Body found likely to be of missing hiker
SYDNEY • A body was found in the search for Ms Claire Hockridge, 48, who was lost for more than two weeks in Australia's outback, police said yesterday after two of her friends were rescued.
They had set out to explore the country's vast interior near Alice Springs on Nov 19 when their car became bogged down in a river bed.
After three days of staying put and waiting for a rescue, the group feared supplies were dwindling and two of them decided to walk along a property fence in the hope of finding help. The lone person to stay back, Ms Tamra McBeath-Riley, 52, was found on Sunday less than 2km from the same vehicle suffering from dehydration. A local rancher on Tuesday found Mr Phu Tran, 40, "slightly disorientated" but in a "good condition" a two-day walk from the vehicle.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
J&J: More tests show no asbestos in powder
WASHINGTON • Johnson & Johnson (J&J) said on Tuesday that more tests showed that Johnson's Baby Powder was free of asbestos after US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigations had found trace amounts of the material.
The company said its investigation concluded that the most probable root causes for the FDA's reported results were either test sample contamination or analyst error at the lab, or both.
REUTERS
Indian border cop kills colleagues, himself
RAIPUR • A policeman from India's armed border force opened fire on his colleagues yesterday, killing five of them before turning the gun on himself, police said.
Constable Musudul Rehman of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) opened fire on his comrades in Chhattisgarh, a restive central state long racked by a left-wing insurgency.
"He later shot himself after shooting seven personnel," said ITBP in a statement. The two injured were airlifted to state capital Raipur.
Maoist rebels have been fighting for decades for greater rights over land and resources in mineral-rich Chhattisgarh.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
132 killed in floods, landslides in Kenya
NAIROBI • At least 132 people have been killed in floods and landslides caused by unusually heavy rainfall in Kenya.
Around 17,000 were displaced and 11,000 livestock swept away by strong waters, government spokesman Cyrus Oguna said. More than half of the country has been affected, according to Mr Oguna.
The rain has helped alleviate the drought conditions across the country that caused a food shortage and added to inflationary pressures, but has damaged infrastructure and farmland.
The authorities are assessing the extent of destruction as they plan repairs, said Mr Oguna.
The rain is above the average amounts recorded in past years, with some areas receiving as much as three times their historical average, Kenya Meteorological Department deputy director Bernard Chanzu said by phone.
The rain is expected to continue through this month.
BLOOMBERG
