Matt Crook, Dili – The streets of Dili are quiet – for now. Clashes between rival gangs have subsided and thousands have finally returned to their homes after fleeing the fighting that erupted in East Timor in 2006.
But behind the veneer of calm, the entrenched conflicts that sparked that street violence simmer.
East Timor's Opposition Leader has rejected Government accusations that the Fretilin party is stoking security tensions by planning a mass demonstration.
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao says the Government will not hesitate to arrest violent demonstrators.
Sydney – Australia will reduce its troop deployment to East Timor because of the improved security situation, Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said Wednesday.
Australian troop numbers in the fledgling country peaked earlier this year in the wake of attacks on the tiny nation's president and prime minister.
Karen Michelmore, Ubud, Bali – Naldo Rei's thick, wavy hair trails down his back. He has worn it this way for much of his life, for protection, and as a symbol of resistance.
Although the fight to free East Timor is long over, the 33-year-old continues to wear his hair this way, perhaps as he battles his own lingering personal demons.
Canberra – East Timor's government accused the opposition Fretilin party of stoking security tensions in the restive country Wednesday, as Australia announced plans for a limited troop withdrawal.
Dili – A move to soften tough abortion laws in mainly Catholic East Timor is stirring opposition from the powerful Church.
Activists are backing a proposed law that would loosen the country's blanket ban and allow abortions for women whose lives are in danger.
Dili – In the high, craggy mountains south of East Timor's capital, Dili, a tangled blanket of wild, unkempt coffee trees is blooming. If the flowers, now tiny flecks of white against the dark green trees, do well, it could mean more than 7 million dollars in the pockets of some of the poorest people on earth.
Dili – East Timorese Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao threatened Monday to arrest protesters who respond to opposition calls for a mass antigovernment rally, amid concerns for the country's stability.
"We will arrest those involved in any protests for the sake of the nation's security," he said when asked about the rally planned by opposition party Fretilin.
Dili – Last week on eBay a search for East Timor would have come up with a black, wooden, hand-carved statue of a male, not quite a metre high.
On 9 October, President Jose Ramos Horta has submitted the report to Timor Leste's Parliament in Dili, and it was received by Parliament head Fernando de Araujo (Lasama).
Rob Taylor, Canberra – East Timor is facing a food crisis and more than half the fledgling country's youngest children are now going hungry as global food prices soar, a new aid report warned on Thursday.
The village of Tai Tete is a 40-minute climb from the town of Maliana, in the west of East Timor.
Dili – The East Timorese ministry of justice is preparing a penal code which would decriminalise many abortions, but with little visible public support and no public debate, civil society groups are questioning the law's origins.
Soibada, East Timor – East Timor president Jose Ramos-Horta said Monday he wants the United Nations to drop its investigation into bloodshed surrounding a 1999 independence vote from Indonesia.
An opposition plan for a massive march on East Timor's capital and rumours of tension in the police force are raising concerns of a return to instability in the tiny Southeast Asian nation.
An unsigned pamphlet has been circulated in Dili complaining of official discrimination against Timorese from the impoverished country's western region in favour of those from the east.
Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – Trouble appears to be brewing in East Timor again as security forces step up roadblocks and increase security around government buildings.
Fretilin, the largest political party, is organising anti-government protest marches across the country, prompting threats by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao to jail participants.
Dili – Tens of thousands of people are preparing for their third bout of flooding since 2006 in camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) as the rainy season once again descends on Timor-Leste.
The police chief of East Timor's second biggest city has been arrested amid rising tensions within the force. Stephanie March reports Baucau police commander Aderito da Costa Ximenes was arrested by members of the UN police on Thursday.
East Timor's President and chief prosecutor are at odds over the prosecution of senior military figures for their role in illegally arming civilians during the 2006 crisis.
Last week, the prosecutor general said it was the president's fault he'd not yet been able launch the action, while Jose Ramos Horta says there are other priorities.
Presenter: Stephanie March
Dili – East Timor celebrated Cuba's Independence day within the World Drive Against the Blockade with a new telephone line (roaming) joining both countries.
Many ordinary people were celebrated as heroes for the role they played during East Timor's struggle for independence from Indonesia.
Dutch journalist Tjitske Lingsma, who reported on the conflict, tracked down a young man who saved the Timorese enclave of Oecussi by smuggling a desperate plea for help inside his flip flops.
East Timor's prime minster says he will not allow a new wave of instability as the opposition Fretilin party prepares for a demonstration in the capital Dili.
Police in East Timor have been ordered to set up checkpoints and step up patrols to stop officers from taking weapons home, amid signs of mounting tensions in the force.
Police have been ordered to search cars for illegal weapons, with one aim of the operation to stop police from unlawfully taking their weapons home when they finish work.
Paul Toohey – East Timor's fragile political and justice system is again being put to the test with the country's most senior military figure, Brigadier Taur Matan Ruak, facing possible prosecution over his role in arming civilians during the crisis of 2006.
Jose Sarito Amaral, Jakarta – Prime Minister of East Timor Xanana Gusmao dismissed Fretilin's threat to bring in thousands of supporters to urge East Timor government to hold a general election, slamming the threat as a dream and no more than that of a kid.
Famega Syafira/Wikipedia, Jakarta – Fretilin demanded a re-election in East Timor, the party Secretary General Mari Alkatiri said on Thursday when meeting the chairman of Muhammadiyah, Din Syamsuddin in Jakarta.
Alkatiri said the current East Timor government is unlegitimate and do not have a strong constitutional ground, "we want a re-election" Alkatiri stated.
Tensions are brewing in East Timor's national police force as the government works to weed out corruption and rehabilitate the force.
The administration in Dili hopes it can eventually farewell the 15-hundred UN police, who've taken responsibility for internal security for the past two years. But police reform may not be going as smoothly as the government would want.
Kurniasih Budi/Ninin Damayanti, Jakarta – Former East Timor Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri visited President Yudhoyono during the Idul Fitri gathering at the presidential palace on Wednesday, after attending the Idul Fitri prayer at the Istiqlal Mosque.
Worrying signs are emerging of tensions within East Timor's police force, similar to the rift among armed forces that sparked deadly violence in 2006.
Dili – Justice in East Timor has traditionally been measured out in water buffaloes. A goat theft costs one buffalo and a rape of a woman is worth two, although it varies from village to village.
Dili – As a girl, Laura Pina was not expected to slave in the kitchen simply by virtue of her gender. Then she got married.
Anthony Deutsch, Jakarta – East Timor is drawing up plans for a deep sea pipeline and petrochemicals plant to tap an estimated $90 billion in disputed underwater oil and gas, company and government officials said, in a rare opportunity for one of Asia's poorest and smallest countries to boost its economy.
For many in East Timor, access to the justice system is almost impossible. Institutions are weak and the remoteness of many villages means it can take days to reach the nearest police station. Now, one government official is travelling around East Timor promoting the use of traditional justice for all crimes, including rape.
Presenter: Stephanie March
Connie Levett – Guy Campos, the East Timorese man accused of high-level collaboration with the Indonesian military involving kidnapping and torture of East Timorese citizens during Indonesia's occupation, was convicted of "torture leading to death" of an 11-year-old boy, Francisco Ximenes, in 1979, according to newly uncovered East Timorese court documents.
Dili – The United Nations aims to complete investigating nearly 400 cases related to the bloodshed surrounding East Timor's 1999 independence vote from Indonesia, the chief UN investigator said on Friday.
Lucy Williamson – One day, perhaps, the place where Isabel sits will be a five-star hotel, its private villas looking on the beach, its grand entrance frowning down on the western corner of Dili's beach road.
Dili – It's no secret that charity clothes cast off from rich countries end up on the backs of some of the poorest people on earth.
Dili – Efforts to return the remaining internally displaced people (IDPs) to their homes are being hampered by squatters.
Some 100,000 people were displaced throughout Timor-Leste in 2006 after an implosion of the national police and defence forces and fighting between eastern and western factions of the country over the distribution of power and economic benefits.
Dili – National police in East Timor, one of the poorest countries in Asia, are being criticized for a crackdown on snack vendors working a lucrative part of the capital, Dili.
No laws ban the sales across from the Palacio do Governo, or Government Palace, and the police are targeting poor people just trying to make ends meet, politicians and vendors complained.
The Federal Defence Minister has told East Timor's Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmao, that Australia will not pull its 750 troops out of East Timor until it is certain the current level of stability will continue.
Joel Fitzgibbon gave the guarantee during a brief visit to East Timor.
The remains of five people have been uncovered from eroded soil on the boundary of Dili's international airport. Human rights campaigners claimed the people had been murdered by the Indonesian military, the ABC reported last night.
Photographs obtained by the broadcaster showed investigations at the site had uncovered the remains of at least five people.
Contents
A new report by the World Bank shows it's no easier to run a business in East Timor now than it was a year ago, despite the government's efforts. The survey shows small businesses have trouble getting lines of credit and foreign investors still face many hurdles.
Presenter: Stephanie March
Dili – East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta on Thursday rejected reports that rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was executed rather than killed in a gunbattle with police.
Juan Diego Nusa Penalver, Havana – Never were two nations as united as Cuba and Timor Leste through links of cooperation and solidarity at such difficult moments in history; two nations so distant, geographically speaking, but both determined to face the future.
Connie Levett – Jose Belo identified the face in the picture as Guy Campos, claiming the East Timorese man was present when he was interrogated and tortured by the Indonesian Special Forces on the night of January 9, 1995.
Dili – Slain East Timor rebel leader Alfredo Reinado had an Indonesian citizenship card in his pocket when he was shot on February 11 during an attack on the president, media reports said Wednesday.
Matt Crook and Domingos Fernandes, Dili – Disgruntled Timorese living in one of Dili's camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) were told on Tuesday that the verification process that will allow many of them to return home will begin on Wednesday, although thousands more remain in IDP camps around the district.
John Kidman – Senior military personnel knew Australian troops were responsible for introducing cane toads to East Timor two years ago, it has been alleged.
Maliana, East Timor – A few years ago Domingos Pereira and his wife did something dangerous. They quit the East Timorese Catholic Church.