Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – A diocese in Catholic-majority Timor-Leste has officially suspended from priestly duties a cleric who intends to run for president next year.

Bishop Dom Basilio do Nascimento of Baucau announced in a letter released on Aug. 30 that he had terminated all sacramental services of diocesan priest Father Martinho Germano da Silva Gusmao.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – A defrocked American priest on trial in Timor-Leste for allegedly sexually abusing minors is also facing legal proceedings in his home country.

Joao da Cruz Cardoso – On June 18 of this year, Timor-Leste abstained from a resolution in the United Nations General Assembly condemning the military regime in Myanmar.

Aila Slisco – A former Catholic priest was indicted this week by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., for the alleged sexual abuse of children at a "shelter home" he founded abroad.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – The health system in Catholic-majority Timor-Leste is "in danger of collapsing" following a recent spike in Covid-19 cases, while many health workers have also been infected, the government says.

Ryan Dagur – A Society of the Divine Word (SVD) official has denied allegations of "conspiracy" and "false accusations" against Richard Daschbach, who was dismissed from the priesthood for sexual abuse committed in Timor-Leste.

Chris Barrett and Karuni Rompies, Singapore – The awarding of one of Indonesia's highest honours to a former militia leader indicted for crimes against humanity has been labelled an insult to both East Timor and Australia.

Ryan Dagur – The archbishop of Dili hopes that Timor-Leste's first Catholic university will open this year after he met with Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak.

Salesian Archbishop Dom Virgilio do Carmo da Silva of Dili met Ruak on Aug. 13, a month after the archdiocese formally applied for permission to start the Catholic University of Timor in the Catholic-majority country.

Christopher Knaus – The government will be forced to defend its decision to withhold long-secret cabinet documents about negotiations with Timor-Leste in the years prior to the controversial bugging operation revealed by Witness K and Bernard Collaery.

London, New York, Berlin – TAPOL, ETAN and Watch Indonesia! strongly condemn President Joko Widodo's decision to grant 'Bintang Jasa Utama', one the highest national awards, to Eurico Guterres on Thursday, 12 August 2021.

Katharina R. Lestari, Jakarta – Human rights activists have condemned Indonesian President Joko Widodo for presenting an award to a former East Timorese militia leader who was involved in pre-and post-independence massacres in what is now Timor-Leste.

Jakarta – The Civil Society Alliance – which is made up of a number of organisations in Indonesia and East Timor – is urging President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to revoke the Bintang Jasa Utama (1st Class Star of Service) award for civil bravery and courage in times of adversity which was given to former East Timorese pro-integration militia leader Eurico Barros Gomes Guterres.

Erika Nugraheny, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has bestowed the Bintang Jasa Utama (1st Class Star of Service) award for civil bravery and courage in times of adversity on former pro-integration East Timorese militia leader Eurico Guterres. The award ceremony was held at the State Palace in Thursday August 12.

Anna Henderson – The federal opposition has committed to hold an inquiry into claims Australian spies were eavesdropping on the government of Timor-Leste during highly sensitive oil and gas negotiations.

But it would firstly have to change the law that underpins Australia's top secret spy agencies.

Christopher Knaus – Australia's 2004 spy mission targeting Timor-Leste during oil and gas negotiations was "neither legal nor initiated properly" and former prime minister John Howard is likely to be called to give evidence at the trial of Bernard Collaery, the independent senator Rex Patrick has told parliament.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Indonesian authorities have deported more than 100 Timor-Leste citizens who defied Covid-19 restrictions and illegally crossed the border to participate in a martial arts event in East Nusa Tenggara province.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Timor-Leste is witnessing a significant increase in new cases of Covid-19 as the epicenter of the pandemic has shifted south from capital Dili to Ermera municipality.

Hanoi – The 11th meeting of the ASEAN Coordinating Council Working Group on Timor-Leste's Application for ASEAN Membership was held on July 29 via teleconference.

The Vietnamese delegation to the event was headed by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Dung, head of the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) ASEAN Vietnam.

Luke Hunt – Timor-Leste is emerging as an unlikely regional diplomatic player amid a renewed push to gain membership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) when Cambodia takes over the bloc's rotating chair next year.

Damon Evans – Santos, which operates the Bayu-Undan field offshore East Timor, said today that production from its Phase 3C infill drilling program has started with the first well producing a better than expected outcome.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Dili Archdiocese in Timor-Leste is to work closely with international Christian humanitarian and development organization World Vision in assisting families in rural areas to prevent violence against children.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Pope Francis hopes to visit Timor-Leste next year, according to a senior official at the Catholic-majority country's apostolic nunciature.

The visit will take place if the Covid-19 situation improves, Monsignor Marco Sprizzi, the nunciature's charge d'affaires, told reporters after meeting Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak on July 23.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Timor-Leste's top churchman has called on priests and religious to respect the Vatican's decision to dismiss a priest for sexual abuse and asked them to support his alleged victims in a case currently on trial.

Akito Ximenes, Michael Rose – The hamlet (aldeia) of Poros is a settlement of some 800 people on the edge of Nino Konis Santana National Park and Lake Ira Laloro in Timor-Leste. Historically an isolated community of subsistence gardners and foragers, today many of its young people work abroad – at present around 30 are in the UK, Korea and Australia.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Dili Archdiocese in Timor-Leste has asked the government for permission to establish the country's first Catholic university by upgrading the status of a pastoral school.

The application was submitted to the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Culture by the country's top churchman, Archbishop Dom Virgilio do Carmo da Silva, on July 16.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Many primary and secondary schools forced to close for months in Catholic-majority Timor-Leste's worst-hit Covid-19 areas will be allowed to reopen next week, the government says.

Chris Barrett, Singapore – A defrocked Catholic priest accused of systematic child abuse in East Timor has been reported to police for allegedly threatening to kill the human rights lawyer representing the victims.

The claim against American-born Richard Daschbach was made in a statement released on Tuesday night by law firm JUS Juridico Social Consultoria.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – A defrocked priest in Timor-Leste on trial for sexual abuse has been accused of threatening to kill the lawyer of his alleged victims.

Strong performance in the oil sector has boosted Timor-Leste's 2021 GDP growth forecast from 2.5 to 4 per cent, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

"Strong oil production volumes in early 2021 have prompted us to raise our forecast for GDP growth in 2021," the EIU's most recent report on the Timorese economy stated.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Timor-Leste has stepped up efforts to seal its border with neighboring Indonesia to prevent the entry of the Covid-19 Delta strain, a variant the country's top churchman described as "one of the greatest threats to the world."

Elizabeth Byrne – I can't tell you who Witness K is. Even if I knew I couldn't say without risking jail time, because as a former spy for Australia's overseas intelligence service, his identity is protected under strict security laws.

Damon Evans – East Timor could pocket just over $600 million if the Buffalo-10 exploration well, due to be drilled late October, is successful. The operator, Australia's Carnarvon Petroleum, as well as UK partner Advance Energy, said yesterday that they have secured a jack-up drilling rig for the probe at the historic Buffalo field offshore East Timor.

Eve Webster – Thousands of East Timorese people who fled the country in the 1990s could lose their rights to work, rent a home or access the NHS in three days' time because of Brexit.

Chris Ray – Nona was born in a dirt-floor hut in a East Timor highland village, where hungry children grow up stunted and wise men see omens in the flight of birds. Her parents grew rice and corn in swidden gardens, but struggled to feed six children. At the age of 9, Nona decided on a solution: she would leave home to live at an orphanage called Topu Honis.

Mike Head – A former senior Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) officer, known publicly only as "Witness K," was sentenced to a suspended jail term last Friday. His "crime" was to blow the whistle on the Howard Liberal-National government's use of ASIS to plant a listening device in East Timor's cabinet room in 2004 during crucial oil and gas negotiations.

Christopher Knaus – Jose Ramos-Horta will formally request that Timor-Leste award Witness K the nation's highest honour, praising him for exposing "Australian government perfidy, bad faith and dishonesty" in a bugging operation conducted for the sole purpose of "robbing the poorest country in the world".

Susan Connelly – Witness K's three months suspended sentence for conspiring to reveal classified information about an alleged spying operation arose from his guilty plea, which required some form of consequence.

A non-custodial sentence is welcome, indicating the general realisation that he is no criminal, but this outcome raises many questions.

Australia is giving its security agencies ever more powers to fight terrorism, foreign influence and international crime but the case of Witness K, which concluded on Friday, has raised again the need for careful supervision of how these powers are used.

Canberra, Australia – Australia's suppression of information seen as pivotal to a free and open media is at the center of accusations that the country has become one of the world's most secretive democracies.

Elizabeth Byrne – The former Australian spy dubbed Witness K has been given a three-month suspended sentence for conspiring to reveal classified information about an alleged spying operation during oil and gas treaty negotiations between Australia and East Timor.

David Estcourt and Anthony Galloway – The former Australian spy known as Witness K has been handed a three-month suspended sentence for conspiring to reveal classified information about an alleged Australian operation to bug East Timor's cabinet rooms during sensitive oil and gas treaty negotiations.

Christopher Knaus – Witness K has been spared jail time for his role in exposing Australia's 2004 bugging of Timor-Leste with a Canberra court finding he appeared to be motivated by justice not personal gain.

Anthony Galloway – The former spy known as Witness K has pleaded guilty to conspiring to reveal classified information about an alleged Australian operation to bug East Timor's cabinet rooms during sensitive oil and gas treaty negotiations.

Christopher Knaus – Lawyers for the former intelligence officer Witness K have urged a court to spare him a criminal conviction for his role in unearthing Australia's bugging of Timor-Leste, saying it would only serve to increase his "alienation, anxiety and post-traumatic stress".

Dili – Timor Leste's Prime Minister, Taur Matan Ruak, on Wednesday acknowledged the prestige of Cuba's biopharmaceutical industry, which has won international awards for products developed in the country's scientific centers.

Ruak conveyed his ideas to Cuban Ambassador Omar L. Marrero Betancourt, whom he received in his residence.

Christopher Knaus – Protesters supporting Witness K will gather at federal parliament to decry his treatment as he faces possible sentencing and "a very real prospect" of being jailed for speaking out about Australia's misconduct abroad.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Catholic-majority Timor-Leste has launched a Covid-19 vaccination drive targeting students and lecturers to speed up efforts to reopen universities.

It began on June 14 at the National University of Timor-Leste (UNTL), the country's largest, and will see the giving out of doses of the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – The sex abuse trial of an ex-priest in Timor-Leste has been put on hold for a fifth time after a bid to hold the hearing by video link was stopped due to "technical issues."

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – A court in Timor-Leste has decided to conduct proceedings against an American ex-priest accused of child abuse by video conference after he failed to appear for the resumption of his trial for a fourth time.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – A shooting incident in which an off-duty Timor-Leste policeman killed two innocent people and wounded another has sparked calls for police reform in the Catholic-majority country.

The incident, which also triggered clashes between youths and police, occurred in the early hours of June 5 in the capital Dili.