World Vignettes

Infant donor

TURIN: The drama of a baby bornwithout a brain and his parents’ decision to allow him to become an organ donor riveted Italy yesterday. The infant, identified only as Gabriele, suffers from anencephalia, a congenital malformation in which all or most of the brain and flat skull bones are absent. He was born in the northern city of Turin on January 14 and never had a chance to survive. His parents agreed to let Gabriele become an organ donor when he died. Organ transplants are still relatively rare in Italy, especially those involving infants, and the tale has attracted national attention. Gabriele fell into what doctors call an irreversible coma and was declared legally dead on Wednesday. A heart transplant was expected within 24 laws. Gabriele’s parents also agreed to donate other organs if recipients were available.

Newborn dead

RIO DE JANEIRO: Five newborns died within 24 hours at an overcrowded intensive care unit of a government maternity hospital, a doctor has said. Dr Jader Coelho Dias, director of the AlexanderFleming maternity hospital on Rio’s poor north side, said yesterday four babies died of complications from an infection and one accidentally smothered. Dr Dias said the unit is equipped to handle 12 babies but had 26 when the deaths occurred.“There were simply too many babies,” he said. Babies sent to this unit usually are underweight and in delicate health.

Othello’s flaw

MEMMINGEN: A 42-year-old Bavarian man who rode his horse into a discotheque was fined 500 Marks (275 Dollars) Thursday for animal cruelty. Hans-Peter Hochsteiner, who sports a Salvador Dali moustache, promised the local court in Memmingen he wouldn’t bring Othello to dance clubs anymore.

“But into the beer garden, yes can’t take that away from me,” Hochsteiner said afterward. Outraged patrons called police when Hochsteiner rode the gelding into the first floor of a disco in Memmingen in 1996. He refused to pay the fine at the time and the issue was referred to the court.

TM for longlife

WASHINGTON: Transcendental Meditation (TM), popularised in the United States and other countries by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, may slow down the aging process, according to a recent study. “Elderly people practising TM have significantly lower serum lipid peroxide levels. High levels of lipid peroxide have been shown in previous studies to be an important factor in the formation of atherosclerosis and to be directly associated with the aging process,” the study published in the recent issue of Psychosomatic Medicine Man says.