Timor-Leste

East Timor’s first soap opera, ‘Suku Hali,’ mends fences with melodrama

Friday, September 24th, 2010

CNNGo September 24, 2010 — Forget Australian caravan park and U.S. hospital dramas: “This is a story about Timorese life,” says 21-year-old Timorese actor Asala de Jesus, who will soon debut on the small screen in “Suku Hali,” East Timor’s first soap opera.
“When you come from the mountains you face many problems. It’s a true [...]

Posted in CNNGo, Conflict resolution, Culture, Timor-Leste | Comments Off

Asia’s new backpacking hot spots

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

Timor-Leste (formerly East Timor)
Like Bali without the bells, Timor-Leste offers backpackers a chance to enjoy life in the slow lane. The half-island nation is still finding its tourism feet, so the few curious travellers who take the leap of faith invariably find themselves padding along empty beaches or swimming in natural rock pools with only [...]

Posted in Guardian, Timor-Leste, Travel | Comments Off

“Spectacular” reduction in child mortality rates

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

DILI, 14 July 2010 (IRIN) – Timor-Leste, one of the world’s newest and poorest nations, has achieved significant declines in infant mortality, under-five mortality and fertility rates, according to the country’s latest Demographic and Health Survey (DHS).
Preliminary data from the survey – the full results of which will be released later this year – indicate [...]

Posted in Health, IRIN, Timor-Leste | Comments Off

Timor-Leste trials healthcare from the people, to the people

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

Timor-Leste gets creative at the grassroots level in battling a chronic shortage of healthcare professionals
Guardian Weekly, Tuesday 13 July 2010 — A firm belief in community is helping medical experts in Timor-Leste develop strategies for fighting a chronic shortage of healthcare professions.
“The healthcare system is still grossly under-utilised. And where we really fall down is [...]

Posted in Guardian, Health, Timor-Leste | Comments Off

Tense Times in Timor-Leste

Sunday, July 11th, 2010

The Irrawaddy
Tense Times in Timor-Leste
By MATT CROOK
JULY, 2010 – VOLUME 18 NO.7
Ozorio Leque stands accused of inciting a riot in Dili, the East Timorese capital, on April 28, 2006, when he publicly berated the government before a mob went on the rampage, attacking the government palace. The crisis that followed over the next two months [...]

Posted in Security, The Irrawaddy, Timor-Leste | Comments Off

Amnesty warns against Timor-Leste’s “culture of impunity”

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

BANGKOK, 29 June 2010 (IRIN) – Amnesty International has urged the government of Timor-Leste to close a legal loophole that allows perpetrators of crimes against humanity to go unpunished.
Timor-Leste became formally independent in 2002 after a 24-year occupation by the Indonesian military in 1975-1999 that cost up to 200,000 lives, but gaps in the penal [...]

Posted in IRIN, Justice, Timor-Leste | Comments Off

Timor Marathon hits world sport calendar

Friday, June 18th, 2010

DILI, June 19 (AFP) — With the world’s attention locked on the World Cup in South Africa, it might be an odd time for East Timor to try to boost its international profile with a simple foot-race.
But that’s what President Jose Ramos-Horta is hoping to do with the Timor Marathon on June 20, billed as [...]

Posted in AFP, Sport, Timor-Leste | Comments Off

Together, we make a difference

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

International Labour Organization Together, we make a difference: Strengthening the Framework of Employment Creation in Timor-Leste PDF

Posted in Employment, International Labour Organization, Timor-Leste | Comments Off

Ramos-Horta says East Timor finds peace at last

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

DILI, May 20 (AFP) — East Timor has finally achieved peace after a series of violent domestic upheavals, President Jose Ramos-Horta said ahead of ceremonies Thursday to celebrate eight years of independence from Indonesia.
The festivities will begin with a simple flag-raising ceremony outside the presidential palace in Dili, a seaside city scarred by massacres and [...]

Posted in AFP, Celebrations, Security, Timor-Leste | Comments Off

Tough times in distant Oecusse

Monday, May 17th, 2010

OECUSSE, 17 May 2010 (IRIN) – Elisa Kefi and her 63-year-old sister brave the heat and sit on the side of the street selling nuts and small vegetables in Timor-Leste’s Oecusse enclave. “The government doesn’t really pay us much attention, but we still have to look for money to feed our families,” said mother-of-three Kefi, [...]

Posted in Agriculture, IRIN, Timor-Leste | Comments Off

About me

I work for Plan in Bangkok. I was a freelance journalist based in Southeast Asia (mostly Timor-Leste). I recently did my MA at SOAS. You can read my stories here on this website. Find out more about me here or contact me