Kathleen Noonan – In a waterfront restaurant on a still-warm autumn night near the Brisbane River, it seems almost ridiculous to be hearing about something as appalling as this.

The woman standing in the middle of the room has been asked about the education of girls in her beloved country and she says, matter-of-factly, most finish school when they start menstruating.

Paulina Quintao – A Ministry of Agriculture program offering free field plowing to farmers has been labeled as useless due to the lack of food production.

Paulina Quintao – The government has been criticized for failing to properly control communities building permanent homes on state-owned land and for issuing warning notifications too late.

Paulina Quintao – There are concerns that the country's farmers are losing their passion for agricultural work and that production is now in serious decline.

The General Secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF), Cesar Jose da Cruz, said that although the government provided equipment, farmers were often reluctant to expand their operations.

Paulina Quintao– Ongoing drought conditions are to blame for food shortages and crop failures this year, particularly maize, according to the Deputy Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF), Marcos da Cruz.

He said many people were experiencing food shortages as there had been no maize production this year.

Venidora Oliveira – Timor-Leste's National Parliament has approved a law limiting the power of the President to grant clemency to those convicted of corruption.

Venidora Oliveira – Members of the national police force (PNTL) are receiving training to help them better protect and recognize the presence of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities across the country.

Paulina Quintao – The increase in domestic violence cases has been linked to rising levels of polygamy and infidelity in the country.

The Coordinator of Psychosocial Recovery and Development East Timor (PRADET), Luisa Marcal, said data showed that domestic violence was linked to polygamy rather than financial stresses.

Cristian Talesco – Five years since submitting its formal membership application to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the small Pacific country of East Timor is more determined than ever to join.

It's one of the more disgraceful, and criminally underreported, examples of the current government's war on whistleblowers (and one entirely supported by Labor): the harassment of Witness K, the former ASIS agent who revealed ASIS' illegal bugging of the East Timorese government in 2004 for the benefit of Australian resources companies.

On April 22, 2016, several global media groups wrote a letter to Timor Leste Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araujo, urging him to withdraw the defamation case he filed against two local journalists. A week later, Araujo responded, defending his decision to pursue a case against the reporters.

The foreign affairs department says potentially reopening border negotiations with East Timor could draw Indonesia into the fray.

Federal Labor has pledged to reopen good-faith negotiations with East Timor over a disputed maritime boundary if it wins government. The move could have implications for the carve up of oil or gas reserves.

Anton Hermansyah – Indonesia and Timor Leste have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in developing human resources for the industrial sector in the two countries.

Paulina Quintao – The committee for the Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has called on the Timorese government to modify its draft law on human trafficking.

Paulina Quintao – Despite high participation rates, there continues to be lack of promotion around women in sport, according to the Coordinator of the Commission for Women in Sport, Filomena Reis.

She said women in Timor-Leste were involved in 24 different sports, including badminton, volleyball, basketball, marathon, karate and taekwondo.

Paulina Quintao – The numbers of domestic violence victims accessing formal justice has increased since last year, according to Psychosocial Recovery and Development in Timor-Leste (PRADET).

Paulina Quintao – In the 16 years since the Seeds of Life (SoL) program has been runing, 1200 seed production groups have been established across Timor-Leste.

Lyndal Rowlands, United Nations – High-level defamation, libel and sedition cases in Asian countries are sending signals to journalists that writing critical journalism can cost millions of dollars or years in prison.

Paulina Quintao – Increasing numbers of young people are turning their back on farming in favor of a job in the city, said the General-Secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture, Cesar Jose da Cruz.

Thomas Ora, Dili – The current daily minimum wage in Timor-Leste is outdated and needs to be raised, a top church official says.

Tom Allard – Australia's bid for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council is under threat due to its refusal to negotiate directly with East Timor over the disputed maritime boundary, the former president of the fledgling state, Xanana Gusmao, says.

Mark Skulley – Former East Timor leader Xanana Gusmao is a softly-spoken man, but is firm when it comes to talking about Australian prime ministers, past and present.

After starting out as a resistance commander against Indonesia, Gusmao became the first president of the independent Timor-Leste and then served as prime minister for about eight years until 2015.

If the Australian Government fails to appoint delegates on Monday for the 'compulsory conciliation' initiated by East Timor, then the UN's Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, will step in to appoint delegates on its behalf.

Yohanes Seo, Kupang – Indonesia and Timor Leste signed a memorandum of understanding covering cooperation on preventing HIV infection in both countries. The MoU signing was conducted at the National AIDS Mitigation Commission (KPAN) in Jakarta on Thursday, April 28, 2016.

Sydney (The Australian/Pacific Media Watch) – Timor-Leste Prime Minister Rui de Araujo has lashed out at Western critics, saying their nations had "acquiesced" to the 24 years of Indonesian occupation.

Dr de Araujo responded to a letter from four press freedom groups condemning his defamation action against two journalists, and the related criminal sanctions in Timor's penal code.

Sarina Locke – Australia's longest-running agricultural aid project is coming to an end, having lifted East Timor's farmers from the ashes of the militia's destruction 16 years ago.

Venidora Oliveira – With oil production in Kitan and Bayu-Undan is in steep decline, there are calls for the Timorese government to boost state revenue by developing other sectors.

More than 50% of Timorese children aged five and under suffer from malnutrition, according to 2013 data released by the Ministry of Health.

Executive Director of Together We Help Each Other (HIAM) Health organization, Rosaria Martins da Cruz, said the high rates of malnutrition was due to a lack of knowledge about food and nutrition.

Paulina Quintao – The Ministry of Health in conjunction with the World Health Organization (WHO) has established a national taskforce to help combat the rise in antimicrobial resistance.

The aim of the taskforce is to raise awareness among communities and health personnel on the proper use of antibiotics.

Caleb Gorton – East Timor's first president Xanana Gusmao has labelled Australia's maritime border dispute with Timor-Leste as "immoral" and claims it breaks international law.

Speaking at a public lecture at Curtin University in Perth, Mr Gusmao slammed the maritime treaty between the two countries.

Brian Bennion – Timorese resistance fighter Mario Nicolau dos Reis spent 17 years as a political prisoner in an Indonesian jail before the Australian-led peacekeeping force came to the aid of his people.

Samantha Yap, Singapore – Timor-Leste is taking Australia to the United Nations (UN) to settle a long-running maritime border dispute by using a legal mechanism that has not been invoked before.

Jose Ramos Horta – The maritime border dispute between Timor-Leste (East Timor) and Australia dates back at least to the 1960s. Former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer called it unfinished business. He got that right.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the South East Asia Journalist Unions (SEAJU) join international organisations the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Freedom House in calling on the Timor Leste Prime Minister to withdraw the criminal defamation case against a Timor Leste journalist and media outlet.

Venidora Oliveira – National Police (PNTL) Commander Julio Hornai said the data was taken in 13 municipalities and showed that 417 people were seriously injured, while 1399 suffered minor injuries. "It is currently becoming a security concern in our country," said Hornai in Dili.

Venidora Oliveira – Seventy-two percent of rural areas communities across 13 municipalities in Timor-Leste now have access to clean water, according to the Secretariat of State for Water and Sanitation (SAS).

The national director for water supply systems, Gustavo da Cruz, said water was being provided by the government and development partners.

John Martinkus – In 1995, as I squatted for days in a hole in the jungle of East Timor with 12 men hiding from Indonesian troops patrolling nearby, the whispered conversations between the Falintil Guerrillas and myself turned to oil.

Hannah Sinclair – East Timor has filed a request with the United Nations to resolve a dispute over its maritime border with Australia. It's a move that has evoked quite different policy reactions.

On Monday, East Timor asked the United Nations to begin the process of establishing a permanent maritime boundary with Australia in the Timor Sea. In an email interview, Clinton Fernandes, a professor at the University of New South Wales Canberra, discussed Australia's ties with East Timor and the border dispute.

Lyndal Rowlands, United Nations – Timor-Leste which won independence from Indonesia in 1999 is now engaged in a new struggle with Australia over rights to oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea.

Venidora Oliveira – Research conducted by the Judicial System Monitoring Program (JSMP) research in 2015 has found that 34% of Timor-Leste girls are victims of sexual violence.

Jakarta – Indonesia's second largest bank by asset, PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), will open a new branch in Timor Leste in an effort to expand business in the young nation, top official of the lender said here on Wednesday.

Mark Colvin: Labor's shadow foreign Minister says if the United Nations rules in favour of East Timor in a border dispute and her party wins government, it'll negotiate a new and fair maritime boundary with the tiny state to our north.

Thomas Ora, Dili, Timor Leste – Timor-Leste Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araujo has praised late Bishop Alberto Ricardo da Silva of Dili, as well as other Catholic clergy, nuns and religious for their "invaluable and unselfish contribution" in helping the country win independence from Indonesia.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) with its affiliates the Timor Leste Press Union (TLPU) and the Timor Leste Journalist Association (TLJA) condemned the actions of the Government of Timor-Leste which has commenced an investigation into a defamation lawsuit against local media.

Matthew Doran and Peter Lloyd – East Timor is taking Australia to the United Nations to solve the dispute over its maritime border under international maritime law.

Edio Jose Maria Guterres – Movimentu Kontra Okupasaun Tasi Timor (MKOTT or the movement against occupation in the Timor Sea) organised a two-day peaceful protest on 22 and 23 March in what turned out to be one of the biggest concentrations of demonstrators to date in the short history of Timor-Leste.

Review by Ian Sinclair – "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." The Hammer Blow is the perfect illustration of anthropologist Margaret Mead's famous quote.

Dili – Timor-Leste today launched compulsory conciliation proceedings under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), with the aim of concluding an agreement with Australia on permanent maritime boundaries.

The conciliation procedure engages Australia in a formal process conducted by an independent panel of experts, known as the conciliation commission.

Tom Allard – East Timor has called in the United Nations to help resolve its bitter dispute with Australia over a permanent sea border in the oil-rich Timor Sea.