Pamela Sexton, Dili, Timor-Leste – Recently, thousands of U.S. military veterans travelled to North Dakota to support the peaceful struggle of the Standing Rock Sioux to defend their sovereignty and protect their land and water. I watched the veterans bend down to ask forgiveness from the many indigenous tribes gathered there.

Duncan Graham – Greig Cunningham wants to know how and why his brother Gary died. The New Zealand news cameraman was killed in 1975 by Indonesian Special Forces in what was then East Timor – now Timor-Leste.

In his four-decade fact hunt, the retired Australian accountant's latest stopover has been the brothers' birthplace, New Zealand.

David Hutt – I ask for no outpouring of sympathy, but those of us who spend our days jotting down opinions and making them available for public consumption face a perennial question of whether we want feedback. Perhaps, though, that's just me. A response might arrive in the inbox with sentiments of support but, more often than not, they come with the opposite intention.

Mahinda Arkyasa, Jakarta – The Timor Leste government extended it condolences for the passing of Dr. George Junus Aditjondro on December 10, 2016.

Paulina Quintao – The National Parliament has approved proposed law no. 26/III/2015 on the prevention and fight against human trafficking. Of the 64 MPs, 34 were present, with 32 voting in favor, two abstentions and none against.

Damon Evans – East Timor could be bankrupt within a decade unless it takes urgent action to diversify its economy and reassess its fixation with mega-petroleum projects

Paulina Quintao – The falling price of coffee makes has saddened growers in Ermera municipality who are struggling to improve their lives and send their children to school.

The President of Ermera municipality authority, Jose Martinho do Santos Soares, said the coffee price is a perennial problem for farmers, which has not been tackled so far.

Paulina Quintao – The Ministry of Health (MoH) in cooperation with its partners has set up a taskforce to help prevent diseases spread by animals, including rabies and influenza (H1N1 virus).

The Coffee Festival of Timor-Leste, which aims to select the best coffee and the best cocktail made with this product, will run until 3 December, as part of an event open to farmers and groups of associated farmers.

A woman from East Timor spoke out about her experience of being forced to serve as a "comfort woman" by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, as she visited Japan for the first time earlier this month.

Ella Fabry – Tomorrow, November 28, one of the world's newest nations, Timor Leste, will celebrate the anniversary of its declaration of independence from foreign rule. It's unfortunate that against that backdrop of pride and celebration, Timor continues to fight for self-determination and economic security against a much wealthier neighbour.

Paulina Quintao – Teachers are continuing to use violence to discipline students at schools, even though there is a zero-tolerance policy in place.National MP Anastasia Amaral said she disagreed with teachers using violence against students during the learning process because this type of attitude only frightened the students.

Venidora Oliveira – First Lady Isabel Ferreira said that an independent justice system in Timor-Leste would contribute to the country's peace and stability and therefore the state should guarantee it.

She said that justice and peace cannot be separated because in order to strengthen the country's stability a strong justice system free of political interference was needed.

Venidora Oliveira – There are calls for the government to provide more training to Suburban Police (OPS) units to improve their professionalism at a grassroots level.

National MP Duarte Nunes said officers worked together directly with the communities they served and therefore needed to learn about ways they could establish a good relationship.

Paulina Quintao – Washing hands before eating is very important for the prevention of infectious and other diseases but most Timorese are still used to it.

The General Director of the National Hospital Guido Valadares, Dr Jose Antonio said the act of washing hands is a basic behaviour that children should be taught by parents but this does not yet take place.

Paulina Quintao – The National Parliament (NP) has created a resolution to compel relevant line ministries to implement the integrated national program for combating malnutrition in the country.

Paulina Quintao – Four containers full of medicines at the Medicine and Medical Equipment Autonomous Service (SAMES) warehouse were alleged to be expired and the government will have to destroy them soon.

Dili – Today, thirteen influential leaders, including from government, institutions, and civil society, signed a Charter declaring their commitment to preventing violence against women and children in Timor-Leste.

Paulina Quintao – Three to five people out of 40 people who donated blood each day are found to be Hepatitis B positive, based on new data made available from the National Blood Bank (BNS) of Timor-Leste.

BNS Unit Head, Arsenio Jose said the blood transfusion service is important but some caution needs to be exercised to ensure blood donations are screened for infectious diseases.

Paulina Quintao – Timor-Leste President Taur Matan Ruak used commemorations for the 25th anniversary of the Santa Cruz massacre to call on young people to study and work hard towards a better future and continue the struggle to improve people's well-being because it was the heroes' dream.

Paulina Quintao – The original tais (traditional cloth) of the Timor-Leste is in grave danger of becoming extinct due to the government's inaction to develop policy to promote and protect traditional tais weaving.

The Executive Director of Alola foundation, Alzira Reis said some of the tais currently being sold in Dili are imitations and some even imported by foreign entrepreneurs.

Last week, Timor-Leste's government issued a press release Timor-Leste's economic outlook positive as reforms begin to show results.

Damon Evans – Without new sources of income East Timor could be bankrupt as early as 2027, new research from Dili-based thinktank La'o Hamutuk shows.

Paulina Quintao – National MP Osorio Florindo is disappointed with the attitude of some health officials who provide substandard health services and threaten the patients at the Bazartete Health center, Liquisa municipality.

Timor-Leste looks forward to successful elections next year and stand ready to strengthen its relationships as a member of ASEAN.

While there are indications of Beijing's growing reach, its role needs to be kept in perspective.

Paulina Quintao – The November 12 Committee has worked with the government to identify the remains of 12 people killed in the Santa Cruz massacre 25 years ago.

The remains have now been returned to the families for burial according to Timorese tradition.

Committee President Gregorio Saldanha said many of those who died in the Santa Cruz massacre were still unaccounted for.

Paulina Quintao – National MP's praise the better quality of private health services, facilities and equipment in comparison with pubic health services available to the community in Timor-Leste.

National MP Virgilio da Costa Hornai said in private clinics patients are seen quickly and the quality of equipment is superior to that of public clinics.

Paulina Quintao – National MP Leonel Marcal called on the Ministry of Health to ban private pharmacies from selling formalin to the community without a medical prescription.

He said this measure should be adopted because the misuse of formalin may be having a negative impact on people's health.

Paulina Quintao – The school feeding menu has been criticized for being poor quality and lacking nutritious food.

National MP Manuel Castro said MPS had often questioned the school feeding program, but the issues had yet to be resolved.

Paulina Quintao – Timor-Leste has yet to introduce legislation to standardize food safety regulations for imports to the country.

World Food Programme (WFP) Country representative Stephen Kearney said a standardized system was important to guarantee the safety and quality of food imports to the country.

Concerned Brisbane Catholics have vowed to maintain pressure on the Australian government to negotiate a fair maritime boundary with our smallest neighbour, East Timor.

Australians favour international law to determine Timor maritime boundary between Timor-Leste and Australia, even if that delivers Timor-Leste a substantial share of the oil and gas in the Timor Sea.

The poll of 10,271 residents across Australia showed 56.5% support for establishing a maritime boundary in accordance with current international law, with only 17% opposed to the change.

David Webster – Digging into the archival records isn't purely academic. It can tell us why governments make the decisions they did – and suggest ways to influence future government decisions.

More than half those surveyed in a new poll favour setting Australia's maritime boundary with East Timor to give the new nation a greater share of oil and gas reserves.

The study conducted by ReachTEL for the left-leaning Australia Institute found 56.5 per cent of 10,271 respondents backed setting the boundary according to international law.

Saturday marks the 25th anniversary of the Santa Cruz massacre on November 12, 1991. Journalists Allan Nairn and Amy Goodman were there when Indonesian troops opened fire on a peaceful memorial procession at the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili. The soldiers were armed with U.S. M16s and killed more than 270 East Timorese.

On the 25th anniversary of the Santa Cruz massacre, the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) urges the international community to commit to ending impunity for the human rights crimes committed during the occupation of Timor-Leste.

Paulina Quintao – There are calls for the Health Ministry to change the medication procurement system and introduce a specific process to address the lack of medication stocks at health facilities.

National MP Virgilio da Costa Hornai said health facilities continued to run out of medicine of every year as the procurement system was too slow, an issue that has still not been resolved.

Economic activity in East Timor is expanding at a "satisfactory" pace that is expected to continue in 2017, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a statement released on Monday in Washington.

Paulina Quintao – A newly launched integrated program is aiming to reduce malnutrition rates in the country, particularly in Aileu municipality.

Sunrise Joint Venture (SJV) Company established the program in partnership with local organizations Together We Help (HIAM) Health, the Alola Foundation, Good Enterprise and the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA TL).

Paulina Quintao – Sixteen community groups have attended a week-long training course at Together We Help (HIAM) Health about the process of making quality organic fertilizer.

Venidora Oliveira – Poverty rates in Timor-Leste have declined from 47.2% in 2007 to 30.3% in 2014, according to government data.

Deputy Minister of Finance Helder Lopes said the data was based on research conducted by the Ministry of Finance between April 2014 and April 2016, and involved 5916 households across the country.

Venidora Oliveira – The government has been urged to establish regulations for traditional ceremonies to reduce the costs involved in funerals, weddings and engagement parties in Timor-Leste.

Venidora Oliveira – MPs have approved more than $17 million for the National Parliament's 2017 budget at a plenary session.

National MP Arao Noe said it would be allocated towards planned priority programs next year such as the completion of legislation that is still pending and other parliamentary reforms, including administrative functions.

Sonny Inbaraj Krishnan – This Saturday marks the 25th anniversary of the Dili massacre, when 270 East Timorese – including Malaysian-New Zealander Kamal Bamadhaj – were killed when Indonesian troops opened fire on a peaceful demonstration at the Santa Cruz cemetery in East Timor's capital Dili on November 12, 1991.

Panca Nugraha, Mataram – Thousands of families residing in Timor Leste before its independence have returned to Indonesia's West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) after passing citizen verification and validation procedures.

Paulina Quintao – The Ministry of Health in collaboration with international agencies is developing guidelines for health personnel to help provide better assistance to victims of gender-based violence in Timor-Leste.

Venidora Oliveira – The Judicial Reform Commission has been criticized for working too slowly and failing to make any significant progress.

The commission was established last year by Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araujo to assess the justice sector and identify any problems and weaknesses in the system.

Tony Moore – East Timor's former prime minister and president Dr Jose Ramos-Horta has appealed to Australia's sense of a "fair go", asking for a sea boundary to be changed to share $40 billion in oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea.

Karen J. Coates – Timor-Leste will hold elections on Oct. 29 to determine the country's next local leaders. And for the first time since this tiny Southeast Asian nation gained independence in 2002, women occupy prominent spots on village ballots.