A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Fretilin short of majority in East Timor
DILI - The ruling Fretilin party has emerged on top from East Timor's parliamentary elections last weekend but fell far short of a legislative majority and will work to form an alliance with other blocs.
Most other groups contesting the elections have indicated they will not join with Fretilin, raising the possibility it will be forced into opposition despite winning most votes in last Saturday's polls.
Analysts say a likely outcome is a government formed around the party of independence hero Xanana Gusmao, which garnered about 6 per cent fewer votes than Fretilin, according to a count of 97 per cent of ballots cast. Under that scenario, Mr Gusmao could become prime minister.- (AP)
Bird flu confirmed in eastern France
PARIS - Tests have confirmed that three swans found dead in eastern France were killed by the H5N1 bird flu virus, the French agriculture ministry said yesterday. It is France's first cases of the disease in more than a year.
"Michel Barnier, minister of agriculture and fishing, is putting in place the risk prevention measures corresponding to the shift from the 'moderate' level to the 'high' level," the ministry said in a statement.
This means birds and poultry will have to be either locked up or protected by nets to avoid all contact with wild birds. - (Reuters)
Yemen bomb 'mastermind' killed
SANAA - Yemeni security forces have killed an Egyptian who helped mastermind a car bomb suicide attack three days ago which killed nine people, a defence ministry website said yesterday.
The Egyptian was killed during a clash in the capital Sanaa overnight, it said, following Monday's bombing at the Queen of Sheba Temple in Marib province. - (Reuters)
Toxic medicine kills 83 in Panama
PANAMA - Eighty-three people have died in Panama after taking medicines contaminated with a Chinese-made toxin last year and the death toll is expected to rise, a senior prosecutor said yesterday.
Panama is investigating the illness of 540 people suspected of falling sick after using cough syrup or one of three other medicines found to be contaminated with diethylene glycol, normally used in anti-freeze. - (Reuters)
At least 14 die in Mexico mudslide
ELOXOCHITLAN - The bodies of 14 people have been dug out by Mexican rescuers who searched for dozens more crushed when the side of a rain-soaked mountain collapsed on a bus carrying up to 60 passengers on a remote road.
A local government spokesman said 14 bodies, including those of two children, had been recovered from the mudslide at the remote town in of Puebla. - (Reuters)
British child in Nigeria kidnapped
PORT HARCOURT - Gunmen kidnapped the three-year-old daughter of a British man in the Nigerian oil city of Port Harcourt while she was on her way to school, a police spokeswoman said yesterday.
Ireju Barasua said the child, whom she named as Margaret Hill, was snatched from the car in which she was being driven as it was stuck in traffic. - (Reuters)
Men as chatty as women - study
WASHINGTON - Men talk every bit as much as women do, US researchers said after painstakingly counting every word that 400 volunteers spoke. "Women and men both use on average about 16,000 words per day, " wrote the researchers, published yesterday in the journal Science. - (Reuters)