Sharp rise in China birth defects

ACCORDING TO THE BEEB, "A senior family planning official in China has noted an alarming rise in the number of babies with birth defects, a Chinese media report says."

Jiang Fan, from China's National Population and Family Planning Commission, said environmental pollution was the cause of the problem.

He said a child was born with physical defects every 30 seconds because of the degrading environment.

The report said China's coal-rich Shanxi province had the highest rate.