■ United Kingdom
Three sisters in single birth
A woman who was left infertile after chemotherapy to treat cervical cancer has a baby boy thanks to her two sisters -- one of whom donated an egg and the other who acted as a surrogate. Alex Patrick's twin sister, Charlotte Pestell, 32, offered her ovum and her older sister, Helen Ritchie, 35, carried the fetus through pregnancy. The egg was fertilized in a laboratory using sperm from Patrick's husband, Shaun. Their son, Charlie, was born 16 weeks ago weighing 3.8kg after a short labor. Woolwich resident Patrick said she would be "forever indebted" to her sisters. It is thought to be the first case in Britain where three sisters have been involved in a single surrogate birth.
■ Nigeria
US forensics help requested
The government requested expert help from the US to determine what brought down a passenger jet, whose crash carved a deep pit into the earth and killed all 117 aboard. Aviation Minister Babalola Borishade told reporters at the crashsite his country had made a formal request to the US for aviation investigators and forensic experts. He did not completely rule out the possibility of foul play, but said, "For now, we just believe it's an accident."
■ Canada
Cuban singers seek asylum
As many as half the members of Cuba's 40-member National Choir skipped their downtown Toronto hotel on Sunday to seek asylum in Canada, the president of the Cuban-Canadian Foundation, Ismael Sambra, said. Among the asylum seekers is baritone Ernesto Hermes Cendoya Sotomayor. The choir began a cross-Canada tour on Oct. 18 and were due to fly to Vancouver in the coming days. "We're trying to help those young people who are seeking asylum," Sambra said. "Unfortunately some went back to the hotel to get their clothes and were held by the state security officials." Sambra estimated about 20 people had sought asylum and that at least one person was in Ottawa.
■ Canada
John Lennon lyrics for sale
The original lyrics of John Lennon's song Give Peace A Chance are going up for sale. The lyrics, written on an envelope from Montreal's Queen Elizabeth Hotel in 1969, will be auctioned in London next month. To publicize the auction, Bonhams auction house re-enacted the ``bed in'' hosted by Lennon and Yoko Ono 36 years ago in the same Montreal hotel room where the couple caused a media frenzy by putting on their pajamas and inviting the world press for the 10-day event. The original words to the song Give Peace a Chance, which Lennon and Ono recorded in the hotel suite's living room, are on both sides of the envelope. Bonhams hopes to fetch at least US$250,000 for the lyrics.
RSS