United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during an interview at the United Nations headquarters, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024 [Pamela Smith/AP] United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during an interview at the United Nations headquarters, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024 [Pamela Smith/AP] Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Guterres called President Bill Clinton from Lisbon on August 30 and September 8, 1999, to discuss the growing crisis in East Timor. The small Southeast Asian territory, which had endured a brutal Indonesian occupation since 1975, was again engulfed in violence after voters overwhelmingly chose independence in a referendum. Pro-Indonesian militias responded to the vote for independence by unleashing a so-called scorched-earth campaign, destroying infrastructure, displacing up to half a million people and killing thousands. The crisis resonated in Portugal, where linguistic, Catholic, and historical ties to its former colony helped fuel a solidarity movement. An estimated 10,000 demonstrators, dressed in white, formed human chains through Lisbon's city streets. Guterres had raised the issue before. At a 1996 summit in Bangkok, he met Indonesia's President Suharto and broached the politically sensitive topic of East Timor, offering to restore diplomatic relations (severed since the 1975 invasion) in exchange for the release of Timorese resistance leader Xanana Gusmao. The proposal was met with an awkward silence. This time, Guterres was asking the United States to support a UN mission in East Timor, but Washington was reluctant to confront Indonesia. Guterres recalled in his 2022 biography, "Honest Broker", that he warned Clinton during the second call that Portugal could reconsider its Balkan deployments if the international community failed to intervene. Portugal's contribution to NATO was small but politically well-placed, with its troops serving in the alliance's prominent post-Cold War missions in Bosnia and Kosovo. Guterres offered Clinton a choice: risk a public falling-out with a founding NATO ally, or use Washington's influence to make Indonesia accept an international force in East Timor. The next day, amid growing international pressure, the White House stated that Indonesia "must" allow international assistance.

Spotify got on the BTS bandwagon earlier this year, celebrating the band's return to the studio with a trivia game about the K-pop idol group. Now, that Music Quiz feature has been expanded to test fans' knowledge of more than 2,000 artists with questions about "music trivia, album cover art reveals, and audio track previews spanning an artist's music, career, and defining moments." Music Quiz is beginning to roll out today for Premium subscribers in the US, the UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, India, Nigeria, South Africa and Indonesia. The content will be in English at launch, but additional languages and artists will be added over time. The streaming service has built a reputation for offering fun widgets and insights into listening habits, from the splashy year-end Wrapped reports to the liner notes-esque SongDNA to the unfortunately necessary labels for music that's not generative AI.

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One person has died following a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck Indonesia early on Saturday morning, sending people in Maumere, the main town on the island of Flores, running into the street. Video taken at the port shows large chunks of concrete breaking off the terminal building onto passengers waiting to board an inter-island ferry. Some were thrown into the sea when the gangway to the ship collapsed. A stream of people could be seen moving inland on motorbikes after authorities issued a tsunami warning, which was later lifted. Search and rescue teams are in Maumere working to free anyone trapped in damaged buildings.

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Indonesian babies were trafficked to Singapore. What happens to them now? To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Figure caption, Watch: A baby trafficking ring has been convicted - but what now for the babies? On Tuesday an Indonesian court convicted 19 people for baby trafficking, wrapping up a high-profile case - but leaving a key question unanswered.

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