Needle found in child's heart
BEIJING • The parents of a one-year-old Chinese girl were shocked to find a 4.5cm long needle wedged in their child's heart after taking her to the hospital for a chronic cough.
The couple, whose family name is Xie, told local media that their daughter Chenchen often coughed at night and had developed a fever in the past weeks.
According to Taiwan's China Times, doctors took two X-rays and found a foreign object in the girl's chest cavity.
The girl had an operation to remove the needle, which her mother said looked like a sewing needle that she regularly uses.
Emperor Akihito still unwell
TOKYO • Japan's ageing Emperor Akihito cancelled his official duties for a second day yesterday, after being treated for insufficient blood supply to the brain.
A palace spokesman said the monarch "has a mild stomach ache in addition to symptoms of vertigo".
On Monday, a government spokesman said the monarch had been treated for cerebral anaemia, a condition resulting from insufficient blood flow to the brain, which caused vertigo and nausea.
The 84-year-old shocked the country in 2016 when he signalled his desire to step down after nearly three decades in the job, citing his age and health problems.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Fatal ferry accident in Indonesia
JAKARTA • At least a dozen people, including two children, died yesterday after a ferry ran aground off the coast of Indonesia, officials said, as rescuers raced to save more than 125 other passengers thought to be aboard the vessel.
The deadly incident in waters off Sulawesi island came the same day that the authorities officially called off the search for more than 160 people still missing after another ferry sank in a popular tourist lake in Sumatra two weeks ago.
In yesterday's incident, the KM Lestari ran aground about 300m from the coast, Indonesia's transportation agency said, as waves swamped trucks and other vehicles on the ferry's deck before they plunged into the water.
The authorities have not yet accounted for all 139 people listed in the ship's manifest, police spokesman Dicky Sondani told Kompas TV.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
