Dili – Most child street vendors work the streets daily selling snacks, soft drinks, cigarettes and sweets with a profit of about US$10 to US$15 a day.
Fifteen-year-old Dominggos Obe hawks colorful shaved ices from a three-wheeled cart in East Timor's capital, one of a stream of youths arriving here from his poor hometown seeking a better life.
East Timor's prosecutor general will not investigate claims the country's prime minister was behind deadly unrest that erupted in 2006, saying the allegations are "too political".
Former prime minister Mari Alkatiri has called on current Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao to resign, amid claims he orchestrated the violence that plunged the country into crisis.
Mark Dodd – East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao has threatened to arrest local journalists, claiming inaccurate news reporting in the troubled territory is contributing to national instability.
Mr Gusmao told reporters they faced arrest if they persisted with reporting as fact rumours and other unsourced claims.
Michael Heath – East Timor faces renewed violence unless it reorganizes the army and police, the International Crisis Group said, almost two years after clashes between security force factions drove 155,000 people from their homes.
Dili – East Timor risks erupting in violence again if its government and the UN fail to quickly reform the country's security forces, which remain vulnerable to political abuse, a think-tank warned Friday.
Thalif Deen, United Nations – The Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG), which monitors some 60 crisis-affected countries worldwide, has appealed for UN and international assistance to revitalize East Timor's fledgling police and armed services in order to avoid a potentially violent civil conflict in that relatively new nation state.
Tito Belo, Dili – East Timor's president urged Timorese to pray for Suharto, the former Indonesian president who ordered the brutal invasion of East Timor in 1975 and who now lies critically ill in hospital.
There's been another twist in East Timor's increasingly bitter internal politics, with former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri demanding that current prime minister Xanana Gusmao resign. Dr Alkatiri's demand follows claims from rebel leader Alfredo Reinado that Mr Gusmao orchestrated deadly unrest in 2006, in which at least 20 people died and hundreds of homes were destroyed.
East Timor's former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri has called on current Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao to resign, amid claims he orchestrated deadly unrest that erupted in 2006.
Nick Butterly and Joe Stolley in Canberra – The wife and children of slain East Timorese rebel leader Alfredo Reinado have been granted permanent residency in Australia after pleading with the Rudd Government to grant them political asylum.
Aboeprijadi Santoso, Amsterdam – When Iraqi journalist Muntader Al-Zaidi threw his shoes at President George W. Bush it was to many, myself included, a deja vu.
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Jill Joliffe – Families of victims of the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre in East Timor have found Christmas hope with a project to locate mass graves of youths who disappeared without trace.
Dili – East Timor's parliament has approved a state budget of nearly $350 million for 2008 that aims to improve security and tackle poverty in Asia's youngest nation.
Factional bloodshed broke out in the impoverished country of about 1 million people last year, forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes.
Thalif Deen, United Nations – When UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon paid his first official visit to East Timor (Timor-Leste) last week, he was conscious of the growing demands for accountability for crimes committed during Indonesia's invasion and subsequent occupation of that relatively new nation state.
Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili – In East Timor, they say, you only really know a man once he's betrayed you. Until then, you can never be entirely sure where he stands.
Dili – A rebel soldier wanted on murder charges in East Timor has one "last chance" to surrender peacefully with his armed supporters or face the government's response, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao said Sunday.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has given his strongest indication yet that Australian troops will remain in East Timor until 2009.
Dili – Australia's prime minister and the United Nations chief on Friday pledged continued support for East Timor to ensure peace and stability in the tiny nation.
Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili – East Timorese President Jose Ramos Horta will tell Kevin Rudd today that he expects Australian troops to stay in the country for at least another year.
Dili – Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today said he'd discussed the 1975 deaths of five Australian-based journalists in East Timor with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
NSW Deputy Coroner Dorelle Pinch last month found the Balibo Five were deliberately killed by Indonesian troops to cover up the invasion of East Timor.
The Rudd government appears to be backing away from any government involvement in prosecutions relating to the death of five Australian-based newsmen in East Timor in 1975.
Last month, NSW deputy coroner Dorelle Pinch found the men, known as the Balibo Five, were deliberately killed by Indonesian troops in 1975 to cover up the invasion of East Timor.
Ian Munro – East Timor is pressing for an extension of the United Nations mission (UNMIT) to support the country's fledgling democracy.
While the country's political and security situation was calm and stable, it was also fragile according to the leader of the council's mission to East Timor, South African ambassador Dumisani Kumalo.
Fabio Scarpello – The diminutive Maria Ana Pereira, 28, does not look for excuses. The widow simply accepts that life is tough in Hudi Laram, a neighbourhood southwest of East Timor's capital, Dili, where she is struggling to raise her seven children.
Actor Anthony LaPaglia says he expects his new film Balibo, about five Australian-based newsmen killed in 1975 in East Timor, to cause some controversy when it is released.
Calls have gone out in East Timor for the rebel soldier Alfredo Reinado to surrender to authorities.
The former commander of the military police remains on the run after escaping from custody at the height of East Timor's crisis last year, which left at least 30 people dead and more than 100,000 homeless.
Jose Sarito Amaral, Dili – Timor Leste's President Jose Ramos Horta yesterday Sunday (2/12) urged the Republic of Indonesia to apologize and take responsibility for the killing of six foreign journalists in Balibo, East Timor in 1975.
Bruce Gale, Senior Writer – "There were no crimes against humanity in East Timor" in 1999, retired Lieutenant-General Kiki Syahnakri told a hearing of the joint Indonesian-Timor Leste Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF) late last month.
Dili – A senior UN official said Friday East Timor will continue to need the presence of the United Nations in the country for some time to come.
Dili – Four East Timorese soldiers were convicted of murder and sentenced to up to 12 years in prison Thursday for gunning down unarmed police officers during a spasm of violence in the fledgling democracy last year.
An open letter from a worldwide coalition of human rights organizations has called on the UN Security Council to act for substantive justice for the East Timorese people, as a council delegation travels to Timor-Leste. The East Timorese suffered countless war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Indonesian military's illegal occupation.
Aboeprijadi Santoso, Amsterdam – Little news basically came from Sydney's Coroner Court inquest into the deaths of Australian-based journalists in Balibo, East Timor (1975) – except that it established a much stronger case based on detailed evidence and witness testimony. The Indonesian government needs to respond to this seriously.
Havana – Timor Leste's Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmao, thanked Cuba for its cooperation in the field education through the "Yes, I can" teaching method which has been widely implemented in that nation in southeast Asia.
The United Nations police say the security situation in East Timor is generally calm, despite nine incidents in Dili this week alone.
Funeral records suggest the remains of only four of the five Australian newsmen killed in East Timor 32 years ago are in a grave bearing their names.
Both the Coalition and Labor have committed to repatriation of the bodies of the five men, known as the Balibo Five.
Damien Kingsbury – The finding by the NSW deputy state coroner that the five Australia-based newsmen killed at Balibo, East Timor, in 1975 were murdered by the Indonesian military has the potential to again derail Australia's often fraught relationship with Indonesia.
Saul Amaral – After seven years of independence, Timor Leste is still the poorest country in Asia and the 27th most impoverished country in the world. According to the 2007 Timor National Media Survey 82 percent of the population is still living in poverty.
Hamish McDonald – After 32 years of secrecy, the killing of the Balibo Five newsmen has been branded a war crime, and Australia may launch prosecutions against the Indonesian soldiers involved.
Clinton Fernandes – The NSW Coroner's inquest concluded yesterday into the deaths of five journalists at the border town of Balibo in East Timor in October 1975 was the first independent judicial inquiry with the power to compel witnesses.
Hamish McDonald – In the blame game of Balibo, the state coronial inquest yesterday put responsibility onto the five journalist victims for refusing opportunities to escape their danger, and the Indonesian military for executing them.
East Timor's leader has called on Indonesia to take responsibility for the 1975 killing of five foreign reporters.
East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta says Indonesia must assume with courage and responsibility what happened," claiming the reporters had been "captured alive and killed."
Amy Coopes, Sydney – As forces from West Timor spilled into the Balibo town square on the morning of October 16, 1975, two Australian-based newsmen looked on, their cameras fixed on a helicopter as it swooped overhead.
It was a piece of footage which may have sealed their fate – incontrovertible evidence that Indonesia was invading East Timor.
Next Australian prime minister urged to ensure murderers are tried in Australia
The NSW Coroner, Dorelle Pinch has just released her judgment in the inquest held earlier this year into the deaths of the five Australian based journalists at Balibo in East Timor in 1975. One of the five, photographer Gary Cunningham, was a New Zealander.
Ramos-Horta said Thursday that his country would need international forces to maintain security for "another few years", after talks here with his Portuguese counterpart.
East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta said Thursday that his country would need international forces to maintain security for "another few years", after talks here with his Portuguese counterpart.
Indonesia says the case of the Balibo Five is closed and insists an Australian coroner's claim its soldiers may have committed war crimes won't damage relations between the countries.
Prime Minister John Howard says he is taking advice on what the Government can do in relation to a coroner's finding that five Australian-based journalists were deliberately killed in East Timor 32 years ago.
East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao began talks with former soldiers whose dismissal sparked protests that led to bloodshed in the tiny country last year.
In June 2006 the government of then-prime minister Mari Alkatiri sacked 600 soldiers, more than one third of the country's defence force, after they had lodged a petition alleging discrimination in the institution.
The current coroner's inquest into the death of an Australian-based journalist killed by Indonesian troops in October 1975 highlights "the need to pursue justice for the many tens of thousands killed during Indonesia's illegal invasion and occupation of East Timor," said John M. Miller, National Coordinator of the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN).