This week Video Journalist Mark Davis travels to East Timor and reports on the aftermath of the near fatal shooting of President Jose Ramos Horta.

President Horta was shot earlier this year, after rebel leader Alfredo Reinado and his followers paid an unexpected visit to the President’s family home. Davis speaks exclusively to Reinado's troops who were with him at the shooting.

In her first interview since the shooting, the rebel leader's girlfriend, Angelita Pires, accused of instigating the attack, tells Davis that she had nothing to do with the shooting, and that she now fears for her life. She flatly denies allegations she convinced a drunken Reinado to go to the Presidential house. Reinado's men tell Davis they were angry at the news that negotiations for a potential peace deal had fallen through and had come down from their hideout to speak with Horta face to face.

They also claim there was no plan to kill the President.

Also in this episode, Dateline goes in search of Barack Obama's African roots.

Video Journalist Aaron Lewis travels deep into western Kenya to the sleepy rural village of Kogelo - home of the Obama family - where he is invited into the houses of some of Obama's closest family members.

There's a strong sense of pride in the air, as both the village and the Obama family are excited that one of their own is running for President.

Along the way, Lewis meets Grandma Obama, affectionately known in the village as Mama Sara. She leads a simple life, tending a small plot of land along with raising a handful of adopted children.

Despite being on the other side of the world, Mama Sara always knew her grandson would amount to great things.

Watch these segments online at the SBS website:

The Shooting of Horta

Barack Obama's African Roots

Interview with Thomas Mapfumo  

About International Dateline 

SBS Dateline, which began in 1984, is Australia's longest-running international current affairs program. It has a well-earned reputation for authoritative and incisive reporting. Dateline has taken the traditional way of producing TV current affairs and turned it on its head. Reporters who used to travel with a cameraperson and sound recordist now travel alone and have the responsibility of both filming and reporting their stories. The reporters became video-journalists, gaining access to people and places that the conventional camera crews cannot.