday from a fourth breached embankment from the mudflow disaster in Sidoarjo, East Java.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – "Helping those who help themselves" could describe the government's latest approach to tackling the problems of poverty and unemployment, with community development programs at its core.

Palembang, South Sumatra – Data collected by an environmental group here shows that 98 of the 2,047 hot spots on the island of Sumatra were detected in concession areas of private plantation companies in Ogan Komering Ilir, Banyuasin, Musi Rawas and Musi Banyuasin regencies.

Adisti Sukma Sawitri, Jakarta – A national gathering of women activists ended Thursday with a statement that included a demand for firm action against the victimization of women in the name of religion.

Jakarta – Indonesia faces major obstacles in its fight against bird flu, the UN Children's Fund said as officials reiterated calls for more international financial aid.

Anissa S. Febrina, Jakarta – On a Friday morning, among several people patiently waiting for the bus at a stop on the business strip Jl. HOS Cokroaminoto, is a man with a wad of Rp 1,000 bills on his left hand and a long scribbled note in his right.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The House of Representatives is expected to make simultaneous amendments to three laws on the judiciary to restore the authority of the now-powerless Judicial Commission.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – The government plans to sue three companies and an individual for allegedly igniting fires in Sumatra's forests, and has seized 6,300 hectares of land the suspects are said to have cleared by burning.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Regional autonomy, which was championed as a means to improve accountability and public services, is instead bolstering ethnocentrism and tribalism, a survey found.

Eko Prasodjo, one of the lead researchers, said Wednesday the adverse impact resulted from the regional autonomy law which gave too much authority to regencies.

Julia Suryakusuma and Tim Lindsey – Indonesia is in the middle of an explosive debate about whether conservative Islamic morality will become enforceable law in that nation of 230 million. It is a debate that threatens to unravel the secular foundation of the republic itself.

Jakarta – Nahdlatul Ulama leader Hasyim Muzadi and Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin have been elected co-chairs of the World Conference on Religion for Peace (WCRP) at its eighth meeting in Kyoto, Japan.

Din said he was elected honorary chairman of the international religious organization while Hasyim will be among its nine presidents.

Benget Simbolon Tnb., Jakarta – State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina has begun to feel the pinch of increasingly steeper competition in the oil and gas sector following the issuance of a 2001 government regulation that stripped the company of its monopoly,

The Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir has claimed that the CIA was involved in the 2002 Bali bombings.

Bashir, who was convicted and jailed for having prior knowledge of the attacks which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, was released from prison in June after serving nearly two years.

Gagah Wijoseno, Jakarta – Eight years after stepping down, former President Suharto still has many fans. A book containing the achievements of the New Order regime has been launched. Interested?

Indra Harsaputra, Sidoarjo – The mudflow saga has shown not the slightest sign of ending soon as another pond broke apart in the early hours of Tuesday, inundating the Surabaya-Gempol turnpike once more and causing it to be temporarily closed.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) has accused 106 logging and plantation firms of causing the annual widespread forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Indonesia is arguably Asia's least well-educated country, and the government is largely to blame. With 30% of its 242 million population school-aged, the world's largest Muslim country ranks lowest among its Asian neighbors in terms of public education expenditure.

Adisti Sukma Sawitri, Jakarta – As Islamic fundamentalism spreads in Indonesia, the tendency to control women has become so pronounced that even those who have embraced a conservative creed must break the silence and demand gender equality, activists say.

Indonesia's covert action against West Papuan rebels could easily trigger a firefight between Indonesian and PNG forces. And Australia will be dragged into the confrontation. Paul Daley reports.

Soon after the reform movement swept across the nation in 1998, people began realizing the judiciary would be among the toughest institutions to change. It still is today. That was the message sent last week when the Constitutional Court scrapped the Judicial Commission's oversight of judges.

A good intention will not yield results without good implementation, wise men say.

Three months ago President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told his ministers, governors and regents to do their utmost to halt haze-producing forest fires, to spare him the humiliation of once again explaining to ASEAN leaders why the country has failed to handle the situation.

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – The House of Representatives' commission on law says it will make revising the 2004 law on the Judicial Commission a top priority, after a court ruling stripped the Judicial Commission of its oversight powers.

M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – Disappointment. This was how human rights organisations greeted an extension to the mandate of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (KKP) by the governments of Indonesia and East Timor. They also called for the KKP to be disbanded because they say its mandate is unclear.

Jakarta – The Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) called on the government Friday to delay the execution of three Catholics in Palu, Central Sulawesi, convicted of mass murder in a sectarian conflict.

Adisti Sukma Sawitri, Jakarta – The government is wooing back Indonesian students who lost their citizenship while studying abroad more than 40 years ago, during the failed coup blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaluddin said Thursday that the exiles would not be prosecuted, but would have to pay their own way home.

Kediri, East Java – Senior ulemas opposed to the leadership of former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid in the divided National Awakening Party (PKB) are vowing to start a new political group.

The plan was unveiled Friday by one of the ulemas, Idris Marzuki, after the Supreme Court recently ruled Gus Dur's PKB faction was the legitimate face of the party.

Jakarta – Indonesian Forestry Minister Malem Sambet Kaban has urged local administrative heads to play a more active role in preventing land clearing by fire, blamed for the thick smoking haze that has blanketed the region.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – There are certain sights that are representative of Jakarta: bajaj (motorized pedicab), street vendors, Metro Mini (public minibuses), empty luxury apartment buildings and, it would seem, the septic tank.

Jakarta – The workers union of city-owned water operator PDAM Jaya has urged the Jakarta administration to review the sales of shares in its foreign partners, saying it was concerned the two companies had failed to meet contractual commitments.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Environmentalists warned Thursday that channeling treated water from hot toxic mud into East Java's Madura Strait posed a threat of pollution that could hurt the local fishing industry. The activists doubted the planned treatment would remove all the toxic chemicals from the mud.

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – The majority of Indonesian Muslims still believe a secular state is more suitable for the country than an Islamic or Western-style liberal system, a survey found.

Jakarta/Jambi – Haze from fires raging on the jungle-clad islands of Sumatra and Borneo thickened Thursday as officials met to prepare a plan for battling the blazes.

In Pontianak, the capital of Borneo's West Kalimantan province – which has also been badly hit by the haze – visibility at 7:00 am was only 100 meters, said Maroni, from the local meteorology office.

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – Four people were injured Thursday when protests against a plan to name the winner of the West Sulawesi gubernatorial election turned ugly. Hundreds of protesters clashed with security officers guarding the province's General Elections Committee (KPUD) office.

Jakarta – After 44 four years of operation, state-owned television company TVRI has become a public television network, funded by the government but intended to be editorially independent.

Ahmad Pathoni, Jakarta – Caswali has sold live chickens in a crowded traditional market in the Indonesian capital for over 10 years, but he has never been given any information on how to prevent bird flu.

Adisti Sukma Sawitri, Depok – NGO activists are treating reconstruction projects as "battlefields" to compete for donor funding and misuse it for their own benefit, leaving locals to fend for themselves, a top UN officer says.

The mudflow disaster in Porong, Sidoarjo, East Java, has implicated many parties, not only Lapindo and the Bakrie family, but also the country's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama and some media companies.

Warief Djajanto Basorie, Jakarta – The prime indicator of whether Indonesia is making strides toward greater freedom of information is the process at the House of Representatives surrounding the Freedom of Information Bill. Deliberation of the bill finally began on March 7, 2006, over five years after it was submitted in November 2001.

Sidoarjo in East Java is the base for the country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). It is therefore not surprising that the organization spearheaded a move to help people displaced by the mudflow launch a class action suit against Lapindo, the company whose mining activities triggered the mudflow.

While no one knows when the hot mud in Sidoarjo regency will stop gushing from the bowels of the earth, efforts have to be made to handle the increasing volume of the sludge so that it does not endanger the lives of people living nearby or damage the environment.

"Dear Lapindo, I hope to go home soon I'm tired of living in the barracks. Will you be cleaning up the mud right away?"