Mini miracle: ‘Record-breaking’ preemie leaves Tokyo hospital
Tokyo: A baby born in Tokyo weighing the same as a large onion has gone home healthy and has become the smallest newborn boy in the world to leave hospital safely. The tiny tot weighed just 268 grams – under 10 ounces – when he was delivered at 24 weeks, reportedly after he stopped growing in the womb. He was so small he fit in an adult’s cupped hands. But after five months of treatment, he now weighs 3.238 kilos, is feeding normally, and has been discharged, Keio University Hospital said. “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. Doctor Takeshi Arimitsu, who treated the infant, said he wanted to tell people that “there is a possibility that babies will be able to leave the hospital in good health even though they are born small”. Keio University Hospital said the boy was believed to now hold the record for the smallest newborn boy to be discharged from a hospital in good health. The record was previously held by a boy born in Germany in 2009 weighing just 274 grams, the hospital said, citing a registry put together by University of Iowa for the world’s tiniest surviving babies. The smallest surviving girl was born in Germany in 2015 weighing 252 grams, according to the registry. The survival rate of the smallest babies is substantially lower for boys compared with girls. Experts are still not entirely sure why, though there have been suggestions it could be partly related to the slower development of lungs in male babies, Keio hospital said. The baby was discharged last week, two months after his initial due date, local media said. Japan has one of the world’s lowest rates of infant mortality, according to UNICEF. (AFP)
No more ‘lucky’ beards: Japan’s sumos hit by whisker ban
Tokyo: Japanese sumo officials have introduced a crackdown on beards, calling them “indecent” and telling wrestlers they must look spick and span during competitions under strict, new rules on personal grooming. The draconian whisker ban is part of fresh regulations also barring tattoos and long nails, local media reported on Wednesday, as the authorities look to clean up the image of Japan’s roly-poly sport. Superstitious sumo wrestlers often decline to shave their beards during tournaments as they believe it brings them luck, but the Japan Sumo Association (JSA) have decided they will no longer tolerate such slovenliness. “Wrestlers must preserve their personal hygiene,” JSA elder Oguruma told reporters after a board meeting. “Officials and referees will be on the lookout. The sumo ring is sacred and it’s important spectators don’t see anything unsightly.” Grand champion Kakuryu said: “It’s an important point so we must absolutely adhere to it.” The ancient sport of sumo has been tarnished by a series of scandals in recent years – from allegations of bout-fixing and the involvement of organised crime to drugs arrests and severe bullying, the most serious case resulting in the death of a teenage wrestler in 2007. Grand champion, or yokozuna, Harumafuji was charged over a brutal assault on a rival wrestler while out drinking in 2017, ending his illustrious career. Believed by historians to date back some 2,000 years, sumo was plunged into further controversy when women who rushed to the aid of a local mayor who had collapsed during a speech were repeatedly told to leave the ring, creating a flurry of embarrassing headlines. The JSA was forced to make a grovelling apology after being accused of deep-rooted sexism, but just days later a female mayor from the western city of Takarazuka was barred from delivering a speech inside the sandy ring. To add insult to injury, the gaffe-prone JSA was slammed again for trying to prevent girls from participating in a children’s sumo event, citing “safety concerns”. (AFP)
Giant tortoise thought to be extinct discovered in Galapagos
New York: A tortoise has been found whose species was believed to have been extinct for a century. The female tortoise, believed being over a hundred years old, was seen alive on the Galapagos island of Fernandina during a joint expedition by the Directorate of the Galapagos National Park and the US organisation Galapagos Conservancy, according to an Euronews report. The last known time a tortoise of the Chelonoidis Phantasticus species was seen there alive was in 1906. The researchers believe that she is not alone, as they have previously found tracks indicating a further presence in other areas of Fernandina Island. While giant tortoises once thrived on most of the continents of the world, the Galapagos tortoises now represent one of the remaining two groups of giant tortoises in the entire world, according to the Galapagos Conservatory. The archipelago was declared a National Heritage Site in 1979 in recognition of its unique species, animals and plants, terrestrial and marine that served as the basis for the English scientist Charles Darwin to develop his theory of the evolution of species. (UNI)