Alex Munro – A Chadstone resident has been leading a team of volunteers spreading light throughout some of the most remote parts of East Timor.
Prabir Majumdar and 16 volunteers spent three weeks in Baguia, Same, Ainaro, and Ermera, installing solar panels and showing locals how to set up solar power systems to provide electricity for the villages.
Greg Ansley – Former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke's new Labor Government abandoned the party's tough stand on the annexation of East Timor under threat of huge retaliation by Indonesia, Cabinet documents from its early months in power reveal.
Three decades, you're entitled to think, is a long time in politics. But cabinet papers revealed to the public for the first time today are a reminder, too, that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
East Timor's first feature film revisits the tiny nation's tortured struggle for independence, writes Natalie Craig.
The people of Kasai are standing behind the camera, transfixed. Indonesian soldiers left their tiny village, just west of Dili in East Timor, more than a decade ago. Now their memories of that bloody period are being acted out before them.
Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – More than five months after the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced she wanted to send asylum seekers to East Timor to "wreck the people-smuggling trade", the tiny island nation has finally received a document from Australia outlining the proposal.
James Paton – Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL), its partners and the governments of Australia and East Timor are "aligned in their desire" to see the Sunrise liquefied natural gas project developed, the energy company said.
Ade Mardiyati – Out of love for Indonesia, Dominggus da Costa, along with his wife and children, decided to leave his hometown of Dili, East Timor in 1999, the year that marked the end of Indonesia's nearly 25-year occupation of his homeland.
Kupang – The Kupang regency administration in East Nusa Tenggara, has offered apartments to refugees from Timor Leste currently staying in makeshift shelters.
Prodita Sabarini, Sydney – American philosopher and linguist Noam Chomsky said justice was escaping human rights abuse victims, as he spoke of Indonesia's dark period in East Timor (now Timor Leste) with the Santa Cruz Massacre 20 years ago, and the West's complicity in that episode of violence.
Sara Everingham – East Timor says it is interested in taking part in joint military training with the Australian and US defence forces in Darwin.
Mong Palatino – With 37 votes in favor, 19 against and 3 abstentions, Timor-Leste's parliament initially approved on November 11 the general terms of the government's proposed budget of $1.763 billion for the year 2012.
Sandra Parker – Father Domingos Gusmao is passionate about education and its role in the development of East Timor.
The principal of the secondary college in the remote East Timorese town of Laclubar is visiting Bathurst this week to thank the Friends of Laclubar for their assistance and to ask for more help to enable him to realise his dream for his country.
Dili – The secretary general of the Revolutionary Front of Independent Timor-Leste (FRETILIN), Mari Alkatiri, will host a fundraising party this Friday to raise fund to help organizations to combat domestic violence in the country.
New York – Timor-Leste is making significant progress in consolidating its social, security and political stability despite a number of challenges, a senior United Nations said today, noting that presidential and legislative elections slated for next year will be key milestones in that process.
Brian Robins – A breakthrough may be in sight for the long-stalled development of the Sunrise gas project which straddles the Australia-East Timor border, with Woodside reported to be prepared to cede ground on the vexed issue of piping the output to Timor.
James Paton – Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL), its partners and the governments of Australia and East Timor are "aligned in their desire" to see the Sunrise liquefied natural gas project developed, the energy company said.
Brian Robins – A breakthrough may be in sight for the long-stalled development of the Sunrise gas project that straddles the Australia-East Timor border, with Woodside reported to be prepared to cede ground on piping the output to Timor.
When the 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gather for their 19th Summit in Bali, they will have a slew of issues on the table. Some to be agreed upon, others merely acknowledged, with one or two likely shelved.
Dili/Jakarta/Brussels – Ten years after the demobilisation of its guerrilla liberation army, Timor-Leste must strike a balance between recognising veterans' role and promoting strong and independent institutions in order to ensure stability.
Overview
Dili – "Despite the progress in reducing poverty, greater effort is needed to ensure that growth and international assistance benefits the poorest, particularly those in rural areas," said the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Magdalena Sepzlveda, at the end of her first fact-finding mission* to Timor-Leste, pointing to a rise in inequality among
Chichi Conde, Bali, Indonesia – Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to set up review group that will study the application for membership of East Timor.
The decision was reached during the 9th meeting of the Asean Coordinating Council in Nusa Dua.
Agus dos Santos, Dili – FRETILIN and PUN MPs have called on the Anti-Corruption Commission (KAK) to investigate the implementation of previous annual budgets by the National Parliament Secretariat. The MPs said they believed some money had been misused.
On 22 November, the UN Security Council will have its semi-annual discussion on UNMIT. La'o Hamutuk has written a letter to the Council to bring some information and concerns to their attention.
Jakarta – International human right watchdog Amnesty International urged the Indonesian government to reveal details concerning the Santa Cruz shooting in Timor Leste that allegedly claimed the lives of some 200 people.
Index: ASA 57/004/2011
John M. Miller, ETAN National Coordinator – On November 12, 1991, Indonesia troops carrying US supplied weapons gunned down peaceful East Timorese demonstration at Dili's Santa Cruz cemetery. And I can still recall vividly the tremor in Amy Goodman's voice in her first reports to Pacifica's WBAI radio here in New York, where she was News Director.
Charles Scheiner, Dili – Tonight, I'm honored to be with so many young Timorese people who believe in justice and independence. Twenty years ago, brave people just like you peacefully demonstrated against the Indonesian occupation of your country. Nobody paid them, or ordered them, or told them it would be safe or easy.
On the 20th anniversary of the infamous massacre at Santa Cruz cemetery in Timor-Leste, the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) called for the US and other governments and the United Nations to commit to justice for the victims and their families.
Manuel da Silva, Dili – Education Minister Joao Cancio Freitas has recognized that monthly salary payments are still being made to teachers who have died.
But he declined to reveal who was collecting the wages on behalf of the deceased. Mr Freitas said payments were made to dead teachers because there was no law to regulate them.
Flip Prior, Broome – East Timor's ambassador to Australia Abel Guterres flew into Broome last week for a whirlwind round of meetings with Broome Shire councillors and tourism and hospitality business owners before heading to CHOGM in Perth.
This is not the first time that Gareth Evans has recognised that his, and Australia's, policy on reforming ABRI (Later TNI) was mistaken. As he says, it is wise to learn from one's mistakes.
Gareth Evans – Noam Chomsky, in Sydney on 2 November, repeated his familiar attack on my handling, as Australia's foreign minister from 1988-96, of relations with Indonesia over East Timor. It is one that he, along with his fellow Sydney Peace Prize recipient John Pilger, has been making now over many years in many different forums around the world.
East Timor is mulling an investment firm based on Singapore's Temasek Holdings to invest part of the country's billions of dollars in petroleum revenues, President Jose Ramos-Horta said Friday.
China – Companies from China, Japan and South Korea has shown interest in oil and gas exploration in East Timor, but an agreement has yet to be signed, the Timorese minister for the Economy and Development, Joao Goncalves said Thursday in Macau.
Woodside Petroleum seems to be making progress with its stalled Sunrise project, saying its new chief executive Peter Coleman has held constructive talks with the Timor-Leste government.
Australian oil and gas firm Woodside Petroleum aims to hold further talks with the East Timor government on its stalled Sunrise LNG project, the company said, but analysts played down the chances of an easy breakthrough to resolve the lengthy dispute.
Singapore – East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta said on Friday his compatriots who met the new Woodside CEO Peter Coleman were "positively impressed by him" and expressed hope that the two sides will be able to find a solution to develop a large gas project in the country.
Dili – A new bill allowing more diversified investments by Timor-Leste's multi-billion dollar oil and natural gas sovereign fund, which underwrites the lion's share of the country's expenditure, has divided opinion, with some saying the step is necessary to maintain current levels of development spending and others calling the move risky.
On Tuesday 11 October at 08am, the General Secretary and the National Organizer of General Workers' Union including 17 workers were arrested by police while preparing for a peaceful protest in the office of Ministry of Justice.
Peter Ker – Woodside Petroleum has opened the door on East Timor's biggest-ever resource project, with the company agreeing to revisit the concept of processing gas from the "Greater Sunrise" gas field on East Timorese soil.
Jill Jolliffe – East Timorese hotel manager Alice Goncalves has survived many bad moments in the hospitality business.
Robert Connolly – In 2009, I took a small film crew to East Timor to make the feature film Balibo, a story depicting the events surrounding the Indonesian invasion of this newly independent nation in 1975.
Dili – Atoki Madeira says it started with threats and escalated into armed assaults. The 40-year-old Timorese NGO worker alleges the attacks stemmed from a dispute over a property she purchased in the Timorese capital, Dili, a decade ago.
Simon Caterson – For local journalists in East Timor, breaking the news could mean being broken themselves. Then there's the difficulty of grasping the complex political narratives of this newly democratic nation.
Hera – A cornerstone of the government's development plan is a promise to electrify every home in Timor-Leste within just a few years. But communities living in the shadow of the power plant supposed to jumpstart this transformation know little or nothing about its impact.
East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta saw his fledgling nation's parliament as corrupt and ineffective and believed himself both "above local politics" and indispensable, leaked US memos show.
East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta today dismissed fears the country will see a return of turmoil and violence ahead of elections next year.
Ramos-Horta, 61, who has held his post since 2007, also said he was "reluctant" to seek a second term and was considering stepping aside.
Philip Dorling – East Timor's parliament is "corrupt and ineffective", Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao has an alcohol problem and former prime minister Mari Alkatiri is "arrogant and abusive", according to President Jose Ramos-Horta.
Mr Ramos-Horta's caustic observations have been revealed in leaked US embassy cables published by WikiLeaks.
East Timor's foreign minister Zacarias da Costa says his country is keen to work closely with Melanesian countries to assist them in economic development.