Twin babies have been born in the US state of Tennessee from embryos frozen more than 30 years ago. It is believed to be a new record for the longest-frozen embryos ever to result in a successful live birth. They were stored at around -128C (-200F) in liquid nitrogen on 22 April 1992. Rachel Ridgeway, a mother of four from Oregon, gave birth to the twins on 31 October. The father, Philip Ridgeway, said it was “mind-boggling”. Lydia Ann and Timothy Ronald Ridgeway likely set a new record, according to the National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC), a private faith-based organisation that says it has helped birth more than 1,200 infants from donated embryos. NEDC’s previous record-holder, Molly Gibson, was born in 2020 from an embryo that had been frozen for nearly 27 years. “The decision… to adopt these embryos should reassure patients who wonder if anyone would be willing to adopt the embryos that they created 5, 10, 20 years ago,” said Dr John David Gordon, who performed the embryo transfer. “That answer is a resounding yes!” The twin embryos had been created for an anonymous married couple using IVF. The man was in his 50s and reportedly relied on a 34-year-old egg donor.(BBC)…[+]

Ukraine’s security service has raided a historic monastery in Kyiv in an operation it says was aimed at stopping Russian agents using the site for sabotage, intelligence or weapons.  The Pechersk Lavra Orthodox Christian monastery dates back to the 11th Century and is now a seat of Ukraine’s Orthodox Church. The Church split from the Moscow patriarchate after Russia’s invasion. The Kremlin said the raid was another attack by Kyiv on Russian Orthodoxy. The SBU security service in Kyiv announced on Tuesday it was conducting “counter-intelligence measures” to target the “subversive activities” of Russian special services. It said there was an increased risk of attack, sabotage and hostage-taking in places that attracted large groups of citizens. The monastery, which is a Unesco World Heritage site, was one of a number of Orthodox churches raided on Tuesday, as authorities responded to complaints that clergy had been glorifying Russia and could be in league with the Kremlin. A criminal inquiry was opened a week ago after a video emerged of pro-Russian propaganda being sung, referring to the awakening of Mother Russia.(BBC)…[+]

Divers were unable to launch a rescue operation after a passenger plane crashed in Tanzania’s Lake Victoria as they lacked oxygen in their cylinders, an official report has found. At least 19 people died after the plane plunged into the lake on 6 November. The report from Tanzania’s ministry of transport painted a damning picture of the emergency services’ preparedness to deal with the disaster. More lives may have been saved if rescue efforts started sooner, it said. Instead, the police marine unit had only one rescue boat. It arrived at the site of the crash four hours later and did not have enough fuel, the report said.

“The two pilots who were in the cockpit appear to have been unable to open the cockpit door and overhead escape hatch because of high water pressure. “If there could have been immediate rescue operations, it is most likely that more people would have survived,” it added. The report echoed earlier public criticism of rescue operations, but failed to disclose the cause of the crash, saying that an investigation was still under way.(BBC)…[+]