The 80-year-old widow of an Australian journalist allegedly shot by Indonesian forces in East Timor in 1975 pleaded Sunday for her husband's remains to be swiftly repatriated.

Rizky Amelia – The East Timor Anti-Corruption Commission on Wednesday visited the headquarters of Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission in Jakarta in hopes of fostering cooperation between the two agencies, one of its commissioners said.

Former East Timor president Jose Ramos-Horta has called for help for students wanting to study in Tasmania.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner has addressed students at Hobart's Fahan School. He spoke about issues facing his country's young population and plans to improve education.

Lauren Turner – Intestinal worms affect up to half of East Timor's children and former president Jose Ramos-Horta is calling on Australians to help eradicate the "scourge" within five years.

Paul Cleary – For most of its history, East Timor has been justified in blaming foreign powers for its woes. But now, with oil revenue flooding into the independent country, the government, led by resistance leader Xanana Gusmao, surely has no one to blame for the country's problems.

David Beniuk – East Timor's former president Jose Ramos-Horta has dismissed what he says are Australian suggestions that his country is growing closer to China.

Delivering a lecture at the University of Tasmania, Dr Ramos-Horta said East Timor had snubbed the offer of cheap loans from China, joking that the emerging superpower had more influence over Australia.

The excellent new ABC Television Four Corners documentary Taxing Times in Timor highlights critical issues for Timor-Leste, and will open they eyes of Australians and others. The focus of the program – Timor-Leste's fight against oil companies who are ripping off this new, small, impoverished country – is important for people everywhere.

Woodside Petroleum Ltd, along with ConocoPhillips and other resource companies, is facing demands by the East Timor government to pay up to $3 billion in disputed tax payments related to activities in the Timor Sea, according to an ABC TV report.

Peter Cronau and Andrew Fowler – Potentially billions of dollars of tax is being withheld from the government of East Timor by some of the world's richest oil and gas companies operating in the Timor Sea, Four Corners has revealed.

Wendy Frew – Historians often say the past is a foreign country but in East Timor it's a thread that runs through the fabric of daily life.

(Footage of US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, arriving for a visit in Timor Leste)

Kerry O'Brien, presenter: For a country struggling to find to its feet, a friendly visit from the US Secretary of State is always welcome.

Hillary Clinton: Hello, and how are you my friend? I am so happy to be here, I can't tell you how happy I am.

Dozens of people from Timor Leste, who had taken refuge in the province for 13 years with minimum facilities from the Indonesian government, have left the Naibonat refugee camp to return home.

Fatulmau, East Timor – Filomena Mendonca gave birth to all five of her children at home in the village of Fatulmau, high up in the mountains of East Timor, without registering their births.

"The hospital is very far away. I didn't feel there was a problem so I just stayed at home," said the 30-year-old mother.

Brazil will represent Timor Leste's (East Timor) interests at the International Monetary fund (IMF) starting on 1 November, the Timorese government said in a statement issued Tuesday in Dili.

Stephanie Quine – The access-to-justice system in East Timor is in "crisis", an Australian lawyer working there has said.

Danielle Winzenried said the problem is partly due to a failure to translate laws from Portuguese into common languages of the Timorese people.

A programme to build and repair infrastructure, including roads, bridges, airports, schools, hospitals and power and communication networks, will be carried out over the next five year, according to East Timor's Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmao.

Matthew Lee, Dili, East Timor – US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton praised East Timor on Thursday for holding fair elections this year, and said it was up to the government of Asia's newest and poorest nation to decide when and how to seek accountability for past violence during its struggle for independence.

Andrew Quinn, Dili – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a short visit to East Timor on Thursday, throwing her considerable diplomatic weight behind a fledgling government trying to bring Asia's newest country closer to its booming Southeast Asian neighbors.

5 September 2012

Ms. Hillary Rodman Clinton
United States Secretary of State
Your Excellency,

La'o Hamutuk is a civil society organization which for more than a decade has been analyzing, monitoring the development process in Timor-Leste and also conducting advocacy and campaigns to stop impunity in Timor-Leste.

On the eve of her visit to Timor-Leste, the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) urged Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to commit the United States to support justice and accountability for US-backed crimes committed during Indonesia's 24-year occupation of Timor-Leste.

Joyce Morgan – On a steamy afternoon in Dili, I am heading to a rehearsal of an East Timorese-Australian co-production when my phone rings. The caller has instructions about the route to take to the venue on the capital's outskirts.

"Ask the taxi to come by Banana Road. There's rock-throwing and gunfire the other way," he says.

Warwick Fry – There has been plenty of warm inner glow around East Timor about the exemplary conduct of the general elections in July. But it's not all motherhood and sunshine – the country is far from stable, and basic infrastructure and social programs are missing.

Guido Goulart, Dili, East Timor – East Timor is ready to maintain stability on its own without the hundreds of international peacekeepers who have stayed in Asia's newest country a decade after it declared formal independence, the United Nation's chief said Wednesday.

Kate Lamb, Jakarta – United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says East Timor is ready for UN peacekeeping troops to withdraw as planned by the end of 2012. During a two day visit, the UN secretary general also stressed the need to bring human rights abusers to justice, a notion that, for now, is at odds with the country's development plans.

East Timor's president swore in the nation's new coalition cabinet Wednesday, announcing three additional ministerial posts that the opposition has dubbed an "unnecessary" use of the poor nation's money.

Max Lane – Timor Leste's third parliamentary election since the restoration of independence in 2002 was held on July 7. The largest of the incumbent parties, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao's National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT), almost secured an absolute majority of parliamentary seats.

Joe Leribun, Jakarta – The government of East Timor did not take over any land in the region of the border in the Nusa Tenggara Timor Province. A problem arose due to a mistake in the surveying of the border so there was some construction erected by some East Timorese that encroached on Indonesian territory.

Yemris Fointuna – The situation on the border of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province of Indonesia and East Timor remains tense following a clash between residents from Timor Tengah Utara regency and Ambenu, Oekussi district of East Timor over territorial claims on both sides.

Dili – National police and NGOs in East Timor have noted an uptick in alcohol-fueled violence, especially among unemployed youths.

Vidal Campos Magno, now 29, grew up surrounded by conflict, was a teenager during the final years of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor, and then went through the turmoil that followed the 1999 referendum for independence.

Indonesian and East Timorese civilians are guarding a neutral buffer zone between both countries a day after a land conflict sparked a clash there, a local official said on Wednesday.

Peter Alford, Jakarta – Political normalisation is finally at hand in East Timor, despite last weekend's sudden outbreak of rioting that marred at the last moment the young nation's third elections.

Ulma Haryanto – Former East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta stressed the need to maintain border security with Indonesia as a key part of improving the already close relations with Jakarta.

Armindo Maia and Sue Ingram – Hopes and fears of an alliance between Timor-Leste's two major political parties, CNRT (National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction) and Fretilin (Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor), appear to have fallen away.

The Australian government has updated its travel advice for East Timor, warning of the possibility of further violence following a night of unrest.

Violence in East Timor was sparked when Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao announced his National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction will form a coalition government with two smaller parties.

Joyce Morgan, Dili – The East Timorese President has called for calm after a night of violence in the capital, Dili, which left one man dead, dozens of vehicles destroyed and has raised questions about the planned withdrawal of UN peacekeepers.

Michael Bachelard – Violence erupted in East Timor late last night, apparently prompted by political party Fretilin being excluded from a role in the new governing coalition.

To East Timor, where Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao's CNRT party is moving towards forming a coalition government. His party won the most seats in last weekend's election but not enough for a majority.

Guido Goulart, Dili – East Timor's president called on security forces to restore peace and order Monday as violence persisted over the runner-up in this month's election being excluded from a new coalition government.

East Timorese Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao will form a coalition government with the country's two minor parties. The decision was announced at a special meeting of his CNRT (National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction) in the capital, Dili, yesterday.

Six weeks ago, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao formally nominated two leaders from our oil and gas sector to develop investment policy for Timor-Leste's sovereign wealth fund. Unnoticed by the media and politicians, this action was not mentioned during the recent election campaign.

Police in East Timor who uncovered a mysterious mass grave at the national government palace last month said Friday they had found the bones of 72 bodies and clues the dead may have been Chinese.

The ruling party of East Timor resistance hero Xanana Gusmao has won 30 seats in parliament, according to a final count on Friday from last weekend's vote, and will need to form a coalition to govern.

La'o Hamutuk feels that a multi-party state is essential to genuine democracy, to give space for a variety of perspectives to be discussed and considered with public participation. Parliament is the logical place for that to happen, and we are disappointed that there will be fewer parties in the next Parliament than in the past one.

Joe Schneider and James Paton – ConocoPhillips, a US oil and gas producer, challenged a new tax assessment by the government of East Timor that may add billions of dollars to the Asian nation's treasury.

The government of the Republic of Timor-Leste (East Timor) has started legal action against a number of international oil groups, including Conoco-Phillips, in order to recover taxes that the government says have not been paid, according to a statement issued Tuesday in Dili.

Simon Roughneen – The party of East Timor's prime minister won the majority of seats this weekend in peaceful parliamentary elections, paving the way for him to form another coalition government as the country faces its second major transition a decade after independence.

Michael Bachelard – A key civil society group in East Timor has warned against the proposed "government of national unity", saying it would reduce scrutiny of decisions and diminish democracy.

East Timor is seeking "possibly billions" of dollars from foreign oil companies, including US-owned ConocoPhillips, in unpaid taxes, the government said in a statement received Wednesday.

The government has begun an auditing process, hoping "to recover substantial monies it believes are rightfully owed... under legal obligations", the statement said.

Simon Roughneen, Dili – Saturnina da Silva doesn't have a name for her baby boy yet, born just 12 hours before Saturday's parliamentary election in the tropical half-island nation.