Venidora Oliveira – Member of the National Parliament MP Anastacia da Costa Amaral claims some 85 percent of rural Timorese are not familiar with the prepaid electricity system set up by the EDTL Electricity of Timor-Leste Directorate.

Paulina Quintao – In response to accusations the Ministry of Health has no control over public doctors working as private practitioners, Minister of Health Sergio Lobo da Costa said even though this is not supposed to be taking place that it is difficult to control because of a lack of a centralized ICT system to monitor the work of all doctors in the public health sector.

Marcelino Pereira, Dili – East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao is meeting the president this week to discuss a possible government restructuring, sending perhaps the strongest signal yet that the independence hero wants to step down.

Paulina Quintao – The Alola Foundation (FA) is urging the Timorese government to create regulation that will protect the originality of the Tais (traditional cloth) of Timor, including motifs used least it disappear.

FA's Executive Director Reis said currently fake tais from other countries copying traditional motifs of Timor dominate markets in the country.

Paulina Quintao – Rede Feto (RF) women's network umbrella organization and the National Directorate for Terrestrial Transportation (DNTT) launched a campaign to raise public awareness and in particular of public and private transport drivers in Dili about gender based violence and the law against domestic violence.

Paulina Quintao – Cases of renal failure are on the rise in Timor-Leste with one of the potential causes being the poor quality of water consumed by the Timorese.

Venidora Oliveira – Member of the National Parliament MP Arao Noe urges the Ministry of Justice to work towards translating the Timorese Civil Code Law to Tetun because it was difficult for Timorese to understand its current Portuguese version.MP Noe said it requires very high Portuguese language ability to understand juditial terms and if someone only speaks basic Portuguese he of she will not

Paulina Quintao – Women's Parliamentary Group president Josefa Alvares Pereira Soares says rural women are unfamiliar with laws prohibiting domestic violence.

She said awareness raising efforts by the State Secretariat for the Promotion of Equality (SEPI) were insufficient.

Estevao Nuno – One of the priorities for the Ministry of Education (ME) in 2015 is to use funds allocated in the State Budget for education to rehabilitate 800 schools presently in very poor condition in remote areas of the country.

Sara Everingham – East Timor's government is undergoing a restructure with the country's prime minister Xanana Gusmao likely to announce his retirement from the role within weeks.

Daniel Flitton – East Timor's independence hero and former guerrilla fighter Xanana Gusmao has told colleagues he will resign as Prime Minister in the next fortnight.

Mr Gusmao gathered most of his 53-member government a meeting on Wednesday night in the capital Dili where he outlined plans to step back in favour of a unity administration under a new leader.

Venidora Oliveira – The 2015 General State will continue to prioritize infrastructure development with the government believing there hasn't been a significant progress in the quality of roads and bridges across the country.

Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao said quality infrastructure will contribute towards sustainable economic growth and improve services delivery to the people.

Venidora Oliveira – Timor-Leste is unlikely to be admitted to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2015.

Foreign Affairs and Co-operation deputy minister Constbncio da Conceicao Pinto said the government had approached ASEAN member nations and worked towards ticking off the admittance criteria.

Jakarta – The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) will form a local branch in Belu district, East Nusa Tenggara on the border of Indonesia and Timor Leste to intervene in the flow of drugs between the two countries.

Paulina Quintao – More than 100 Millennium Development Goal (MDG) houses are sitting abandoned in Lospalos sub-district in Lautem as the residents they were intended for refuse to live in them due to their poor condition.

Paulina Quintao – Breast and cervical cancer sufferers are forced to travel overseas for treatment due to a lack of facilities in Timor-Leste.

Paulina Quintao – Health Ministry Department of Non-infectious Diseases chief Dr Herculano Seixas dos Santos says consultation on draft tobacco control legislation is complete and the laws will be submitted to the Council of Ministers for consideration before progressing to Parliament for debate.

Paulina Quintao – Students have come forward concerned about the quality of teaching in schools across Timor because of teachers who abandon classes because they teach in more than one school concurrently.

Student Antonio da Costa believes the Ministry of Education is failing in its duty of care to prevent teachers on the public purse from double dipping.

Paulina Quintao – The results of an assessment conducted by the National Commission for the Rights of the Child (KNDL) in Timor-Leste show that some 67% of children get some form of physical punishment by school teachers in schools.

KNDL Commissioner Maria Barreto said physical violence should not be used by teachers to educate children.

Paulina Quintao – The bodies of many victims shot dead by the Indonesian military during the Santa Cruz massacre 23 years ago remain missing.

12 November Commission president Gregorio Saldanha said finding the bodies was a difficult task. "We have identified some but many have not been found yet," he said.

Paulina Quintao – CNRT, PD and FRETILIN party benches at the national parliament agree with the Prime Minister's decision to reshuffle the fifth Constitution Government as it has become ineffective.

Paulina Quintao – Former resistance member Olandina Caeiro has encouraged young women to involve themselves in politics in order to bring about positive changes to their lives.

"Many Timorese women are intelligent therefore young women should have the courage to compete to create a sense of equality between men and women in politics," she said.

Venidora Oliveira – The recent incident that took place in Sailari in Baucau District resulting in injuries to six police officers won't affect national security according to the Timorese National Police (PNTL) Operations Commander, Superintendent Armando Monteiro.

Paulina Quintao – Women in rural areas feel disenfranchised and disconnected from Timor-Leste's development process, according to the Parliamentary Women's Group of Timor-Leste (GMPTL).

Paulina Quintao – Child abandonment cases are on the rise in Timor-Leste, according to Legal Assistance for Women and Children (ALFeLa) director Merita Correia.

She said the children abandoned were often born out of adulterous relationships. In the past, adultery was outlawed in Timor-Leste under the Indonesian penal code.

Yohanna Ririhena, Jakarta – Indonesia, Timor Leste and Australia are ready to move forward with a trilateral initiative for sub-regional integrated economic development linking eastern Indonesia, Timor Leste and northern Australia.

Paulina Quintao – Research conducted by Marie Stopes International in the District of Dili and Viqueque has revealed that the dowry system limits the ability of women to access family planning programmes.

Singapore – Dutch brewer Heineken said on Thursday it will begin building a beverage plant in East Timor this year that will manufacture a range of drinks including beer.

The company said in a statement that it had signed an agreement with the East Timor government to build the facility, which will require an investment of between US$30 million and US$45 million.

Brasilia – The Angolan state-owned oil company, Sonangol, has been invited to carry out prospecting and exploration for oil in Timor Leste.

The invitation was extended by the Timorese Vice-minister of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation, Constancio Pinto, during a meeting with Angolan Foreign Affairs Minister Georges Rebelo Chikoti here over the weekend.

An American woman arrested in East Timor and released from prison on Christmas Day is staying at the home of former president Jose Ramos-Horta until her passport is returned.

Nani Afrida, Kupang – In an effort to curb rampant fuel and narcotics smuggling, Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu plans to add more posts to the border of Indonesia and Timor Leste.

Associated Press in Portland, Oregon – A US traveler detained for months in Timor Leste has been released from prison.

Washington – A veterinarian from Oregon who was arrested while traveling in East Timor in September was released from jail on Thursday after nearly two months of detention, the US State Department said.

Nearly two years ago, Stacey Addison of Portland, Oregon, began a trip around the world starting in Antarctica. But the trip turned into a nightmare soon after she arrived in East Timor. On September 5, Stacey, a veterinarian, was traveling in a shared taxi with another passenger she had never met.

Estevao Nuno – The Judicial System Monitoring Program (JSMP) has raised awareness in schools in six districts of laws prohibiting domestic violence.

JSMP executive director Luis Oliveira Sampaio said the districts involved were Liquisa, Ermera, Maliana, Same and Viqueque. Oe-Cusse would be included in the near future, he said.

Venidora Oliveira – Newly appointed human rights ombudsman Silverio Pinto says he is ready to ready to continue to implementing the Human Rights and Justice Provedoria's (PDHJ) 10 year strategic plan.

A communications strategy to determine what difficulties people faced will be drawn up, Pinto said.

Paulina Quintao – The Decolores Del Amor Foundation has urged the government to establish an independent national drugs council to address the issue of drugs within the nation.

Paulina Quintao – Research by the National University of Timor Lorosa'e's (UNTL) gender studies unit has shown that many female students are shunning school because of a lack of toilet facilities.

Estevao Nuno – Squatters living in the former Comoro market will be evicted to establish new National Police of Timor-Leste (PNTL) dormitories.

Dili district administrator Gaspar Soares said as the site was state property, those living there must vacate the property.

Venidora Oliveira – The Parliamentary Inquiry Commission (KIP) has investigated allegations the Secretariat of State for Public Works (SEOP) acted improperly in commissioning emergency works projects in five districts.

Estevao Nuno – Luta Hamutuk has called for the government to investigate why emergency works projects scheduled for completion within three months are taking up to a year.

Estevao Nuno – Member of Parliament Eladio Faculto has criticized the government for using force to move on fish and coconut vendors at the Lecidere beachfront. Faculto said the vendors only wanted to make a living.

"They should be moved politely. One day I went to a vendor at the beach and he said that the government had moved them by force," he said.

Venidora Oliveira – National Police of Timor-Leste (PNTL) members are using service weapons to hunt animals, according to Member of Parliament Ana Ribeiro.

Yoseph Kelen, Jakarta – President Joko Widodo says that the facilities along the nation's border with Timor Leste should be improved, along with the quality of customs, immigration and quarantine services.

Paulina Quintao – Member of Parliament Antoninho Bianco has warned citizens that providing false information to receive more than one voting card is a criminal offence.

Venidora Oliveira – The community of Cova in the sub-district of Balibo within Bobonara has not had electricity from the time of independence until the present day.

Member of Parliament Manuel Gaspar Soares da Silva said it was unfair for Cova to go without electricity while other sukus were powered.

Paulina Quintao – The government must ban the import of cigarettes into Timor-Leste for the health of its people, says Member of Parliament Eladio Faculto.

Faculto said there were no local cigarette manufacturers and that the imported products were known to cause diseases such as cancer and hypertension in smokers.

Paulina Quintao – Timorese visiting sex workers are neglecting to use condoms to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS.

National Commission to Combat HIV/AIDS – Timor-Leste (CNCS-TL) secretary Daniel Marcal said the HIV situation in Timor-Leste was serious, with many infected people living in the community.

Luke Buckmaster – Director Robert Connolly's 2009 expose Balibo is based on the true story of Australian journalists the Balibo Five, who were captured by Indonesian militia in the eponymous East Timorese town in 1975. It thrusts audiences into nightmarish situations and forces us to contemplate how we might feel and react.

Armandina Moniz, Dili (Notisias Online/Pacific Media Watch) – Timor-Leste's Court of Appeal has once again delivered a judgment declaring the controversial Media Act unconstitutional.