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 – 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Paulina Quintao – A total of 319 women have registered to run for suku (village) chief in the upcoming suku elections.
General Director of the Secretariat for Technical and Electoral Administration (STAE) Acilino Branco said 2071 candidates from 442 sukus across the country had registered to run in the elections, including 1752 men and 319 women.
Steven Schubert – Donald Trump would provoke instability and world disorder if he becomes the US president, according to Nobel Peace Prize winner and former president of Timor-Leste, Jose Ramos-Horta.
Dr Ramos-Horta told the ABC he was in the process of asking other Nobel Peace Prize laureates to sign an open letter urging Americans to vote against Mr Trump.
Lala Soares – With Hillary Clinton in the race to be the first female president of the United States and British Prime Minister Theresa May and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel leading some of the biggest economies in the world, gender and political leadership has never been such a hot topic.
Lita Aruperes, Manado, North Sulawesi – The North Sulawesi Police have uncovered an alleged charging of illegal fees in the disbursement of compensation funds to former residents of East Timor (now Timor Leste).
Paulina Quintao – The National Parliament (NP) has begun discussions on proposed law no. 26/III/III to combat human trafficking in the country. Its objective is to respond to cases of human trafficking, which occur in the country.
Paulina Quintao – The government through the Secretariat of State for Youth and Sport (SSYS) has allocated $120,499.25 to the November 12 organizing committee for National Youth Day, held to commemorate the Santa Cruz massacre of 1991.
Secretary of State Leovigildo da Costa Hornai said this year's event would differ from previous years as there would be a number of sports activities.
Isabel Ermelita – The Timor-Leste Health Ministry is continuing to promote the use of condoms to at-risk groups to prevent the transmission of HIV, but still recommends that the wider community practice self-control in their sexual relations.
Journalists around the world are trying to get the prime minister of Timor-Leste (East Timor) to abandon a criminal complaint against two Timor-Post reporters who say he was involved in government corruption.
Venidora Oliveira – Minister of Defense Cirilio Cristovao said execution of the general state budget for the Defense Ministry reached 67% by mid-year.
He said $26,217,240 had been allocated to the ministry, which mostly went towards treatment for veterans and boat maintenance.
Paulina Quintao – Three-hundred women candidates in 12 municipalities, including Oecusse, have been confirmed for the upcoming suku (village) elections later this month.
Spokesperson for the I am 100% Ready commission Yasinta Lujina said women's organizations would continue to provide training and accompany women during the campaign process and up until the election.
Paulina Quintao – Although the Education Ministry has formally included sexual health as a subject in the national curriculum, this has not yet been implemented as teachers still felt uncomfortable delivering the subject.
Semarang, Central Java – The immigration office in Central Java has deported 51 students who had come from Timor Leste but were found staying in violation of stay permit regulations.
China, Macau, Timor-Leste – Timor-Leste (East Timor) is expected to grant a license for fishing in its territorial waters to Chinese company Zhoushan Ningtai Ocean Fisheries Co., following the support provided by bilingual staff and professional services of the Macau Platform, reported the Macau Institute for Trade and Investment Promotion (IPIM).
Lauren Roberts, Rural Reporter – Territory mango farmers are flying to Timor in a desperate attempt to recruit workers ahead of a potential labour crisis.
NT Mango Industry Association president Leo Skliros said Ian Quinn and Saramat 'Tou' Ruchkaew from Tou's Garden were flying to Timor to recruit workers through the Federal Government's Seasonal Worker Program.
Amsterdam (Reuters) – Australia and East Timor [will] aim for an agreement over the disputed maritime boundary in resource-rich waters between their countries, a court said on Thursday (Oct 13), signalling a deal could be reached by next September.
Paulina Quintao – The Deputy President of the Timor-Leste Parliamentary Women's Group (GMPTL), Albina Marcal, said many women especially in rural areas were having multiple pregnancies close together every year because of a lack of information about reproductive health.
Paulina Quintao – The Ministry of Education has still not created a policy to ensure school principals accept female drop-outs so that they can continue their studies after childbirth.
Jack Kerr for Earshot – If someone was to make an Australian version of Forrest Gump, they might look to Brian Manning's life story for inspiration.
Wendy Levy, Manahat, Timor Leste – Farmers in Timor Leste call the months from November to February "the hungry season", and this year could be even worse than usual thanks to poor harvests related to the weather phenomena El Nino and La Nina.
UA: 230/16 Index: ASA 57/4957/2016 Timor-Leste
Elisabeth Buchan – On 19 September, Timor-Leste won a minor victory in its ongoing dispute with Australia over rights to resources in the Timor Sea. The UN Conciliation Commission, convened under the Annex V conciliation proceedings of UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), rejected Australia's bid to block proceedings.
Thomas Ora, Dili – The Timor-Leste government has appreciated a Catholic plan to prioritize peace education in schools which is needed to heal societal trauma from years of conflict.
Paulina Quintao – The Timor-Leste Parliamentary Women's Group (GMPTL) with other women's associations is developing a law to enforce the legal age of marriage in Timor-Leste.
GMPTL president MP Florentina Smith said it was necessary to propose the law as high numbers of women were marrying young and this could potentially impact their health.
Paulina Quintao – Alumni from the Timor-Leste Youth Parliament (ATLYP) are raising awareness about conflict resolution to high school students.
ATLYP President Zaulino da Silva said the program aims to change attitudes among young people and show them that they can resolve their problems without resorting to violence.
Ayomi Amindoni, Jakarta – State electricity company PLN is ready to supply electricity to areas on Indonesia-Timor Leste borders by the end of this year.
PLN is constructing power facilities in three transboundary posts (PLBN), targeted to completed in the end of 2016, on Indonesia-Timor Leste borders in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). They are PLBN Motaain, PLBN Wini and PLBN Matomasin.
Venidora Oliveira – The government through the Secretariat of State for Land and Property (SSLP) is planning to evict Kaikoli residents in the near future.
Dili, East Timor – Two East Timorese journalists are going on trial in a criminal defamation case brought by the country's prime minister that has alarmed press freedom groups.
Prashanth Parameswaran – As ASEAN approaches the commemoration of its 50th anniversary next year, one of the key things to watch will be the organization's progress in admitting an eleventh member: Timor-Leste. With Dili's admission gaining traction over the past few years, it is worth looking more closely at the dynamics at play.
Expansion in ASEAN