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.

Dili – The United Nations ended its peacekeeping mission in East Timor on Monday, leaving the country without any direct security assistance for the first time since a spasm of political and ethnic violence in 2006 almost overwhelmed its shaky, post-independence government.

Gianrigo Marletta – The UN ends its peacekeeping mission in East Timor after 13 years in Asia's youngest nation following a bloody transition to independence as the country faces the challenge of tackling rampant poverty.

New York – The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Timor-Leste today ended its operations, in line with the expiration of its mandate and amidst significant progress made in establishing peace and security in the country.

A UN "liquidation team" will take over in East Timor on Monday from peacekeepers who put a lid on deadly unrest in the tiny nation marking a first decade of turbulent existence.

That would instill fear in most countries where UN missions are sent. This team will however be dismantling the UN presence after the global body claims a rare success.

With the UN giving up its peacekeeping mission in East Timor at the end of this year, 2013 will open up a whole new chapter in the history of the tiny island nation's independence.

Raimundos Oki – The UN ends its peacekeeping mission on Monday after 13 years in Asia's youngest nation East Timor, with the country still hoping to overcome its bloody past and rampant poverty.

The National Parliament of Timor-Leste is considering drafting legislation criminalizing prostitution in efforts to control the prostitution industry amidst concerns it is flourishing in the country.

The national Timorese Alliance for an International Court (ANTI) and Amnesty International demand the United Nations (UN) together the International Court (IC) bring justice to authors of serious crimes committed in Timor-Leste in the past and guarantee the issue is placed in the agenda of UN Security Council.

This week, Timor-Leste's Government will send its proposed General State Budget for 2013 to Parliament for approval. La'o Hamutuk appreciates that Timor-Leste will no longer have the second-fastest-growing state budget in the world. The appropriations in the new budget are more consistent with Timor-Leste's limited oil and gas reserves.

Three former militia members and a former commander of the Besi Merah Putih (BMP: "Red White Iron in Indonesian) were imprisoned by the Dili District Court for between six and sixteen years.

The trial for this case was held on 11 December this year in the Dili District Court.

Dili – Australia withdrew its last remaining police officers from East Timor Saturday as international forces wind up a 13-year presence in Asia's youngest nation, where thousands have died in political turmoil.

Liam Cochrane – The Australian Foreign Minister, Senator Bob Carr, is advocating that East Timor should make moves to join the Commonwealth of Nations, the former British Commonwealth.

The former Portuguese colony is keen to join the Association of South-East Asian Nations and is being supported in its efforts by some Asean members.

Australia's Foreign Minister Bob Carr is in East Timor on a two day visit, meeting senior leaders including President Taur Matan Ruak and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.

The visit comes as Australia prepares to withdraw the last of its troops from the small half-island nation – more than a decade after East Timor's independence from Indonesia.

Presenter: Liam Cochrane

In a landmark decision that will strike a blow against rampant corruption, the East Timor Court of Appeal has dismissed former Justice Minister Lucia Lobato's appeal against her conviction for corruption and abuse of power while in office.

Young prisoners and adults are held in the same prison but PRADET says this will impact their mental health.

At least 21 minors are being held in adult prisons because the country lacks correctional facilities for minors despit East Timor-Leste being a signatory to the Convention for the Rights of the Child, which protects people under 18 year olds,

Despite the large number of people who disappeared during the 24-year Indonsesian occupation, Timor-Leste has not ratified the Missing Persons Convention unlike other nations like Malaysia, Korea, Japan and Indonesia itself.

According to data from conflict monitoring NGO Belun, in 2012 some 15 member of Timor-Leste's armed forces (F-FDTL) were involved in violent action in the community across nine Districts.

Cillian Nolan – The UN peacekeeping mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) is now in the final stages of its long-planned withdrawal. By the end of December, the only staff left will be packing up computers and dismantling the portable containers at its "Obrigado Barracks" headquarters.

A new health project in East Timor is hoping to harness the power of the mobile phone to promote better infant and maternal health.

In 1975, Jose Ramos-Horta, the then foreign minister of the newly-liberated nation of East Timor, was sent by his country's prime minister to New York. By the time his plane landed in the US, his country had been invaded and annexed by Indonesia.

In a revealing interview, Sir David Frost travels to East Timor to meet the Nobel laureate and hear his remarkable story.

Mouzinho Lopes de Araujo – East Timor is readying to stand on its own feet as international forces withdraw by the year-end. But for some in the 10-year-old nation, one of the poorest in Asia, the exodus also comes at a steep price.

Charlotte Maugham – There is no doubt that much is being done politically to tackle gender inequality in Timor-Leste. The government is redressing the power imbalance with a quota system that sees more women in parliament than anywhere else in south-east Asia, though whether this has any impact on policy remains to be seen.

Ati Nurbaiti, Baucau/Ermera/Dili – The UN mission in Timor Leste is closing down next month and at least 1,000 local staffers are seeking other means of income. Already, some residents are seeing the usual signs of unrest, while others see the perceived tensions as paranoia.

Jakarta – Indonesian diplomats and scholars recalled the arduous struggle of former foreign minister late Ali Alatas during the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre in East Timor (now Timor Leste), one of the most challenging moments in the nation's foreign policy.

Portugal withdrew the bulk of its police officers from East Timor on Saturday as international forces wind up a 13-year mission in the country.

Seventy-five of the officers boarded a Lisbon-bound plane in the former Portuguese colony, among the last of 1200 UN peacekeepers to return home before the official end of their mission on December 31.

Havana – East Timor's Education minister Bendito dos Santos Freitas underscored Cuba's cooperation with his country in the fields of education and healthcare.

Paris – The Minister of Education of Timor Leste, Benito dos Santos Fleitas, highlighted on Friday at the Unesco headquarters the cooperation of Cuba with his country in the fields of Health and education.

"Cuban contribution is very beneficial", told Prensa Latina the minister, who participates here on the World Meeting on Education for All (EFA).

Australia is ending its security mission in East Timor, six years after sending troops to restore stability.

The Australian-led International Stabilisation Force (ISF) was deployed in 2006 amid violence that forced thousands of people from their homes. Some 460 Australian and New Zealand ISF troops currently remain in East Timor.

Australia has quietly ended its military mission in East Timor, with the flag officially lowered on the 13-year deployment at a ceremony in Dili.

The deployment officially ends on Thursday, although Australian personnel will remain through to April next year to return equipment to Australia, close bases and return property and buildings to the East Timor government.

As the sun rises in East Timor this morning, Australian troops stationed there will begin packing up and pulling out. The Australian-led International Stabilisation Force made up of almost 400 soldiers, mostly Australians, is shutting up shop.

Sara Everingham

Catherine McGrath & staff – East Timor's Finance Minister wants her country and other post-conflict nations around the world to gain greater control over foreign aid programs.

Jimmy Ellingham – South of Dili, East Timor's hot, dry and dusty capital, a narrow pot-holed road snakes its way over the hills.

Stephanie March, Canberra – Hundreds of East Timorese will be forced to find new jobs when the United Nations withdraws from the country at the end of this year.

900 East Timorese directly employed by the UN peacekeeping mission will be out of work, as will a further 1300 security guards employed by a private firm contracted by the UN.

Ati Nurbaiti, Jakarta – The Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili was full of people on Nov. 1. In preparation for Nov. 2, the Day of the Spirits, they cleaned the tombstones and the graves, gave them a fresh coat of paint and bought candles for the following day.

Rights groups marking the 21st anniversary of the massacre of 270 Timorese by Indonesian forces are demanding justice for this and other crimes committed during Jakarta's occupation of Timor Leste.

United Nations – A UN official says peacekeepers are on track to leave East Timor by year's end, but the international community will remain engaged in one of the world's youngest nations through other channels.

Index: ASA 57/007/2012

[Joint statement by ANTI (The Timor-Leste National Alliance for an International Tribunal) and Amnesty International to commemorate 12 November 2012.]

This afternoon (12 November), the Security Council is scheduled to hold a debate on the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT), whose mandate will expire at the end of December.

Matthew Russell Lee, United Nations – Timor Leste is called a rare UN success story, and it is slated to come off the agenda of the Security Council through the expiration of its mandate. But even on this, there are residual questions of impunity, not only for the killings in Santa Cruz in 1991, but also for the 1999 killings.

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) urged the United Nations, the US, and other governments to fulfill outstanding promises of justice for the many victims of Indonesia's illegal invasion and occupation as the UN Security Council meets to wraps up the current peacekeeping mission in Timor-Leste.

Mark Fenn, Singapore – This has been a big year for Timor Leste, with one of the world's smallest and most impoverished countries passing a series of important milestones.

July's parliamentary elections took place without incident, which means the United Nations – a highly visible presence in the country – will pull out its peacekeeping troops before the end of the year.

The leaders of Australia, Indonesia and East Timor have held their first official trilateral meeting, discussing the strength of relations between the three countries and the potential for greater economic co-operation.

George Roberts – Prime Minister Julia Gillard is claiming a first in regional diplomacy, after securing a joint meeting with the leaders of Indonesia and East Timor.

It is the first time the three countries' leaders have met together and comes just over a decade after Australia played a key role in East Timor gaining independence from Indonesia.

In the last quarter the Petroleum Fund of Timor-Leste increased by nearly US$400 million to US$11.05441 billion dollars, indicates a report released on the official website of the Banco Central de Timor-Leste (BCTL).

The last contingent of New Zealand troops will return from East Timor this week, ending New Zealand's 13-year presence in the country.

La'o Hamutuk recently gave the letter below to the UN Security Council, which is preparing for its final debate on Timor-Leste on 12 November; a PDF with footnotes can be downloaded from http://www.laohamutuk.org/Justice/LHUNSC4Nov2012en.pdf.

East Timor's National Police Commissioner, Longuinhos Monteiro, says he is confident his force will be able to maintain law and order in the country.

Yesterday, the United Nations officially handed back full control of policing operations to the East Timor National Police (PNTL).

Sara Everingham and staff – The United Nations has handed over full control of policing operations to the East Timorese National Police Force (PNTL) at a ceremony in Dili.

The current UN deployment – the United Nations Integrated Mission in East Timor (UNMIT) – came in 2006, after a political crisis in which dozens were killed and hundreds-of-thousands displaced.

United Nations peacekeepers in East Timor have handed full responsibility for policing to Asia's youngest nation, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao has announced.

The National Police of East Timor "are assuming full responsibility for maintaining law and order", he said in a statement on Wednesday.