40 die in mishap
LAGOS, Oct 2 (AFP) — At least 40 persons were killed when two coaches collided on the road between Benin City and Onitsha in eastern Nigeria, press reports said today. The head-on collision happened early yesterday morning, the reports in the Post Express and Punch newspapers said. Thirty persons died on the spot and 10 died later, the Post Express said.

5 jawans die in blast
GUWAHATI, Oct 2 (PTI) — The ULFA struck on poll-eve today, killing five CRPF men and injuring three others. Five securitymen were killed and three injured when the militants exploded an improvised explosives device beneath a culvert near Kathalguri in Upper Assam’s Tinsukia district when a CRPF vehicle was crossing it, state’s Director-General of Police, P.V. Sumant, said here. The CRPF party was returning after checking certain polling stations in the Bordumgsa area.

16 more bodies found in Dili area
DILI, Oct 2 (AFP) — Sixteen more bodies were found here as the United Nations announced today that several members of a human rights inquiry team would arrive shortly. "I now understand that five persons will be coming here next week to head that investigation," UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) spokesman David Wimhurst told reporters here.

Naval exercise
SHANGHAI, Oct 2 (AP) — Without fanfare, China is preparing to hold its first joint naval exercise with Russia, adding to warming ties after decades of rivalry with its former Communist "big brother." The navy contacts did not appear to be a step toward formal military cooperation, even though business ties between the two are growing and China is a big buyer of Russian arms. Russian Defence Ministry said the exercise would take place when two Russian warships visit Shanghai between today and Wednesday to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on Oct 1, 1949.

Rocket engines
WASHINGTON, Oct 2 (PTI) — The Clinton administration has expressed its intention to grant licence to a US company for mass production of rocket engines in Russia which would also be used for military purposes, the "Defense News" has said. The Congress was informed by the administration about its intent to grant licence to the Lockheed Martin Corporation for mass production of engines in Russia for the company’s next generation of Atlas rockets, the Defence weekly reported. The licence will allow Lockheed Martin to make up to $ 25 million available to NPO Energomash, Khimky of Russia, to upgrade its manufacturing facilities for its RD-180 rocket engines.

Two rebels held
DHAKA, Oct 2 (AP) — The police arrested two men from a northeastern town in Bangladesh on suspicion they were Indian rebels, an official said today. The two men were riding a three-wheeled rickshaw when they were stopped yesterday by the police in Moulvibazar town, 100 miles northeast of Dhaka. The police found a gun hidden in a suitcase the men were carrying, the officials said on customary condition of anonymity. The men reportedly admitted they belonged to the United Liberation Front of Assam, a separatist group fighting for independence in Assam. No more details were available.