Seven missing after freak rains

Seven people including a Japanese tourist are missing after unusual torrential rain in Australia’s outback turned the Uluru monolith into a series of cascading waterfalls and triggered flash floods. Police were using helicopters to search for an Australian family of six and the tourist, who was swept away in a car. The family have been missing since Christmas Day downpours drenched the desert that is usually sweltering in the middle of the southern summer at this time of year.