Margareth Aritonang – The relationship between Indonesia and Timor Leste has improved steadily in the last few years. Timor Leste's Prime Minister Rui Maria De Araujo, who spent nine years as a student at different universities in Indonesia, discussed the relationship during an interview with The Jakarta Post's Margareth Aritonang recently. Below is an excerpt of the interview:

Jakarta – Indonesia and Timor Leste have committed to cooperate on forestry, agriculture, maritime and fisheries issues.

Timor Leste Coordinating Economic cum Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Estanislau Aleixo da Silva met with Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar to talk about the two nations' future cooperation, especially in forestry.

Wellington – The New Zealand government is investing 14.5 million NZ dollars (9.43 million US dollars) to help develop Timor-Leste's coffee and cocoa industry, Foreign Minister Murray McCully said Wednesday.

"Coffee is Timor-Leste's largest export after oil and gas, but productivity issues mean the sector performs significantly below its potential," McCully said in a statement.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government is aiming to resolve any remaining territorial disputes with Timor Leste by the end of this year, President Joko Widodo said after a bilateral meeting with his counterpart on Wednesday.

Jakarta – East Timor will tap into its $16.6 billion oil fund to build the necessary infrastructure to attract non-energy investment, the prime minister said on Wednesday, as disputes over undeveloped gas fields look to remain unresolved for years.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo met visiting Timor Leste Prime Minister Rui Maria De Araujo at the State Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday, discussing among other things land and sea borders between the two countries, tribunnews.com reported.

Mong Palatino – Timor-Leste's Ministry of Finance issued a press statement claiming that the small Southeast Asian nation is already among the richest countries in the world.

The widow of Australian journalist Greg Shackleton says it's a disgrace that a retired general implicated in the murder of the Balibo Five has been appointed chief of Indonesia's intelligence agencies.

Singapore – Mentoring Minister of Timor Leste Xanana Gusmao met with Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law K Shanmugam on Friday afternoon.

Mr Gusmao, who is also Minister of Planning and Strategic Investment, is leading a high-level Timor Leste delegation on a study visit to Singapore.

Rome – Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin was given a joyful welcome upon his arrival to East Timor. The Italian prelate's visit coincides with the 500th anniversary of the evangelization of East Timor.

Singapore – Singapore and Timor Leste reaffirmed warm relations on Friday (Aug 14), as Mentoring Minister Xanana Gusmao arrived in the Republic for a study visit.

Sara Everingham – East Timor is facing a test of its stability after the leader of a rebel group was one of four people killed in a confrontation with the military and police in the area of Fatulia, Baucau over the weekend.

A former East Timor guerrilla leader and long-time political opponent to Xanana Gusmao has been killed in a security operation, the government says, raising concern about unrest in Asia's youngest nation.

Manila – The Philippines reiterated its support for the inclusion of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

I have just visited Timor Leste, 16 years after my last visit. It was a study in contrasts.

I went to contribute to a conference at the National University of Timor-Lorosa'e, where one theme was the role of Western nations during the 1975 Indonesian invasion and 24 years of occupation.

Jakarta – Indonesia and Timor-Leste have agreed to increase cooperation, especially in the fields of border trade and investment.

Nick Xenophon – East Timor is one of the world's youngest and poorest countries located just off our north-west coast. Approximately 45 per cent of its children under five years of age are malnourished; every second day an East Timorese woman dies during child birth – one of the highest death rates in Asia.

Jakarta – The Indonesian delegates would raise the issue of membership of Timor Leste in ASEAN during the 48th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Kuala Lumpur early next month, an Indonesian official said here on Thursday.

Erik Slavin, Tokyo – About 150 US sailors have arrived in East Timor, a country that international observers say is on its way toward stability but still has a long way to go in its development.

Tom Allard – A Labor government will enter into maritime boundary negotiations with East Timor, a move that would likely give the tiny half-island state a far greater share of royalties and tax receipts from the $40 billion Greater Sunrise oil and gas project.

Dili – Timor-Leste Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araujo is calling for foreign investment in tourism to boost its contributions to the economy alongside agriculture and oil and gas industries, reports Vietnam News Agency (VNA).

Developing tourism is vital to helping the country diversify its economy and reduce the dependence on oil-related revenue, he said.

East Timor's former president, Jose Ramos Horta, says that he does not think an independence campaign for the Indonesian province of West Papua will be successful.

Mark Colvin: One of our nearest neighbours, East Timor, is still so poor that many people lack even the most basic access to health care.

One of the country's largely unsung heroes is an American doctor who's been running a clinic there since 1998.

Dili – Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araujo thanked the Cuban government and health collaborators for the support offered for over a decade.

Sadachika Watanabe, Nikkei staff writer, Dili – East Timor Prime Minister Rui Araujo expressed his eagerness to liquefy natural gas from a joint project with Australia onshore, with plans to use the resource to help develop an industrial zone in his country.

Peter Klinger – Woodside Petroleum has quietly put the Laminaria-Corallina oil project in the Timor Sea up for sale, and is thought to be in talks with a preferred buyer.

The sale would include the Northern Endeavour floating production, storage and offloading vessel, which was at the core of the $1.3 billion project's development 16 years ago.

Paul Farrell – Whistleblowers with dual citizenship who speak out on Australia's national security – including those involved in allegations that Timor-Leste's cabinet room was bugged – could face having their citizenship revoked under proposed laws.

The Deputy Director-General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community says the addition of East Timor or Timor-Leste to the organisation will strengthen the region.

East Timor is in the process of becoming the first new member of the SPC since 1983.

[In an exclusive interview with Channel NewsAsia's Sujadi Siswo, Timor Leste Prime Minister Dr Rui Maria de Araujo discussed plans for reform and the future needs of his people.]

Sujadi Siswo, Dili – Timor Leste, Asia's youngest democracy, is undertaking major reforms after it underwent a peaceful leadership transition in February.

Tom Benner, Dili, East Timor – Following his first 100 days in office, the new prime minister of East Timor marvelled at how the peaceful transition of power from his predecessor stood in stark contrast to the young nation's turbulent past.

Inacia Tamele huddled in the jungle to learn to read, became a campaigner for independence in East Timor, and returned to the jungle to hide when pro-Indonesian militias were hunting her. My name is Inacia Tamele. Now I am a mother but when I was younger I was a campaigner for independence in Timor Leste.

Tom Allard – A former Australian Secret Intelligence Service officer and star witness for East Timor in a bitter dispute with the Abbott government over $40 billion in oil and gas revenue is facing criminal prosecution.

Fairfax Media has learned the Australian Federal Police sent a brief of evidence to prosecutors in February following an investigation that lasted 14 months.

The Hague, Netherlands – East Timor has dropped litigation against its powerful neighbor Australia related to a spying scandal, the United Nations' highest court announced Friday.

The move came after Australia returned documents its agents seized from a lawyer working for the tiny former Indonesian island.

East Timor has officially dropped its case against Australia before the UN's international court of justice, after Canberra returned sensitive documents relating to a controversial oil and gas treaty.

For Kirsty Sword Gusmao, being appointed an officer of the Order of Australia is not just a recognition of her life's work, but of another country.

While oil has been the mainstay of East Timor's economy in the past, it is farming that is transforming rural areas and creating a new breed of entrepreneurs.

Businessmen and women are learning to grow and barter seeds from crops like corn, thanks to the help of an Australian Government aid program.

While oil has been the mainstay of East Timor's economy in the past, it's farming that's transforming rural areas and creating a new breed of entrepreneurs. Businessmen and women are learning to grow and barter seeds from crops like corn, thanks to the help of an Australian Government aid program.

Transcript

Eleanor Hall: Oil is a key source of income for East Timor.

East Timor has signalled it will drop it's secondary legal case against Australia regarding ASIO's raids on the offices of Timor's Australian lawyers, but will recommence the original legal proceedings which prompted the controversial raids.

Yohanes H. Douglas, Jakarta – Citilink Indonesia, the budget airline of Indonesia's flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, has struck an agreement with Timor Leste's only airline, Air Timor, to add a flight from Bali to Dili.

Dili (Timur Leste) – Vice Minister for Commerce, Industry and Environment, Constancio Pinto, said on Thursday that he appreciated the support from the Vietnamese Government for Timor-Leste's candidacy for membership in ASEAN.

Speaking to Vietnam News Agency (VNA) in East Timor, he voiced his hope that Timor-Leste would join the bloc in the next two years.

Jakarta – Australia expressed disappointment Friday that East Timor will resume a legal battle in the UN's highest court over a controversial oil and gas treaty between the two countries, and vowed to "strongly defend" its case.

Daniel Hurst – Timor-Leste is set to resume a formal challenge against an oil and gas treaty that became mired in controversy following claims Australia bugged the cabinet room in Dili to gain the upper hand in negotiations.

Sara Everingham – East Timor is reviving its attempt to nullify a multi-billion-dollar oil and gas treaty with Australia on the grounds Australia spied on Timorese officials during the treaty negotiations in 2004.

Jakarta – People are living miserably in areas that border with Timor Leste and Australia, the head of the East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Boundary Agency, Paulus Nasehat, said on Wednesday.

Aside from being faced with poor household economies, access to education and health was also limited, Manehat said in Kupang as reported by Antara news agency.

Jakarta – Up to 12 regencies with 88 districts in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) are located in areas bordering Timor Leste and Australia, head of NTT Boundary Agency Paulus Nasehat said Wednesday.

Nasehat explained that five of the 12 regencies that had land borders with Timor Leste were Belu, Malaka, Timor Tengah Utara, Timor Tengah Selatan and Kupang.

Tom Allard – An espionage operation by Australia's foreign spy service underpins a new bid by East Timor to establish a maritime boundary between the two countries and gain a bigger share of the lucrative Timor Sea oil and gas fields.

Djemi Amnifu, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara – East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) authorities foiled an attempt to smuggle four cars, 27 motorcycles and fuel to Timor Leste on Thursday.

NTT Police spokesman Adj. Comr. Agus Santosa said that the confiscated vehicles and fuel had been secured at the Belu Police headquarters.

Tom Clarke – As the Timorese celebrate their 14th "Restoration of Independence Day" this week, it is once again Australia's self-interest that prevents their long struggle for sovereignty from being complete.

Luh De Suriyani, Denpasar – The first state-facilitated reunions of family members long separated from each other are to begin on Monday in Dili and a few other areas outside Timor Leste's capital.

Luh De Suriyani, Denpasar, Bali – The first state-facilitated reunions of family members long separated from each other are scheduled to be held this week in Dili and a few other areas outside Timor Leste's capital.