News in Brief

A British hiker was lost in the New Zealand wilderness without food for more than five days after he removed his contact lenses which left him virtually blind. James Esbester from Portsmouth slipped and fell because of his poor eyesight before being rescued by helicopter from the Kahurangi National Park. 'When I set out for what was supposed to be a day's walk, I was wearing contact lenses, but I had to take them out on the second day because they were so uncomfortable,' he said.

Luxottica has signed a deal to acquire two sunglass retail chains, Stanza and High Tech, which collectively operate more than 70 stores in Mexico. According to Vision Monday (VM) the acquisition price was about €17m and the takeover is likely to be completed by the end of the second quarter. VM suggested that the acquired stores would be rebranded under the Sunglass Hut name once the acquisition was completed.