TOKYO — A baby boy who weighed just 268g at birth has been released from hospital in Japan, and is believed to be the smallest boy in the world to have been successfully treated.
The baby was born by emergency C-section in August, and was so small he could fit into a pair of cupped hands. The infant was nurtured in intensive care until he was released last week, two months after his due date. He had grown to a weight of 3,2kg, and is now feeding normally. Born at 24 weeks, the tiny boy spent five months in hospital. “I can only say I’m happy that he has grown this big because honestly, I wasn’t sure he could survive,” the boy’s mother said, according to Tokyo’s Keio University Hospital. Doctor Takeshi Arimitsu told the BBC he was the smallest infant born (on record) to be discharged from a hospital.
MPs debate Theresa May’s next steps
LONDON — MPs will have their say on the next steps for Brexit later as Theresa May urges them to “do their duty”. Writing in the Daily Mail, the prime minister said the UK remained “firmly on course” to leave the EU with a deal, “if MPs hold their nerve”. A number of amendments to the government’s negotiating strategy will be voted on in the Commons later. The votes are not on May’s Brexit deal itself – she says that will happen before 12 March. But they could influence some aspects of Brexit – and hold the PM to her commitment, made on Tuesday, to allow MPs a vote on extending 29 March’s Brexit deadline to avoid Britain leaving without a deal. May’s critics have accused her of “kicking the can down the road” with her pledge to hold more votes before 12 March.
India demands Pakistan release pilot
NEW DELHI — India has demanded the release of a fighter pilot shot down by Pakistan warplanes in a major escalation between the two nuclear powers over Kashmir. Video showing the pilot – blindfolded and with blood on his face – was shared by Pakistan’s information ministry. India described the images as a “vulgar display of injured personnel”. Social media users in India have hailed the pilot as a hero. Others are urging both countries to show restraint, with the hashtag #SayNoToWar. The recent aerial attacks across the Line of Control (LoC) dividing Indian and Pakistani territory in Kashmir are the first since a war in 1971. The incident, in which Pakistan said it had shot down two military jets, has escalated tensions between the two nations, both of whom claim all of Kashmir.
50% of transport pollution deaths linked to diesel
WASHINGTON — Some 385 000 people worldwide died prematurely in 2015 from air pollution caused by vehicle exhaust emissions, a US study found on Wednesday, which singled out diesel engines as the main culprit. Diesel vehicles were responsible for 47% of the deaths, it said, but the figure jumped as high as 66% in France, Germany, Italy and India, where diesels make up a large proportion of cars on the road. The study was carried out by researchers from the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) – the non-governmental group that blew the whistle on Volkswagen’s “dieselgate” emissions cheating scandal in 2015 – and two US universities.
– Nampa-AFP-BBC News
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