"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"

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.

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.

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

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.

Wu Qiang, Beijing – The still fledgling Southeast Asian nation of Timor-Leste has taken Australia to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague over their maritime boundary dispute.

Beijing – The fledgling Southeast Asian nation of Timor-Leste has taken its big neighbor Australia to a UN conciliation commission at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague in a bid to settle their maritime boundary dispute.

Callum Smith – Commenting on a certain international maritime dispute, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said, "this is an important decision, it is one that has been made in accordance with international law and it should be respected by both parties, and indeed by all parties and all claimants."

Su Hao and Wang Zheng – The South China Sea disputes should be resolved between China and other claimants, but countries from outside have intervened, making the regional situation more sophisticated and strained.

Stephen Grenville – Senator Wong urges the Australian government to commit to an international process of dispute resolution to settle the maritime border between Australia and Timor Leste. The conciliation process currently underway in The Hague goes quite some distance in this direction, providing each side with the opportunity to set out its case.

Australia and East Timor are at loggerheads over drawing a maritime boundary to finally and permanently resolve the division of undersea oil and gas resources. What might ordinarily be regarded as a quarrel between otherwise close friends has slowly festered into a toxic dispute, and now presents a serious obstacle to cordial neighbourly relations.

Please support the TSJC's crowd funding campaign. Donate now and help ensure Timor gets a fair go.

The East Timorese people have long held a special place in Australian hearts. Now, they need a hand to secure what is rightfully theirs and to secure their future prosperity.

Daniel Flitton – A ruling could be delivered within the month on Australia's claim that a special international commission has no jurisdiction to hear a complaint by East Timor.

East Timor has sought a "conciliation" with Australia under a never-before invoked article of the international law of the sea in a bid to win a greater slice of oil and gas revenue from the Timor Sea.

East Timor has reflected on the goodwill of its former invader as it seeks to settle sea borders with both Indonesia and Australia.

A conciliation hearing in The Hague this week between Australia and East Timor has wrapped up. The United Nations commission is expected to announce whether it has the power to proceed with the process in a fortnight.

Penny Wong – The Turnbull's government rejection of an international commission's jurisdiction over the maritime boundary dispute with Timor-Leste is a deeply disappointing development.

Australia needs to play by the rules in the East Timor boundary dispute or risk losing credibility when it weighs into the South China Sea saga, federal Labor warns.

Ryan Dagur and Siktus Harson, Jakarta – Rights groups have said the governments of Indonesia and Timor-Leste have failed to find, document and reunite Timorese separated from their families when they were children during the Indonesian occupation (1975-1999) as recommended by an official commission in 2008.

Jakarta – "I had mixed feelings of sadness and anger when I learned that I already had my own grave in Timor Leste," Victor da Costa, 41, said on Tuesday.

He is one of Timor Leste's generation of "stolen children", who were forcibly taken away from their families during the Indonesian occupation of what was then the province of East Timor.

Donald K. Anton – It is reasonable to suppose that for much of the time between 2007 and 2013, those responsible for managing Australia's diplomatic relationship with Timor-Leste rested easy about the potential irritant represented by the unresolved dispute involving the delimitation of the Timor Sea maritime boundary that divides the opposite coastlines of both countries.

Steve Cannane – The former president of East Timor has told a commission sitting at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that Australia exploited a vulnerable nation while negotiating treaties over oil and gas revenue in the disputed territory.

Timor-Leste once agreed to let the maritime boundary question rest for 50 years. What changed?

Although East Timor is doing much better than it was, it is still very fragile. And the Timor Sea dispute could undo much of the progress that has been made.

Ben Doherty – Timor-Leste has urged Australia not to "turn its back on the law" and to negotiate over the Timor Sea maritime boundary, but Australia has claimed the commission it has been brought before has no jurisdiction to hear the matter and said that any decision it makes will be not be binding on Australia.

This week's conciliation talks in The Hague give Australia a new chance to do the right thing by East Timor to help it secure its future

Jan van der MadeIssued – East Timor is asking the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague to help resolve a dispute with Australia over a maritime border that cuts through lucrative oil and gas fields in the Timor Sea. But Australia has rejected the claims, saying that existing agreements are good enough.

Australia has injected last-minute intrigue into the opening of compulsory conciliation proceedings over the unsettled maritime border with Timor-Leste.

The utterances came – more or less out of the blue – ahead of hearings which are due to start in The Hague on Monday evening (AEST).

Steve Cannane – The ongoing dispute between Australia and East Timor over maritime boundaries could be resolved in a landmark case that begins in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on Monday.

Amanda Hodge, Jakarta – Australia and East Timor will face off in The Hague on Monday in their territorial dispute over maritime boundaries in the Timor Sea – the first nations to use a last-chance international conciliation process under the UN Law of the Sea.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) this Monday asked the Prime Minister of Timor-Lest to stop defamation charges against two Timor Post journalists and to immediately release them.

Hamish McDonald, Dili – The biggest private sector employer in Timor-Leste has two names on his business card. One is Eduardo Belo Saores, his legal name, and the other is a more enigmatic one, Gattot.

Abi Sarwanto, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Wiranto met with the Minister of Planning, Development and Investment of East Timor, Xanana Gusmao on Sunday (21/8) night.

Wiranto said in a closed meeting that lasted for more than two hours that they discussed many things, one of which is the border between Indonesia and Timor Leste.

Lindsay Murdoch – Try to picture this: almost every man, women and child forced from their homes, often at gunpoint, usually because of the sheer terror of staying.

Entire towns and villages turned into wastelands. Everything of value stolen and loaded onto trucks by the military, police or their anointed thugs.

On the eve of Bali's terror summit, Justice Minister Michael Keenan said he'd "welcome" convicted war criminal Wiranto to Australia effectively closing the Turnbull Government's book on the East Timor genocide. Dr Adam Henry reports.

Venidora Oliveira – The Civil registry has granted 680 foreigners Timorese citizenship, mostly from Indonesia.

Department head Manuel Gama said the applicants had fulfilled the criteria under citizenship laws N. 9/2012 and n. 1/2004. He said the majority were originally from Indonesia and were getting married to Timorese citizens.

Paulina Quintao – The Caucus organization has provided training to 180 potential female candidates in rural areas to help prepare them for the suku (village) elections to be held in October.

Program Coordinator for Capacity Building Pascoal da Cruz Gomes said the training was important to encourage women to participate in the development process by taking on a leadership role.

Thomas Ora, Dili, Timor Leste – The Catholic Church has moved to support the people of Timor-Leste in their dispute with Australia over maritime boundaries involving billions of dollars in oil and gas reserves.

Quratul-Ain Bandial, Bandar Seri Begawan – Timor Leste is keen to reap the potential benefits of tariff-free trade once it joins the ASEAN bloc, said the country's commerce, industry and environment minister on Tuesday.

Paulina Quintao – Increased reporting of domestic violence cases and the establishment of more shelters are the two major achievements during the implementation of the national action plan on gender-based violence (NPA-GBV) over the past three years.

Paulina Quintao – The Caucus organization is providing training to 30 potential female political candidates, which have been registered in the National Election Commission (NCE), in preparation for the 2017 general elections.

Dili, Timor-Leste – Participants of ASEAN Peoples' Forum (APF) have stated their commitment and supports of a fair settlement for the Timorese peoples' unfinished struggle to achieve their full sovereignty as the newest country in South East Asia. ASEAN civil society pledged to propose a campaign on the Timor Sea issue, so that the Timorese people could achieve their full sovereignty.

Paulina Quintao – Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araujo has urged ministers and secretaries of state to include gender issues in the annual action plan and the 2017 budget to ensure both women and men benefit from government programs.

Paulina Quintao – The Mobile Library Program being implemented in the country through the Alola Foundation is aiming to develop a culture of reading among pupils.

Alola's Program Manager for Education Emma de Sousa said many pupils were participating in the program and enjoyed reading the different books.

Introduction