Chris Ray – Nona was born in a dirt-floor hut in a East Timor highland village, where hungry children grow up stunted and wise men see omens in the flight of birds. Her parents grew rice and corn in swidden gardens, but struggled to feed six children. At the age of 9, Nona decided on a solution: she would leave home to live at an orphanage called Topu Honis.

Mike Head – A former senior Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) officer, known publicly only as "Witness K," was sentenced to a suspended jail term last Friday. His "crime" was to blow the whistle on the Howard Liberal-National government's use of ASIS to plant a listening device in East Timor's cabinet room in 2004 during crucial oil and gas negotiations.

Christopher Knaus – Jose Ramos-Horta will formally request that Timor-Leste award Witness K the nation's highest honour, praising him for exposing "Australian government perfidy, bad faith and dishonesty" in a bugging operation conducted for the sole purpose of "robbing the poorest country in the world".

Susan Connelly – Witness K's three months suspended sentence for conspiring to reveal classified information about an alleged spying operation arose from his guilty plea, which required some form of consequence.

A non-custodial sentence is welcome, indicating the general realisation that he is no criminal, but this outcome raises many questions.

Australia is giving its security agencies ever more powers to fight terrorism, foreign influence and international crime but the case of Witness K, which concluded on Friday, has raised again the need for careful supervision of how these powers are used.

Canberra, Australia – Australia's suppression of information seen as pivotal to a free and open media is at the center of accusations that the country has become one of the world's most secretive democracies.

Elizabeth Byrne – The former Australian spy dubbed Witness K has been given a three-month suspended sentence for conspiring to reveal classified information about an alleged spying operation during oil and gas treaty negotiations between Australia and East Timor.

David Estcourt and Anthony Galloway – The former Australian spy known as Witness K has been handed a three-month suspended sentence for conspiring to reveal classified information about an alleged Australian operation to bug East Timor's cabinet rooms during sensitive oil and gas treaty negotiations.

Christopher Knaus – Witness K has been spared jail time for his role in exposing Australia's 2004 bugging of Timor-Leste with a Canberra court finding he appeared to be motivated by justice not personal gain.

Anthony Galloway – The former spy known as Witness K has pleaded guilty to conspiring to reveal classified information about an alleged Australian operation to bug East Timor's cabinet rooms during sensitive oil and gas treaty negotiations.

Christopher Knaus – Lawyers for the former intelligence officer Witness K have urged a court to spare him a criminal conviction for his role in unearthing Australia's bugging of Timor-Leste, saying it would only serve to increase his "alienation, anxiety and post-traumatic stress".

Christopher Knaus – Protesters supporting Witness K will gather at federal parliament to decry his treatment as he faces possible sentencing and "a very real prospect" of being jailed for speaking out about Australia's misconduct abroad.

Dili – Timor Leste's Prime Minister, Taur Matan Ruak, on Wednesday acknowledged the prestige of Cuba's biopharmaceutical industry, which has won international awards for products developed in the country's scientific centers.

Ruak conveyed his ideas to Cuban Ambassador Omar L. Marrero Betancourt, whom he received in his residence.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Catholic-majority Timor-Leste has launched a Covid-19 vaccination drive targeting students and lecturers to speed up efforts to reopen universities.

It began on June 14 at the National University of Timor-Leste (UNTL), the country's largest, and will see the giving out of doses of the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – The sex abuse trial of an ex-priest in Timor-Leste has been put on hold for a fifth time after a bid to hold the hearing by video link was stopped due to "technical issues."

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – A court in Timor-Leste has decided to conduct proceedings against an American ex-priest accused of child abuse by video conference after he failed to appear for the resumption of his trial for a fourth time.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – A shooting incident in which an off-duty Timor-Leste policeman killed two innocent people and wounded another has sparked calls for police reform in the Catholic-majority country.

The incident, which also triggered clashes between youths and police, occurred in the early hours of June 5 in the capital Dili.

Chris Barrett, Singapore – The road up to the village of Kutet in East Timor's western enclave of Oecusse is so rough that most highlanders walk the jungle trail when they need to visit the coast.

Often hauling bags of rice on their backs, the steep and rocky journey takes them up to three hours if they're fit.

Tibar Port in Timor-Leste is half-finished, with the grand opening expected in May 2022.

The new port is expected to handle 350,000 containers a year, replacing the existing facilities in Dili and ending an economic bottleneck.

Peter Baker – If you are looking for a good read that will give you, the happy reader, a no-small glow of pride in how Australia, the country of the "fair go", applies itself on the international scene in general, or perhaps more locally – say in that area just north of us, East Timor – then you are in for a crashing disappointment.

Jakarta (Xinhua) – Timor-Leste on Saturday received a batch of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines and syringes donated by China.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Timor-Leste's government has lifted a ban that has prevented Catholics and members of other religions from going to places of worship in the capital Dili for more than two months following a spike in Covid-19 cases in early March.

Chris Barrett, Singapore – There have been three flights from Dili to Oecusse in the past month as well as one ferry trip.

By air and sea, a judge, two sets of lawyers and a prosecutor have made their way from the East Timorese capital to the coastal enclave that borders Indonesia. They have assembled in Oecusse for a criminal trial that has divided a nation.

Antonio Sampaio, Dili – The Timor-Leste government may apply disciplinary action to public officials doing face-to-face work who refuse to take the vaccine, while maintaining that vaccination against covid-19 is not mandatory.

Timor-Leste's Petroleum Fund (PF) is 'well capitalised' to support economic growth, although it is currently being hampered by the pandemic, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Lawyers for alleged victims in a sexual abuse case involving an ex-priest in Timor-Leste are to lodge an official complaint against officials at a district court where the case is being heard after the trial was postponed for a third time.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – The Covid-19 pandemic has forced a district court in Timor-Leste to postpone the resumption of a trial of an ex-priest accused of sexually abusing children for the third time.

Alex Ray – Fifty kilometres east of Dili is the site of one of Timor-Leste's most renowned scuba diving locations. It is reached via the nearby Santo Antonio Grotto rest stop where timber-slat huts sell plastic bottled water and noodles in Styrofoam cups.

Zevonia Vieira in Dili and Tjitske Lingsma – Lita grew up in a poor family in a hamlet surrounded by the spectacular mountains of Oecusse in Timor-Leste. When she was 11 years old she went to live in Topu Honis shelter home, in the mountainous, forest-encircled village of Kutet.

Antonio Sampaio, Dili – Timor-Leste today registered 172 more cases of covid-19 infection with the majority in Dili – passing the barrier of 5000 cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

Anthony Galloway – A two-day court hearing into an appeal brought by Witness K's former lawyer Bernard Collaery challenging a secrecy order is being held behind closed doors after his lawyer didn't challenge holding the appeal in secret.

Anthony Galloway – Lawyers acting for Bernard Collaery will next week challenge a court order requiring large parts of his trial to be held in secret as the long-running case continues into his alleged efforts to expose a secret Australian operation to bug East Timor's government.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Religious leaders in predominantly Catholic Timor-Leste have launched joint efforts to provide aid to victims of recent floods and residents affected by Covid-19 restrictions.

Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Hindu and Confucian leaders said their aim was to bolster government efforts to help people struggling because of the disasters.

Peter Job – Since his death on 13 April, tributes to former Australian foreign minister and leader of the federal opposition Andrew Peacock have flowed from across the political divide. He has been remembered as a huge figure who left an "indelible" mark on Australia in the 1970s and 1980s.

Antonio Sampaio, Dili – The Timor-Leste health authorities have registered a total of 126 new infections with SARS-CoV-2 in the last 24 hours, almost all in the Timorese capital, according to official data.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Timor-Leste has ordered all its citizens to comply and be tested on demand for Covid-19 or be forced into quarantine if they refuse.

The order was passed by the country's Council of Ministers on May 5.

Chris Barrett, Singapore – Health experts are urging the Morrison government to accelerate its delivery of doses to East Timor amid a deepening crisis there that has led China's vaccine diplomacy to reach Australia's doorstep.

A month after being hit with devastating floods, Timor-Leste is struggling to cope amid a Covid-19 outbreak.

Last month's floods left more than 45 people dead including a dozen children and tens of thousands homeless.

Li-Li Chen – On 8th of April, in the aftermath of devastating floods, Timor-Leste's government declared that Timor-Leste entered the state of emergency for thirty days, when the government appealed to international assistance for its post-disaster rebuilding and recovery.

Michael Leach – The recent floods in Timor-Leste have now caused 45 deaths and some 10,000 people to be displaced, including 7000 in the capital, with widespread damage to roads and bridges, and around 4500 dwellings destroyed. The government has called for international assistance, as a number of local non-government initiatives mobilised to feed and shelter the displaced.

Guteriano Neves – On April 4, Tropical Cyclone Seroja hit Timor-Leste, devastating the island nation and resulting in the worst floods in 48 years. According to the United Nations, the natural disaster took 45 lives, affected 25,709 families, and destroyed 4,546 houses, forcing nearly 10,000 people to seek shelter in the capital Dili.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Salesian Archbishop Virgilio Do Carmo da Silva of Dili has called on the people of Timor-Leste to participate in the government's vaccine program and adhere to health protocols as the number of cases in the Catholic-majority country continues to rise.

Chloe King – Over the Easter weekend, as the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines was expected to arrive in Timor-Leste's capital of Dili, Tropical Cyclone Seroja arrived instead.

Margie Mason, Robin McDowell and Raimundos Oki, Dili – It was the same every night. A list of names was posted on Reverend Richard Daschbach's bedroom door. The child at the top of the roster knew it was her turn to share the lower bunk with the elderly priest and another elementary school-aged girl.

Felicity James – Fernanda Borges remembers Australia assisting Timor-Leste when the tiny country was struggling with violence after its independence vote.

Ms Borges lives in Darwin now but was formerly Timor-Leste's finance minister during this transition – she would like to see a similar response to the country's recent catastrophic floods and landslides.

Ryan Dagur – Xanana Gusmao, Timor-Leste's independence hero and former prime minister and president, has been at the center of a protest demanding the release of the body of man who health authorities claim died of Covid-19 while his family claim he died of a stroke.

Stephen Dziedzic – Labor is ramping up pressure on the federal government to send military helicopters to Timor-Leste, which is struggling to provide aid to remote communities devastated by catastrophic floods.

The government announced a $7 million assistance package for Timor-Leste on Sunday, including emergency supplies and personal protective equipment.

Michael Rose – Xanana Gusmao, famed icon of East Timor, is letting his people down. Once placed by many of his Australian supporters in the same pantheon as Nelson Mandela, on Monday he was filmed assaulting two women in the street.

Chris Barrett, Singapore – Devastated by natural disaster and in the grip of a COVID-19 outbreak, there is a new controversy in East Timor.

Australia has responded to a request for help from the government of Timor-Leste with a $7 million relief package to support 100,000 people affected by flooding.