Paulina Quintao – The Marie Stopes International Timor-Leste (MSI-TL) Clinic Coordinator Maria Fernanda Serra said mothers who have unsafe abortions risk their lives and could die if they're not treated by health staff.

Australian RWB correspondent Mark Pearson tells us about an historic congress of Timor Leste journalists which was held in Dili from 25 to 27 October.

Ezequiel Freitas – Members of National Parliament consider the work of the Anti-Corruption Commission (KAK) to be ineffective combating corruption, especially in the area of human resources.

"Their capacity is still low, they have minimal experience and their framework is still weak and needs to be fixed," Member of Parliament (MP) Pedro da Costa said.

In September 1999, Sander Thoenes, the Financial Times correspondent in Jakarta, travelled to East Timor to report on the turmoil engulfing the territory. Three weeks before his arrival, the people of East Timor had voted overwhelmingly for independence from Indonesia, seeking to end 24 years of brutal occupation.

Step Vaessen – In 1999, after East Timor voted to reject Indonesian rule, the region was plunged into violence. Al Jazeera's Step Vaessen was one of the journalists who covered the resulting mayhem, along with her husband and cameraman Andre.

Two dozen inmates escaped from an East Timor prison on Sunday by beating up wardens and fleeing through the main gate as they returned to their cells after mass, an official said.

Tom Benner, Dili, East Timor – The 2014 budget unveiled last week by tiny East Timor is a $1.5 billion spending plan funded almost exclusively – 95 percent – by lucrative oil and gas revenues. One of the fastest-growing budgets in the world in recent years, it ballooned from $64 million in 2004 to $604 million in 2009.

An historic congress of Timor-Leste journalists held in Dili recently voted for their first code of ethics and a seven-member press council.

The next hurdle for media freedom in East Timor will be a press law currently before the national parliament, which it is feared will feature a journalist licensing system and criminal penalties, journlaw.com reported.

John Aglionby – Florindo Araujo is certain that Sander Thoenes was still alive when he last saw the Financial Times journalist.

Step Vaessen – Everything seems easier in my role as a journalist; I handle the death, pain, danger and even murder I encounter scarily well. Protected by my professional shield I can observe, write, report and analyse without being too badly wounded myself. At least that is what I like to believe.

Thomas Ora, Dili – Like many of his Timor Leste colleagues, Fernando da Costa, an elementary school teacher in the mountainous district of Aileu, has struggled to learn Portuguese.

Ezequiel Freitas – The Asia Foundation is concerned about the government's decentralization program to be implemented in the districts because the program does not value the agriculture sector.

Venidora Oliveira – A Member of National Parliament strongly criticized the company Estrada Bo'ot Diak for constructing poor quality roads that are damaged a year after being built.

MP Ana Ribeiro raised the issue because the road in front of the shop Jacinto is already damaged again, in addition to roads in Bairo-Pite and Kuluhun.

Venidora Oliveira – The Rural Women's Group in Baucau district have complained about the Secretary of State for the Promotion of Equality's programs, which are just implemented at the district level and do not reach the villages and sub-villages.

Tom Benner – There is a free health clinic in Dili, the capital of Asia's newest and poorest country, Timor-Leste, that treats some 400 people a day. The doctor who runs it was telling me about the kinds of cases he generally treats – tuberculosis, malaria, dengue, typhoid, malnutrition, stunting, poor growth, pregnancy complications.

Charlie Campbell – In East Timor, families have learned to dread the onset of November. It marks the start of "hungry season" – the time when cash from the annual coffee harvest dries up for around four months.

Alison Bevege – Energy giant Santos has given the green light to expand its Bayu Undan gas project in the Timor Sea and has increased its gas exports from Darwin's Wickham Point LNG plant.

Mary O'Shea – Armindo de Deus has worked all his life as a coffee farmer in the Ermera district of Timor-Leste. He is a wiry, weather-beaten man with darting, milky eyes. When asked what his family's other sources of income are, he looks puzzled.

Ashlee Betteridge – The 2013 Global Hunger Index (GHI) was released last week, and while most countries in the region had demonstrated a marked improvement in hunger levels since the 2005 index was published, Timor-Leste was among the worst performers.

Emelyn Rude – In 2007, despite mounting civil unrest, Timor-Leste established its first National Park connecting a number of endangered bird areas and encompassing a large section of the Coral Triangle, an underwater zone believed to hold the greatest diversity of marine life on Earth.

Gerald W. Fry – The discussion of language policy in East Timor begins with the statement of two key related underlying principles: cultural democracy and the right to begin basic studies in an individual's mother tongue.

Tom Benner, Dili, East Timor – East Timor's government has come under renewed public criticism after granting a contract to a Chinese state-owned company to supply furniture to Timorese schools.

Tom Benner, Dili, East Timor – Media in this young democracy in Southeast Asia suffer from a lack of professionalism, accuracy, and ethics, argue proponents of new legislation that would punish journalistic transgressions.

Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara – Commander of 743/PSY Infantry Battalion of Boundary Security Task Force in Indonesia-Timor Leste border, Major Budi Prasetyo said the situation at the border was normal and no clash had occurred among the people.

Today, on the 38th anniversary of the murder of the Balibo Five in East Timor, the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance is launching a campaign highlighting impunity over the killing of Australian journalists.

Mary O'Shea – Eleven years after independence, the array of socioeconomic challenges facing Timor-Leste remains significant. According to the United Nations Development Programme's human development index, 37.4 per cent of the population live under the international poverty line of less than $1.25 per day.

Taur Matan Ruak goes to extraordinary lengths to hear the ordinary concerns of his people. In the village of Marobo, a gruelling seven-hour drive from Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste, the arrival of president Taur Matan Ruak has all the hallmarks of a homecoming.

The East Timor Judicial System Monitoring Program has released the English translation of its report and commentary on a recent case of incest in the Dili District Court.

Paulina Quintao – The National Director for Civil Registries in Dili District Vitor da Costa Neto says the system of issuing identity cards to the community has stopped running. He said the system had not been functioning since 2012.

Wei Du, Baucau – Timor Leste is rethinking how it educates its younger generation. At the centre of the issue is what language medium to use in schools.

The country now has a near perfect enrollment record, 11 years after building the school system from scratch. But on closer examination, the picture gets murky.

There's concern in East Timor that a recent ban on martial arts clubs could be pushing young people into the grip of organised crime.

Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao outlawed the popular clubs in July after a spate of attacks prompted widespread unease about gang violence.

Bacau – To diversify its economy, Timor Leste has identified tourism and agriculture as two key industries.

Tourism was chosen because the country is blessed with natural beauty and it is a fast way to get the people employed. The few people who have been diving in Timor Leste call their experience one of a kind.

A newspaper in East Timor has reported comments by a local citizen expressing fears of foreign domination in the economy and land particularly by Chinese and Indonesian investors.

Paulina Quintao – The Commissioner of the Public Service Disciplinary Process Alexandre Corte Real said the majority of public servants who committed irregularities came from the Ministry of Education.

Based on statistics from the Public Service Commission (KFP) this year, more than 300 public servants were involved in irregularities.

Peter Lloyd: New light is being shed on Australia's preparedness to challenge Indonesia over its actions in East Timor after the invasion back in 1975.

Kuala Lumpur – Timor Leste has expressed its wish to be associated with the Malaysian Parliamentary Friend to facilitate better cooperation between the two countries.

The hope was extended by Timor Leste Ambassador to Malaysia Jose Antonio Amorim Dias when he paid a courtesy call on Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia at Parliament House here today.

James Bennett – Malcolm Fraser has acknowledged newly obtained diplomatic cables from the period after Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 suggest his government was warned of a looming humanitarian disaster.

Key Australian government officials sounded early warnings about the rapidly deteriorating situation in East Timor in the late 1970s that led to the starvation deaths of an estimated 100,000 people, recently-released diplomatic cables reveal.

Kuala Lumpur – Timor Leste has expressed the desire to emulate Malaysia in developing its infrastructure.

Dewan Negara Speaker Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang said the matter was stated by Timor Leste Ambassador to Malaysia, H.E Jose Antonio Amorim Dias, during his first courtesy call after three years here.

The exhumation of 17 people executed by the Indonesian military in 1984 in Fatudere, Adarai village of Uatolari (Viqueque).

The East Timor Judicial System Monitoring Program has released the English translation of its report on observations of a trial in the Dili District Court concerning alleged crimes against humanity committed in 1999. The text of the translation follows.

Havana – In a bilateral meeting with his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro, last Friday in Havana (or Saturday morning in Timor-Leste), H.E.

Otniel Tamindael, Jakarta – Most of the basic necessities for the people of Timor Leste, formerly known as East Timor, are sourced from Indonesia.

The country located in the eastern half of the Timor Island integrated with Indonesia in 1975 through the Balibo Declaration after having remained a Portuguese colony for more than three centuries.

Havana, Cuba – The President of the Democratic Republic of East Timor, Taur Matan Ruak, placed a wreath on Friday by the Monument to National Hero Jose Marti located at the capital's Revolution Square, as part of his official visit to Cuba.

Fundasaun Mahein has released the English translation of its report and recommendations on international defence cooperation. The text of the translation follows.

Lily Partland – Anne Stewart's world changed in 1975 when her brother Tony was killed – along with four other Australian-based journalists – by Indonesian troops as they invaded East Timor.

Havana – The President of Timor-Leste, Taur Matan Ruak, will arrive in this capital today, after attending the UN General Assembly, in which he condemned the US blockade against this country.

During his official visit to the island, the statesman will meet with his Cuban peer Raul Castro, and develop other activities.

Jakarta – Senior officials from Indonesia, Timor Leste and Australia held a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 68th United Nations General Assembly, in a bid to enhance connectivity, a statement released by Indonesian Foreign Affairs ministry said here on Thursday.

Dili – East Timor police say there will be zero tolerance against those who continue to practice a local martial art after the government banned all clubs following deadly gang violence, an official said on Monday.

Arno Maierbrugger, Singapore – A Southeast Asian country quite off the radar of the international community is East Timor.

The former Portuguese colony gained independence from Indonesia in May 2002 after a freedom fight that involved heavy losses.