Michael Leach – President Jose Ramos Horta's appointment of Xanana Gusmao as Prime Minister has once again set off conflict in East Timor's streets.

Rory Callinan, Dili – Pedro Belo hasn't slept in two days. Commander of the Police District of Baucau, about 100km east of Dili, Belo is still wearing his body armor, yawning as sirens wail around his station. He sits at his desk reading reports of local outbreaks of violence that his men cannot respond to.

Adianto P. Simamora and Adisti Sukma Sawitri, Jakarta – The next governor must reconsider government policies from the point of view of ordinary people, tackling poverty, garbage and transportation problems first, urban observers say.

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – The government should take effective measures to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS among street children as they are among the highest at-risk groups in Indonesia, groups said Wednesday.

Jakarta – Most labor unions have failed to attract members due to skepticism among workers, a leading unionist has said.

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Jakarta – The Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN) is demanding that the government sign the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People to ensure they are given the same rights as all other Indonesians.

Indra Subagja, Jakarta – Little by little, the mystery surrounding the Munir case is being uncovered. Wira D.

Australia's Prime Minister John Howard is being asked to speak up for the human rights of Papua when he meets Indonesia's President in Sydney next month.

Adisti Sukma Sawitri, Jakarta – Despite widespread perceptions that Wednesday's gubernatorial election was tainted by money politics and voter apathy, some observers say most Jakartans made their choices for the right reasons.

Jakarta – Former House speaker Akbar Tandjung said independent candidates should obtain political support from at least three percent of voters before running in a local election.

"I think the legal requirements for independent candidates should be similar with the ones imposed during the local election in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam," Akbar told Antara on Wednesday.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Instead of being praised for uncovering cheating at a number of schools during the 2007 national exams, 13 North Sumatra teachers have been discharged and 14 others have had their teaching hours reduced.

Jakarta – Neighbors eager for a glimpse of reclusive former president Soeharto were disappointed when he failed to appear at a polling station near his residence in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – A police officer pulls over a motorist and asks him to show his driver's license and his vehicle's documents. Upon receiving the documents, the police walks away from the scene.

Jakarta – Papua's five-year-old special autonomy status has done nothing to lift social conditions for the majority of Papuan people thanks to the poor allocation of autonomy funds, said the Papuan People's Assembly (MPR) in Australia on Tuesday.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Politicians, political analysts and activists have told the government to revise a 1999 law on crimes against the state, which they said had lost all relevancy in the reform era.

Mark Dodd – As East Timor's capital Dili lay a smoking ruin and starving dogs picked at rotting corpses, victims of retreating pro-Jakarta militia in September 1999, a US diplomat turned from the bleak apocalyptic vista to Australian ambassador James Batley and said: "East Timor is going to be Australia's Haiti."

Tim Costello – East Timor again appears engulfed in flames and violence, this time in the wake of a relatively free and fair election and the ascension of the revolutionary hero Xanana Gusmao as its new prime minister.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – East Timor is heading into a "people power" uprising, one of the country's most powerful politicians said yesterday, as the independence hero Xanana Gusmao took control of a new coalition government.

Ed Davies, Dili – It has pristine beaches, lush highlands and an exotic cultural mix – and lies just a few hours flight east of the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

But currently almost the only overseas visitors to East Timor are foreign troops, journalists and aid workers after Asia's youngest nation descended into turmoil last year.

Damien Kingsbury – The troubles currently gripping East Timor following the appointment of Xanana Gusmao as prime minister reflect many of the reasons the country was plunged into political crisis early last year.

Dili – The top UN official in East Timor condemned on Wednesday violence in the tiny nation that has injured at least eight and led to more than 70 arrests since Xanana Gusmao was named prime minister.

Rory Callinan, Time correspondent in Dili – East Timor's former ruling Fretilin party warned last night it had lost control of its supporters, who in a second day of rioting in the capital burned down government buildings, wounded an Australian policemen and ambushed a patrol of Diggers.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – Gangs attacked Australian and United Nations personnel in the East Timorese capital, Dili, yesterday as the former ruling party Fretilin planned sweeping protests against being excluded from a new coalition government led by the independence hero Xanana Gusmao.

While many surveys have predicted Fauzi Bowo will come out on top Wednesday, scores of university students would rather Adang Daradjatun led Jakarta for the next five years.

A survey by the Student Executive Board of Greater Jakarta (BEM Jakarta Raya) showed that 63 percent out of 1,902 students in the capital favored Adang as the Jakarta governor.

Jakarta – Almost 10 years after Indonesia ratified the ILO Convention and seven years after the freedom of association law was passed, the archipelago has more trade unions but less unionists.

David Robie, Dili – Jornal Nacional Diaro is the smallest and youngest of Timor-Leste's three daily newspapers, but it's one of the brightest and gutsiest.

Rory Callinan, Dili – Herminio de Oliveira was enjoying a beer at his tiny drinks and cigarette stall near Dili airport when he heard the yelling from the nearby refugee camp. "Fretilin will govern!

Only days before polling, support continues to rush in to the campaign of Adang Daradjatun and Dani Anwar.

The latest came on Saturday, with the Central Jakarta chapter of Pemuda Muhammadiyah, the youth wing of one of the country's largest Islamic organizations, throwing its support behind Adang.

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – Saturday's public debate between the two gubernatorial candidates has come in for criticism from observers, who have said the event was a formality rather than a chance to focus on important issues.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The debate on independent candidates and local elections continues, with some party members arguing independent candidates should have to gain at least 15 percent of electoral support – the minimum percentage for candidates endorsed by political parties.

Jakarta – Indonesia and the United States began a joint military exercise on Monday that would run until Thursday, a navy official said.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – New Zealand defense officials arrived in Jakarta on Sunday for a four-day visit aimed at reviving New Zealand's defense relations with Indonesia.

Adisti Sukma Sawitri, Jakarta – Saturday's public debate was an opportunity left untapped by the two Jakarta governor candidates to make their mark on voters. They were also constrained by being given only two minutes to answer questions.

The only time the candidates have met face to face as rivals whizzed past in 50 minutes, with most crucial issues left unexplored.

Sugita Katyal and Adhityani Arga, Jakarta – When Pakistan's army stormed an Islamabad mosque housing a radical Islamic school last month, it raised questions in Indonesia: Was the Southeast Asian nation's own network of Islamic schools a breeding ground for militancy?

Dili – East Timor's president was scheduled to announce the formation of the next government on Wednesday as former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri declared he was in the running for his old job.

Tokyo – After five years as an independent nation, East Timor has declared its first national park.

The government formally approved the declaration of Nino Konis Santana National Park on July 27, according to a statement from the East Timorese acting prime minister's office seen here Sunday.

Ken Yunita, Jakarta – The two candidates in the Jakarta gubernatorial elections, Adang Daradjatun and Fauzi Bowo, have been given a motion of no confidence by the Urban Poor Union (SRMK), the Indonesian Disabled People's Association (PPCI) and the Indonesian Transsexual Forum (FWI).

Jakarta – Suciawati has waited for months for some good news regarding the ongoing inquest into her husband's alleged murder – until the AGO on Friday provided a glimmer of hope.

Suciawati was married to Munir Said Thalib, the famous human rights activist allegedly poisoned almost three years ago while flying from Jakarta to the Netherlands aboard an Indonesian airplane.

The DPRP team which visited Jakarta this week to discuss the adoption of the Morning Star flag, the song 'Hai Tanahku Papua' and the Mambruk bird as symbols for Papua spent Friday in a meeting with BIN (State Intelligence Bureau) officials.

Adisti Sukma Sawitri, Jakarta – A strategy to accuse the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and their Jakarta governor candidate Adang Daradjatun with Islamic fundamentalism may backfire and could see candidate Fauzi Bowo lose votes, observers said.

Jakarta – Supporters of Jakarta's two governor candidates took to the streets of the capital Friday in all manner of vehicles, bringing much of the city to a virtual standstill on the final day of campaigning.

Daniel Ten Kate, Jakarta – As motorcycle engines rev loudly, hundreds of Jakartans clad in brightly-coloured T-shirts emblazoned with the face of one of the candidates vying to govern Indonesia's congested capital file into an arena.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – After nearly a decade of economic restructuring and financial de-leveraging, Indonesia has finally returned to a position of fiscal strength from the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. Much of the credit for the turnaround lies with Coordinating Minister for the Economy Boediono, who has held senior economic posts in two post-1997 administrations.

The paradox of a metropolis like this is that it's filthy – but no one is leaving. Unlike this metropolis, however, a number of other cities – not all of them in developed countries – have for more than 20 years had plans in place to combat pollution.

Dili – East Timor's Fretilin party said Thursday its lawmakers would boycott parliament until it is asked to form a government by the president following national elections in June.

The move is the latest twist in wrangling between parties since the polls, which were supposed to open a new chapter in the young nation's democracy after a year of tensions and uncertainty.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Yogyakarta – Employers are not fulfilling their obligations under the laws on labor and social security to arrange for basic healthcare services for their employees and their families, state-owned workers insurance company PT Jamsostek said Wednesday.

Jakarta – The youth wings of some of the 19 political parties backing Jakarta governor candidate Fauzi Bowo in the Aug. 8 election announced Wednesday they were switching their support to rival candidate Adang Daradjatun.

Calling themselves the Jakarta Youth Forum, they said they were disappointed in their parties for ignoring the interests of the poor in the election.

Jakarta – Government officials, police and observers are calling for effective coordination among the police, Forestry Ministry and related departments to fight illegal logging.

It's not yet four in the morning but Nyak Nur Asiah, 50 years old, is already out of bed, getting everything ready for the day's business. In the cold morning air, she gathers together pieces of paper and leaves for wrapping up rice and portions of food.

At dawn, Nyak Asiah, as her friends call her, is ready to set out, hoping that she will make a small profit.