■ NEPAL
Assassins kill politicians
Police arrested one suspect yesterday after assassins on motorcycles killed two political leaders in a spray of gunfire in the restive south, a local administrator said. Gobari Yadav, a leader of the Nepali Congress, and Bechai Yadav of the Nepali Congress Democratic, were walking along a street in Bhujhawa village, Nawalparasi District, when the killers gunned them down as they sped past on motorcycles, said Bal Bahadur Malla, an administrator in the area. The gunmen fled after the attack, Malla said. Police arrested one suspect yesterday, Malla said.
■ NEW ZEALAND
Man survives 20m fall
A bid to take the perfect photo from a bridge at a national park nearly cost a young Irish tourist his life when he leaned over, lost his footing and fell 20m into a river below. Desmond Loy was hospitalized after tumbling from the Falls River swing bridge in Abel Tasman National Park on Monday. Loy suffered only cuts and bruises. Loy, 19, almost reached the end of the bridge when he turned to take a photograph. "I leaned forward and remember feeling a bit woozy and a bit dizzy," the Nelson Evening Mail quoted him as saying. "I closed my eyes and I could hear the trees and then boulders going thud, thud. It seemed a long way down."
■ CHINA
Penguins fed garlic
Keepers at Shanghai's zoo are feeding the penguins garlic to help ward off respiratory problems and other illnesses during the long, humid, summer rainy season, local media reported yesterday. Penguins are highly sensitive to a mold that grows in their enclosure, and in past rainy seasons some have become weak and sick after ingesting it. Garlic helps fortify their respiratory systems, as well as protect their intestines and stomach, the Shanghai Morning Post said. Getting them to eat it isn't easy. Zookeepers have to stuff three to four cloves of garlic per bird in the fish they regularly feed on, the reports said.
■ EAST TIMOR
Coalition government likely
The country was headed for a coalition government after election results yesterday showed no party would win an overall majority in polls many hope will bring stability after a year of violence and political turmoil. With 86 percent of the 426,237 votes cast counted, the ruling Fretilin party had a lead of more than 22,000 over second-placed National Congress for the Reconstruction of East Timor, a party formed by independence hero Xanana Gusmao. Mari Alkatiri, the head of Fretilin, said his party was in talks with smaller parties, but ruled out a deal with Gusmao's party. Smaller parties look likely to play a key role in propping up any government.
■ INDONESIA
US delegate banned
The government has banned a US congressional delegate known for his criticism of Jakarta's rule over Papua Province, fearing his presence could spark violence, the delegate said yesterday. Eni Faleomavaega, from the US territory of American Samoa, said he had originally been invited by Jakarta to visit Papua as part of moves by the government to convince the US Congress that its policies there were not as harsh as human rights group say. But authorities canceled the trip saying he might incite demonstrations by separatists, Faleomavaega said from Jakarta. Indonesia occupied Papua in 1963 and a low-level insurgency has simmered ever since.
■ ESTONIA
Exhumed soldiers re-buried
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