- Bomb threat rattles US city in Republican anti-migrant conspiracy
- ECB rate cut boosts European stocks as Wall Street extends rally
- Alvarez aims to stop knockout artist Berlanga in latest title defence
- Business groups ask Ottawa to prevent Air Canada strike
- Cooler weather helps, but Los Angeles fires still out of control
- Macron, ex-PM remember bloody liberation of French port
- Noel Gallagher's 'Brit Pop' guitars go under hammer
- US clears way for hearing aid feature in new Apple AirPods Pro
- Hamilton not disappointed by Newey move to Aston Martin
- Final report clears WADA in Chinese swimmers case, adds rules need strengthening
- US calls for Africa to get two permanent UN Security Council seats
- Burrow's Bengals aim to bounce back against Chiefs
- Ingebrigtsen says getting stronger, bullish over world records
- Putin warns West risks 'war' if it backs Ukraine long-range strikes
- Peru mourns divisive former strongman Fujimori
- Vaughan's son takes 11 wickets as Somerset revive title bid by beating champions Surrey
- Long-awaited case on Man City charges to start on Monday: report
- PSG refuse League order to pay Mbappe disputed €55 million
- Harris, Trump target swing states after fierce debate
- Ten Hag hits back at Ronaldo criticism over Man Utd ambition
- Oscar hopefuls to bookend US French film festival
- UN chief calls for 'courage' ahead of Summit of the Future
- French rugby federation blames 'poorly managed' supervision for youth player drowning
- Movie producer Harvey Weinstein indicted on new charges: US media
- Ex-Scotland captain Hogg to miss Montpellier match after bail release
- 'Historic': Bad weather slashes wine harvest in France's Jura
- ECB rate cut boosts European stocks, euro
- Piastri not 'pulling over' for Norris at every race
- 'Energised' Tebogo looking to close season with Diamond League bang
- Millions in SE Asia battle floods, death toll passes 250
- Fiat 500 electric production pauses for one month
- London Fashion Week opens with Charli XCX party and second-hand runways
- ECB cuts rates again, Lagarde backs EU reform call
- Storm Francine downgraded but still drenching US south
- Everton say 'work to be done' on Textor takeover
- Shelling kills 3 Red Cross workers in E.Ukraine
- Shelling kills 3 Red Cross workers killed in E.Ukraine
- Iran president makes 'historic' visit to Iraqi Kurdistan
- Brigitte Macron awarded damages over false trans claim
- ECB rate cut boosts Europeans stocks, euro
- Deadly Israeli strike on Gaza school draws global condemnation
- Russia recaptures part of Kursk region
- Bike-loving Dutch grapple with 'fatbike' phenomena
- Ahead of Champions League warm-up, PSG are soaring and Brest slumping
- ECB cuts rates again as inflation slows
- Denmark's von Trier to direct a new film
- Arteta agrees new Arsenal deal
- Jon Bon Jovi helps woman standing on edge of US bridge
- SpaceX makes history with first spacewalks by private citizens
- England's Livingstone 'feels like a kid again' after injury setbacks
Berlin zoo panda gives birth to twins for second time
Berlin Zoo said Friday its resident panda Meng Meng had delivered twins for the second time, hailing the rare births as a boost to the endangered creatures.
The cubs were born on Thursday, weighing 136 and 169 grams (around five and six ounces), and measuring just 14 centimetres (5.5 inches), the zoo said.
They are both doing well and are being cared for by their mother and panda experts, although the zoo added the next few days would be "critical".
"I am relieved that the two were born healthy," zoo director Andreas Knieriem said in a statement.
"With fewer than 2,000 adult giant pandas in their natural habitat, every single cub is an important contribution to the conservation of this endangered species."
The gender of the cubs has not yet been determined.
Pandas are born naked, deaf, blind and pink, and it takes some time for the creatures' typical black and white markings to develop.
Zoo visitors will not yet be able to see the new arrivals, who will spend their early days hidden from public view in the rear area of the panda enclosure.
Meng Meng and male panda Jiao Qing arrived in Berlin in 2017 on loan from China.
Famed for its "panda diplomacy", China has dispatched its national treasure to only about a dozen countries as a symbol of close relations.
In 2019, Meng Meng delivered twins called Pit and Paule, which were the first of the animals to be born in Germany.
As part of such loan agreements, pandas born overseas must be returned to China, and Pit and Paule were sent to live in Chengdu last year.
China had previously given three pandas to Germany but the last one, 34-year-old Bao Bao, died in Berlin in 2012, having become the oldest male panda in the world.
Environmental group WWF says about 1,860 pandas remain in the wild in China.
H.E.Young--AMWN