Josh Jackman – A tiny war-torn island in Asia has taken two huge steps forward in promoting LGBT rights.

East Timor, which only declared its independence in 2002 after a traumatic, deadly struggle, held its first Pride parade last week. The celebration in the capital of Dili was attended by several hundred people, according to The Associated Press.

Shannon Power – In an act described as a 'breath of hope in the region', Timor Leste's Prime Minister has made a definitive statement in support of LGBTI rights.

Thomas Ora, Dili – The Catholic Church in Timor-Leste has urged political parties not only to compete for parliamentary seats but also to ramp up their efforts to reduce poverty and improve the lives of people ahead of parliamentary elections next month.

Guteriano Neves and Khoo Ying Hooi – In July, Timorese voters will go to the polls for the second time this year to elect the country's parliament.

Paulina Quintao – The Timor-Leste National Youth Council (CNJTL) considers language ability as one of the barriers impeding young Timorese access to opportunities offered in neighbouring countries with access to scholarships and jobs.

Paulina Quintao – Some 340 students of Bogor and Maubara Public High Schools, in Liquisa municipality did not sit for their exams for first semester due to a strike called by volunteer teachers awaiting formalization of their status by the Ministry of Education.

Paulina Quintao, The network Timor – Leste Coalition for Education (TLCE) recommended the Ministry of Education to conduct in-depth research on the implementation of mother tongue education in basic schools so there is more information and accurate data about this approach.

Paulina Quintao – National Members of Parliament (MPs) have questioned teaching quality and education standards across the country as grade five students in basic schools are still struggling to speak Portuguese.

National MP David Dias Ximenes said that in the past first grade students already had a good understanding of the language, but students nowadays found it difficult to read.

The coalition government is under fire for ignoring East Timor and failing to send any ministers to Dili since it came to power in 2013. Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong has just wrapped up a two-day visit to the capital Dili.

Kavi Chongkittavorn, Bangkok (Reporting ASEAN) – By the time ASEAN turns 50 years old next year, Timor Leste could already be its eleventh member state. After filing its application six years ago, Timor Leste is poised to join ASEAN under the chairmanship of the Philippines, which is very keen to bring the region's young democracy into its embrace.

The lawyer representing a former-Australian-spy-turned-whistleblower in an East Timor bugging saga has called for a Senate inquiry.

"It's a litmus test on our moral leadership," Bernard Collaery told a rally of about 50 people outside Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday.

Federal Labor is hopeful Australia can reset ties with East Timor after years of turbulence over a maritime boundary dispute.

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong is off to Dili on Wednesday. She will meet new President Francisco "Lu-Olo" Guterres, Prime Minister Dr Rui Maria de Araujo and senior ministers.

Havana – The Minister of the State, Coordinator of Social Affairs and Education Minister of Timor-Leste, Antonio da Conceicao, arrives today to Cuba to fulfil an official visit until Thursday.

Khoo Ying Hooi, University of Malaya – "Quirky is one way of describing this art space," writes the Lonely Planet about Arte Moris. But Arte Moris (or Living Art) is much more than an art gallery or a fine art school.

Rhiannon Elston – At Rainha da Paz school in Dili, students play in the shadow of a burnt-out building.

Their school, like many others across Timor-Leste, had to be rebuilt after Indonesia's scorched-earth withdrawal policy in 1999 left vast tracts of infrastructure destroyed.

Helen Davidson, Dili – Before becoming the fourth president of one of the world's youngest countries, Francisco "Lu'Olo" Guterres spent almost a quarter of a century in the Timorese resistance against Indonesian occupation.

I visited Timor Leste this May, just as the first new nation of the new millennium turned fifteen. Dili was bedecked with the red, yellow and black colours of the Timor flag and the spirit of the people was infectious.

Paulina Quintao – The Director of Clinical Services of the National Hospital Guido Valadares (HNGV), Flavio Brandao said medical specialist services in Timor-Leste still depend on foreign specialists due to the lack of national specialists.

James Scambary – On 26 October 2015, East Timor's Audit Chamber vetoed the largest contract in the country's history – worth US$719 million dollars – for 'non-compliance with basic standards in force in Timor-Leste'. This contract was part of a highly ambitious 'resource corridor' intended to span the country's entire south coast.

Helen Davidson – A journalist has avoided jail over an erroneous article about the now prime minister of Timor-Leste, after a Dili court threw out the criminal defamation charges.

Raimundos Oki, a senior reporter for the Timor Post, and his former editor Lourenco Martins Vicente, were found not guilty of "slanderous denunciation on Thursday at the district court in Dili.

Michael Vincent – The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has hailed as a victory the acquittal of two journalists in East Timor who had faced the threat of jail for a story they wrote about Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araujo in 2015.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliates the Timor Leste Press Union (TLPU) and the Timor Leste Journalists Association (TLJA) in welcoming the decision today by the Timor Leste judiciary to dismiss charges against two journalists charged with slanderous denunciation.

Lisa Martin – Australian peacekeepers led an international force that helped curtail the carnage and bloodshed in the aftermath of East Timor's vote for independence.

Pro-Indonesian militias, with some backing from elements of the Indonesian military, went on a violent looting and arson rampage. An estimated 1500 East Timorese were killed and about 500,000 displaced.

Lindsay Murdoch – East Timor's prime minister has asked a Dili court not send two journalists to jail in a controversial defamation case he brought against them that was condemned by human rights and press freedom organisations.

The foreign affairs department continues to deny a passport to a former-spy-turned-whistleblower despite a spying legal case being dropped.

The former Australian Secret Intelligence Service agent was a key witness for East Timor in a case against Australia over allegations Dili's cabinet rooms were bugged during negotiations over a gas and oil treaty in 2004.

Helen Davidson, Dili – "If the court wants to send me to jail, I won't be happy but I have to be brave. I will accept the final decision. I'm ready to be in prison if the court maybe wants to put me in the prison."

Helen Davidson in Oecusse and Dili – In Timor-Leste's Oecusse province, a band of children wash in the river beneath a multimillion-dollar bridge, yet to open. On a freshly paved road towards a US$9m-plus irrigation project, a young girl hauls a bucket of water out of a ground well.

Rhiannon Elston – In Timor-Leste's western enclave of Oecusse, change is coming fast. Reuban Landos and his family run a tiny village store on the edge of a paddy field.

Vast mountains decorate the horizon, but soon the landscape will have another defining feature – a 56-room hotel with six presidential suites is under construction nearby.

David Hutt – On May 19, as dignitaries gathered in Dili for the inauguration of Timor-Leste's new president, Francisco "Lu-Olo" Guterres, the ceremony had an added significance as the new nation celebrated 15 years of independence from repressive and conflict-plagued Indonesian rule.

Thomas Ora, Dili – Timor Leste's new president Francisco Guterres inherits a nation beset by critical problems, including poor education, high employment, and abject poverty.

During a 12-hour inauguration ceremony in the capital Dili on May 20, Guterres popularly known as Lu-Olo vowed to overcome these problems, pursue sustainable development and promote national unity.

Hamish McDonald – Tolstoy once wrote a short story about a greedy peasant offered as much land as he could get around in a day. The man ran off into the steppe, returning to complete his vast circuit at dusk, only to drop dead from exhaustion.

Lucy Marks – A program to find and treat children in East Timor with rheumatic heart disease is reducing the rates of heart failure and preventable deaths, researchers say.

For the first time, Australian doctors are working with East Timorese health workers to screen and treat children and young people with the illness, using methods similar to those used in Australia.

Helen Davidson, Dili – National pride is a serious business for Timor-Leste, a young country with a violent history. So on the eve of a presidential inauguration and the 15th anniversary of the nation's independence, the capital Dili is covered in flags. They adorn houses, fences, bikes and cars. They are draped over balconies and the arms of the half-dozen flag sellers on each block.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliates the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) and the South East Asia Journalist Unions (SEAJU) in strongly condemning the latest development in the slanderous denunciation case against Timor Leste journalists Oki Raimundos and Lourenco Martins.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has joined its affiliates Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) and the South East Asia Journalist Unions (SEAJU) in strongly condemning the latest development in the slanderous denunciation case against Timor-Leste journalists Oki Raimundos and Lourenco Martins, reports the IFJ Asia-Pacific bureau.

Havana – The map of Timor Leste has the shape of a crocodile, while the map of Cuba has the shape of a Cayman. Both countries fought long and hard for their independence and continue to fight against neo colonial tendencies. They share the Catholic faith and a common Iberian legacy.

Paulina Quintao - Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Combating the HIV/AIDS Timor-Leste (KNKS-TL) Daniel Marcal said HIV was a significant threat for the country's human resources in the future.

He said new cases of HIV transmission were increasing among Timor's population, which was at 1,167, 242 million according to the 2016 household census.

East Timor's first president to be elected as a member of a political party, Lu-Olo, is expected to renew his country's push for a maritime boundary halfway between Timor and Australia, according to a former president.

East Timor's relationship with Australia is too important to dramatically change under its new leader, according to former President Jose Ramos-Horta.

John Pilger – Filming undercover in East Timor in 1993 I followed a landscape of crosses: great black crosses etched against the sky, crosses on peaks, crosses marching down the hillsides, crosses beside the road. They littered the earth and crowded the eye.

Naaman Zhou – The former Timor-Leste president Jose Ramos-Horta has told the Australian government to abandon its "unsubstantiated" legal case to extend its borders into the Timor Sea, as the two countries attempt to negotiate a permanent maritime boundary over lucrative oil fields.

Paulina Quintao – MPs continue to arrive late for parliamentary sessions, according to observations made by the Judicial System of Monitoring program (JSMP).

East Timor's former president Jose Ramos-Horta has issued a blunt warning to Australia that the gas dispute between the two countries risks pushing Timor closer to China.

Dili – Coffee trees loom over a village in the hills above Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste. Though their fruit has provided income for decades, Alarico Soares De Cruz, the local headman, says the pickings are gradually growing slimmer. Some of the trees are 40 years old, he explains, and ought to be pruned or completely replanted.

Damien Kingsbury – Timor-Leste is a country increasingly able to stand on its own two feet. At least, that is the sense within Timor-Leste. The success of Timor-Leste's presidential elections in March 2017 and the prospect of successful parliamentary elections again in early July have marked the country as a consolidating democracy in a region where such notions are often compromised.

Paulina Quintao – The Ministry of Health has received $6.4 million in funding from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) to implement a mass drug distribution program across the country from 2016-2021 to tackle lymphatic filariasis.

Jon Andrews, Bayside Leader – Painters and Dockers' famous, flamboyant frontman Paul Stewart says he owes his life to the nuns of East Timor.

The rocker, an infamous rager on the music scene with the 80s punk band, spends much of his time now helping the poor of our northern neighbour.

Paulina Quintao – The head of the Department of Non-Communicable Disease Helder Juvinal said the tobacco control law had yet to be properly implemented as the Health Ministry was still in the process of raising awareness to communities across the country.

Dames Alexander Sinaga, Atambua – The Indonesian Ministry of Tourism has urged the government of Timor-Leste to modify its immigration regulations to boost tourism in border areas such as Atambua in East Nusa Tenggara.

Venidora Oliveira – Army Chief Major-General Lere Anan Timor has called on the government through the Ministry of Defense to establish a maritime authority to protect the country's ocean's resources.

Emma Wynne – A small collection of objects in the Western Australian Museum honours the extraordinary story of the Timorese boys who risked their lives to help Australian commandos during World War II.