East Timor is the second of only two countries in Asia that in 2013 and 2014 are expected to post economic growth of two figures, with 10 percent growth in both years, according to the 2013 report from the Asia Development Bank.

Paul Toohey – Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser was anxious to assure Jakarta that the matter of East Timor was closed as far as Australia was concerned, less than a year after Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony.

Operation Astute was launched in May 2006 in response to a request from the East Timor government following violence fanned by an army mutiny.

Chief of Joint Operations Lieutenant General Ash Power said the last ADF personnel deployed on Astute returned to Australia on Wednesday, following the ceasing of operations in November last year.

If the story of East Timor is one of success, of a small country claiming its independence over the incredibly stacked odds of an oppressive regime, it it also the backdrop of the extraordinary love story of its leaders, now told with incredible intimacy and personal footage in a documentary.

Journalists Oscar Salsinha and Raimundo Oki were given a $150 fine each at the Dili District Court on March 14 following the accusation of slanderous denunciations over an article published about a car accident in Oe-Cusse.

The Dili District Court absolved the two journalists accused of slanderous denunciations but issued them to pay $150 in compensation each.

The Portuguese secretary of state for Energy, Artur Trindade, is due Tuesday to begin an official visit to East Timor in the company of Portuguese businesspeople, the State Secretariat said in a statement issued in Lisbon.

GMPTL President MP Josefa Soares said abortion is a crime and it violates the rights of the child.

The President of the Women in Parliament of Timor-Leste (GMPTL), MP Josefa Alvares Soares, said those who voluntarily practice abortion are committing a crime and violating the rights of the child and could be sent to prison for three years.

All charges must be dropped against two Timorese journalists facing prison sentences for exposing alleged corruption in their country's judicial system, Amnesty International said.

A conference intended to find partners for construction of Eat Timor's new port and airport has taken place in Dili, organised by the Timorese government with the support of the International Financial Corporation (IFC), of the World Bank Group.

According to an Anti-Corruption Commission (KAK) survey released in 2012 a lot of the Timorese community still do not understand what corruption is.

The Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs said this year a technical team from Ministry of Foreign Affairs will measure the Timor Sea.

The objective of measuring the Timor Sea, according to the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, is to find out exact the confines of the sea ground.

Since the Anti-Corruption Commission (KAK) was established in 2010, it has investigated 27 corruption cases and some of those cases have now been closed after going to court.

According to the KAK President, Commissioner Aderito de Jesus Soares, the Court of Appeal is still processing some of the cases.

Tom Clarke – If you thought the debate over East Timor's oil and gas resources had been put to bed, think again. Because Australia has never agreed on permanent maritime boundaries with East Timor, the temporary resource-sharing agreement the Howard government jostled it into in 2006 may come crashing down.

East Timor's Oil Fund grew by US$720.94 million in the fourth quarter of 2012 and ended the year with a total value of US$11.777 billion, said the East Timor Central Bank.

Lim Chia Ying, Dili – The breast cancer diagnosis that came just before Christmas was the latest in Kirsty Sword Gusmao's series of continuous battles.

East Timor may carry out its natural gas exploration in the Timor Sea without other partners, thus bringing an end to its partnership with Australia's Woodside Petroleum, the Timorese Minister for Oil and Mining Resources, Alfredo Pires said Thursday in Dili.

East Timor's petroleum and natural resources minister said Thursday the nation may develop a multi-billion dollar gas project alone, ending its involvement with Australia's Woodside Petroleum.

Yoseph Kelen, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara – Officials from Kupang district and neighboring Timor Leste met on Tuesday to discuss enforcing security along a particularly porous section of their shared border.

Damien Kingsbury – Woodside and the East Timorese government have just 10 days to strike a deal on a lucrative gas project – or the controversial sea boundary between Australia and East Timor will be redrawn. Billions of dollars are at stake.

On February 6, 2013, Timor-Leste's Parliament gave general approval to the proposed 2013 State Budget. Forty MPs from the Coalition voted in favor, and 25 from Fretilin abstained.

The governments of East Timor and Thailand last week signed a memorandum of understanding to boost cooperation in exploration and development of the Timorese oil sector.

Members of Parliament used the number of roads unrepaired and in a bad condition as an example to highlight what they say is poor and inefficient budget execution.

According to the Ministry of Education unemployment amongst educated people, some of whom have qualified overseas, is on a par with the unemployment of recently graduated high school students posing a serious threat to the development of the nation.

The Council of Minsters has decided to maintain the ban on martial arts groups after it decided they could cause conflict for another year.

According to statistics from the UN agency and UNICEF, malnutrition in Timor-Leste has risen to 58 percent. These figures show that Timor-Leste is in third place among Asian countries, where the majority of the population lives "inside" malnutrition.

East Timor's former justice minister Lucia Lobato is in jail, after losing her last appeal against corruption charges. She was sentenced to five years in prison over contracts for prison equipment that were given to her husband.

Former Justice Minister Lucia Lobato has begun serving her five year prison sentence inside Gleno Prison.

Dili District Police officers arrested former Minister of Justice Lucia Lobato after the Court of Appeal sentenced her to five years in prison to be served at the women's jail in Gleno, Ermera.

The residence of the Minister of Finance, Emilia Pires, which is of luxurious architecture, clearly demonstrates discrimination between the incumbent Minister of Finance and other members of the government.

The President of the Republic Taur Matan Ruak has criticized the quality of domestic public works projects that the government contracted private companies to undertake because they are of poor quality and because of this it is development that is akin to just throwing money out onto the rubbish heap.

A last ditch attempt by Lucia Lobato to appeal against a decision to sentence her to five years imprisonment over corruption has been rejected by the Court of Appeals, Timor-Leste's highest court (Radio Liberdade).

Muhamad Rizki, Jakarta – National Anti-Narcotics Board (BNN) public relations division head Sumirat Dwiyanto says that Timor Leste is still considered a crucial point of entry for drug trafficking into Indonesia. The country is often used as transit destination before the drugs are smuggled into Indonesia.

Edio Guterres and Ivo Mateus Goncalves, Dili – The euphoria of the Christmas and New Year period has settled in Timor Leste as the country enters a new era. Having celebrated different historical moments in its history throughout the year, Timor Leste bid farewell to 2012 and in doing so made history.

Mariel Grazella, Dili – Indonesia and Timor Leste are keen for Indonesian state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to invest in Timor Leste to accelerate economic and infrastructure development, officials agreed recently.

State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan said that he wanted to see more state-owned enterprises expand into Timor Leste, Indonesia's erstwhile province.

Jason South – It was a beautiful moment, amid despicable terror. She stood in the late-afternoon light nursing her baby in a quiet corner of a crowded refugee camp in the East Timorese seaside town of Liquica. When I lifted my camera the baby stopped slurping, looked at me and blinked.

Imanuddin Razak, Jakarta – Different people take different paths on the road to prominence or success.

Many opt or even race to be included in highly recognized organizations in an attempt to be categorized as prominent or successful persons. This is obviously a common path that many people take.

East Timor is striking out on its own after 13 years of UN protection, facing the daunting challenge of how to retool its economy and ease its dependence on energy to tunnel out of poverty.

Francezka Nangoy, Dili, East Timor – Telekomunikasi Indonesia aims to gain a 60 percent market share of cellular phone users in East Timor by 2015, while preparing to enter Australia's call center business.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Jose Luis Guterres said Timor-Leste will continue to accept Timorese who sought refugee status in Indonesia even though the time limit has expired.

Lindsay Murdoch – Wailing in grief, Lucia Pina stood over the body of her murdered 17-year-old nephew and threw her hands in the air. "I was in shock and pleading with God to protect innocent Timorese," she remembers.

According to the Timor-Leste Coalition for Education national schools are still lacking the basic facilities needed to facilitate teaching and learning.

"What I mean is laboratories, books, desk and chairs as well as other facilities which would make learning easier," said TLCE program manager David Bendito da Silva in Becora, Dili.

The National Parliament of Timor-Leste rejects the demand that FALINTIL-FDTL Major General Lere Anan Timur apologize to an ordinary Indonesian citizen such as Hercules.

A notorious East Timorese-born gang leader who's believed to have strong links to Indonesia's military, business and criminal communities has returned to Dili, sparking heated row between the two countries.

Agus Rahmat, Jakarta – The House of Representatives (DPR) criticized Timor-Leste's stated threat to arrest Rosalia Marshal (aka "Hercules") by East Timorese soldiers.

The parliament condemned East Timor's threatened arrest because you cannot arrest anyone you wish. Moreover, when the person is a citizen of another country.

Nick Sheridan – It's the hungry season in East Timor, that time of year when food from last year's crops has run out and the next harvest is yet to be reaped.

In Guriwai in the country's east, the farmers are passing out their corn and peanuts to a visiting group of international nutrition experts. For Guriwai at least, this year there will be no hungry season.

The governments of Timor-Leste and Indonesia have temporarily closed off movement through the Naktuka Border Crossing, in the Subdistrict of Nitibe, District of Oecussi.

In order to find out the factors affecting the rise of prostitution in Timor-Leste Parliamentary Commission F and the Women in Parliament Group (GMPTL) will monitor and visit places where the industry is flourishing and speak to prostitutes because they believe this work is not the only way out.

Falintil-FDTL Commander, Major General Lere Anan Timor, says that he does not agree with former supporters of autonomy with Indonesia returning to Timor-Leste.

It was September of 1999 and Timor-Leste was convulsing through its latest spasm of violence.

Timor-Leste (East Timor) is preparing to liberalise its telecommunications market in the first quarter of 2013, which is expected to drive prices down and expand the country's telecommunications infrastructure.

Peter Yeo – I was standing outside a Timorese refugee camp on the day Carlos Caceres pulled me aside with a frightening message – "The militias know who I am and where they can find me."