At the height of the East Timor crisis, Australia gave General Wiranto a stark ultimatum: back off or else. Now the former army chief has a strong chance of becoming Indonesian president, and Canberra is feeling nervous. Paul Daley reports.

Jon Lamb – As the pre-election hype takes off, the issue of the disputed maritime boundary between East Timor and Australia has slipped from the mainstream political spotlight. Nonetheless, the big oil and gas companies with investments in the Timor Sea remain concerned about the stand-off between Dili and Canberra.

Dili – The state budget proposed by East Timor's ruling Fretilin party was approved Tuesday by the Dili parliament, although most opposition parties boycotted the debate and final vote in protest at the "arrogant" attitude of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.

Banda Aceh – Indonesia Tuesday expelled two Malaysians and a US citizen after they illegally entered the restive province of Aceh which remains under a state of civil emergency, an official said.

Kupang – The United Nations Security Council lowered its security status in West Timor regency to Alert IV from Alert V after an evaluation by the UN Security Coordination team on May 13 this year, a senior military officer said here on Monday.

An Australian journalist has been deported from East Timor even though a court dismissed charges of illegal weapons possession and immigration violations, his attorney said Tuesday.

Julian King, 43, was forced to leave late Monday after a court in the capital, Dili, ruled that police had no evidence to support the charges against him, said his lawyer, Pedro de Oliveira.

Indonesia says it hopes to resume military cooperation with the United States after a separatist rebel leader was charged over the deaths of two Americans in Papua almost two years ago. A US grand jury in Washington has indicted Anthonius Wamang on two counts of murder and eight counts of attempted murder over an ambush at the Freeport copper mine, near the town of Timika.

With just a week to presidential elections in Indonesia, one man has emerged with an unbeatable lead. Outpolling all his rivals, including his old boss, President Megawati, and with a 45 percent approval rating, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono says he's confident of victory.

A room in the fifth floor apartment in Alby, Stockholm, Sweden, was already without its police guard. The occupant, President of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), Teuku Hasan Muhammad di Tiro, 79, under house arrest since last Tuesday, had been released for the time being.

Sian Powell – A rusting billboard greets visitors to Jantho, in the forested hills southeast of the provincial capital of Banda Aceh. "Let's make Jantho a tourist area," it says.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The government has been criticized for establishing a new national human rights committee directly under the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, with activists saying it would be open to political interference.

Andre Vltchek – What can you do if your country is tiny and poor and your wealthy neighbor shamelessly exploits commonly shared area rich in natural resources depriving you of funds so much needed to feed your people?

Jakarta – The governor of Indonesia's war-torn Aceh province claimed Sunday that security was improving in the region, state news agency Antara reported, despite recent clashes that have killed at least nine alleged rebels.

The recent declassification of documents by the US National Security Archive pertaining to the 1969 referendum on Papua has put this vast and resource-rich westernmost province of Indonesia in the spotlight.

Former security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the leading contender for next month's presidential election, has promised to increase Indonesia's defense budget if elected.

John McBeth, Jakarta – The launch of East Timor First Lady Kirsty Sword Gusmao's autobiography was in full swing in a Jakarta store when a woman covered head-to-toe in a white robe slipped into the front row of seats and grabbed the microphone.

Jakarta – Prominent cleric Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid has told members of the country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), to vote for the Wiranto-Solahuddin Wahid ticket in the July 5 presidential election.

Jakarta – The leading contender in next month's presidential election warned Wednesday that supporters of rival politicians may "burn down cities" if there is no clear winner in the polls and the race goes into a run-off.

Jakarta – Several flights were delayed or diverted Tuesday after smoke haze from forest and ground fires blanketed Pekanbaru city on Indonesia's Sumatra island, officials said. The haze is an annual dry-season hazard in parts of Indonesia, despite laws banning the use of fire to clear land for cultivation. It spread to much of Southeast Asia in 1997.

Given the attention that is currently being paid in both government and media circles to the Swedish court's decision to release two leaders of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) from custody, Indonesians are certainly right to ask how relevant events in Sweden are to the peaceful and lasting settlement of what is known here as the Aceh problem.

Jakarta – An Indonesian Islamic militant convicted of involvement in a terror plot against Western interests was jailed yesterday for five years.

Judge Syaifuddin said Ahmad Sofyan, alias Tamim, was guilty of taking part a "sinister conspiracy" to launch attacks by attending several meetings of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) network in early 2003.

Rusman, Samarinda – Up to 3,000 workers from two plywood companies in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, continued their strike on Monday to demand that the firms pay their salaries for the last two months.

PC Naommy, Jakarta – Internet experts expressed concern on Monday over the lack of understanding among bureaucrats and legislators of the benefits of cyber-technology.

Nala Edwin, Jakarta – Munir, the head of the human rights group Imparsial, says that human rights issues which are related to presidential candidates former armed forces chief Wiranto and former coordinating minister for politics and security Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) are not a "black campaign".

Jakarta – The Buddhist People's Communication Forum (FKUB) has expressed its political support for National Mandate Party (PAN) presidential candidate Amien Rais and running mate Siswono Yudo Husodo a spokesman said.

Jakarta – Several academics from state and private universities grouped in the Reformist Academics Community have declared their political support for the presidential bid of Amien Rais and his running mate, Siswono Yudohusodo.

Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta – The Pertamina tanker scandal became murkier on Monday when a document surfaced indicating the state company was in the process of selling two supertankers to a company that did not win the tender process.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Two presidential contenders took their rivalry to another level when they crooned to a live audience on one of the country's most watched talent contest over the weekend.

Sian Powell, Jakarta – Most Acehnese believe the blood-drenched province needs a ceasefire, or at least an end to hostilities, but Governor Abdullah Puteh said yesterday his prime requirements were tourism and foreign investment.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Despite the Swedish court's decision to release the leaders of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the Indonesian government was optimistic that the cases against the exiled men would go ahead.

Simon Elegant, Jakarta – Bilal looks down at the bloody corpse of his neighbor, Mohammed Ishak, and says: "They must have hated him very much to put so many bullets into his body."

The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) will be armed with stronger and broader powers with which to perform its duties and to enforce its recommendations under a public finances accountability bill that is expected to be passed soon by the House of Representatives.

Surabaya – Over 1,900 prostitutes operating in the two red-light districts of Dolly and Jarak have contracted sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), a health official said.

The Surabaya health agency's head of communicable diseases, Esty Martiana, said poor attention to safe sex had caused the rise in STD cases.

The name of 58-year-old Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao has once more caught the Indonesian public's attention. Two weeks ago, Xanana met with Wiranto, former defense and security minister/armed forces commander, and now Golkar's presidential candidate.

Jakarta – Indonesian police have, for the first time, accused controversial Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir as being the man behind a series of bombings that have shaken the country since 1999.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri on Monday met her estranged predecessor Abdurrahman Wahid in a symbolic reunion that hints at a possible alliance between the two camps ahead of the presidential election run-off.

Luh Putu Trisna Wahyuni, Mataram – The incidence of domestic and other forms of violence against women has increased significantly in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province during the past year.

Blontank Poer and Tarko Sudiarno, Semarang – Hundreds of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) leaders and clerics appealed on Sunday for an end to political rivalry within the nation's biggest Muslim organization ahead of the July 5 presidential election.

Jakarta – Indonesia's Constitutional Court approved only 41 out of 273 complaints of electoral fraud in connection with last April's legislative elections, the court's chairman Jimly Asshiddiqie announced Monday.

I Wayan Juniartha, Denpasar – The incumbent Megawati Soekarnoputri may have a bumpy road ahead of her to win the hearts of the Balinese in the upcoming election.

Once known as loyal – some might say fanatical – supporters of Megawati, the Balinese made it clear in April's legislative election that times had changed.

Indonesia's President Megawati Sukarnoputri faces an uphill battle for re-election next month despite belated attempts to re-connect with the "little people" who once supported her so fervently, analysts say.

Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta – Over 180,000 people in the footwear industry lost their jobs last year, and many of them may have returned to traditional agriculture, according to the latest government data.

Jakarta – Indonesian police were yesterday hunting a gunman following the murder of a woman priest in a packed church in Central Sulawesi province.

Sunday's attack in Palu town was the latest in a series by suspected Islamic extremists on Christian targets in the province.

Farish A. Noor – Aceh has played a crucial role in the development of Indonesian national identity and the Indonesian nation-state. But after sacrificing so much to the idea and ideals of Indonesia, it appears that the struggle of the people of Aceh is far from over

He's 54 years old, somewhat heavyset, with a pudgy face. To a startling number of Indonesians disillusioned with politics, the face of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is one they believe they can trust.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri has issued a decree establishing a national committee that will coordinate human rights activity across the country.

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar – Entering the home stretch of Indonesia's first direct presidential election on July 5, there are only a couple of sure bets. One is that all the candidates promise to fight corruption. You may find that hard to believe since the candidates are or recently were in leading positions to address this problem and neglected to act.

Mafoot Simon – In an apartment in the Stockholm suburb of Alby a year ago, a leader of the movement that has fought a violent struggle with Jakarta authorities for a separate state in Aceh, Sumatra, told an interviewer that he hoped Sweden would not buckle under Indonesian pressure.

Two martial arts gangs clashed in East Timor, leaving four dead including a 70-year-old man who tried to break up the brawl, police said Saturday.

The clash started late Tuesday when one gang accused the other of attacking innocent civilians in Urahu village, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) outside the capital Dili, National Police Commissioner Paul Fatima Martins said.

Sian Powell, Banda Aceh – Courted by the Western press, feted by prominent Indonesian intellectuals and religious leaders, and idolised by crowds of villagers and farmers, it seems Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono can do no wrong.

Indonesia's favourite presidential candidate flew into the blood-soaked province of Aceh yesterday to garner support for his bid for the top job.