Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – The United Nations Security Council has urged East Timor to stop granting impunity for serious crimes as it extended the stay of the UN mission in the country.
The council also called on East Timor to strengthen the "credibility" of its police force following its collapse amid violence in 2006.
Drew Ambrose, Dili – The United Nations has said it will extend its mandate for peacekeepers in East Timor for another year.
Since gaining independence from Indonesia more than a decade ago, the fledgling country has struggled to look after its own security.
United Nations – The UN Security Council on Thursday called on East Timor to take action to strengthen the "credibility" of its police force as it extended the stay of the UN mission in the fledgling Asian nation.
New York – The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations mission in Timor-Leste for another year so that it can continue to assist the fledgling nation consolidate peace, democracy and the rule of law, as well as support the preparations for the parliamentary and presidential elections planned for 2012.
AI Index: ASA 57/001/2011
Amnesty International and the Judicial System Monitoring Programme (JSMP) expressed their disappointment about the decision of Timor-Leste's Parliament to postpone debate on two laws designed to address past human rights violations.
Yemris Fointuna – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who led the 774/Satya Yudha Bakti (SYB) infantry battalion from 1986 to 1988, appeared moved when he briefed some 1,000 soldiers packing the battalion's hall in Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara.
Mark Dodd – East Timor's defence chief has blasted Australia for its tardy response in helping the half-island state develop a patrol boat fleet to tackle people-smuggling.
The criticism follows Dili's acceptance of a South Korean offer of two free patrol boats whose mission includes intercepting asylum-seeker vessels.
A coalition of groups in Timor-Leste is urging the United Nations Security Council "to take concrete, effective actions to end impunity for those who directed and committed crimes against humanity in Timor-Leste" during Indonesia's invasion and occupation.
8 February 2011
Excellencies, Members of the United Nations Security Council
United Nations, New York, New York, 10017 USA
Dalih Sembiring – East Timor, officially known as Timor-Leste, is experiencing an economic boom. The problem is that it's only happening in the country's capital, Dili, and it's only benefiting a small number of people.
Paul Maley and Peter Alford – Failed asylum-seekers processed under Julia Gillard's East Timor plan would be transferred to partner countries who would then swap them for prospective refugees whose claims had yet to be processed.
Adam Gartrell – The federal government's plan for an asylum seeker processing centre in East Timor has come under fresh attack after a document outlining details of the proposal leaked to the media.
Erik Jensen – East Timor would be responsible for the legal processing and resettlement of asylum-seekers trying to reach Australia, using its laws and diplomatic relationships, according to leaked documents prepared by the federal government.
Jakarta – Twenty five families or 67 people of Indonesian citizens from East Timor who had lived in East Nusa Tenggara for 11 years had left for Timor Leste under the repatriation program.
East Timor is seeking to become the 11th member of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations.
The country plans to submit an official letter of application to the Asean Secretariat in Indonesia next month, according to Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya.
Greg Sheridan, Foreign editor – Julia Gillard's proposal for a regional refugee processing centre in East Timor has been dealt a crippling blow by Malaysia's Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak, who says he has no knowledge of the plan.
Lindsay Murdoch – A Victorian charity has hired architects to design a hotel in the ruins of the centuries-old Balibo fort in East Timor – where five Australian-based journalists were killed – before obtaining final approval for the project.
Sara Everingham – A bitter dispute between East Timor's Government and the Australian-based oil and gas company Woodside is continuing.
Woodside and East Timor can't agree on how to process gas from the Greater Sunrise field in the Timor Sea.
Lindsay Murdoch – Another senior East Timor leader has questioned Prime Minister Julia Gillard's plan to build a regional centre to process asylum seekers in East Timor, suggesting Australia would be a better place.
Sydney – East Timor has again rebuffed Canberra's proposal that it host an immigration detention centre where asylum seekers arriving in Australia could be held while their applications for Australian visas were processed, news reports said Monday.
Dili, East Timor – East Timorese police evicted more than 1,000 long-term squatters from a former Indonesian barracks in Dili Thursday, sparking a rowdy protest.
Poor families had been living in almost 120 houses in the Bairro-Pite district of West Dili since Indonesian security forces evacuated the capital in the aftermath of a bloody independence referendum in 1999.
Jia You – Many things could come to mind when one imagines a hospital; but could livestock be one of them?
Matt Crook, Lautem – The nuns were creating an almighty din. In one room there was a sister getting down with a keyboard, while in another there were a couple of nuns bashing out chords on guitars.
The East Timorese government has hit out at the United Nations Development Program saying it's culturally insensitive about issues in the country.
The comments are in response to a UNDP draft report that is highly critical of the government for failing to address rising poverty and joblessness.
Presenter: Claudette Werden
Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – East Timor's leaders have objected to large sections of a crucial United Nations agency report on the country only weeks before the UN Security Council reconsiders its $200 million a year mission in Dili.
Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – A proposal has emerged for Woodside to supply gas for East Timor's domestic consumption as a way to break a deadlock in negotiations over the multibillion-dollar Greater Sunrise field in the Timor Sea.
Rory Callinan – Australia should set a date for withdrawing its forces from East Timor as the situation has improved and Dili is disregarding UN advice.
Rory Callinan – Indonesian soldiers have been linked to the alleged trafficking of crystal methamphetamine and other illegal drugs into East Timor.
The troops have been involved in a smuggling operation using remote bush tracks along the two nations' border, according to a local security-monitoring NGO.
Greg Roberts – Life in East Timor is as good as it's ever been but that does not mean Australian troops should leave, according to an expert on the tiny island nation.
The Australian Defence Force says the security environment in East Timor has been calm for the past two years and that has allowed troop numbers to be reduced.
But any discussion about the future of the International Stabilisation Force (ISF) in East Timor would need to take place between the governments of East Timor, Australia and New Zealand, defence said.
Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao wants Australia's 400 troops deployed in his country to leave.
Mr Gusmao told police and military leaders in Dili that the tiny island nation, with a population of 1 million, was now capable of resolving its own problems, according to Timorese media reports.
The opposition has called on the federal government to release the details of its proposal for a regional processing centre in East Timor.
Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said no details of the plan had been made public since Prime Minister Julia Gillard first announced the idea more than five months ago.
Philip Dorling and Nick McKenzie – The Australian government has quietly blacklisted a prominent Indonesian political figure implicated in the Balibo Five killings while working with Indonesian authorities to manage the fallout from the scandal.
Sydney – The United Nations should cut the number of foreign police in East Timor to encourage one of world's newest countries to manage its own affairs, an influential security think tank said Thursday.
Dili/Brussels – The size of the policing contingent of the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) should be sharply reduced to prepare for the peace operation's eventual end and encourage the country to assume full responsibility for ensuring its own security and future stability.
Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – The construction of two second-hand Chinese power plants in East Timor is an escalating environmental and safety disaster that has been hit by delays and cost blow-outs, the project's supervisors say.
Lindsay Murdoch – East Timor has renewed its criticism of Woodside over its plans to build a floating liquefied natural gas platform above the Timor Sea's Greater Sunrise field, warning of potential cost blowouts and accusing the company of making misleading statements.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono conveyed his government's full support for Timor Leste's intention to join the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) next year, local media reported on Thursday.
Ross Kelly, Sydney – Three big oil companies have met a request by East Timor to submit different development concept studies for the Greater Sunrise gas field but an impasse over where to process the gas is showing little sign of breaking.
Singapore – East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta said Wednesday it would be symbolic if his fledgling country gained ASEAN membership next year when former occupier Indonesia takes over as chair of the regional bloc.
Thin Lei Win, Dili – East Timor, one of the world's youngest nations, is attempting to enact laws on land ownership eight years after gaining full independence.
A High Court judgment has raised questions over whether the government can successfully process refugee claims quickly and efficiently, Acting Prime Minister Chris Evans says.
But he says it does not undermine the government's pursuit of a regional processing centre in East Timor.
Lindsay Murdoch – Australian troops will withdraw from East Timor in 2012 – six years after hundreds of them arrived in the half-island nation to quell violent upheaval.
Australia will phase out more than a third of its adviser positions in East Timor over the next two years. Australia's aid agency, AusAID, will cut 29 of its 82 advisory positions in East Timor in a shake up that is aimed at making its aid more effective.
Stephen Coates, Dili – A jade elephant rears majestically in the corner as patrons tuck into their burgers and fries at one of only three US-style fast-food joints in East Timor, all of which are Chinese owned and operated.
Aubrey Belford, Gleno, East Timor – Gastao Salsinha, retired rebel and failed assassin, says it is probably politics that explains why he is free to roam East Timor's cloud-covered hinterlands rather than languishing in jail.
Paul Cleary – East Timor is continuing to entertain plans to drill for oil in waters as deep as 1900m. In one instance, it is using the contractor that was operating the Deepwater Horizon rig which exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in May.
Dili – East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta has defended his decision to pardon rebels in the tiny nation following criticism by a UN envoy.
The UN special representative for East Timor, Ameerah Haq, raised concerns earlier this week about policing and the commuting of prison terms for some involved in unrest.
Bernard Lagan in New York and Yuko Narushima – East Timor has declared it does not want to become a mere transit point for boat people picked up in Australian waters.
Rina Jimenez-David, Bangkok – From 1975 to 1999, East Timor (or Timor-Leste as the people call their country) was subjected to a harsh and brutal conflict between the Indonesian occupying forces and a rebel force fighting for independence.