THE WEATHER
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Edition 358
A
See page 2 for the week’s forecast
Father Reveals Daddy
n 11-year old Bolivian girl has given birth to a boy after going for a check-up over stomach pains at Murcia's Virgen de La Arrixaca Hospital last Friday, and it’s emerged, subject to DNA tests, that the baby’s father is the girl’s 14-year-old brother. The pair´s father has told the National Police that the two children had a sexual relationship when the boy was aged 13. That means the boy could not face any charges, as he had not reached the age of 14 when he could appear before a juvenile court. The National Police are looking into whether the two children had a consenting relationship or whether the sister was abused by her brother. There is a possibili-
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Friday 9th February 2018
6 Bedroom 3 Bathroom Detached Villa in San Luis, Torrevieja TY ER OP THE R P F O EEK W
ty that the parents could be charged with neglect for “failing to provide adequate supervision”. The child did not realise she was pregnant and doctors discovered that her pains were caused by her going into labour at the weekend. Despite the extreme risk involved in a girl so young being pregnant and giving birth, the process
went well and she did not need a Caesarian section or any other surgery. She had been taken to the hospital by her parents, who at the time said that they were surprised by what was actually wrong with her. It’s the second such case of an underage mother in a matter of months at the same Murcia City hospital, as back in November, a 12-
year-old girl, also from Latin America, gave birth at the facility. Spanish law says that anybody aged under 18 years is considered a child, and so investigations are carried out as a matter of course, including one involving a 16-year-old from Torre Pacheco giving birth in the bathroom of her home over the weekend.
Caterpillar Caution
ocal vets have issued warning about the danger to dogs caused by processionary caterpillars, which have started to appear earlier than normal this year, because of Spring-like temperatures last month. The hairs of the caterpillar larvae cause harmful reactions in young children, as well as in dogs, with the species wintering in nests in pine trees, and then they “process” out, protected by their hairs in search of food. They often strip down a tree and once they have cleared it out of needles, they then form a line in search of additional nourishment. Their peak season for making an appearance is
between February and April, with the mild winter producing more of them than normal. A young child who touches the caterpillars can end up with acute dermatitis, eye lesions, and strong allergic reactions. Dogs may pick up the caterpillar hairs on their paws and then lick them because of an irritation, leading to swelling which can cause the dog’s tongue to burn away, unless they are treated immediately. The quickest remedy if your dog does go up to sniff a crawling trail of caterpillars is to put bicarbonate of soda onto the affected area immediately, and then take
your pet to the vet. Caterpillars are regarded as the worst plague for pine trees in Spain, after forest fires. Their presence can be spotted by the white nests which look like huge spider’s webs hanging in the pine
trees. However, as these caterpillars turn into butterflies which are then the second most important propagator of plants after bees, they should be left alone to nest and so avoiding the area is the best advice.
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