Reuters - Australian Prime Minister John Howard said on Monday he would seek a fifth straight term, ending his ambitious deputy's leadership hopes and cementing his place as one of the world's most successful conservative leaders.

Reuters - East Timor has asked the United Nations to deploy more than 800 international police to ensure stability in the troubled Southeast Asian state, Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta said on Thursday.

AFP - East Timor is asking for more than 800 United Nations police to help stabilise the fledgling country after recent political violence, Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta said.

AFP - East Timor may need at least five years before the fledgling nation is ready to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta said.

AFP - Australia said it wants to withdraw its troops from East Timor as soon as possible but the timing depends on the United Nations' plans to set up a mission in the fledgling nation.

Reuters - The priority for East Timor's new prime minister, Jose Ramos-Horta, is reconciliation after months of political crisis, Indonesia's presidential spokesman said on Tuesday.

AFP - East Timor's newly installed Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta has offered a weapons amnesty to prevent a repeat of communal clashes which left 21 dead and displaced 150,000 two months ago.

AFP - East Timor will sign a formal request to join the 10-member Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN) next week, the tiny nation's new Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta said.

AP - Prosecutors questioned East Timor's former prime minister on Thursday over allegations he ordered a hit squad to kill political opponents during recent unrest in the country, officials said.

Reuters - Former East Timor Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri is suspected of arming civilians during the recent violence in Asia's newest nation and cannot leave Dili, the country's attorney general said on Thursday.

AFP - East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao swore in a new government, taking the tiny nation a step closer to normalcy after deadly violence in May left it in disarray.

AFP - East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao has sworn in a new government, taking the tiny nation a step closer to normalcy after deadly violence in May left it in disarray.

AFP - East Timor has prepared for the swearing-in of a new government as the tiny nation looked for a return to political order after deadly violence in May left it in disarray.

Reuters - A rebel leader at the center of allegations against East Timor's former prime minister laid down his arms on Tuesday, a symbolic move aimed at building peace in Asia's newest nation.

AFP - East Timor Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta launched into his new job with a symbolic start, collecting weapons from civilians as the nation tries to rebuild from a spate of violence.

AFP - East Timor's new Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta has said Australian troops should stay in his country until at least the end of the year.

AFP - A team of 25 New Zealand police have left for East Timor to bolster attempts to maintain order in the country, where more than 2,000 foreign peacekeepers are already on the ground.

Reuters - A group of rebel soldiers in East Timor surrendered their weapons to Australian peacekeepers on Wednesday, part of a process aimed at restoring calm to Asia's newest nation.

AFP - Nobel laureate Jose Ramos-Horta has said he is one of three short-listed candidates nominated by East Timor's ruling party to become the next prime minister of the crisis-wracked nation.

Canadian Press - DILI, East Timor (AP) - East Timor's parliament met Monday for the first time in weeks to discuss whether to waive immunity for ousted Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, who faces allegations of forming a hit squad to terrorize opponents.