A roundup of today'sother stories in brief
Protests over sacked PM in East Timor
DILI - Thousands of supporters of ousted East Timor prime minister Mari Alkatiri descended on the capital in a defiant show of strength yesterday as the president hinted he might unilaterally decide on a replacement.
As night fell, around 4,000 supporters of the ruling Fretilin party prepared to camp out near government buildings, scene of a week of similar-sized anti-Alkatiri protests that ended on Wednesday, two days after he resigned. - (Reuters)
Milosevic ordered killing, court finds
BELGRADE - The late Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic ordered the murder of communist-era Serb president Ivan Stambolic, whom he saw as a threat to his hold on power, Serbia's Supreme Court has found.
The August 2000 killing was carried out by eight secret policemen, who were found guilty last year and also convicted. - (Reuters)
Somali Islamists expand power
MOGADISHU - Islamist leaders in Mogadishu said yesterday they were expanding the authority of their sharia courts across the whole of Somalia in a move likely to create further tensions with the weak interim government.
They also confirmed that hardline cleric Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys - whom the UN has linked to al-Qaeda - would be the overall leader of their new 91-member Council of Somali Courts. - (Reuters)
Opposition MPs protest in Ukraine
KIEV - Ukraine's opposition, unhappy at being shut out of a coalition government, blocked activity in Ukraine's parliament for a second day yesterday and threatened to keep the assembly from working for a month.
Three parties backing the 2004 "Orange Revolution" clinched a coalition agreement last week after three months of wrangling. Parliament had been due this week to endorse the return of firebrand Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister. - (Reuters)
Bomber kills seven at funeral
KIRKUK - A suicide car bomber rammed into a funeral service for a Shia soldier and killed seven people in the Iraqi northern city of Kirkuk yesterday.
Deputy police commander Turhan Abdul Rahman said the bomber, who died in the attack, targeted a funeral for an Iraqi soldier. The blast wounded 25. - (Reuters)
Choc tactics to attract Dahl fans
AMSTERDAM - The Dutch city of Amsterdam will get a theme park dedicated to chocolate and inspired by Roald Dahl's children's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Just like Dahl's fictional Willie Wonka factory, the main part of the "sweets park" will be located underground, in a disused railway tunnel which was handed over by the city of Amsterdam in a ceremony yesterday. - (Reuters)