As East Timor prepares for the second anniversary of independence next week, the country remains one of the world's poorest. For most East Timorese, education and basic health care – even access to clean water – are beyond reach. The situation has been highlighted by the death of a 12 year old girl.

Presenter/Interviewer: Marion MacGregor

The UN Security Council is set to renew the mandate of the UN Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET) for a further six months, the United Nations said yesterday.

United Nations – The UN Security Council voted to keep a drastically scaled back UN mission in East Timor to support the legal, law enforcement and security institutions that the government has established since independence two years ago.

Jakarta – Head of Wiranto's team of lawyers handling the East Timor case Dr Muladi said those who had been accusing the one-time military (TNI) chief to have committed human rights violations in East Timor have breached international law.

Jakarta – The General Elections Commission (KPU) and the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) will soon issue a joint decree encouraging television stations to air the track records of presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

Banda Aceh – Politicians and human rights activists in Indonesia's strife-torn Aceh province welcomed the end of martial law here Friday, expressing hope it would lead to a new war on corruption and poverty.

Jakarta – Indonesia's decision this week to lift martial law in war-torn Aceh has arguably pleased no one.

Indonesia has decided to lift military rule in Aceh, just under a year since martial law was imposed. On the first anniversary next Wednesday, civilian authorities will take charge but they'll have the power to order press censorship, curfews and other restrictions.

Presenter/Interviewer: James Panichi

Indonesia said it will end martial law which has been in force in Aceh province for the past year while troops battled separatist guerrillas.

The province will in future be under a state of civil emergency, acting security minister Hari Sabarno said after a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The government, citing an improved security situation, has downgraded Aceh's martial law status to a civil emergency and will return the conflict-torn province to civilian rule by next Monday, senior officials said yesterday.

Anton Aliabbas, Jakarta - The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) says that the government's decision to reduce the status of martial law in Aceh to a state of civil emergency is not enough. If the TNI (armed forces) remains the people will still be repressed and continue to suffer.

Woro Swasti, Jakarta – The coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Usman Hamid, says that if Wiranto is elected as president the investigation into [former President] Suharto's crimes will come to a halt.

Mark Colvin: There's more trouble tonight for the embattled Canberra defence intelligence establishment. The family of Lieutenant Colonel Merv Jenkins, Australia's top spy in Washington during the East Timor crisis, is taking the Federal Government to court.

Dili – East Timor's chief prosecutor has asked judges to revoke an arrest warrant for Indonesian presidential candidate Gen. Wiranto over the 1999 violence in the half-island nation, saying prosecutors needed to further review the case.

Longuinhos Monteiro described the warrant issued by the UN-backed special tribunal earlier this week as "premature."

With a warrant out for his arrest, the general should not be a political candidate.

The presidential campaign of Indonesia's Golkar Party is off to a shaky start – in international eyes at least. A United Nations court in East Timor has issued a warrant for the arrest of the party's candidate, the former Indonesian armed forces commander, Wiranto.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – East Timor's top prosecutor has said there "might be some defects" in an indictment against former and serving Indonesian officers accused of human rights abuses in a move that appears certain to sink any further attempts to prosecute them.

Sian Powell, Jakarta – In an extraordinary reversal, East Timor's prosecutor-general has distanced himself from an arrest warrant issued for Wiranto, former Indonesian armed forces commander and heavyweight presidential candidate in Indonesia's forthcoming election.

Andreas Harsono, Jakarta – The six pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates for the Indonesian election in July, revealed on Wednesday, are an interesting mix of secular and Islamic-based politicians.

Budi Sugiharto, Surabaya - A demonstration opposing presidential candidates from [former President Suharto's state ruling party] Golkar and the military on Thursday May 13 ended in demonstrators tearing down the main eastern gate of the State Grahadi Building on Jalan Gubernur Suryo in Surabaya (East Java) and forcing their way into the grounds of the building.

Jakarta Post, Cirebon/Kupang/Yogya – Demonstrations continued on Wednesday in several parts of the country against an apparent military comeback in the political sphere following the nominations of a number of retired generals as presidential candidates.

Luhur Hertanto, Jakarta – Lively demonstrations against ex-military presidential and vice-presidential candidates are continuing. On the afternoon of Wednesday May 12, around 100 people "run amuck" over the National Election Commission's (KPU) decision to accept presidential candidates from the military. The KPU was even pelted with eggs.

M. Taufiqurrahman and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – "If you can't beat them, join them" seems to be Solahuddin Wahid's motto.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Noted Muslim scholars played down on Tuesday fears of rising radicalism among Indonesian Muslims, saying the phenomenon would not last long and would only affect a small number of people.

M. Munab Islah Ahyani, Bandung – Army chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu says that there is a modern war conspiracy which has and is being carried out by aggressor nations in order to destroy and take control of Indonesia. Stages I and II of this modern war are already underway within the country.

Robert Go, Jakarta – A battery of 520 questions from psychiatrists checking for psychosis, neurosis, retardation or personality complexes; up to 30 minutes on the treadmill to determine cardio-fitness; and spirometry tests to assess lung capacity.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Plans by the US Federal Reserve to increase its interest rate could cause a devastating impact on the Indonesian economy particularly in the form of massive capital flight, economists warned.

Canberra – Australia will leave around 100 peacekeeping troops in East Timor if the United Nations extends its mission in the world's newest country for another year as expected, the government said on Wednesday.

A. Junaidi, Jakarta – Rejecting accusations of partiality, the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) has again placed the Democratic Party's cofounder Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as the presidential election front-runner in its latest poll.

Jakarta – The unprecedented presidential election in July looks certain to see six pairs of contenders, with the incumbent Megawati Soekarnoputri and her deputy-cum-challenger Hamzah Haz being the last to register.

Abdul Khalik/Nana Rukmana, Jakarta/Cirebon – Scholars warned on Tuesday that the candidacy of several top figures from Nahdatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah's endorsement of Amien Rais would have an adverse impact on the role of those organizations as pillars of civil society.

M.Ilaham, Jakarta – Thousands of Acehnese who are residing in Jakarta held a series of demonstrations at the offices of the coordinating minister of politics and security, the presidential palace and the national parliament on Tuesday May 11.

M. Ilaham, Jakarta – The chairperson of the Association of Acehnese Families (Ikatan Keluarga Rakyat Aceh, IKARA), Faisal Syarifuddi, says that during the one year that martial law has been in place in Aceh it has brought great suffering to the Acehnese people, particularly innocent civilians.

Jakarta – Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda and several members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday shrugged off the United Nations-backed East Timorese court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for former Indonesian Military chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto after charging him with crimes against humanity.

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – A National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) team found indications on Tuesdays of human rights violations in an incident in which dozens of police officers stormed the Indonesian Muslim University (UMI) in Makassar, South Sulawesi, early this month.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Six years after the onset of the reform movement that was triggered by the death of four Trisakti University students in Jakarta in May 1998 at the hands of security personnel, the nation has yet to see substantial changes in political, economic and social life, activists say.

Four Corners investigates the increasingly rancorous fight between Australia and East Timor over the multi-billion dollar oil and gas bonanza that lies beneath the waters dividing them.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – The inflow of smuggled goods to the country surged during the first quarter of this year, according to an internal report from the Directorate General of Customs and Excise.

Indonesian's ex-military chief Wiranto has formally announced his presidential candidacy whilst dismissing an arrest warrant issued against him by an East Timor judge as "character assassination." "There are several pieces of information that are behind these charges, there clearly is an involvement of political activities in this country," Wiranto told reporters.

Andrew Burrell, Manila – A United Nations-backed tribunal yesterday issued an arrest warrant for Indonesia's former military chief Wiranto, in a move that could become a wildcard issue in next month's presidential election campaign.

Nethy Dharma Somba and Rusman, Jayapura/Samarinda Illegal logging continues unchecked in East Kalimantan province and Papua, Indonesia's westernmost province, sparking fears among government officials and environmentalists that pristine forests in the two provinces will soon disappear.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The House of Representatives (DPR) on Monday opened the debates of the bill on the truth and reconciliation commission with the Military/Police faction rejecting it outright before deliberations began.

Spokesman for the Military/Police faction Maj. Gen. Djasri Marin said the faction wanted the removal of the word "truth" from the bill's title.

John Aglionby, Jakarta – A UN tribunal issued an arrest warrant yesterday against Indonesia's former military commander General Wiranto for crimes against humanity allegedly committed in East Timor five years ago.

East Timor's Prosecutor General has filed a court motion for a "revision" of the case against Indonesian presidential candidate Wiranto, a day after a UN-backed court issued a warrant for his arrest.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – The Jakarta stock market fell precipitously for the eighth straight trading day on Monday as regional stock markets also plunged on growing fears that the US Federal Reserve would increase its interest rate in June.

Jakarta – Fierce rebel fighting has left four suspected rebels and a soldier dead in separate clashes in Indonesia's Aceh province, an army spokesman said Tuesday.

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – A police disciplinary committee dismissed here on Monday three high-ranking officers in South Sulawesi from their posts for their roles in a recent brutal attack on the Indonesian Muslim University (UMI), Makassar.

Indonesian presidential candidate, former armed forces chief Wiranto continues to attract controversy. United Nations prosecutors in East Timor have issued an arrest warrant against General Wiranto for alleged crimes against humanity.

Jakarta/Surabaya – United Development Party (PPP) leader Hamzah Haz has added his name to the list of presidential candidates when he announced on Monday he would join the race, picking Cabinet minister Gen. (ret.) Agum Gumelar as his running mate.

Luhur Hertanto, Jakarta – Anti-military demonstrations dogged [former armed forces chief] Wiranto and Gus Solah [National Human Rights Commission member Solahuddin Wahid] as they left the National Election Commission (KPU) after registering as Golkar Party presidential and vice-presidential candidates on Tuesday May 11.

Muchus Budi R., Solo – Democratic Party presidential candidate and retired general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono alias SBY says he is saddened by the wave of demonstrations opposing presidential candidates with a military background. In his assessment, these opponents are holding the actions within the framework of democracy however in fact they are betraying democracy itself.