An Australian nun is calling on the Abbott government to finally settle the maritime border with East Timor so the tiny nation can get on with delivering basic services to its people.

Dili – East Timor is facing an uncertain future as resistance hero Xanana Gusmao prepares to step down as prime minister after helping hold the tiny nation together during the chaotic early years of its independence.

Bronwen Reed and Sophie McNeill – The extraordinary generosity of ABC viewers – including an anonymous donation of $200,000 – has stunned the management and medical staff of East Timor's Bairo Pite Clinic and will dramatically improve care and conditions at the overburdened, independent hospital.

Paulina Quintao – The Ministry of Justice and National Parliament have made a commitment to change the penal code to specifically outlaw incest.

Deputy Justice Minister Ivo Jorge Valente acknowledged that currently, incest was loosely defined, making convictions difficult.

Venidora Oliveira – A lack of adequate transportation is severely affecting the efficiency of the Criminal Investigation Service (SIK).

SIK commander Chief Inspector Manuel Alves said his unit had access to nine cars – two of which are currently out of service – and nine motorbikes. "Sometimes we have to wait for each other," he said in Kaikoli, Dili.

Online campaign group GetUp! have produced a television commercial about Australia short-changing East Timor out of billions of dollars in oil and gas revenue and need your help to get it on air this weekend during the G20 summit.

Paulina Quintao – Gender studies should be offered by tertiary education providers, according to National University of Timor Lorosa'e (UNTL) Gender Studies Centre deputy co-coordinator Judite Dias Ximenes.

Paulina Quintao – More than 100 cases of domestic violence have been left pending in the Public Ministry due to the alleged victims' reluctance to give evidence.

Domestic violence issues prosecutor Ivonia M. Guterres said the 119 cases would be committed to trial if the purported victims were willing to co-operate with the Public Ministry.

Paulina Quintao – Prohibitive repair costs mean six ambulances will remain out of action, according to national director of hospital support services Horacio Sarmento da Costa.

More than 44 ambulances are operating across Timor-Leste's 13 districts with further 12 working in the districts to transport emergency patients.

Paulina Quintao – Residents of 244 Timor-Leste sukus do not have access to health services in their villages.

Member of Parliament Domingas Alves da Silva, alias Bilou-Mali, expressed concern and called on the Ministry of Health to take action. "All the people have the right to access health assistance however in reality many communities do not," she said.

Paulina Quintao – The Secretariat of State for Vocational Training, Policy and Employment (SEPFOPE) registered 198 complaints regarding labour disputes in the eight months between January and August this year.

National Directorate for Working Relationships (DNRT) chief Angelo dos Santos Veloso said they received complaints from workers every day.

Aaron Sheldrick – Australia's Woodside Petroleum is in talks with East Timor on building an onshore gas plant, potentially removing one of the major barriers to developing gas fields that could provide billions of dollars to one of the world's poorest countries.

Martinha Gusmao – The National University of Timor-Lorosa'e (UNTL) donated $200 to student society AKHANA in support of their march from Larigatu, Ossu, to Dili.

Department of Community Development and Social Action chief in the office of the vice rector for student affairs Juviano Alves Reis said the march was part of the FALINTIL Day commemorations.

Estevao Nuno – The Ministry of Education will permit the Catholic Church to open a privately managed university in Timor-Leste, provided it fulfills a list of criteria set by the government.

John M. Pile – The Timorese government recently released its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Report for 2014. Overall the MDG indicators show that living standards and human development have improved significantly in Timor-Leste since independence.

Sonali Paul, Melbourne – East Timor has ordered five foreign judges out of the country after a court ruled in favour of US oil and gas producer ConocoPhillips in cases tied to $236 million in disputed tax assessments.

Paulina Quintao – Deputy Minister for Industry and the Environment Abel da Costa Ximenes says the government will not intervene to regulate prices for goods as sales tax produces revenue for the state.

Australia and East Timor have quietly begun talks towards a possible settlement of their boundary in the Timor Sea, an issue of immense importance to Timor-Leste.

And an advocacy group for East Timor – in Australia – wants Australians to stand up.

Reports from Fairfax Media that Australia and East Timor have recommenced discussions about how to settle the dispute over maritime boundaries, have been welcomed by Australian community activists calling for fair and permanent maritime boundaries to be established in accordance with current international law.

Tom Allard – East Timor's parliament has authorised the "immediate commencement of negotiations" with Australia to establish a new maritime boundary between the countries.

Venidora Oliveira – The Judicial System Monitoring Program (JSMP) has recommended the Ministry of Justice establish a mobile court to try sensitive cases such as the sexual abuse of minors.

JSMP executive director Luis Oliveira Sampaio said underage victims of sexual abuse needed a safe place to testify.

Paulina Quintao – Three HIV/AIDS patients are receiving intensive treatment at the Bairo-Pite clinic for complications of their compromised immune systems.

Bairo-Pite clinic director Dr Dan Murphy said HIV/SAIDS was a significant problem in Timor-Leste due to porous borders. "HIV rates are increasing," he said.

Estevao Nuno – The National Police of Timor-Leste (PNTL) is overrun by gangsters involved in criminal behaviour, according to Member of Parliament David Dias Ximenes.

"They assault people night and day," he said. "Commission B will find these gangsters in the police and they will be fired immediately. They will not go free."

Venidora Oliveira – Political party members lack knowledge of the Public Subsidy Budget which is provided by the National Electoral Commission to registered Timorese political parties.

Sara Everingham – East Timor, a country that counts Australia as a major donor, is sacking all the foreign judges and advisers in its justice system.

The decision was made in a closed session of parliament in Dili on Friday night amid concerns about the judiciary's handling of a bitter dispute between East Timor and oil companies operating in the Timor Sea.

Martinha Gusmao – National Director for Conflict Prevention Lidia Lopes says co-operation between Community Police (POLKOM) and local leaders is necessary to eliminate conflict in neighbourhoods.

Nick Xenophon – Last Tuesday would have been journalist Gary Cunningham's 67th birthday. But, tragically, Gary was killed in cold blood 39 years ago by the Indonesian army to prevent him from reporting about Indonesia's invasion of East Timor.

Also killed were his fellow newsmen, Greg Shackleton, Tony Stewart, Brian Peters and Malcolm Rennie.

Andrew Buncombe – Over the years, Maureen Tolfree has grown used to the lies and obfuscation, the tiny steps of progress followed by further setbacks. At the age of 69 she is not ready to be quiet, even though she is now in poor health.

Chris McCall – More than a decade on from gaining independence, East Timor has made gains in health but still faces an uphill battle to achieve universal health coverage and access. Chris McCall reports.

Judith Ugwumadu – The government of Timor-Leste must further strengthen its public financial management in order to smooth spending over the long term to avoid a 'fiscal cliff', the International Monetary Fund has said.

Wellington (Dominion Post/West Papua Action Auckland/Pacific Media Watch) – The New Zealand government is coming under pressure to have the Australian Federal Police reopen the war crimes investigation into the 1975 slaying of five journalists in East Timor by Indonesian special forces.

The son of New Zealander Gary Cunningham, who was killed with four other newsmen in the Timorese town of Balibo almost 40 years ago, wants the case re-examined.

Paulina Quintao – Members of Parliament (MPs) have criticized health directors who they say are prone to walking off the job during office hours.

MP Domingas Alves da Silva, alias Bilou Mali, urged the Ministry of Health to ensure its public servants were at their office for their rostered hours.

Paulina Quintao – Tuberculosis is on the rise in Timor-Leste with new patients registered every day, says Bairo-Pite clinic director Dr Daniel Murphy.

Dr Dan said people needed to be made aware of the risk factors for tuberculosis and called for a strategy to arrest the disease's spread. About 400 patients test positive for tuberculosis in Timor-Leste each year.

Athena Yenko – Former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam advocated a cover-up of the Balibo Five East Timor controversy, Shirley Shackleton believes. Shackleton is the widow of the Australian journalist Greg Shackleton who was allegedly killed in duty during the 1975 East Timor invasion.

Sara Everingham – The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has abandoned a war crimes investigation into the killing of five Australian newsmen at Balibo in East Timor in 1975.

Gough Whitlam was a good leader who made one "terrible" mistake: never acknowledging the Indonesian military's invasion of East Timor.

That's the view of the widow of Australian journalist Greg Shackleton, one of a group of reporters known as the Balibo Five killed covering the 1975 incursion.

Jakarta – The human rights violations that occurred in Timor Leste, formerly known as East Timor, during the period of 1974 to 1999, when the country was still a part of Indonesia, may no longer be in the spotlight, but the memories remain.

Tom Allard – Foreign interests are trying to "dominate" East Timor, exploiting the fragility of the tiny nation to deny its rightful share of the oil and gas revenues in the Timor Sea and sow unrest, its Prime Minister says.

Paulina Quintao – Women's advocacy group Alola Foundation has withdrawn funding from five scholarship recipients because they fell pregnant. Alola Foundation executive director Alzira Reis said the aim of the scholarship program was to provide opportunities to vulnerable young women to access formal education.

Paulina Quintao – The decision by the government to use Indonesia bottled water at recent international events such as the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) conference, instead of a local product, has drawn criticism from community members.

Resident Almerio Afonso said the government should use such opportunities to support local businesses.

Paulina Quintao – Timor-Leste will create a new institution to regulate media.

Secretary of State for Social CommunicationNelio Isaac Sarmento said the organ would regulate media to assure information provided to the public was of a high standard.

Paulina Quintao – The Secretariat of State for the Environment (SEMA) has conducted a workshop with stakeholders to review Timor-Leste's five-year biodiversity plan.

Paulina Quintao – Timor-Leste's 2014 non-petroleum sector derived economic growth is projected to hit 8 per cent, according to government estimates.

Economist Hans Anand Beck said the gross domestic product would fall this year due to the sluggish private sector.

Paulina Quintao – The National Commission to Combat HIV/AIDS – Timor-Leste (CNCS-TL) is working in partnership with the government to establish a shelter to house HIV/AIDS sufferers.

Philip Dorling – Five years after opening an investigation into the Indonesian military's killing of five Australian journalists at Balibo in East Timor in 1975, the Australian Federal Police hasn't yet asked Jakarta to help pursue the people responsible for what's been described as a war crime.

Jakarta – Deputy Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin denied that Timor Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao made a statement saying that his country wanted to reunite with Indonesia.

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono bestowed the country's highest award, the Adipurna Star, on Philippine President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III and East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao at the Bali Democracy Forum on Friday, stating both leaders' commitment to promoting bilateral ties.

Paulina Quintao – The Secretariat of State for Vocational Training and Employment (SEPFOPE) has validated more than 22,000 former Indonesian employees to get their pensions.

Venidora Oliveira – Sexual abuse against minors is a major problem in Timor-Leste, according to research by the Judicial System Monitoring Program (JSMP).

JSMP legal researcher Rita Marques said the courts in Dili, Suai, Baucau and Oe-Cusse ere continually hearing cases of sexual abuse against minors. "Rates of sexual abuse against minors are very high," she said.