Shawn Donnan and Taufan Hidayat – The trap worked like a charm. A sly detour imposed on the campaign convoy by local police, a handful of supporters brave enough to step into traffic and force it to a stop, and before Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's aides could protest too much, he was being bundled from his bus and into a nearby home to address a giddy gathering.

Indonesia has lost 22 trillion rupiah (2.3 billion dollars) in two years because of corruption, an official said.

The amount was based on 1,198 corruption cases investigated by prosecutors between January 2002 and April 2004, said the spokesman for the attorney general's office, Kemas Yahya Rahman.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Corruption watchdogs say Gen. (ret) Wiranto tops the list of presidential candidates who have practiced vote buying in their campaigns, while President Megawati Soekarnoputri was deemed the most prone to misuse state facilities.

Jakarta Post, Jakarta – The reverberations created by last month's conviction of almost all of North Sumatra's councillors in a collective graft trial are now being felt in other local jurisdictions across Indonesia, with a number of similar corruption cases currently under investigation.

Anton Aliabbas, Jakarta – Presidential candidate from the Democratic Party Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) says that if he is elected he will work to create a harmonious relationship between government, business and the ordinary people. In such a climate it is hoped that the economy will grow strongly.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Just as the liquefied-natural-gas industry in the Asia-Pacific region is poised for takeoff, Indonesia, the world's biggest LNG producer, needs to import up to 30 cargoes of the fuel from rival suppliers to meet contractual obligations with Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, which consumes nearly three-fourths of the region's total LNG supply.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) announced on Thursday it had began the prosecution of an corruption case worth over Rp 10 billion, the first since its establishment six months ago.

Brendan Nicholson – Australia has resumed co-operation with the Indonesian special forces group Kopassus to help fight regional terrorism, Defence Minister Robert Hill revealed yesterday.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The government issued on Wednesday guidelines for the implementation of integrated operations in Aceh under a state of civil emergency, which restrict the governor's authority over local administrations.

Banda Aceh – Indonesia's presidential favourite vowed on Friday to achieve peace in rebellious Aceh and restore dignity to people in the strife-torn province if he was voted to office.

Surabaya – Students of the Surabaya Institute of Technology (ITS) have rejected a planned debate between Golkar Party candidate Wiranto and National Mandate Party (PAN) candidate Amien Rais at their university on Saturday, ITS student leader Rendara Sanjaya said here on Friday.

Devi Asmarani, Bengkulu – Standing before some 1,500 party supporters last week, Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung was all praise for the man who only two months ago trashed him at a party convention.

Salim Osman – Tucked in a side street in south Jakarta is a bamboo hut that has been attracting scores of working-class Indonesians daily.

It is a popular eatery, or warung and one of thousands that dot nooks and crannies in the Indonesian capital providing decent food and drink at budget prices for lower-income workers.

A resumption of counter-terrorism training between Australia and Indonesia's controversial Kopassus forces appears closer, with Indonesia's top counter-terrorism officer attending a conference in Australia this week.

Defence Minister Robert Hill, who addressed the conference on Thursday, extolled the benefits of cooperation between regional counter-terrorism forces.

Australia's Defence Minister says Asia must confront the unpalatable fact that it's a breeding ground for Islamic extremism. Senator Robert Hill was speaking at the first meeting in Australia of Asia Pacific special forces military – including officers from Indonesia's Kopassus force.

Presenter/Interviewer: Graeme Dobell

Robert Go, Jakarta – Pollsters, who gained credibility after they predicted a win for the Golkar party ahead of April's parliamentary elections, are now forecasting a landslide victory for former military general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the presidential elections. The numbers so far are stunning.

Amy Chew, Jakarta – Indonesian presidential candidate and former armed forces chief General Wiranto publicly apologised for the first time for the violence in Timor Leste, then called East Timor, that killed more than 1,000 people in 1999.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Timika – Two conflicting tribes, the Damal and Nduga, in Papua province have agreed to end the bloody clashes that have killed two tribesmen on each side.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The detention of two Aceh rebel leaders in Sweden may have been based on a UN resolution requiring member states to take action against anyone that threatens the territorial integrity of states.

[While President Xanana Gusmao makes overtures of friendship towards Indonesia, there are many East Timorese who may never be able to forgive their country's former oppressors. Filmmaker Neil Barrett took their testimony.]

M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta - The State Intelligence Agency (BIN) believes that arrest of three Free Aceh Movement (GAM) leaders in Sweden is a political victory and they now need to lobby for GAM to be included in the list of international terrorist organisations.

With a long tradition of supporting independence movements in the Pacific, Vanuatu has taken the lead to support dialogue on the future of the Indonesian province of Papua. Last month, Vanuatu's Foreign Minister Moana Cacasses issued an invitation to the Government of Indonesia to participate in a roundtable meeting with representatives of the West Papuan movement.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The Papuan people's campaign against the province's division has received a major boost after the State Administrative Court ruled on Tuesday against a law appointing Abraham Octavianus Atururi as West Irian Jaya governor.

Police in Sweden have arrested three leaders of Indonesia's separatist Free Aceh Movement after raiding their homes in a Stockholm suburb.

Andi Hajramuni, Makassar – Hundreds of East Timorese refugees who hail from South Sulawesi sealed off the province' high court on Wednesday to vent their frustration over the court's verdict in an embezzlement case.

Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta – The rapid expansion of modern retail outlets like hypermarkets and minimarkets in big cities may have forced many traditional grocery stores to close down, creating huge job losses, according to a preliminary finding of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

Larry Thompson – A 28-year conflict between the Indonesian government and the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has killed thousands of civilians, displaced hundreds of thousands of people, and destroyed much of the infrastructure of Aceh.

Jakarta – Some 669 people have died in a widespread dengue fever outbreak in Indonesia in the first five months of this year and the disease still remains a dangerous threat, Health Minister Achmad Suyudi said Wednesday.

As of May 31, some 59,321 people had been infected with the mosquito-borne disease and 669 of them had died, he said.

Pekanbaru – Hundreds of students from the Sultan Syarif Kasim State Islamic University prevented a discussion involving vice presidential candidate Jusuf Kalla, the running mate of presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, from going ahead after staging a rally against his presence on their campus on Wednesday.

Abdul Khalik and Suherdjoko, Jakarta/Semarang – The Jakarta Prosecutor's Office received on Tuesday the last two dossiers of the July 27 case from National Police headquarters, including that of Governor Sutiyoso.

Jakarta – Yusuf Hasyim, the head of the Tebu Ireng Islamic boarding school in Jombang, East Java, filed a complaint with the General Elections Commission on Tuesday over the use of images of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) founder Hasyim Asy'ari.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Where are the crowds? Campaigning for Indonesia's first presidential polls began two weeks ago with a lot of bluster.

The banners of the five candidates and their running mates are still hoisted on flagpoles and trees to remind everyone this is an election year.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Indonesia's election authority has banned President Megawati Soekarnoputri from holding outdoor rallies in Denpasar in her heartland of Bali in a further blow to her election efforts.

Jakarta – After two weeks of the presidential campaign, Golkar leaders have urged party executives to show support for their candidate, retired general Wiranto and running mate Solahuddin Wahid.

Jakarta – Experts have played down the impact of negative campaigning targeting candidates in the presidential election, saying it only stated the obvious about the contenders.

Stephen Brown, Stockholm – Swedish police on Tuesday arrested three leaders of an Aceh separatist group which has been fighting Indonesia for independence since 1976, saying they were suspected of "grave breaches of international law."

Angelus Tito, Jakarta – The Indonesia Human Rights Monitor (Imparsial) is urging President Megawati Sukarnoputri to cancel her order to law enforcers to postpone the legal investigation into the July 27 case(1).

Robert Go, Yogyakarta – Trailing her opponents by as much as 30 percentage points in the latest opinion polls, President Megawati Sukarnoputri has much ground to cover. But with just two weeks left in the campaigning period, she's hitting it walking.

An Australian man facing charges in East Timor claims he has been framed by local authorities.

Julian King, a freelance journalist and activist from Darwin, is charged with possessing ammunition and illegal documents and is still awaiting trial in Dili.

Biak – Some 300 people in Biak Numfor district in Indonesia's Papua province staged a peaceful rally at the legislative council building on Tuesday to press for the discharge of police officers for beating a local official last June 9.

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – A panel of judges dismissed on Monday defense pleas by two senior police officers charged with human rights abuses in Papua, ruling that their ad hoc rights trials must continue in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

Jakarta – The two front running candidates in Indonesia's presidential election sparred yesterday over policies to deal with separatism in Aceh province and endemic graft in the world's fourth most populous country.

Eugene Low – The cukongs (wealthy Indonesian businessmen) are back in force. Business tycoons in Indonesia are aligning themselves with key presidential candidates, who are also out to woo them for financial backing.

Kathy Marks – From the refugee camp of Sunkaer Laran, the mountains of East Timor are so close you can almost touch them. It is so close, and yet so far, for people gazing towards the border from their scruffy plywood huts in Indonesian West Timor.

The meeting between Xanana Gusmao and General (ret) Wiranto reaped condemnations in Timor Leste. As soon as he landed at Nicolau Lobato Airport, Dili, unlike his usual self, Timor Leste President Xanana Gusmao descended the steps with a sour expression. Carrying his son, accompanied by his wife, Kirsty Sword Gusmao, he stepped outside the airport on Monday, two weeks ago.

Salim Osman – Presidential front runner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono wants to put an end to a raging controversy over one issue that has threatened his bid for the top job in the country.

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Some 82 percent of 1,061 of industrial firms in Tangerang municipality do not have waste treatment facilities as required by law. Therefore, most of them do not process their waste effectively. Some even just dump their untreated waste directly into the river.

Salim Osman – Thousands of people lined the streets as presidential front runner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono turned up on his first campaign trail stop in the North Sulawesi capital.

Laksamana.Net – Divestment of the country's largest banks may not proceed as the government or the central bank plan as Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) gears up to expand through a merger and push for the retrieval of funds stolen last year.

Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta – The number of jobs in key industries such as manufacturing, construction and trade has contracted significantly as an unfavorable labor environment has prompted companies to hire fewer workers and cancel investment plans, according to the latest government labor data.