Sebastian Berger, Dili – Her belly swollen with her seventh child, Fernanda Sarmento paced the corridors of Dili's National Hospital as she waited to give birth.

"It's good if I have a lot of children," said the 38-year-old, adding that she wanted another girl to add to her two existing daughters.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – Nobel laureate Jose Ramos Horta has secured a stunning victory in a run-off presidential election, official vote-counting shows. Poll commission spokeswoman Maria Sarmento said Mr Ramos Horta had won about 73 per cent of votes with almost 90 per cent counted.

Setiono Sugiharto, Jakarta – Thousands of history textbooks used in Indonesian schools have been confiscated by officials under the instructions of the Attorney General's Office (AGO), which claims the books could perpetuate a resurgence of communism notoriously linked to the attempted coup of 1965.

Lucy Williamson, Jakarta – Half an hour's drive from Indonesia's parliament, the civilian police in the district of Tangerang go on patrol every evening.

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – The chairman of the National Banks Association (Perbanas), Sigit Pramono, has pinned the blame squarely on the shoulder of businesses for the slow lending growth in the real sector.

Jakarta – Activists and observers are demanding that the Judicial Commission and the House of Representatives prioritize quality over quantity in selecting candidates for Supreme Court judgeship.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Post-tsunami reconstruction works in Aceh are contributing to deforestation as reconstruction agencies use timber from illegal logging activities, an environmental organization has alleged.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Aliwaya had promised himself that he would not vote in August's gubernatorial election.

The resident of Cakung, East Jakarta had seen the low and dark side of politics, with politicians treating poor residents like him as objects to gain votes. He said he had had enough with anything to do with the city administration.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Dozens of people were injured and scores of cars vandalized in a bloody clash between two disputing parties wanting to lead the foundation responsible for running the North Sumatra Islamic University (UISU) in Medan.

Janet Fife-Yeomans, Sydney – The former head of Australia's spy network has revealed he never had any doubt Indonesian forces deliberately killed five young Australian newsmen in a "cover-up".

Former prime minister Gough Whitlam has always prided himself on his grasp of history. But on one subject, the Indonesian invasion of East Timor, and specifically the deaths of five Australian journalists at Balibo on October 16, 1975, his recall of detail has been elusive.

Mario de Queiroz, Lisbon – In the late 1970s, diplomats at United Nations headquarters in New York got used to seeing a discreet young man plying the hallways and conference rooms, trying to drum up support for what seemed a lost cause in a tiny country that few had even heard about.

Hopes look dim – if not totally diminished – that victims of violence during the East Timor mayhem in 1999 will find the truth about the events before and after the referendum which saw the then Indonesian province vote for independence.

Paul Barber – Two apparently unrelated events that together raise important questions about the West's responsibility for conflicts in the world's poorest countries are being held in London today.

Jakarta – The surprising silent protest by East Timorese members of the joint Indonesia-Timor Leste commission at its recent hearing is expected to be the first and the last because such action could hamper commission activities.

P.P. McGuinness – The coronial inquiry into the 1975 deaths of the five journalists in Balibo, East Timor, is an interesting exercise in raking over old controversies – or should be. So far it seems to be yet another of the many politicised attacks on Indonesia which have characterised this issue from the start.

Belinda Tasker, Paul Mulvey, Sydney – Gough Whitlam's defence minister admits he concealed secret details from the prime minister about the deaths of five Australian newsmen in East Timor in 1975.

Wibatsu Ari Sudewo, Solo – Over the last two years, the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) has become hot news in the Central Java city of Solo and other parts of the country. This new party has indeed triggered controversy after it was accused of being a reincarnation of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

Jakarta – Although he has yet to officially assume his new post as Attorney General, Hendarman Supandji has already issued statements on his law enforcement priorities.

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – The replacement of Sugiharto as state minister for state enterprises by Sofyan Djalil, who previously served as information and communications minister, in the recent Cabinet shake-up by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been cheered by some analysts and condemned by others.

Imanuddin Razak, Jakarta – Skepticism and disappointment have dominated discussions of the latest reorganization of the United Indonesia Cabinet.

[Merdeka: Artists from around the world unit in support of the independence movement in West Papua. Dancing Turtle Records, 2007. Only available from . Reviewed by Vannessa Hearman.]

Merdeka is a Malay or Indonesian word meaning freedom or independence.

HS Dillon, Jakarta – Following the "limited cabinet reshuffle", I sent a text message to three close friends – a prominent human rights activist, a brilliant economist and a budding politician – inquiring about the immediate prospects of Indonesia's poor?

Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Jakarta – Analysts and observers say political parties still lack the vision and the will to reach the ultimate goal of having women make up at least 30 percent of their membership.

James Balowski, Jakarta – Tens of thousands of Indonesian workers commemorated May Day across the country demanding an end to contract labour and outsourcing, and for May 1 to be declared a national holiday.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Displaced earthquake and tsunami survivors from Aceh and Nias in North Sumatra still residing in shelters rallied Tuesday at the gubernatorial office in Medan demanding they be immediately able to return to their respective villages.

Solo – The National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) has been unlucky of late. A meeting to establish a branch management board in Tanjung Anom, Grogol, Sukoharjo, was forcibly broken up by a certain group. Feeling cornered, Papernas is officially and strenuously denying the accusation that it is linked with the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

Jakarta – Religious leaders including an HIV/AIDS-infected Anglican reverend pledged Monday to work together to take an active role in the prevention and fight against HIV/AIDS.

Seby Sambom – The West Papua Highland Student Association is continuing its call for dialogue with the Indonesian government about Papua province's special autonomy status.

1,500 people took part in a student-led demonstration for Papuan self-determination outside the Provincial Parliament in Jayapura late last month.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Sumedang – The Institute of Public Administration (IPDN) has been rocked by further reports of violence, with allegations that a freshman attacked four other students over the weekend, while three others have been arrested for possessing drugs.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) announced Monday a series of internal reshuffles affecting 42 high-ranking officers in the TNI and its three branches.

M. Taufiqurrahman and Tony Hotland, Jakarta – After weeks of anticipation, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced Monday a new cabinet line up that saw a number of ministers being shown the door.

The reshuffle saw five new figures ushered into the cabinet while two active ministers were moved to new portfolios.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The House of Representatives urged the government Monday to resolve the murder case of human rights campaigner Munir, to finalize financial compensation for mudflow victims in Sidoarjo and to review the final examination system for high school seniors.

Jakarta – While some ministers are preparing for their new positions in cabinet, former justice and human rights minister Hamid Awaluddin is in a slightly different position.

Shortly after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced his new cabinet lineup, the Jakarta Police announced plans to summon Hamid for questioning.

Hamish McDonald – The former Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, today denied having any advanced knowledge of the Indonesian attack in East Timor in which five Australian newsmen were killed in 1975.

Mr Whitlam also revealed he had twice warned the Channel Seven journalist, Greg Shackleton, not to go to East Timor.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili – The huge white UN choppers, with their gruffly spoken Russian crews, have delivered hundreds of thousands of ballot papers and sealed boxes across the country; tiny pack ponies are standing by, ready to carry vital electoral materials across rocky streams in the most remote of locations.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – United Nations police and civilian staff are openly violating what the UN promised would be a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual abuse and misconduct in deeply religious East Timor.

Imanuddin Razak, Jakarta – While the nation is eagerly waiting for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to announce his limited cabinet shuffle, a no less important change could also be made in the new future – some alterations to the Indonesian Military (TNI) leadership. Why is it no less important?

Banda Aceh – The Acehnese People's Party (PRA), the first local political party to be established in Aceh, is appealing to the public to remain calm and not be provoked by the by the recent string of grenade and bomb attacks on the homes of Free Aceh Movement (GAM) leaders and regional government officials in Aceh.

Fadli, Batam – At least 2,670 workers at foreign investment company PT Nasional Garment Bintan (NGB) in Riau Islands province face layoffs after the firm decide to close, saying local policies were not foreign-investor friendly.

It should come as no surprise that Australian Prime Minister John Howard's presence in Dili on the day of Timor Leste's Independence on May 20, 2002 was also to sign the new Timor Sea Treaty (TST).

Timor Leste's government, on Independence Day, and its people never had the opportunity to fully debate and consider the implications of the TST.

Dili – Pius Soares sits idly under a tree in a refugee camp with his friends. Like thousands of East Timorese waiting to return home after last year's deadly violence, he has time on his hands.

Dili – East Timor's ruling party Sunday accused foreign peacekeeping troops of a deliberate campaign to upset its chances of winning this week's presidential election.

The Fretilin party claimed several thousand Australian-led troops were intimidating its supporters and trying to disrupt its rallies during canvassing ahead of Wednesday's poll.

Bhimanto Suwastoyo, Dili – Two radically different candidates are set to contest Wednesday's East Timor presidential election, with a globe-trotting polyglot pitted against a shy, former guerrilla for the post.

Karen Michelmore, Jakarta – The former head of Indonesia's armed forces has conceded that "one or two" of his men may have been involved in the bloodshed that swept East Timor in 1999.

Lindsay Murdoch, Same – East Timorese MP Leandro Isaac has a blunt message for Australian troops who hunted him in East Timor's rugged mountains for two months. "You are stupid," he said yesterday.

"You never bothered to find out about us... you don't know who we are or what we believe in."

East Timor's ruling party Fretilin has accused the favourite in next week's presidential elections, Jose Ramos Horta, of buying votes.

Campaigning for the second round of the poll is becoming increasingly acrimonious. And as SBS correspondent Brian Thomson reports, the Australian-led International Security Force is in Fretilin's sights.

Ahmad Pathoni, Jakarta – Charges that Indonesian troops committed gross rights violation during East Timor's 1999 vote for independence were "senseless and crazy", the country's military chief at the time told a truth commission on Saturday.

Jakarta – National AIDS Commission secretary Nafsiah Mboi expressed concern Friday over the increasing number of housewives being infected with HIV/AIDS.

"We currently are finding more housewives infected with HIV/AIDS as compared to sex workers," Nafsiah told a media briefing on the upcoming National Interfaith War Against HIV/AIDS Meeting to be held here Monday.

Jakarta – Ending its two-year term Wednesday, the future of the Interdepartmental Anti-Corruption Team is now in the hands of the government.