Neil Ford – In August, Timor-Leste – formerly known as East Timor – celebrated the 20th anniversary of the referendum that paved the way to independence from Indonesia, yet its economic future looks very uncertain.

Michael Leach – In an extraordinary development, the government's revised budget for 2020 failed to pass Timor-Leste's parliament last Friday, despite the governing alliance having an outright majority.

John McCarthy – Every country has its legends. They may be important to national self-esteem, but they're not necessarily good history.

Twenty years after the ballot in which the East Timorese decided their future, it's time to reflect on Australia's East Timor legend.

Dili – The parliament of Timor-Leste rejected the new proposal of the government for the state budget.

Joao da Cruz Cardoso – Timor-Leste's Strategic Development Plan 2011-2030, commonly referred to as the SDP, aims to make Timor-Leste an upper middle-income country by 2030.

Isal Mawardi, Jakarta – Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto invited veterans of the Seroja Operation in East Timor to his private residence in Hambalang on Wednesday. The invitation was to show his respect to the former fighters.

Nick Bonyhady – The Howard government refused to offer safe haven to a group of about 1500 pro-independence East Timorese the United Nations believed were at risk in Indonesia.

By mid-1999, Australian military involvement in East Timor was looking increasingly possible.

It appeared so likely that the government used it as a justification for rejecting a UN request for a military contribution for its operations in war-ravaged Kosovo.

Gay Alcorn – Australia leading an international peacekeeping force in East Timor after the territory voted for independence in 1999 was a turning point in Australia's role in the region, according to former treasurer Peter Costello.

Dili – The body of Timor-Leste's first prime minister, Nicolau dos Reis Lobato has never been found. He was killed by the Indonesian military on 31 December 1978. But after 41 years it is still unclear where his remains are.

Annie Yuan Cih Wu – A wedding is one of the biggest expenses in Timor. The bulk of the cost comes from the "barlake", a Tetum word which can be translated as "dowry", or "bride price", even though the exchanges are usually two-way between the bride and groom families.

Ivo Mateus Goncalves – On 28 November 1975, East Timor's interim government unilaterally declared its independence from all forms of colonialism and exploitation.

Dili – Timorese seasonal workers have been experiencing 'big problems' in Australia, said Tim Nelthorpe, lead organiser for the Australian United Workers Union (UWU).

Telly Nathalia, Jakarta – Two Indonesian Navy warships, KRI Usman Harun and KRI Sultan Iskandar Muda, were part of a mini defense exhibition in Dili, the capital of East Timor, on Thursday.

The exhibition was attended by officials from East Timor's Defense Ministry and soldiers from its military.

Michael Taylor, Kuala Lumpur – Villagers on a tiny island off the coast of East Timor who have long struggled with water shortages have secured regular fresh supplies, using just air and the power of the sun.

Dili – This morning judge Eusebio Xavier Vitor decided that an ex-priest R.D.is sent to Dili main prison in Becora for preventive detention. R.D., who originally is from the United States, has been accused of sexually abusing children in the shelter Topu Honis in Oecusse which he set up in the early nineties.

Dili – The SVD procurator general is currently visiting Timor-Leste to support victims of ex-priest R.D., who sexually abused children in his orphanage in Oecusse. Father Peter Dikos is positive about the growing openness in the society, but disappointed with the criminal justice system in this case for being slow, not responsive and breaking promises.

Dili – How Arsica was reunited with her parents after 41 years. Arsica is one of the thousands of children who were forcibly removed from Timor-Leste during the Indonesian occupation, which is a war crime. After 41 years she was reunited with her family.

Sakib Awan – Bali is expected to have a total of more than 6.7 million foreign visitors in 2019. Such enormous numbers are achieved by reputation, word of mouth, and travel media such as the U.S. magazine Travel & Leisure, naming it one of the 10 best islands in the world to visit.

Adilsonio da Costa – Ignoring environmental laws in Timor-Leste to build a petroleum infrastructure project could mean serious problems for communities including environmental destruction, loss of land, and loss of livelihoods.

Dili – Timor-Leste is experiencing climate change, says Demetrio de Amaral de Carvalho, secretary of state for the environment. The weather is more extreme. The northern part of the nation is suffering from drought, while the south is experiencing more rain and flooding. The country is however not well equipped to deal with these growing problems.

Sophie Raynor, Perth, Australia – An Australian senator says he is concerned that the country may be missing out on opportunities to invest in neighbouring East Timor's energy sector, and in the process allowing China to exert growing influence in the geostrategically important Pacific region.

Elizabeth Byrne – Two ex-leaders of Timor-Leste and a former Australian cabinet minister have provided evidence in support of Bernard Collaery, the lawyer for Australian ex-spy "Witness K".

Lospalos, Timor Leste – Mario Da Cruz could only watch in horror as a small army of crocodiles killed a child on a Timor Leste beach – another victim of the tiny nation's soaring rate of attacks.

Such incidents have jumped more than 20-fold over the past two decades with an average of one person a month falling prey to the ferocious reptiles, though not all are fatal.

Michael Koziol – Newspapers, it is often said, represent a first draft of history. They are necessarily fast, loose and often incomplete. But actual histories, written years later by scholars, ought to be impeccable, comprehensive and considered. Especially when they concern a nation's ultimate commitment: sending troops to war.

Anthony Galloway – The Morrison government is being urged by a key crossbench senator to support a parliamentary inquiry into East Timor's controversial Greater Sunrise oil and gas project, in a bid to stop China funding the project and gaining access to a port 500km off Darwin.

Robert O'Neill, Peter Edwards and David Horner – Media reports that officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are impeding the publication of the first volume of the Official History of Australian Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and Australian Peacekeeping Operations in East Timor on the grounds of diplomatic sensitivities, are concerning.

Michael Koziol – Australia's longest-serving foreign minister Alexander Downer has urged his former department and its leader, Marise Payne, to release the full and uncensored version of an official history of Australia's peacekeeping operations in East Timor.

The former spy who revealed an Australian bugging scandal in East Timor will face a plea hearing in April. The man known only as Witness K is expected to plead guilty at the start of the three-day hearing.

Paul Daley – Suggestions that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is impeding or trying to censor an official history of Australia's East Timor peacekeeping mission are disturbing but unsurprising.

Michael Koziol – A legacy project of former prime minister Tony Abbott – an exhaustive official history of Australia's military operations in East Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq – is in danger of collapse amid claims that bureaucrats are trying to censor its first volume.

Celestina Soares – The Director of BELUN Organization, Luis Ximenes said it is necessary to provide basic training to local authorities and the security agencies of the border areas, to strengthen their knowledge and to stop human trafficking in Timor-Leste.

Celestina Soares – The General Director of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, Antoninho Pires said the Ministry has a mechanism to facilitate female students who fall pregnant during their studies to return to school after giving birth because they every right to complete their studies.

Paulina Quintao – National Member of Parliament, MP Maria Barreto said in the Civil Law Code, Part IV about the family, it is clearly written that parents who decide to divorce, especially the father has the obligation to provide alimony to his children and former wife, but that this does not happen in Timor-Leste in most cases.

Mark Dodd – While relations with Timor-Leste remain strained over Australia's 2004 bugging of its cabinet office, the young nation, on half an island just 720 kilometres from Darwin, has asked China to help train its navy.

Phnom Penh – Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Sunday expressed hope that the newly-inaugurated Indonesian president Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, and other leaders of Asean member states will support East Timor's bid for Asean membership during its summit in Bangkok at the year's end.

Helen Davidson and Ben Doherty – Australia's negotiations with Timor-Leste should be the subject of a royal commission, and the government should return $5bn unfairly taken from the impoverished nation, a parliamentary inquiry has been told.

A Canberra court has shut down a private citizen's bid to provide advice to the court in a trial involving an East Timor bugging scandal.

Ernst Willheim asked the ACT Supreme Court on Thursday to allow him to make an open justice case during the trial of Bernard Collaery, the former lawyer to spy-turned-whistleblower Witness K.

Paulina Quintao – The Acting Minister of Health and current Vice Minister for Development and Health Strategic Issues, Bonifacio Maucoli dos Reis said according to ministry's data, many Timorese die of cardiovascular diseases including heart attacks, cancers, stroke and hypertension.

Human rights lawyers say the case against a whistleblower at the centre of a bugging scandal involving East Timor should never have made it to court.

The case against former spy Witness K is due back in the ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday. His former lawyer, Bernard Collaery, is also facing conspiracy charges in a separate prosecution.

The judge overseeing a case against the lawyer of a former spy at the centre of a bugging scandal involving East Timor could face 10 years in jail if he breaches secrecy arrangements.

The judge overseeing a case against the lawyer of a former spy at the centre of a bugging scandal involving East Timor could face 10 years in jail if he breaches secrecy arrangements.

Dionisio Da Costa Babo Soares, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, will make an official visit to Cuba starting this Tuesday, October 1.

According to the Cubaminrex website, as part of the program, the distinguished visitor will meet with Cuban authorities and carry out other activities.

Randy Mulyanto – Fong Kui Kong, the head of the only Chinese temple in East Timor's capital, Dili, welcomes visitors who come seeking blessings for their children's health or the new business they want to start up. Known as Cina Maromak, the temple is a beacon both for East Timorese of Chinese descent and citizens with no ties to China.

Paris – East Timor is imposing restrictions on the movement of livestock to contain African Swine flu, its agriculture ministry said on Monday after reporting multiple outbreaks to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).

Frank Fang, Taipei, Taiwan – Health authorities in Taiwan are warning travelers not to bring any meat products from East Timor, after the Southeast Asian nation confirmed an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF).

Maria Ortuoste – Another year, another rejection. Once again, ASEAN did not discuss Timor-Leste's application for membership in its annual meeting. This delay is puzzling since Timor-Leste has made significant progress in meeting ASEAN's requirements and current geostrategic trends necessitate greater ASEAN solidarity.

The long-running legal cases of a former spy and his lawyer, who are at the centre of a bugging scandal involving East Timor, have returned to a Canberra court.

Bernard Collaery is facing conspiracy charges after allegedly helping a former client – an intelligence officer known as Witness K – blow the whistle on the 2004 diplomatic incident.

Matthew V. Veazey – The first onshore drilling campaign in the Southeast Asian country of Timor-Leste in nearly 50 years is slated to begin in January 2020, according to operator Timor Resources.

Timor-Leste faces a stark choice in its search for a partner to develop its Greater Sunrise natural gas project, as its operational domestic fields approach end of life.