Rome: Doctor: Cloned baby will be born in January

An Italian fertility doctor who has claimed that several women are carrying cloned babies said Tuesday that one of the children would be born in early January. But as with earlier statements, he again offered no evidence.

Dr. Severino Antinori told a news conference that a woman was about eight months pregnant with a cloned baby boy and that the child was developing in an “absolutely healthy” way.

In April, Antinori claimed that he knew of three pregnancies – then in the ninth, seventh and sixth weeks of development – involving cloned babies. He said Tuesday that the oldest of these was about to be born.

However, according to his statement in April, the longest pregnancy would have passed nine months in mid-November. Antinori would not explain the discrepancy Tuesday.

Congo: Flu kills hundreds

The World Health Organization confirmed an outbreak of flu in rebel-controlled northern Congo, and the country’s health minister said Tuesday more than 500 people have died.

Deaths have been recorded in a number of towns – including Bosobolo, Gbadolite and Gemena – in the north of Equateur province, near the border with Central African Republic, Health Minister Mashako Mamba said.

WHO officials in the capital, Kinshasa, confirmed the outbreak but said they could not say how many people had been infected or killed.

The illness was apparently spread by people fleeing an Oct. 25 coup attempt in Central African Republic, Mamba said.

Afghanistan: Attack second in 2 days

A rocket slammed Tuesday into an area near the Finance Ministry in the eastern part of the city, and international peacekeepers said they were investigating. There were no immediate signs of casualties or damages.

The whistling sound of the incoming rocket and its subsequent detonation rippled through the capital city, already on edge after a similar attack a day earlier in a nearby area.

Turkish Lt. Cmdr. Altug Akyuz said several explosions occurred Monday night in an area around the Jalalabad road in eastern Kabul.

Three to five rockets were fired, landing several miles from a peacekeeping base.