A 60-year-old retiree has become the oldest woman in China to give birth, bearing twins after becoming pregnant via in-vitro fertilisation, state media reported on Thursday. The woman, whose real name was not given, gave birth to the two baby girls prematurely on Tuesday in Hefei, capital of the eastern province of Anhui, the China Daily said. The births came 34 weeks after she became impregnated to ease the pain caused by the death of her 28-year-old daughter, Tingting, who died in a “gas poisoning” incident early in 2009 along with her husband, it said.
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Probe into smoking toddler case
Jakarta : The parents of a two-year-old boy seen smoking a cigarette in a clip that was posted on YouTube are to be investigated, Indonesian officials said on Thursday, after the video drew worldwide attention. The footage shows the chubby toddler laughing and responding to the adults around him as he takes long and frequent drags on a cigarette. The little boy, who reportedly lives in a village on Sumatra island and is called Ardi Rizal, is said to smoke at least 40 a day and became addicted after his father gave him a cigarette when he was aged just 18 months.
“We’ll investigate the parents and community of the toddler,” said Heru Kasidi, from the women’s empowerment and child protection ministry. —AFP
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Russia vows to retaliate after bomb kills seven
Moscow : Russian authorities on Thursday vowed to strike back after a bomb blast killed seven people and wounded dozens in the southern city of Stavropol minutes before a Chechen dance concert the night before. A bomb packed with steel pellets hidden in a juice carton went off near a cultural centre as locals were gathering for the performance of a re-nowned Chechen folk gro-up. By Thursday morning, the death toll had risen to seven and 33 people rem-ained hospitalised, many in critical condition. Mudalif Tambiyev, a youth injured in the blast, said he had escaped with light injuries thanks to his friend. —AFP