AFP
Timor Marathon hits world sport calendar
Friday, June 18th, 2010DILI, 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 [...]
Ramos-Horta says East Timor finds peace at last
Thursday, May 20th, 2010DILI, 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 [...]
Protest greets Sunrise chiefs in East Timor
Saturday, May 8th, 2010DILI, May 8 (AFP) — Partners in the Sunrise gas field joint venture met East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta on Thursday after the government angrily rejected plans to process Timor Sea gas on a floating platform.
About 100 protesters greeted the delegation led by Australia’s Woodside Petroleum as it arrived at Dili airport, in a show [...]
East Timor aims to send teen mums back to school
Friday, April 16th, 2010DILI, April 16 (AFP) – When Graziela Sarmento was 16, she got pregnant, dropped out of school, left her parents behind in the countryside and went to live with her aunt and uncle in Dili, East Timor’s capital.
Three years later her life revolves around Bruno, her son, with her dreams of an education dashed and [...]
Gusmao unveils plans to invest E.Timor oil wealth
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010AFP April 8, 2010 — East Timorese Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao pledged Wednesday to invest more of the tiny country’s oil wealth to boost economic growth and living standards.
Gusmao told international donors at the country’s eighth annual development partners meeting that “the people need us to create conditions to improve their livelihoods”.
“The people do not [...]
Timor police declare war on mysterious ‘ninjas’
Monday, April 5th, 2010AFP DILI, April 6, 2010 — East Timor police have declared war on mysterious “ninjas” accused of murder and subversion in a new twist to the young country’s struggle to establish security.
The latest whispers of ninjas to transfix the nation emerged after the murders of a 15-year-old girl in the western district of Bobonaro on [...]
Economist says East Timor must boost spending
Friday, April 2nd, 2010AFP April 1, 2010 — East Timor should rethink the way it spends its oil wealth by increasing investment in key areas to boost its long-term growth prospects, a leading economist said Thursday.
Jeffrey Sachs, a best-selling author and special adviser to the UN secretary-general, said the government of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao should stop buying [...]
Top UN economist forecasts boom for East Timor
Friday, April 2nd, 2010AFP March 30, 2010 — The tiny, impoverished nation of East Timor is on the cusp of an economic explosion that will eclipse even China in terms of growth, a top UN economist said Tuesday.
Jeffrey Sachs, the special adviser to the UN secretary-general told an audience at the national university that the government needed to [...]
Indonesia apologising in own way
Friday, April 2nd, 2010AFP DILI March 21, 2010 — INDONESIA will apologise to the people of East Timor in its own way for past human rights violations, East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta said on Sunday.
Indonesia’s former president Abdurrahman Wahid apologised when he visited East Timor in 2000 but successive leaders including current President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono have stopped [...]
E.Timor president insists does not want warcrimes tribunal
Friday, April 2nd, 2010AFP DILI March 9, 2010 — East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta on Wednesday denied claims by Amnesty International that he would support a tribunal for abuses committed during Indonesia’s occupation.
Amnesty had claimed he was in favour of the establishment of an international tribunal for crimes committed during the 1975-1999 occupation, should the UN Security Council [...]