During the eight days that Tanya Rider of Maple Valley, Wash., lay seriously injured in her crashed SUV, her husband was fighting red tape to get authorities to launch a search for her, he said Friday. Rider, 33, was found alive but dehydrated at the bottom of a steep ravine on Thursday, more than a week after she failed to return home from work. Authorities found Rider’s Honda Element, smashed on its side, along a highway under brush, a police spokesman said.
Myanmar protests Students from Myanmar rally Friday outside their country’s embassy in Bangkok. Meanwhile, in Myanmar, soldiers clubbed and dragged away activists while firing tear gas and warning shots to break up demonstrations Friday before they could grow, and the government cut Internet access, raising fears that a deadly crackdown was set to intensify. Troops also occupied Buddhist monasteries in a bid to clear the streets of Myanmar’s revered monks, who have spearheaded the demonstrations.
New dividers in men’s room
The infamous airport men’s room in Minneapolis where Sen. Larry Craig was arrested is getting new stall dividers that drop nearly to the floor to make it a less inviting spot for sexual liaisons. Web sites had touted that restroom as a popular site for sex with strangers, and police reports over the summer described several cases of men ducking their heads under the dividers into adjoining stalls, allegedly in search of sex.
More female roles in military
Mexico’s military is tapping a populationits recruiters all but overlooked for decades: women. For the first time, Mexico is allowing females to train in elite military schools to become engineers, pilots and other careers that can rise to the rank of general. Women still aren’t allowed in combat roles, but the moves are the first expansion of military opportunities for women in 31 years.
And finally …
Brain-eating amoeba
It sounds like science fiction, but it’s true: A killer amoeba living in lakes enters the body through the nose and attacks the brain where it feeds until you die. Even though encounters with the microscopic bug are rare, it’s killed six boys and young men this year. A spike has health officials predicting more cases in the future. Though infections tend to be found in southern states, Naegleria lives almost everywhere in lakes, hot springs, even dirty swimming pools.
