Lita Aruperes, Manado, North Sulawesi – The North Sulawesi Police have uncovered an alleged charging of illegal fees in the disbursement of compensation funds to former residents of East Timor (now Timor Leste).

Paulina Quintao – The government through the Secretariat of State for Youth and Sport (SSYS) has allocated $120,499.25 to the November 12 organizing committee for National Youth Day, held to commemorate the Santa Cruz massacre of 1991.

Secretary of State Leovigildo da Costa Hornai said this year's event would differ from previous years as there would be a number of sports activities.

Paulina Quintao – The National Parliament (NP) has begun discussions on proposed law no. 26/III/III to combat human trafficking in the country. Its objective is to respond to cases of human trafficking, which occur in the country.

Isabel Ermelita – The Timor-Leste Health Ministry is continuing to promote the use of condoms to at-risk groups to prevent the transmission of HIV, but still recommends that the wider community practice self-control in their sexual relations.

Journalists around the world are trying to get the prime minister of Timor-Leste (East Timor) to abandon a criminal complaint against two Timor-Post reporters who say he was involved in government corruption.

Venidora Oliveira – Minister of Defense Cirilio Cristovao said execution of the general state budget for the Defense Ministry reached 67% by mid-year.

He said $26,217,240 had been allocated to the ministry, which mostly went towards treatment for veterans and boat maintenance.

Paulina Quintao – Three-hundred women candidates in 12 municipalities, including Oecusse, have been confirmed for the upcoming suku (village) elections later this month.

Spokesperson for the I am 100% Ready commission Yasinta Lujina said women's organizations would continue to provide training and accompany women during the campaign process and up until the election.

Semarang, Central Java – The immigration office in Central Java has deported 51 students who had come from Timor Leste but were found staying in violation of stay permit regulations.

Paulina Quintao – Although the Education Ministry has formally included sexual health as a subject in the national curriculum, this has not yet been implemented as teachers still felt uncomfortable delivering the subject.

Lauren Roberts, Rural Reporter – Territory mango farmers are flying to Timor in a desperate attempt to recruit workers ahead of a potential labour crisis.

NT Mango Industry Association president Leo Skliros said Ian Quinn and Saramat 'Tou' Ruchkaew from Tou's Garden were flying to Timor to recruit workers through the Federal Government's Seasonal Worker Program.

China, Macau, Timor-Leste – Timor-Leste (East Timor) is expected to grant a license for fishing in its territorial waters to Chinese company Zhoushan Ningtai Ocean Fisheries Co., following the support provided by bilingual staff and professional services of the Macau Platform, reported the Macau Institute for Trade and Investment Promotion (IPIM).

Amsterdam (Reuters) – Australia and East Timor [will] aim for an agreement over the disputed maritime boundary in resource-rich waters between their countries, a court said on Thursday (Oct 13), signalling a deal could be reached by next September.

Paulina Quintao – The Deputy President of the Timor-Leste Parliamentary Women's Group (GMPTL), Albina Marcal, said many women especially in rural areas were having multiple pregnancies close together every year because of a lack of information about reproductive health.

Paulina Quintao – The Ministry of Education has still not created a policy to ensure school principals accept female drop-outs so that they can continue their studies after childbirth.

Wendy Levy, Manahat, Timor Leste – Farmers in Timor Leste call the months from November to February "the hungry season", and this year could be even worse than usual thanks to poor harvests related to the weather phenomena El Nino and La Nina.

UA: 230/16 Index: ASA 57/4957/2016 Timor-Leste

Jack Kerr for Earshot – If someone was to make an Australian version of Forrest Gump, they might look to Brian Manning's life story for inspiration.

Elisabeth Buchan – On 19 September, Timor-Leste won a minor victory in its ongoing dispute with Australia over rights to resources in the Timor Sea. The UN Conciliation Commission, convened under the Annex V conciliation proceedings of UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), rejected Australia's bid to block proceedings.

Ayomi Amindoni, Jakarta – State electricity company PLN is ready to supply electricity to areas on Indonesia-Timor Leste borders by the end of this year.

PLN is constructing power facilities in three transboundary posts (PLBN), targeted to completed in the end of 2016, on Indonesia-Timor Leste borders in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). They are PLBN Motaain, PLBN Wini and PLBN Matomasin.

Thomas Ora, Dili – The Timor-Leste government has appreciated a Catholic plan to prioritize peace education in schools which is needed to heal societal trauma from years of conflict.

Paulina Quintao – The Timor-Leste Parliamentary Women's Group (GMPTL) with other women's associations is developing a law to enforce the legal age of marriage in Timor-Leste.

GMPTL president MP Florentina Smith said it was necessary to propose the law as high numbers of women were marrying young and this could potentially impact their health.

Venidora Oliveira – The government through the Secretariat of State for Land and Property (SSLP) is planning to evict Kaikoli residents in the near future.

Paulina Quintao – Alumni from the Timor-Leste Youth Parliament (ATLYP) are raising awareness about conflict resolution to high school students.

ATLYP President Zaulino da Silva said the program aims to change attitudes among young people and show them that they can resolve their problems without resorting to violence.

Prashanth Parameswaran – As ASEAN approaches the commemoration of its 50th anniversary next year, one of the key things to watch will be the organization's progress in admitting an eleventh member: Timor-Leste. With Dili's admission gaining traction over the past few years, it is worth looking more closely at the dynamics at play.

Expansion in ASEAN

Dili, East Timor – Two East Timorese journalists are going on trial in a criminal defamation case brought by the country's prime minister that has alarmed press freedom groups.

Paulina Quintao – Every year almost 10,000 out of one million people in Timor-Leste will suffer from hepatitis, according to estimates from the Health Ministry based on data from the National Blood Bank

Mungo MacCallum – It may sound unpatriotic, but I could not help cheering when the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague brought down its decision last week against Australia.

After more than 12 festering years, this finally brings to a head a shameful and shameless exhibition of browbeating and exploiting our newest and poorest neighbour, Timor-Leste.

Nick Brown – Key stakeholders throughout the Timor-Leste have come together to form the first professional coffee trade organization in the origin's long history, the Timor-Leste Coffee Association (Assosiasaun Cafe Timor-Leste, or ACTL).

Roshni Kapur – After years of pushing for membership, Timor-Leste is now ready to become the 11th member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The process of Timor-Leste's accession into ASEAN has been ongoing for a number of years. The country was recognized as an ASEAN observer in 2002 and joined the ASEAN Regional Forum in 2005.

Isabel Ermelita – Timor-Leste's government has welcomed the conciliation commission's decision to proceed with the case involving a dispute with Australia over maritime boundaries in the resource-rich Timor Sea.

Paulina Quintao – Research conducted by the World Food Programme (WFP) in partnership with the Alola Foundation in 2015 showed that 1,904 children under six years old were suffering from wasting, a type of malnutrition.

Venidora Oliveira – The General Director for National Directorate for Land and Property (NDLP), Romao Guterres, has called on communities living on state-owned land to pay taxes.

Although 2000 people were paying taxes as required, he said many communities in Dili were occupying state-owned land and should pay monthly tax to the state through the NDLP.

Paulina Quintao – The Mobile mother's project has made significant progress in terms of the number of pregnant women accessing health facilities and receiving assistance from qualified midwives at home during childbirth.

Paulina Quintao – The Mother's Support Group (GSI) program implemented by the Alola Foundation has been recognized by the Health Ministry for its efforts to reduce maternal and child mortality in Timor-Leste.

Paulina Quintao – Women's activist and survivor Maria Domingas "Micato" Alves has encouraged other survivors of past crimes to be active and creative in contributing to the national development process.

She said survivors had managed to save themselves in difficult situations, including floods, earthquakes and crime.

Hao Duy Phan – On April 11, 2016, Timor-Leste initiated compulsory non-binding conciliation proceedings against Australia under Annex V of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). On September 26, 2016, the Conciliation Commission published its decision on competence. This is the first time the conciliation procedures in UNCLOS have been invoked.

Rachel Gold – In the 1990s, Brown's campus was a hotbed of activism on behalf of Timor-Leste, the Southeast Asian island then occupied by – and subject to human rights violations committed by – Indonesia. Over 15 years later, the leaders of what is now the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste arrived in Providence to reflect on the transition from a political movement to a sovereign nation.

Nyshka Chandran – A 14-year old border conflict between Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, and Australia was revived by The Hague's Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) on Monday.

Daniel Flitton – Australia has lost in its claim that an international commission has no jurisdiction to hear a complaint by East Timor in the bitter dispute over undersea oil and gas riches.

Timor-Leste will have its case against Australia over a disputed maritime boundary heard by the permanent court of arbitration in the Hague after the court rejected Australia's claim that the court had no jurisdiction.

"We do not agree with the statement of Julie Bishop, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, that "the Compulsory Conciliation Commission does not have jurisdiction to apply a decision on the delimitation of the Maritime Boundary"

Hamish McDonald, Gleno, East Timor – As we drive along a potholed road leading out of this little town into the cool highlands of East Timor, Peter Dougan stops to look at coffee berries laid out to dry on tarpaulins by local growers.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Minister of Social Affairs Khofifah Indar Parawansa handed over the compensation amount to 24 families of former of East Timorese but currently residents of Kediri, East Java.

Australia must meet Timor-Leste halfway over their disputed sea border and the lucrative oil and gas reserves that lie beneath, writes Ines de Almeida.

In The Hague a United Nations Conciliation Commission has begun its work to help settle a long-running dispute between Timor-Leste and Australia – a dispute over where the sea border between our two nations should be.

Development of the Greater Sunrise gas field is the key to the economic future of Timor-Leste, but an almost two-decade-long maritime territorial dispute with Australia could see ordinary Timorese people pay a high price for policy failure, Bec Strating writes.

Paulina Quintao – At the commemoration of popular consultation day on August 30, the President of National Parliament, Aderito Hugo, called on the country's sovereign bodies to be responsible and treat people with dignity according to the constitution.

A meeting of the Timor-Leste (East Timor) cabinet Ministers authorized the Ministry of Finance to start the process of joining the Asian Investment and Infrastructure Bank (AIIB), according to a press release published on the official government website.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Press Council has agreed to help the Timor Leste Press Council build up its newly created institution. The two bodies signed a cooperation agreement in Jakarta on Monday.

Wang Hui – The disputes between Australia and its smaller neighbor East Timor over maritime boundaries could serve as a useful lens for others to see through the double standard of some Western countries.

Paulina Quintao – The Ministry of Education has conducted Portuguese language testing for pre-school, secondary and vocational school teachers to assess their ability.