Dili – East Timor's parliament has approved a state budget of nearly $350 million for 2008 that aims to improve security and tackle poverty in Asia's youngest nation.

Thalif Deen, United Nations – When UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon paid his first official visit to East Timor (Timor-Leste) last week, he was conscious of the growing demands for acco

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili – In East Timor, they say, you only really know a man once he's betrayed you. Until then, you can never be entirely sure where he stands.

Dili – A rebel soldier wanted on murder charges in East Timor has one "last chance" to surrender peacefully with his armed supporters or face the government's response, Prime Minister X

Dili – Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today said he'd discussed the 1975 deaths of five Australian-based journalists in East Timor with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has given his strongest indication yet that Australian troops will remain in East Timor until 2009.

Dili – Australia's prime minister and the United Nations chief on Friday pledged continued support for East Timor to ensure peace and stability in the tiny nation.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili – East Timorese President Jose Ramos Horta will tell Kevin Rudd today that he expects Australian troops to stay in the country for at least another year.

The Rudd government appears to be backing away from any government involvement in prosecutions relating to the death of five Australian-based newsmen in East Timor in 1975.

Ian Munro – East Timor is pressing for an extension of the United Nations mission (UNMIT) to support the country's fledgling democracy.

Fabio Scarpello – The diminutive Maria Ana Pereira, 28, does not look for excuses.

Actor Anthony LaPaglia says he expects his new film Balibo, about five Australian-based newsmen killed in 1975 in East Timor, to cause some controversy when it is released.

Calls have gone out in East Timor for the rebel soldier Alfredo Reinado to surrender to authorities.

Jose Sarito Amaral, Dili – Timor Leste's President Jose Ramos Horta yesterday Sunday (2/12) urged the Republic of Indonesia to apologize and take responsibility for the killing of six f

Bruce Gale, Senior Writer – "There were no crimes against humanity in East Timor" in 1999, retired Lieutenant-General Kiki Syahnakri told a hearing of the joint Indonesian-Timor Leste C

Dili – A senior UN official said Friday East Timor will continue to need the presence of the United Nations in the country for some time to come.

Dili – Four East Timorese soldiers were convicted of murder and sentenced to up to 12 years in prison Thursday for gunning down unarmed police officers during a spasm of violence in the

An open letter from a worldwide coalition of human rights organizations has called on the UN Security Council to act for substantive justice for the East Timorese people, as a council d

Aboeprijadi Santoso, Amsterdam – Little news basically came from Sydney's Coroner Court inquest into the deaths of Australian-based journalists in Balibo, East Timor (1975) – except tha

Havana – Timor Leste's Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmao, thanked Cuba for its cooperation in the field education through the "Yes, I can" teaching method which has been widely implemented

The United Nations police say the security situation in East Timor is generally calm, despite nine incidents in Dili this week alone.

Damien Kingsbury – The finding by the NSW deputy state coroner that the five Australia-based newsmen killed at Balibo, East Timor, in 1975 were murdered by the Indonesian military has t

Funeral records suggest the remains of only four of the five Australian newsmen killed in East Timor 32 years ago are in a grave bearing their names.

Hamish McDonald – In the blame game of Balibo, the state coronial inquest yesterday put responsibility onto the five journalist victims for refusing opportunities to escape their danger

East Timor's leader has called on Indonesia to take responsibility for the 1975 killing of five foreign reporters.

Hamish McDonald – After 32 years of secrecy, the killing of the Balibo Five newsmen has been branded a war crime, and Australia may launch prosecutions against the Indonesian soldiers i

Clinton Fernandes – The NSW Coroner's inquest concluded yesterday into the deaths of five journalists at the border town of Balibo in East Timor in October 1975 was the first independen

Saul Amaral – After seven years of independence, Timor Leste is still the poorest country in Asia and the 27th most impoverished country in the world.

Next Australian prime minister urged to ensure murderers are tried in Australia

Indonesia says the case of the Balibo Five is closed and insists an Australian coroner's claim its soldiers may have committed war crimes won't damage relations between the countries.

Prime Minister John Howard says he is taking advice on what the Government can do in relation to a coroner's finding that five Australian-based journalists were deliberately killed in E

Amy Coopes, Sydney – As forces from West Timor spilled into the Balibo town square on the morning of October 16, 1975, two Australian-based newsmen looked on, their cameras fixed on a h

Ramos-Horta said Thursday that his country would need international forces to maintain security for "another few years", after talks here with his Portuguese counterpart.

The NSW Coroner, Dorelle Pinch has just released her judgment in the inquest held earlier this year into the deaths of the five Australian based journalists at Balibo in East Timor in 1

East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao began talks with former soldiers whose dismissal sparked protests that led to bloodshed in the tiny country last year.

The current coroner's inquest into the death of an Australian-based journalist killed by Indonesian troops in October 1975 highlights "the need to pursue justice for the many tens of th

Jose Sarito Amaral, Dili – Thousands of Timor Leste citizens commemorated yesterday (12/11) the tragedy of November 12, 1991 when Indonesian soldiers fired on a crowd of youths in Santa

Jose Sarito Amaral, Dili – Thousands of Timor Leste citizens commemorated yesterday (12/11) the tragedy of 12 November 1991, when Indonesian soldiers fired on a crowd of youths in Santa

The report from a coronial inquest into the Balibo Five deaths is handed down next week. Mal Walden recounts the gut-wrenching day he heard the news.

New York – The United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) today released a report showing progress in promoting human rights in the nascent country while calling for furth

Sydney – A telegram sent from a minister just days after the Balibo Five were killed in East Timor revealed they had been murdered, and proved the government was engaged in a cover-up,

The truth about the murder of five journalists at Balibo on October 16, 1975, in the lead-up to the Indonesian invasion of East Timor is one of the longest and saddest cases of governme

Geraldine Willesee – The nightmare of East Timor followed my father to his deathbed. "Two hundred thousand dead...

Dan Box – Whitlam era foreign minister Don Willesee believed the Balibo Five were "murdered" by Indonesian soldiers and in his dying days told his daughter the Australian government had

Jakarta – Indonesia insists the Balibo Five case is closed, despite fresh reports that a telegram sent by an Australian Government minister revealed the five journalists were murdered i

Tony Iltis – In 1975, when Indonesia invaded East Timor, beginning a 24-year occupation that cost over 200,000 Timorese lives (over a third of the population), Australia's support for t

Peter Ker, Sydney – East Timor President Jose Ramos Horta has weighed into the 2007 federal election campaign by passionately endorsing a direct opponent of Prime Minister John Howard i

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The joint Indonesia-Timor Leste Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF) will ignore UN criticism and focus on finalizing its report without testimonials from o

A former diplomat has slammed public servants' "willingness to lie", after an investigation into claims he was pressured to break the law ended because of a lack of evidence.

Annolies Truman – Two thousand people rallied in the East Timorese capital of Dili on October 17 to demand food sovereignty for East Timor.