East Timor

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Nearly Half of Small Nation Showed Up for Pope

About 600K faithful converged on park in East Timor to hear Francis speak

(Newser) - An estimated 600,000 people—nearly half of East Timor's population—packed a seaside park Tuesday for Pope Francis' final Mass, held on the same field where St. John Paul II prayed 35 years ago during the nation's fight for independence from Indonesia. The remarkable turnout was a...

Missionary Revered in Catholic Nation Is Headed to Prison

American ex-priest Richard Daschbach, 84, found guilty in East Timor of sexually abusing young girls

(Newser) - A defrocked American priest accused of sexually abusing orphaned and disadvantaged young girls under his care in East Timor was found guilty Tuesday and sentenced to 12 years in prison, in the first case of its kind in the staunchly Catholic nation. Richard Daschbach, 84, who spent decades as a...

Taxi Ride Led to Months in Asian Prison for US Tourist

Stacey Addison has finally been released

(Newser) - A US traveler detained for months in East Timor has been released from prison. Stacey Addison, 41, of Portland was arrested in September shortly after crossing the border into the Southeast Asia nation. The veterinarian was sharing a taxi with a stranger who asked the driver to stop the car...

42K-Year-Old Tuna Dinner Discovered

We've been eating the fish for millennia: archeologists

(Newser) - It gives “leftovers” a whole new meaning: Archeologists have discovered the remnants of a 42,000-year-old tuna meal, they say. They found tuna and shark bones in an East Timor cave, near Australia. The findings suggest that ancient humans were capable of deep-sea fishing, shedding light on questions over...

Australian PM Pledges Support for East Timor

Rudd visits capital, president wounded in attacks by rebel soldiers

(Newser) - Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd jetted to East Timor today, vowing to stand by its neighbor after attacks Monday on its president and prime minister, Reuters reports. "It's by the ballot box, and not by the barrel of a gun, that the decisions for our countries will be made,...

Aussie Troops Arrive in East Timor
Aussie Troops Arrive in
East Timor
Feb 12, 2008 4:05 AM CST

Aussie Troops Arrive in East Timor

New peacekeepers fly in under state of emergency as president recovers

(Newser) - Hundreds of Australian troops began backing up peacekeeping forces in East Timor today as its president recovered from triple gunshot wounds in a failed coup attempt. An Australian warship also anchored off the coast, Reuters reports. A state of emergency has been declared amid concerns that the crisis could quickly...

E. Timor Prez in Induced Coma After Shooting

Condition 'extremely serious' after failed coup attempt

(Newser) - East Timor's president has been placed in an induced coma after being shot early today by rebel soldiers in an apparent coup attempt, reports the BBC. The move is a bid to help Jose Ramos-Horta recover from "extremely serious injuries"; he was airlifted to Australia for emergency treatment after...

Rebel Soldier Shoots East Timor Prez

Nobel Prize-winner expected to live; assassin shot dead

(Newser) - A rebel soldier shot East Timor's president today in an attack on his home, the BBC reports. President Jose Ramos-Horta, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, underwent surgery at an Australian army hospital and is expected to live. The president’s guards shot and killed the assailant, Alfredo Reinado, who had...

Indonesia's Suharto Dies at Age 86
Indonesia's Suharto
Dies at Age 86
Jan 27, 2008 2:45 AM CST

Indonesia's Suharto Dies at Age 86

Ruled for 32 years; resigned amid corruption, human rights charges

(Newser) - Former Indonesian president Suharto, a US Cold War ally whose legacy of economic development was marred by charges of human rights abuses and corruption, died today of organ failure at 86, Reuters reports. Suharto ruled for 32 years until being forced out in 1998; his deteriorating health prevented him from...

East Timor Holds Guarded Elections
East Timor Holds Guarded Elections
Apr 9, 2007 7:14 AM CDT

East Timor Holds Guarded Elections

Fears of violence hover over country’s first presidential vote

(Newser) - East Timor is holding its first presidential elections since independence from Indonesia five years ago, with voters choosing between Nobel Prize winner Jose Ramos-Horta and seven other candidates. It's hoped that the elections will stabilize the volitile country, where clashes between factions exploded in carnage last summer. International troops—mostly...

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