US officials believe the discovery of human remains in a car at the bottom of an Alabama creek has solved the mystery of a student who went missing 45 years ago. In 1976, Kyle Wade Clinkscales left LaGrange, Georgia, to drive back to Auburn in Alabama, but never arrived. The disappearance of the 22-year-old and his 1974 Pinto has never been solved. But on Tuesday a member of the public spotted the car submerged in the creek.

After pulling the vehicle out, investigators confirmed that the car belonged to Clinkscales. They found what appeared to be human bones along with identification and credit cards belonging to the missing man, Troup County Sheriff James Woodruff told a news conference. “For 45 years, we’ve looked for this young man and looked for this car,” he said. “We’ve drained lakes, and we’ve looked here and looked there and ran this theory down and that theory down and, it’s always turned out nothing.” Tests are now under way to confirm that the remains belong to Clinkscales. Police had previously stated that they believed the student had been killed.(BBC)…[+]

More than 40 camels have been disqualified from Saudi Arabia’s beauty pageant for receiving Botox injections and other cosmetic enhancements. The contest is a highlight of the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival, where $66m (£45m) in prize money is at stake. Key attributes include long, droopy lips, a big nose and a shapely hump. Judges used “advanced” technology to uncover tampering with camels on a scale not seen before, the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. All contestants were first led into a hall where their external appearance and movements were examined by specialists, it said. Their heads, necks and torsos were then scanned with X-ray and 3D ultrasound machines, and samples taken for genetic analysis and other tests.(BBC)…[+]

New Zealand will ban the sale of tobacco to its next generation, in a bid to eventually phase out smoking. Anyone born after 2008 will not be able to buy cigarettes or tobacco products in their lifetime, under a law expected to be enacted next year. “We want to make sure young people never start smoking,” Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verall said. The move is part of a sweeping crackdown on smoking announced by New Zealand’s health ministry on Thursday. Doctors and other health experts in the country have welcomed the “world-leading” reforms, which will reduce access to tobacco and restrict nicotine levels in cigarettes. “It will help people quit or switch to less harmful products, and make it much less likely that young people get addicted to nicotine,” said Prof Janet Hook from the University of Otago. The crackdown has been met with mixed reactions.(BBC)…[+]