Regional Diplomacy: Timor-Leste joined the Philippines and Cambodia in discussing an agreement to persuade ASEAN members to abolish the death penalty. The three are the bloc’s only countries to have ended capital punishment. Haze Crisis: Smoke from Indonesia’s fires forced Timor-Leste to suspend in-person classes from October 15 to 17, with unhealthy air reported in Dili. Indonesia says it has accepted firefighting support from Malaysia and Singapore; satellite monitoring estimates nearly 1.9 million hectares have burned this year. Gas Development: Timor-Leste’s regulator granted Sunda Energy and state-owned TIMOR GAP a 12-month extension to negotiate a path toward drilling the Chuditch-2 gas appraisal well. Greater Sunrise: President José Ramos-Horta says the first agreements for the long-delayed project are expected early next year, though doubts remain over the commercial case for piping gas to the south coast. Energy and Aid: Ramos-Horta says dwindling foreign aid is slowing the country’s green transition, while its electricity grid remains almost entirely diesel-powered.