Michael Sainsbury – In January, after half a year of political gridlock, Timor-Leste's president Francisco "Lu Olo" Guterres set the date for its 730,000 registered voters to head to the polls.

Angela Macdonald-Smith – A deal struck between the Australian and Timor-Leste governments has opened the door for progress on Woodside Petroleum's long-stalled $US13 billion Sunrise LNG project but any development still looks years away amid ongoing disagreement on how to develop the large offshore field.

East Timor's decision to drag the Australian Government to "compulsory conciliation" at the UN has paid off – a new and better treaty is set to be signed next week.

Lindsay Murdoch, Bangkok – Australia and East Timor will sign a landmark agreement aimed at opening the way to share revenue from the $50 billion Greater Sunrise oil and gas field in the Timor Sea at the United Nations next week.

East Timor and Australia have reached an agreement for a treaty on their disputed maritime border and on a "pathway" to develop the giant Greater Sunrise offshore gas fields, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague says.

Anne Barker – For a man held up as a national hero, relatively little is written about Nicolau dos Reis Lobato – especially outside East Timor. But some Timorese are hoping one chapter – about Lobato's death – might soon be complete.

Thomas Ora, Dili – Negotiations have resumed between Timor-Leste and Australia to determine exploration and revenue sharing issues for the multibillion-dollar Greater Sunrise oil and gas fields.

Viji Menon – The oil and gas sector is the mainstay of Timor-Leste's economy, with almost 90% of government revenue coming from oil. The non-petroleum economy, which scarcely existed at Independence is still very small, only about a quarter of the GDP. It is mostly generated by state spending for public administration, procurement, and infrastructure construction.

Kim McGrath – The UN Compulsory Conciliation between Australia and Timor-Leste, which aims to set a boundary in the Timor Sea, appears to be inching towards resolution, with details emerging in the Portuguese media last week of a deal involving a median line boundary and a revenue-sharing arrangement for the Greater Sunrise fields.

Celestina Soares – Currently 787 people with disabilities have access to formal education from Lospalos, Ainaro, Aileu and including the special administrative region of Oe-Cusse.

Paulina Quintao – The family and patients gave thanks to the Chinese soldiers for providing aid in Timor-Leste, through delivering free health assistance to the communities.

Celestina Soares – Currently, 396 teachers have received inclusive education training; from this number 70 people have their Masters in this area.

Lindsay Murdoch – East Timor could receive up to 80 per cent of revenue from the $50 billion Greater Sunrise oil and gas field in the Timor Sea under a still-secret agreement with Australia, according to a report from the country's capital of Dili.

The Turnbull Government will be watching with interest and angst for a soon-to-be-released book which sheds light on an extraordinary chapter of Australian-East Timor history, writes Alex Mitchell.

Luke Hunt – ASEAN aspirant Timor-Leste is being democratically tested today, with new elections slated after the minority government formed just last year failed to get its budget and policy platform passed by parliament.

Siktus Harson, Kupang – For nearly two decades, life has never been a celebration for Maria Pereira. Since she fled her home in Timor-Leste due to conflict in 1999 that led to the country's independence in 2002, her life has not improved.

Timor-Leste (East Timor) and Australia are due to sign the new maritime border treaty between the two countries on 6 March, but the model of exploration of the Greater Sunrise oil fields may not be resolved by that date, Portuguese news agency Lusa reported, citing sources familiar with the process.

Jose Belo, Dili – As Timor-Leste's minority government lost control over parliament in the four months since it was installed by President Francisco Guterres Lu Olo in September 2017, caretaker prime minister Mari Alkatiri turned to Facebook to try and get his message out and threaten censorship.

Victims of serious human rights violations committed during the Indonesian occupation (1975-1999) continued to demand justice and reparations. Security forces were accused of ill-treatment. Journalists faced defamation charges for carrying out their work.

Background

Michael Sainsbury – Timor-Leste President Francisco Lu Olo Guterres' move to end a six-month political deadlock and call fresh elections for the second time in nine months comes at an awkward time for the nation's renegotiation of its maritime boundary with Australia.

Lindsay Murdoch, Bangkok – East Timor's Parliament has been dissolved and fresh elections called to end a political impasse that has paralysed Australia's north-western neighbour for months.

President Francisco "Lu-Olo" Guterres announced the dissolving of Parliament on Friday, saying "only the people can help us out of the impasse".

Nelson Da Cruz, Dili – East Timor President Francisco "Lu Olo" Guterres said on Friday he will dissolve parliament and call new elections in a bid to end a prolonged political impasse in the tiny country since polls last year.

Simon Roughneen, Jakarta – East Timor will hold parliamentary elections for the second time in a year after President Francisco "Lu Olo" Guterres today dissolved the hung parliament that ensued after 2017's inconclusive vote.

Michael Sainsbury and Thomas Ora, Dili Timor-Leste – Timor-Leste's embattled Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri has backed fresh elections, increasing the chances of a new poll being called in the wake of last July's election that has triggered political gridlock.

Jakarta – Indonesia and Timor Leste have cooperated in building and reconstructing border bridges linking the two countries, an Indonesian official said on Monday.

Hadrianus Bambang, senior official of public works department in Kupang of East Nusa Tenggara province, said that the major work will be the construction of a bridge in Mota Ain of Kupang in Belu district.

Michael Sainsbury and Thomas Ora, Dili – Timor-Leste's president has convened a meeting of the troubled Catholic Asian nation's State Council for Jan. 24 that is expected to help determine whether the country gets either a new prime minister or faces fresh elections.

Michael Sainsbury, Dili – Timor-Leste's constitutional crisis, due to come to a head on Jan. 22, could take weeks to solve with a range of options in terms of consultation and final decisions available to President Francisco Guterres Lu Olo.

Lindsay Murdoch – Only four months after taking office East Timor's minority government is set to fall, possibly within days, amid tense political manoeuvrings in Australia's nearest north-western neighbour.

David Hutt – Last year, Timor Leste was held up as a shining example of democratic progress after staging two successful elections after years of volatile and often violent politics. But a post-election constitutional crisis driven by political elite rivalries is putting the young nation to a new crucial test.

Michael Leach – Nearly six months after an election that left Timorese politics in a state of protracted uncertainty, the manoeuvrings in the young nation's parliament seem likely to reach their endpoint next week.

Dili – Foreign Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Timor Leste, Aurelio Guterres, expressed his solidarity with the Cuban people and government, and hopes for the end of the commercial and financial economic blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba.

Michael Sainsbury, Phnom Penh and Thomas Ora, Dili – Timor-Leste has lurched into a constitutional crisis after Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri's minority government failed to pass key legislation, including a fresh budget bill, in the week before Christmas.

Jose Ramos-Horta – As the aftermath of the U.S. election fixes our attention internationally, and will continue to do so as we wait to see what happens next, the issue of climate change is only accelerating in urgency. We must not allow ourselves to lose focus, particularly on the climate talks currently underway in Marrakech (COP22).

Damien Kingsbury – A year that started so well for Timor-Leste has ended badly. The country is in a constitutional crisis, its minority government had refused to reconvene the Parliament and there is the prospect of another round of elections in 2018.

Tom Iggulden, staff – After almost 20 years, could the battle of lucrative gas fields in the Timor Sea be over?

Australia and Timor-Leste – also known as East Timor – have been given until March to finalise a draft treaty signed earlier this year.

Vincent Bevins, Dili – Madalena Vidal Soares joined the armed resistance movement shortly after Indonesia invaded her country in 1975.

Australia and East Timor will sign a new treaty next year setting maritime boundaries in an effort to settle lingering disputes over lucrative oil and gas fields in the East Timor Sea.

The Hague – Australia and East Timor will sign a new treaty next year setting maritime boundaries in an effort to settle lingering disputes over lucrative oil and gas fields in the East Timor Sea.

Bec Strating – Timor-Leste ends 2017 with great uncertainty over the future of the Greater Sunrise gas field, over the stability of its government and over its ambitions to become a member of ASEAN.

Sally Round – Timor Leste could face another election next year after the new government suffered a defeat in parliament on Tuesday.

Among the factors at play, according to observers, are the old rivalries between leaders of the resistance to the 24-year Indonesian occupation which ended in 1999.

Raimundos Oki, Dili, East Timor – A political crisis is looming in East Timor after a coalition of opposition parties rejected the new government's policy program for a second time.

Krithika Varagur in Aileu, Timor-Leste – It was 39 years since Kauka had last walked up the steep dirt road to her house in the Timor-Leste highlands, a lifetime since she was taken by an Indonesian soldier on her way home from school.

Sydney (Media Alliance/Pacific Media Watch) – Two journalists from Timor-Leste will benefit from the Balibo Five-Roger East Fellowship in 2018, an initiative of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance and Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA.

Timor-Leste's youth bulge presents huge opportunities for the still fragile country, 15 years after independence from Indonesia's brutal occupation.

Despite announcing a breakthrough in their protracted negotiations over a maritime boundary in August, Australia and East Timor have yet to finalize an agreement that would allow them to move forward on the joint development of an important natural gas field.

Damien Kingsbury – As East Timor went to elections this year, the country was the most peaceful and united it had been in its short history.

Anne Barker – East Timor's Government is deciding whether to adopt a controversial new policy that would ban contraceptives for anyone except married couples.

Rui Graca Feijo – Almost nine months after the election of the fourth President of the Republic, the first to be won by a President affiliated to a political party (FRETILIN) and to benefit from a pre-first round major party coalition, and four and a half months after FRETILIN narrowly won the legislative elections (by a mere thousand votes over Xanana Gusmao's CNRT, both winning just under 30%

Suffering for the East Timorese and great shame for Australia

The following statement was released by the Information Officer of the Australia East Timor Friendship Association, Andy Alcock, to observe the 42nd anniversary of the full scale invasion of the Democratic Republic of East Timor by the Indonesian military (TNI) on 7 December 1975.

Jarryd de Haan – According to a press release published by Scoop, the Central committee of the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (Frente Revolucionaria do Timor-Leste Independente, or Fretilin), met at the party's headquarters on 2 December to discuss the political climate facing the party.