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The Prime Minister of East Timor, Xanana Gusmao, has declared a 48 hour state of emergency and a curfew in East Timor, following attacks on Jose Ramos-Horta, the leader of the country. The state of emergency applies throughout East Timor and it prohibits all public gatherings. The curfew applies from 20:00 to 6:00 (East Timor time). The President of East Timor, Jose Ramos-Horta, was seriously wounded by a bullet during an attack on his home in the early hours of this morning. The first attack was carried out by a rebel army on at 06:00 am

Military prosecutors at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp announced charges on Monday against six captives they claim were involved in the planning of the September 11 attacks. The men, each facing the death penalty, will be tried in a single group. The move could cause legal problems, since the Bush Administration has admitted that at some of the confessions were given under torture. In 2006, a source in the Pentagon referred to several of the captives now facing prosecution as "unprosecutable" due to "the techniques" used to secure their con

A spacewalk was conducted today by astronauts Rex Walheim and Stan Love, members of the STS-122 Space Shuttle crew, to install the new Columbus module onto the International Space Station. The spacewalk, or extra-vehicular activity (EVA), began at 14:13 UTC, with the astronauts leaving the Quest airlock of the Space Station, and starting work to install an attachment point on top of the Columbus module, to allow it to be moved by the Station's robotic arm. This was completed at 19:00, about an hour later than planned, owing to the installatio

The city of Kiryat Yam in Israel is suing Internet corporation Google over an alleged inaccuracy in its Google Earth software, which claims the city was built over the ruins of an Arab village. A note added by Google Earth user Thameen Darby says Kiryat Yam was built on the site of the Palestinian village Ghawarina. However, town's spokesman Naty Key Zilberman says this "obviously cannot be true, because Kiryat Yam was founded in 1945". The Palestinian exodus, in which hundreds of thousands of Arabs abandoned their villages due to the Arab-I

At least two children in Baghdad, Iraq have died after eating cake poisoned with thallium and at least nine others remain ill. The cake was given to people at an Iraqi sports club near the capital. The Secretary of the Iraqi Air Force and his daughter are also among the victims. All are currently receiving treatment in Amman, Jordan as the antidote for the deadly poison is not available in Iraqi hospitals. The United Kingdom has flown in the antidotes and treatments for the victims, several of which are seriously ill. "This is a disturbing in

Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois and 2008 US presidential candidate has swept all three of today's Democratic contests, two caucuses in Nebraska and Washington and the primary in Louisiana. Obama also won the tiny United States territory of the United States Virgin Islands. Obama won nearly 30% more over opponent Hillary Clinton in the Nebraska caucuses. Obama also had a major lead over Clinton in the Washington caucuses by a 2-1 margin. Commentators have noted that Obama seems to perform well in caucus states. Louisiana's Demo

George W. Bush, the president of the United States has visited Tennessee, which was hit by over 25 tornadoes which caused over 33 deaths. In the visit Mr.Bush said that “the government has got a role to play” in repairing the damage from the tornado and that anyone who has been affected should call 1-800-621-3362 to "find out the help that is available.” Mr. Bush started the speech by saying that he "looked in their [Phil and June Spears, residents of Tennessee] eyes and saw incredible sadness and worry." He continued by saying that he believe

An oil rig in the North Sea has been evacuated after a security alert. Up to 539 oil workers are being moved off the affected rig in an operation that began at 09:20 UTC this morning. Barry Nielson, a Squadron leader with the RAF was quoted (BBC News) as saying "It's unusual, that's probably the best way to describe it. But it falls within our normal operating procedures and we are reacting accordingly." By the end of the day, the alert had ended, with Kathy McGill (manging director of the firm responsible for the rig) being quoted as saying

2008 Africa Cup of Nations The Egyptian national football team became Africa Cup of Nations champions for the sixth time in the history of the competition by beating the national team of Cameroon 1-0 in the Ohene Djan Stadium, Ghana. Mohamed Aboutreika scored the only goal in the game in the 77th minute after Cameroon failed to clear the ball from their area under a period of heavy attacking play. This was Aboutreika's 34th international goal for his country and was driven into the bottom corner of the net from a distance of 16yds. Egypt's v

The Internet group Project Chanology today held protests critical of the Church of Scientology. The protests marked what would have been the 49th birthday of Lisa McPherson, who is claimed to be a victim of the Church of Scientology's practices. Lisa died in 1995 during a running of what Scientologists refer to as an Introspection Rundown, a procedure intended to help Church members deal with a psychotic or deeply traumatic event. Protests were planned throughout the day in 14 countries and over 50 different cities. The estimation of total pr

The second week of the 2008 RBS Six Nations Championship kicked off yesterday with Wales playing Scotland at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. This was followed by France playing Ireland at the Stade de France, Saint-Denis. Today, Italy played England at the Stadio Flaminio, Rome. Wales vs. Scotland Scotland's Dan Parks kicked off the match at 1400 local time (UTC). An error in the first line-out of the match by Scotland resulted in Wales kicking the ball along the ground to the Scotland try-line, almost leading to Wales's fly-half, James Hook,

Accused kidney racketeer Amit Kumar has been arrested in Nepal at a jungle resort near Chitwan. Police are still seeking suspected co-conspirators, including Kumar's brother Jeevan Rawat. Nepalese police are holding Kumar under currency laws, charging that he was in possession of large amounts of United States dollars and Euros. Nepal has strict laws about foreign currency. Kumar, who had become the subject of an international manhunt for allegedly harvesting hundreds of kidneys of poor people in India for transplantation to wealthy clients. H