Estevao Nuno – The Director of the organization BELUN, Luis da Costa Ximenes, urges the Secretariat of State for the Combatants of the National Liberation (SEAKLN) to verify the data and lists of veterans.

He said, in 2018, there were 28,896 veterans registered, which for him is a substantial number.

An American missionary who was a hero in Timor-Leste for founding children's shelters that have operated for more than two decades has been expelled from his Catholic congregation after admitting to sexual abuse of minors.

Press freedom advocates are raising the issue of political interference in Timor-Leste's public television network after the unceremonious removal of the network's president.

Paulina Quintao – The Chief of Suku of the Suku of Kaikoli, in the administrative post of Vera Cruz, Dili municipality, Hipolito Marques, said drains are full of rubbish because the government has not created a proper rubbish control and management system.

Havana, Cuba – Loro Horta, Ambassador of the Democratic Republic of East Timor to Cuba, participated in this capital in a martial arts exhibition, which aimed to further strengthen relations of friendship and solidarity between the peoples of both countries.

Timor-Leste's Press Council (TLPC) has strongly condemned political interference in the country's public broadcasting service (RTTL) newsroom where political-appointed advisers for the president of RTTL have interfered in its coverage.

Antonio Sampaio, Dili (Asia Pacific Report/Pacific Media Watch) – New debates in Timor-Leste are circulating about political interference in newsrooms.

Attempts to condition or determine that somebody cannot make news on a subject or interview this person or that person. It's a problem affecting both public and private media groups.

Paulina Quintao – After a secret voting at the National Parliament, Sergio de Jesus Hornai, was elected new Commissioner for the Anti-Corruption Commission (KAK) for the period of 2019 until 2023.

Dili, Timor-Leste – The former president of Timor-Leste's public television network says he has been sacked for political reasons.

Gil da Costa was removed this month from the post of chairperson of the board of directors of Timor-Leste Radio and Television (RTTL) following an audit undertaken by the government – and he had no knowledge of the result.

Paulina Quintao – The National Director for Agriculture, Horticulture and Extension at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fishery (MAP), Amaro Ximenes, said every year the government provides seeds only to some farmers because it only

Nelson Da Cruz, Dili – East Timor's president has approved a decree allowing use of the country's petroleum fund for a $650 million buyout of Royal Dutch Shell and ConocoPhillips' holdings in the Greater Sunrise gas project, a proposal he had vetoed in December but which subsequently won overwhelming parliamentary backing.

Sophie Raynor – There used to be thousands of them – the children of the children of the first Chinese people to migrate to Timor-Leste in the 1800s and their indigenous Timorese husbands and wives.

Christopher Knaus – Commonwealth prosecutors have been accused of acting unfairly in the Witness K case after dumping their brief of evidence on defence lawyers about 6pm on the last working day of the legal year.

Jared Ferrie, Phnom Penh – The Australian owners of a restaurant in East Timor are hoping to use their passion for the local cuisine to combat malnutrition in the tiny Southeast Asian nation.

Jakarta – Presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto says that the elite in Jakarta do not understand the Indonesian people's struggle to defend the sovereignty of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), including the struggle of former pro-integration militia in East Timor.

Hamish McDonald – When Australia and East Timor settled maritime boundary dispute in March, guided by conciliators from The Hague, it seemed the way was now clear to develop the big Greater Sunrise petroleum field under the Timor Sea and thus sustain the new state for decades.

Paulina Quintao – The President for the Special Olympics, Maria Domingas Fernandes Alves, said people with disabilities, including intellectual, vision, and hearing, and with other physical disabilities and impairments, need special attention and conditions to move and to be able to actively participate in society so there is a need for a National Council for People with Disabilitie

Damien Kingsbury – Timor-Leste started the year in political chaos and ended it with a return to the confrontational politics of the past.

Viji Menon – In March 2018, Timor-Leste and Australia signed a treaty resolving the issue of the long-disputed maritime boundaries between the two countries.

Paulina Quintao – The Vice Minister of Health, Bonifacio dos Reis, said the Ministry of Health (MoH) will continue to promote the global HIV/AIDS prevention method of ABC, Abstinence (A), Be faithful (B), or use a Condom (C), to prevent the transmission of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

Paulina Quintao – The Minister of Public Works, Salvador Soares dos Reis Pires, said the government has reestablished a taskforce to control and identify members of the community who destroy public water pipes to establish illegal connections to the water grid.

Stephen Dziedzic – Timor-Leste has bought Shell's stake in the rich Greater Sunrise oil and gas fields as it presses ahead with its contentious plan to pipe the natural resources to its south coast for processing.

Michael Sainsbury – The recent agreement by Timor-Leste's government to purchase US energy group ConocoPhillips' 30% stake in the Greater Sunrise syndicate, which has rights to exploit the substantial undersea gas and oil reserves worth upwards of US $50 million, is in many ways a logical step.

Simone Rensch – Timor-Leste needs to "sustainably manage" its public finances to ensure it doesn't spend too much too quickly as its natural resources run low, the World Bank has warned.

Paulina Quintao – The government of Timor-Leste and its partners including the United Nations and its agencies in Timor-Leste, Diplomatic Corps, and representatives of the private sector and civil society organizations will revise the implementation of the commitments, policies and the programs of government to achieve the 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Estevao Nuno – The 12 November Committee working with the Forensic Police Unit has been able to recover the remains of 16 victims of the 12 November 1991 Santa Massacre in Dili.

Paulina Quintao – The National Director for Meteorology at the Ministry of Transport and Communication, Terencio Fernandes Moniz, said based on the changing weather patterns in Timor-Leste and the effects of El Nino, even though weaker than in previous years, rain fall will be affected until December 2018.

Alexandra Back – The case of a former spy and his lawyer accused of conspiracy to provide information about an intelligence service has been adjourned until the federal Attorney-General Christian Porter decides whether the as-yet undisclosed brief of evidence is likely to prejudice national security.

Paul Karp – Bernard Collaery and Witness K have suffered a setback in their bid to have an open court hearing on protected information in the Timor-Leste spying case.

Morgan Fincher – On November 12, 1991, the Indonesian military shot and killed over 250 Timorese citizens in the Santa Cruz Cemetery in Dili, Timor-Leste's capital.

Nelson de la Cruz, Jakarta – East Timor's ruling coalition in parliament has voted to block a planned trip by President Francisco Guterres to the Vatican, where he was due to meet Pope Francis, saying the president must first break a political deadlock at home.

Opposing barristers in a commonwealth spying case are at loggerheads over what national security information can be made public.

The case of a former spy, known as Witness K, and Canberra lawyer Bernard Collaery was back for its second appearance in ACT Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

Paul Karp – Lawyers for the whistleblower Witness K and lawyer Bernard Collaery have pushed the ACT magistrates court to make a ruling about national security information in a bid to head off a possible closed court hearing.

Canberra, Australia – Lawyers prosecuting a former spy and his lawyer who accuse Australia of illegally bugging the East Timorese Cabinet while negotiating a deal to share oil and gas revenue have made an application that could lead to the court being closed during the trial.

David Hutt – Timor-Leste, Southeast Asia's newest and poorest nation, is slowly but surely drawing closer to China, a move that is raising antenna among its allies and neighbors and initial concerns it could fall into a potential Chinese debt trap.

Christopher Knaus and Jessica Bassano – The nation's spy watchdog is carefully considering a complaint alleging Australia broke the law when it bugged Timor-Leste's cabinet during lucrative oil and gas negotiations, documents show.

David Hutt – After more than a year of political uncertainty – which included two general elections in the space of eleven months, one failed minority government, impeachment threats against the president and still some ministries without ministers – Timor-Leste's governing class looks close to agreeing budgetary matters.

James Elton-Pym, Brett Mason – The "emasculation" in Australian aid and the amount of money flowing to expensive consultants has forced Pacific nations to accept grants and loans from China, according to the former president of Timor Leste.

The case against a spy-turned-whistleblower and his lawyer is Australia's "Watergate" and should be kicked out of court, crossbench MPs and senators say.

Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick has joined MPs Andrew Wilkie and Rebekha Sharkie in demanding all commonwealth charges against a man, known only as Witness K, and his lawyer Bernard Collaery to be dropped.

Paulina Quintao – The Chief of the Suku of Soba, in the Laga Administrative Post, Baucau Municipality, Francisca Monica said the government needs to strengthen training programs for women in rural areas including on financial management and accounting.

Paulina Quintao – The Forum of Non-Governmental Organizations of Timor-Leste (FONGTIL or NGO Forum) challenges the new government and its commitment to solve water issues across the country, 16 years on since the country gained independence given communities continue to complain about lack of access to clean water.

Justin T. McPhee – "There is an air of unreality about this stated case. It has the appearance of a Law School moot based on an episode taken from the adventures of Maxwell Smart".

The news editor for National Media Group (GMN) in Timor-Leste has been dismissed due to his role as the TL Press Union (TLPU) representative on the country's Press Council.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate the TLPU has condemned the dismissal of the editor as "outrageous" and called for his immediate reinstatement.

Dili – The Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste, Taur Matan Ruak, received on Thursday the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Marcelino Medina, who is on a working visit to that country.

Paulina Quintao – The government of Timor-Leste together with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Agency conducted an in-depth analysis of the main challenges for the country's economic development, to elaborate a future integrated plan to solve issues and to together develop Timor-Leste's economy.

Steve Cannane – Former attorney-general George Brandis was asked to approve the controversial prosecution of an Australian spy and his lawyer more than two years before consent was finally granted, a document obtained by the ABC has revealed.

Peter Williams – Sunrise LNG operator Woodside Petroleum has left open the prospect of over-riding a deal for the East Timor Government to buy a 30 per cent stake in the undeveloped project.

East Timor and ConocoPhillips today jointly announced the $US350 million ($484 million) deal for the US company to sell its shareholding in the Greater Sunrise fields in the Timor Sea.

Stephen Dziedzic – Timor-Leste's leaders want to build a 150-kilometre pipeline, stretching all the way from the tiny south coast hamlet of Beaco to the vast Greater Sunrise oil and gas fields of the Timor Sea.

That's not all. They see a new port and a huge LNG plant springing up in the village, processing the 5 trillion cubic feet of gas which lie under the waves.

Jonas Guterres – Fighting corruption is one of the key essential actions needed to support good governance, poverty eradication and the creation of a sound and safe environment for economic development.

Melbourne – East Timor has signed a deal to buy ConocoPhillips' stake in the Greater Sunrise gas field off the country's southern coast for $350 million, the Australian Financial Review reported on Monday.