1. The polls have begun closing in the US presidential election, with the
first results trickling in from some states.
Based on exit polls, US news organisations have called Vermont for President
Barack Obama and Indiana and Kentucky for Republican Mitt Romney.
Exit polls showed Virginia, a critical swing state, locked in a dead heat.
Tens of millions of voters cast ballots on Tuesday. The election winner could be
declared within hours, especially as other swing states report results.
Turnout is crucial, with polls suggesting a neck-and-neck race, but giving the
president a slender lead in crucial swing states.
Gaza: Crocodile caught in sewage system
A crocodile which escaped from a zoo in the Gaza Strip two years ago has
finally been captured, officials say.
Police enlisted the help of fishermen to drain the pit and catch the reptile with
shark nets.The animal, which locals have accused of eating their livestock, has
been returned to the zoo.The reptile, measuring 1.8m (6ft), had fled its enclosure
and crawled into a sewage pit near the northern town of Beit Lahia.Wastewater
workers discovered the fugitive animal in one of the sewage basins two months
ago."He had a lot of spirit in him. He wanted to be free," Lt Col Samih al-Sultan,
who led the hunt, told the Associated Press.The animal's strength and stubborn
determination earned it the nickname "Rock", the official added.A team of six
policemen and fishermen sat in a boat in the pit for a fortnight, trying to catch the
crocodile.After several failed attempts, they eventually decided to drain the pond
and managed to snare the reptile with shark nets.Locals have welcomed the
capture of the crocodile, which they say has been eating their ducks and
goats."We were afraid he would eat us," said one farmer.Zoo workers said the
crocodile had grown considerably over the last two years. It remains unclear how
the reptile managed to escape in the first place.

2. Syria could turn into a new Somalia
The UN and Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, has said he
fears the country could "turn into a new Somalia" unless the crisis does
not end soon.
In an interview with the newspaper al-Hayat, Mr Brahimi warned of a scenario in
which warlords and militia filled a void left by a collapsed state.
Somalia has been without an effective central government since 1991.
Meanwhile, the UK said it would support offering President Bashar al-Assad a
safe exit if it ended the bloodshed.
Prime Minister David Cameron told al-Arabiya TV that the international
community should consider anything "to get that man out of the country".
But he also said he would favour Mr Assad "facing the full force of international
law and justice for what he has done".
Chinese court sentences drug gang to
death over river murders
A Chinese court has condemned to death four men for the killing of at least 12 Chinese sailors on
the Mekong River in the northern Thai province of Chiang Rai.
One of the men sentenced Tuesday is a drug lord named Naw Kham, Chinese state news agency
Xinhua reported. The other three were members of his gang.
Thai authorities discovered the gruesome murder scene in October 2011 after boarding two cargo
ships that had come under gunfire. They found nearly 1 million amphetamines and 12 dead bodies,
some with their hands bound. One sailor was missing.
Two additional gang members received death sentences with reprieves and will serve eight years in
jail.All of the men, who faced charges of homicide, hijacking, kidnapping and drug trafficking, said
they would appeal the verdict.

3. Disorderly conduct charges against Sam Worthington dismissed
A recent night out in Atlanta ended in charges of disorderly conduct for "Avatar" star
Sam Worthington, but the charges have since been dropped.According to the Atlanta
Police Department, the 36-year-old actor was approaching local restaurant The
Vortex when he allegedly got into an altercation with the security guard.The security
officer in question told police that he noticed Worthington appeared to be off-balance
as he walked up to the restaurant, and he advised him that he couldn't enter because
he was "highly intoxicated."As the conversation continued, the security officer told
police that Worthington began using profane language, and pushed him twice. (A
witness on the scene told police that he saw Worthington push the security guard
twice and behave disrespectfully; the witness also told police that the actor appeared
to be very drunk.) At that point, the security officer pepper-sprayed and handcuffed
the actor.When police arrived, Worthington was taken into custody and charged with
disorderly conduct. The charges were dismissed Monday morning.
Bolivia returns stolen mummy to Peru
Bolivia has returned a 700-year-old mummy to Peru, from where it was
stolen by antiquities traffickers.
The mummy of a child of about two years of age is only 30cm (12in) tall and sits
wrapped in blankets.Bolivian police seized it two years ago from a woman who
was going to ship it to France.Experts determined it was an original but found
that one of its legs had been added later presumably by the smugglers who
wanted to raise its value.Experts have not been able to determine the sex of the
mummy but archaeologists think it came from a pre-Inca culture of coastal
Peru.Bolivian Culture Minister Pablo Groux handed the mummy to his Peruvian
counterpart Luis Peirano at a ceremony at the Peruvian Foreign Ministry in
Lima.The two ministers also signed an agreement to improve their co-operation
in the fight against the smuggling of cultural artefacts.Referring to an increase in
the illegal trade in antiquities, Mr Peirano said the mummy was "just a sample of
the sacking, of the violation of our patrimony and all our inheritance."Peru, at the
centre the Inca culture and other civilisations predating the Incas, has had
thousands of its relics plundered and stolen over the centuries.Peruvian officials
say trafficking in mummies has been less common, though "lately, there has
been an increase in the trafficking of human remains".

4. Cricket-Dilshan leads Sri Lanka to
convincing win
Tillakaratne Dilshan, playing in his 250th one-day international, made
light of a back injury to lead Sri Lanka to a seven-wicket victory over
New Zealand under the Duckworth-Lewis method in another rain-hit
match on Tuesday.
Former captain Dilshan suffered a sore back during the warm-up but still made an unbeaten 102
from 95 balls as the home side chased down a revised target of 197 with 11 balls to spare after Ross
Taylor's side scored 188 for six from 33 overs.
The home side appeared to be in difficulty at 73 for three in the 15th over when captain Mahela
Jayawardene fell for five, miscuing a reverse sweep from the bowling of off-spinner Nathan
McCullum to be caught by Jacob Oram at short third man.
But Dilshan stayed calm and together with Angelo Mathews, who made 54 from 47 balls, they added
an unbroken 127 for the fourth wicket from 99 balls.
The victory gave Sri Lanka an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the five-match series. They won game two by
14 runs, also under Duckworth-Lewis on Sunday, after match one was washed out without a ball
being bowled.
"I had a small back pain in fielding practice before the toss and was probably 50 per cent at the start
but I didn't want to miss the match," Dilshan said at the presentation ceremony.
"When I was batting I was 75 per cent but when the ball hits the middle of the bat the pain was
gone," he said.
Taylor said he felt his side had posted a challenging score.
"Credit to Dilshan as he batted well and took the game away from us," he said.
"I always felt we were in the game. A little bit of dew made it tough (for us) but the partnership of
Mathews and Dilshan won them the game."
New Zealand's total owed most to opener Bradley-John Watling who batted through the innings for
an unbeaten 96.