News on the go: Oct. 14, 2013

Carrie Blazina

A huge cyclone hit India this weekend, the strongest to hit the country in more than a decade, but officials said Sunday only 17 fatalities had been confirmed. They attributed the lack of widespread deaths to the evacuation of about a million people, but they did admit the toll is expected to rise as officials continue to reach areas isolated by floods and downed communications. Cyclone Phailin destroyed tens of thousands of homes and hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of crops. Read the full story here.

New York investigators announced Saturday an arrest in the 22-year-old cold case of “Baby Hope,” a 4-year-old who was killed and found when her body was stuffed into a cooler left along a highway. Anjelica Castillo was identified for the first time as the victim, and officials said her relative Conrado Juarez, 52, was charged with felony murder Saturday. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Juarez had confessed to the killing and admitted he killed the girl at his sister’s apartment after sexually abusing her. Read the full story here.

Gunmen abducted six Red Cross workers and a Syrian Red Crescent volunteer in northern Syria on Sunday after stopping their convoy, a Red Cross spokesman said. Syrian state news blamed rebels, but the Red Cross said it was not clear who was behind the attack, which occurred when assailants opened fire on the aid workers’ convoy. The Red Cross said the workers had been in the area for only a few days and had been assessing the medical situation and determining how best to provide aid.

Five teenage boys missing from a New Mexico ranch for troubled youth were still reported missing Sunday after four other boys who had been missing were confirmed to be back with their parents late Saturday. An attorney for the troubled-youth program said all nine boys are home with their families, but state police said Sunday they need to see the boys and cannot take the attorney’s word on their whereabouts. The state started its search for the boys after officials discovered they were not at the ranch, but the ranch’s attorney said they took a trip away from the ranch that was scheduled to last several days.

Information is from the Associated Press.

Contact Carrie Blazina at [email protected].