Ray Lilley, Wellington – East Timor President Xanana Gusmao has called on the international community not to forget his tiny new nation, which became the 191st member of the United Nati

Sharon Labi, Dili – They idolise Britney Spears, watch lots of TV and worry about what to wear to school.

East Timor's religious leader has said that the Timorese people are "disenchanted" after three months of independence.

East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao took stock of his new nation on Friday in a speech marking 100 days of independence, calling for greater grassroots democracy to check potential abu

Dili – East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao on Friday asked his critics for more time to solve the vast problems facing the newly independent nation.

Stewart Taggart in Dili and Lor – Times have changed for Commandante Elias Falour. Once he was a leader in the East Timorese guerrilla resistance.

Jill Jolliffe – Most of Dili's shops were closed and shuttered yesterday as about 2000 former guerrilla fighters put on a show of force against the Fretilin government of Prime Minister

The commander of the East Timor Defense Force (ETDF) said Tuesday that the Dili government should build a monument to honor resistance fighters killed in the independence struggle again

We are in the back of an old Toyota Ute, heading for the hillside village of Ermera. It is only about 100km from the East Timorese capital, Dili, but the road is rough and winding.

United Nations – Nearly three months after East Timor's independence, the UN mission in the fledgling southeast Asian nation is on course to finish its work and shut down in two years,

Jakarta – East Timor's army on Tuesday replaced United Nations peacekeepers in one district of the new nation – the first step in a 20-month handover which will see the blue berets bow

Thalif Deen, United Nations – East Timor, the world's newest nation, will ask the United Nations to designate it a "least developed country" (LDC).

Mark Dodd, Dili – At just four weeks old East Timor may be the world's newest nation, but its first big problem is how to deal with its past.

Mansour Fakih – My first visit to East Timor was early in 2000. The towns were still smoldering, and the atmosphere was tense. I was shocked, angry, and so disillusioned.

Dear Fellow Citizens,

Don Greenlees – Soon after midnight on May 20, after the East Timorese flag had been raised, and the new nation declared independent, Indonesia's armed forces commander Admiral Widodo A

Aaron Goodman, Dili (Inter Press Service) – Augostino da Costa Cabral's eyes were wide open, and his smile seemed unbreakable.

Max Lane – A major theme of the ceremony that took place in Dili on May 20 to proclaim the independence of East Timor was that the three-year period of United Nations transitional admin

Harald Bruning – Less than a fortnight after becoming the world's newest nation, East Timor is struggling to consolidate its hard-won democracy and solve myriad social problems left beh

Jill Jolliffe – A week after East Timor became independent, the terrace of Dili's City Cafe is near deserted.

Joe Leahy and Tom McCawley – When the veteran United Nations official Sergio Vieira de Mello went to Tokyo in late 1999 to lobby donors for funds to rebuild East Timor, he had no inklin

[East Timor's adored first president says he welcomes the tough tasks ahead. Three years ago, Jose (Xanana) Gusmo was a political prisoner languishing in a Jakarta prison.

Jonathan Steele – It's a hard world to be born into, even for nation-states.

Edith M.

Aaron Goodman, Dili – The unfurling of East Timor's flag and the lighting of fireworks on Sunday marked the formal coming out of the newest country of the millennium, one whose test of

Jon Land – As the official festivities wind down in East Timor following the May 20 independence celebrations and the international dignitaries fly back to their comfortable and privile

Dili – Australian soldiers marred East Timor's independence day by stealing flags from outside a Dili hotel, an Australian businessman claimed.

Joseph Fitchete, Lisbon – Bill Clinton presumably didn't notice any problems during East Timor's independence celebrations last week.

Lincoln Wright – To avoid provoking Indonesia, Australia should pull its 1450 troops out of East Timor after the United Nations leaves in 2004, according to a new defence report.

Tom Hyland and Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – East Timor became an independent nation early this morning but a row over the unauthorised arrival of Indonesian warships highlighted the potentia

Don Greenlees, Dili – Soon after sundown in a football field here, Domingos Ribero's gaze fixes on the screen of a makeshift outdoor cinema.

Tributes

"If 92 countries are gathered here today it is because the settlement of the question of East Timor was the responsibility of the international community.

Philip Sherwell – East Timor has not known a weekend like it.

Simba – Today on the eve of the independence ceremonies for East Timor many of the international delegates arrived to address the press.

An Australian with one of the closest associations with East Timor, former diplomat James Dunn, has concerns about East Timor's future as an independent country.

An air of optimism buoys East Timor as it prepares to celebrate nationhood. But there are dark clouds on the horizon, Tom Hyland and Lindsay Murdoch report.

Tom Hyland and Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – A fully armed Indonesian warship was last night ordered out of Dili Harbour by East Timor and the United Nations after it arrived unannounced and

Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta – East Timor's secession in 1999 has still left bitter pains for many Indonesians, particularly veterans who fought for its integration with Indonesia 27 years a

Alexander Weissink, Jakarta – The world's youngest democracy will have to stand on its own feet from Sunday.

Adam Majendie.

Bronwyn Curran, Dili – The flags of the world are fluttering above a frenzy of roof-fixing, painting and construction as East Timor's waterfront capital spruces up to welcome VIPs from

Joanne Collins, Dili – Paint is being slapped on fences, scaffolding is coming down from buildings, weeds are being ripped up and soccer fields are getting new goal posts.

Tim Dodd – The infant Government of East Timor is supposed to have a car registration system and, indeed, there are plenty of vehicles on the road sporting the new TLS plates standing f

Michael Richardson, Bacau – Marito Reis spent nearly 15 years in Indonesian prisons after he was arrested in 1980 for being a member of the clandestine underground movement supporting t

Joanne Collins, Dili – Tiny East Timor, counting down to its independence in a few days, is Asia's poorest country and will need considerable international assistance in the years ahead

Philip Sherwell, Maliana – In a calculated snub to the United Nations and Europe, the prime suspect in the murder of a Financial Times journalist in East Timor in 1999 returned to the t

New York (CNS) – A "new consciousness of democratic ideals" and "assertive nationalism" is emerging in East Timor, said Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo of Dili, East Timor.

Paul Knox – Most poor countries are in hock to rich ones. This is not necessarily a bad thing, any more than a car loan or a mortgage. But overindebtedness is definitely a bad thing.

East Timorese exiles in Indonesia could help lead a revolt in their former homeland if leaders of the newly-independent nation fail to bring prosperity, an exiles' leader said.

Indonesia's army chief has urged his countrymen to forget their traumatic past with East Timor and embrace its sovereignty, amid lingering bitterness about the territory's breakaway.