World briefs

A mother in central China has given birth to a 7.04kg baby, possibly the largest newborn on record since the country’s founding in 1949.

The state-run Tianjin Post said that the 29-year-old mother in Henan province gave birth to the boy on Saturday by caesarean section.

It said delivery took just 20 minutes and both mother and the baby, named Chun Chun, are doing fine.

The paper said Chun Chun’s parents are average size and there was nothing unusual about his mother’s pregnancy or diet.

The paper said it was not immediately clear whether Chun Chun made China’s record books.

Guinness World Records said the heaviest newborn ever recorded was born to an Ohio woman in 1879 and weighed 10.77kg.

Girl, 15, killed child for fun

An American teenager who strangled and stabbed a nine-year-old neighbour because she wanted to know how it felt to kill someone has been jailed for life.

Alyssa Bustamante, 18, was 15 when she confessed to the murder of Elizabeth Olten in their small Missouri town. In her diary, she described the experience as “pretty enjoyable.”

Bustamante had been charged with first-degree murder. By pleading guilty to lesser charges of second-degree murder she avoided a trial and the possibility of spending her life in an adult prison with no chance of release.

Russians reach hidden lake

Scientists have reached Antarctica’s largest icebound freshwater lake hidden for millions of years under miles of ice.

A team from Russia’s Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute reached Lake Vostok on Sunday after more than two decades of drilling.

The discovery has been avidly anticipated by scientists around the world, who hope that the lake, comparable in area to Lake Ontario, may contain microbial life and provide a clue in the search for life on other planets in similar conditions.

The project has drawn fears that lubricants and antifreeze used in the drilling may contaminate the pristine lake.

Gang raids across London

A new specialist police unit tackling London gangs carried out hundreds of raids yesterday, exactly six months on from the riots that hit the capital, arresting 158 people.

The suspected gang members were picked up as hundreds of Metropolitan Police officers mounted more than 300 raids across the city, starting at dawn.

Those detained are accused of assault, possession of a firearm, robbery, the supply of drugs and money laundering, police said, and “significant amounts of crack cocaine, heroin and cash” were also seized.

The 1,000-strong Trident Gang Crime Command has been created to monitor gang activity and work with local authorities in London.

Police in London have so far arrested nearly 3,900 people over last summer’s riots and of that figure, 2,385 have been charged or summoned.