Jakarta – Legal activists made a fresh call on Wednesday for the abolishment of military courts and joint civilian-military tribunals which, they said, were often used to protect the military's impunity.

The East Timorese leader [currently cabinet member for foreign affairs] Jose Ramos Horta says his country cannot support the claim to secession by the Papuans in Indonesia's Irian Jaya Province. Mr Ramos Horta, who won the Nobel Peace Prize three years before East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia, says East Timor cannot support every secession claim in the region...

Karen Polglaze, Canberra – East Timor could not begin its life as an independent country by scaring off investors – so it would reach agreement with Australia on a Timor Gap Treaty, interim foreign minister Jose Ramos Horta said today.

Mark Dodd, Dili – East Timorese languishing in Indonesian refugee camps were asked yesterday if they wanted to stay or go home as aid agencies warned that those who opted to go home faced violent retaliation from the militias who control the camps.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – The East Timorese militia leader Eurico Guterres has been freed 23 days after an Indonesian court jailed him for six months.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – The younger sister of Indonesian Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri lashed out at Parliament yesterday, accusing it of organising a virtual coup d'etat by attempting to impeach President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Jakarta – Jakarta stocks edged higher on Thursday, but the market was under pressure from rumours, later denied, that politically isolated President Abdurrahman Wahid would sack the armed forces commander in a bid to hang on to the leadership.

Sadanand Dhume and Dini Djalal, Jakarta – In most democracies, a president who has lost the confidence of parliament, the army and the business community would be expected to slink away quietly. Not in Indonesia, where President Abdurrahman Wahid continues to cling to office.

Bagus Kurniawan/HD, Yogyakarta – On Wednesday, around 100 students calling themselves Anti New Order People Front (Frarob) from various universities in Yogyakarta staged a demonstration at the Yogyakarta Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD) aimed at dissolving the Golkar Party and purging the parliament from any New Order elements.

John Gauci, Sydney – "East Timorese must ask themselves, why are we still divided? We can't go on holding other countries to blame", the new country's foreign minister Jose Ramos Horta told a public lecture at the University of New South Wales on May 30. "There is need for reconciliation. We need to develop relations with our neighbors and swallow our pride.

Jakarta – Lawyers from Aceh yesterday urged the Indonesian government to ensure that courts are run properly after judges fled the troubled province fearing for their safety.

Jakarta – Tensions around Indonesia's leadership crisis seeped into a centenary commemoration Wednesday of the country's founding ruler Sukarno when a partisan crowd cheered his daughter, the vice president, but jeered the embattled leader.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – The word being debated among foreign journalists in Jakarta is "mutiny". The police chief sacked last week by President Abdurrahman Wahid has refused to step down and his stance is being interpreted by the security forces as a reason for defiance of their own.

Max Lane, Jakarta – On May 30, an alliance of members of parliament from Golkar (the party of former Indonesian dictator Suharto), the armed forces (TNI), the muslim right-wing Central Axis parties and vice-president Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) passed a resolution in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR, Indonesia's parliament) to hold a

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – He was autocratic, plunged Indonesia into a period of economic disaster and widespread poverty and flirted with communism. Yet, Indonesians today can't get enough of Sukarno – Indonesia's founding president.

Thousands are expected to flock to Blitar, his burial site in East Java, for today's celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth.

Associated Press in Jakarta – Corruption in Indonesia's law courts is so deeply ingrained that it might take more than two decades to purge them of graft, the newly installed attorney general was quoted as saying by newspapers on Wednesday.

Djoko Tjiptono/HD, Jakarta – Anti-Golkar Party demonstration keeps to move. This Tuesday, around 400 residents from Jakarta came to the Supreme Court (MA) building on Jl Medan Merdeka Utara, Central Jakarta. They came to demand the disbandment of the Golkar Party. At the same time, second court against Golkar continues aimed at dissolving the Golkar Party.

Jakarta – More than 8,000 Indonesian police and troops staged a show of unity and defiance near the presidential palace Tuesday, pledging allegiance to the national police chief sacked by President Abdurrahman Wahid last week.

Jakarta – Indonesia's charismatic founding president Sukarno is enjoying a surge in popularity 31 years after his death, as his country sinks deeper into political and communal squabbling, analysts said.

Jakarta – The political party of Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid on Tuesday accused the sacked national police chief and his allies of treason for refusing to accept his dismissal by Wahid.

"[General Suroyo] Bimantoro's behaviour amounts to treason," legislator Effendy Choirie of Wahid's National Awakening Party told AFP.

Andrew West – Australian Government officials have been accused of burying a crucial intelligence report about a 1998 Indonesian massacre in the West Papua town of Biak because it did not want to offend Indonesia so soon after it had thrown off the Soeharto dictatorship.

Duri – It is a costly cat-and-mouse game played out daily by guards, the workers who install oil-exploration equipment and the thieves who scavenge its metal for scrap.

"We install it, they steal it," moaned Mr Akson Brahmantyo, an engineer at Indonesia's largest oilfield operated by the US energy company Caltex.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Observing the behaviour of President Abdurrahman Wahid, it is easy to paint a picture of a crazy, erratic, inconsistent and ailing old man, lashing out wildly at his opponents like a wounded animal trapped in a corner.

Canberra – Administrative action is being taken against two defence personnel following high profile document leak investigations. Defence department secretary Dr Alan Hawke told a Senate estimates committee the inquiries related to leaking of documents concerning East Timor and to alleged espionage by a Defence Intelligence Organisation employee who is now before the court.

Canberra – An interim East Timorese government minister has accused Telstra of monitoring private telephone conversations within the fledging country. Infrastructure Minister Joao Carrascalao said Telstra did not have a main switch in Dili and the communication was transmitted via Adelaide.

Vadline England – While politicians jockey for position in Jakarta and peace talks open and close in Geneva, the death toll on the killing grounds of Aceh continues to rise. More than 900 people have been killed so far this year in the province where an independence movement is battling Indonesian security forces.

Robert Go, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid's latest move to avert dishonour yesterday included the appointment of Mr Baharudin Lopa – a loyalist who legislators said would at once dig up corruption cases against opposition leaders – as Indonesia's new Attorney-General.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid had long distrusted three of the four Cabinet ministers he sacked yesterday, regarding them as potential "traitors" to his government, one of his close family members said.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – When President Abdurrahman Wahid feels cornered, he will lash out and strike his opponents.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Indonesia's political crisis was close to spinning out of control last night after an increasingly isolated President Wahid, desperate to fend off impeachment, sacked four ministers.

Wens Manggut and Andari Karina Anom – Where are all the laughter and hand clapping of yesteryear? They have all but disappeared from Golkar's party headquarters in Slipi, West Jakarta. It's as if the former political vehicle of the Suharto regime is black and blue, within and without.

Karaniya Dharmasaputra, Adi Prasetya and Wens Manggut – Suddenly the move to force an early session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to impeach President Abdurrahman Wahid is grinding to a halt.

Bogor – Democratic People's Party (PRD) chairman Budiman Sudjatmiko alleged on Friday that the recent explosions at his parents' home in the Sukaresmi subdistrict of Tanah Sareal was a premeditated act of terror.

Jakarta – Students of the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) were involved in clashes yesterday with Police and Military who were tasked to safeguard Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri during her visit to the ITB campus to inaugurate a statue of Soekarno, Indonesias first president which was erected on the campus where he studied technical science and obtained his diploma from.

Surabaya – Protesters in East Java have admitted that they were paid to hit the streets in support of President Abdurrahman Wahid, local police said.

Surabaya – As many as 150 people were reported missing in the town of Pasuruan on Thursday as life gradually returned to normal following an interfaith meeting between senior local ulemas and Christian clergymen on Wednesday evening.

The United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) today reported that the grenade attack that killed five people along the East/West Timor border last week was the result of a private dispute between a militia member and a gambling ring organizer.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Without clear leadership at the top, Indonesia's bureaucracy could break down over the next two lame-duck months, analysts warned. The predictions came despite assurances from senior officials at various ministries, who claim the government will carry on despite impeachment proceedings against President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Susan Sim, Jakarta – Do not say anything, just focus on the G-15 meeting and your new grandson – that is the advice key Cabinet ministers are giving the President the day after impeachment became an inescapable reality.

Hongkong – Despite feeling uneasy over the recent political turmoil in Indonesia, the head of the International Monetary Fund yesterday said he was willing to work with any new policymakers chosen by the nation.

Hamish McDonald – As Megawati Sukarnoputri edges closer to assuming the Indonesian presidency, she has given some signs of a more conciliatory approach to Australia and breakaway East Timor than indicated so far by her huffy nationalist stance in public.

Hamish McDonald – Warning of a new financial crisis in Indonesia, the Federal Opposition yesterday urged a softer approach by international lenders to the country's huge debt burden left by the collapsed Soeharto regime.

Reuters in Sydney – With President Wahid fighting for his political survival and his supporters vowing to lay down their lives for him, aid agencies are preparing for a humanitarian crisis.

Jeremy Hobbs, executive director of Oxfam Community Aid Abroad, said the Australian charity already had contingency plans for a humanitarian catastrophe.

Medan – The Medan District Court, under heavy security, began on Thursday the trial of Ligadinsyah, alias Azis bin Ibrahim Linggo, believed to be the deputy commander of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) for the Central Aceh area.

Bogor – There was a second explosion at the house of the parents of Budiman Sudjatmiko, chairman of the People's Democratic Party (PRD), in the village of Sukaresmi here on Thursday, following an explosion a day earlier.

Washington – The United States said it was watching events in Indonesia closely as it faces a test to its democracy, and called on the country's leaders to solve its political crisis through peaceful, constitutional means.

US State Department spokesman Philip Reeker told reporters that Washington was "watching events in Indonesia very closely".

By Tim Anderson for AID/WATCH

1. World Bank dictating terms of development in East Timor

Banda Aceh – Fifteen people were killed or found dead in two days in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province, as rebels and the military traded accusations over the torching of scores of homes, authorities and residents said Thursday.

Brendan Pearson – East Timor's bounty from Timor Gap oil and gas revenues may hit $US1 ($1.95 billion) billion annually this decade, East Timor's interim Foreign Minister, Dr Jose Ramos Horta, said yesterday.

Mark Dodd, Dili – A dispute over illegal trade on the East Timor border with Indonesian West Timor is thought to have caused a series of grenade attacks on Tuesday that left at least five people dead and about 40 injured, United Nations military sources say.