East Timor or Timor-Leste on Wednesday sought Thailand's assistance and support in its quest for membership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or Asean.
The request was made by East Timor's Foreign Minister Zacarius Albano da Costa who is visiting the country as a guest of the Thai foreign ministry.
Agus Wandi – On a recent trip to East Timor, while talking to fishermen on Areia Branca Beach, hanging out with taxi drivers, getting lost cycling in Dili with its new street names, catching up with friends working for the United Nations there, having dinner with a Nobel laureate and coffee with a presidential candidate, it was clear that there is one common feeling among East Timor
Sara Everingham – A Timorese-Australian who was acquitted of conspiring to kill East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta is now running for his job.
Angelita Pires has returned to Darwin from Dili where she has declared her candidacy for next month's Presidential election. Ms Pires was charged over the 2008 shooting of President Ramos-Horta but was acquitted in 2010.
Rory Callinan – East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta has been forced to fend off allegations that he is trying to avoid media scrutiny before the upcoming presidential elections by refusing to pay an outstanding debt to a corruption-busting newspaper.
The Timorese-born Australian Angelita Pires recently declared her nomination in East Timor's Presidential election and is now preparing to begin her campaign.
In 2010 Angelita Pires was acquitted of conspiring to murder the current President Jose Ramos-Horta. She is the former partner of the rebel leader Alfredo Reinado who was shot dead during that attack.
Damien Kingsbury – As Timor-Leste's political climate warms up ahead of next month's presidential elections, many people are asking who is most likely to be elected president. In a country that does not have political polling, there are no obvious indications as to which candidates are most preferred by voters.
Damien Kingsbury – As Timor-Leste's political climate warms up ahead of next month's presidential elections, many people are asking who is most likely to be elected president. In a country that does not have political polling, there are no obvious indications as to which candidates are most preferred by voters.
Makassar – The Indonesian government is seeking the release of six traditional fishermen from South Sulawesi caught by Timor Leste police last year.
"We will not stay idle with regard to the arrest of our fishermen by police in the neighboring country," Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sharif C. Sutardjo said on Saturday.
Dili – East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta said Thursday that his young nation was capable of handling its own security after UN troops depart at the end of this year, despite fears of violence.
East Timor's strong economic growth is at risk from high inflation fueled by government spending, the International Monetary Fund warned Wednesday.
The oil-rich but impoverished island state, which a decade ago achieved independence after a long struggle, has made "substantial progress toward restoring stability and rebuilding the country," the IMF said in a statement.
East Timor's Ministry of Education says it will go ahead with a pilot program to teach young students in their own minority language, despite vocal opposition from some civil society groups.
Karlis Salna – East Timorese presidential hopeful Francisco Guterres has called for peaceful elections that will avoid the violence which broke out five years ago when the young country last went to the polls.
Fransisco Guterres, better known as 'Lu Olo', lodged his official nomination for East Timor's presidency on Tuesday with the endorsement of the Fretilin party.
In the last Presidential election Lu Olo received the most votes in the first round but didn't reach the required 50 per cent. He was beaten by Jose Ramos Horta in the second round.
Presenter: Liam Cochrane
Damien Kingsbury – The announcement by President Jose Ramos-Horta that he will seek re-election for a second term in office has thrown open Timor-Leste's presidential race, all but guaranteeing that the process will now run to a second round of voting.
Michael Bachelard, Jakarta – Nobel peace prize winner Jose Ramos-Horta is expected to announce today that he is in the running for another five-year term as president of East Timor.
East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta said Tuesday he will seek another term in March polls, as the young nation votes for the first time since an assassination bid that almost killed him.
Your Excellency
Fernando Lasama de Araujo
President
National Parliament
Timor-Leste
Berlin, 24. January 2012
Your Excellency
Citra Dyah Prastuti – From his village around 160 km from East Timor's capital Dili, Miguel Amaral recalls the day his 6-year-old son Cipriano was taken away. "It was 1977 and the Indonesians came in a military helicopter," he says. "We had no warning. We just saw a helicopter flying away with our son in it."
Yemris Fointuna and Oyos Saroso, Kupang/Bandar Lampung – Hundreds of residents from six ethnic Timorese groups in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) occupied the El Tari Airport in Kupang on Tuesday, claiming the airport was built on their land. They said the Air Force had robbed them of 540 hectares of land where the airport sits.
Ted McDonnell – Doctor, human rights worker and refugee are just a few of the labels put on Angela Freitas. The next tag may be East Timorese president. Ms Freitas, head of East Timor's Labour Party (Partido Trabalhista), announced her candidacy last week for the March 17 presidential run-off.
East Timor will hold its second presidential election as an independent nation on March 17, President Jose Ramos-Horta said, as UN peacekeepers prepare to pull out of the once-restive country.
East Timor will hold its second presidential election on March 17, as UN peacekeepers prepare to depart.
Kupang – After living for 13 years in shelters with no certain future, 15 people who fled East Timor before it became Timor Leste are returning home.
The repatriation was facilitated by the Center for IDP Services (CIS) Timor, an NGO providing outreach programs to displaced people since 1999.
Peter Lewis – New Zealand is to send more troops to East Timor ahead of next month's presidential elections. It will take the total deployment from across the Tasman to around 200.
Brendan Brady, Dili – The sleeves of his button-down shirt rolled up, standing on an open-air stage before an audience of hundreds, the man read his poems with dramatic pauses, varied inflection and a sense of purpose that comes naturally to those accustomed to holding court.
Alex Munro – A Chadstone resident has been leading a team of volunteers spreading light throughout some of the most remote parts of East Timor.
Prabir Majumdar and 16 volunteers spent three weeks in Baguia, Same, Ainaro, and Ermera, installing solar panels and showing locals how to set up solar power systems to provide electricity for the villages.
Greg Ansley – Former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke's new Labor Government abandoned the party's tough stand on the annexation of East Timor under threat of huge retaliation by Indonesia, Cabinet documents from its early months in power reveal.
East Timor's first feature film revisits the tiny nation's tortured struggle for independence, writes Natalie Craig.
The people of Kasai are standing behind the camera, transfixed. Indonesian soldiers left their tiny village, just west of Dili in East Timor, more than a decade ago. Now their memories of that bloody period are being acted out before them.
Three decades, you're entitled to think, is a long time in politics. But cabinet papers revealed to the public for the first time today are a reminder, too, that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – More than five months after the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced she wanted to send asylum seekers to East Timor to "wreck the people-smuggling trade", the tiny island nation has finally received a document from Australia outlining the proposal.
James Paton – Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL), its partners and the governments of Australia and East Timor are "aligned in their desire" to see the Sunrise liquefied natural gas project developed, the energy company said.
Ade Mardiyati – Out of love for Indonesia, Dominggus da Costa, along with his wife and children, decided to leave his hometown of Dili, East Timor in 1999, the year that marked the end of Indonesia's nearly 25-year occupation of his homeland.
Kupang – The Kupang regency administration in East Nusa Tenggara, has offered apartments to refugees from Timor Leste currently staying in makeshift shelters.
Prodita Sabarini, Sydney – American philosopher and linguist Noam Chomsky said justice was escaping human rights abuse victims, as he spoke of Indonesia's dark period in East Timor (now Timor Leste) with the Santa Cruz Massacre 20 years ago, and the West's complicity in that episode of violence.
Sara Everingham – East Timor says it is interested in taking part in joint military training with the Australian and US defence forces in Darwin.
Mong Palatino – With 37 votes in favor, 19 against and 3 abstentions, Timor-Leste's parliament initially approved on November 11 the general terms of the government's proposed budget of $1.763 billion for the year 2012.
Sandra Parker – Father Domingos Gusmao is passionate about education and its role in the development of East Timor.
The principal of the secondary college in the remote East Timorese town of Laclubar is visiting Bathurst this week to thank the Friends of Laclubar for their assistance and to ask for more help to enable him to realise his dream for his country.
Dili – The secretary general of the Revolutionary Front of Independent Timor-Leste (FRETILIN), Mari Alkatiri, will host a fundraising party this Friday to raise fund to help organizations to combat domestic violence in the country.
New York – Timor-Leste is making significant progress in consolidating its social, security and political stability despite a number of challenges, a senior United Nations said today, noting that presidential and legislative elections slated for next year will be key milestones in that process.
Brian Robins – A breakthrough may be in sight for the long-stalled development of the Sunrise gas project that straddles the Australia-East Timor border, with Woodside reported to be prepared to cede ground on piping the output to Timor.
James Paton – Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL), its partners and the governments of Australia and East Timor are "aligned in their desire" to see the Sunrise liquefied natural gas project developed, the energy company said.
Brian Robins – A breakthrough may be in sight for the long-stalled development of the Sunrise gas project which straddles the Australia-East Timor border, with Woodside reported to be prepared to cede ground on the vexed issue of piping the output to Timor.
Overview
Dili/Jakarta/Brussels – Ten years after the demobilisation of its guerrilla liberation army, Timor-Leste must strike a balance between recognising veterans' role and promoting strong and independent institutions in order to ensure stability.
Dili – "Despite the progress in reducing poverty, greater effort is needed to ensure that growth and international assistance benefits the poorest, particularly those in rural areas," said the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Magdalena Sepzlveda, at the end of her first fact-finding mission* to Timor-Leste, pointing to a rise in inequality among
When the 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gather for their 19th Summit in Bali, they will have a slew of issues on the table. Some to be agreed upon, others merely acknowledged, with one or two likely shelved.
Chichi Conde, Bali, Indonesia – Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to set up review group that will study the application for membership of East Timor.
The decision was reached during the 9th meeting of the Asean Coordinating Council in Nusa Dua.
Agus dos Santos, Dili – FRETILIN and PUN MPs have called on the Anti-Corruption Commission (KAK) to investigate the implementation of previous annual budgets by the National Parliament Secretariat. The MPs said they believed some money had been misused.
On 22 November, the UN Security Council will have its semi-annual discussion on UNMIT. La'o Hamutuk has written a letter to the Council to bring some information and concerns to their attention.
Jakarta – International human right watchdog Amnesty International urged the Indonesian government to reveal details concerning the Santa Cruz shooting in Timor Leste that allegedly claimed the lives of some 200 people.