- Coldplay ticket scalping fiasco sparks backlash in India
- Droughts drive Spanish boom in pistachio farming
- Tokyo recovers some losses to lead Asian markets higher
- Rural schools empty in North Macedonia due to exodus
- US dockworkers launch strike after labor contract expires
- Thousands evacuated as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan
- Kenya airport whistleblower fears for his life
- Sheinbaum to take office as Mexico's first woman president
- Scientists fear underfunded Argentina research on verge of collapse
- US port officials gird for strike despite last-minute bargaining
- With 118 dead from Hurricane Helene, Biden defends US government response
- Breeder who tried to create enormous trophy sheep jailed in US
- Qatar Airways seeking 25% stake in Virgin Australia
- US port officials gird for strike as labor talks stay stuck
- As toll crosses 100, Trump puts Hurricane Helene at election center stage
- US Fed Chair sees 'further disinflation' in economy
- Epic Games sues Google and Samsung over app store
- Officials see no shortages from likely US port strike
- UK families of Gaza hostages warn Lebanon attack 'takes focus away'
- Shares in Stellantis, Aston Martin skid on profit warnings
- Dali prints found in London garage sold at auction
- ECB chief backs bank mergers amid UniCredit, Commerzbank talk
- China stocks soar on stimulus, but US and Europe retreat
- 100 dead in storm Helene damage, flooding across US southeast
- China stocks soar on stimulus, Europe slides on automaker woes
- German antitrust watchdog steps up monitoring of Microsoft
- Nepal's urban poor count cost of 'nightmare' floods
- E.Guinea, Gabon clash at ICJ over oil-rich islands
- New blow for UK's Starmer as growth data disappoints
- China's top banks to tweak mortgage rates to boost housing market
- Muslim women break taboos navigating east London's waterways
- Nepal dam-building spree powers electric vehicle boom
- More than 60 dead from storm Helene as rescue, cleanup efforts grow
- Dozens missing, 9 dead in migrant boat wreck off Spanish Canaries
- Death toll from Hurricane John hits eight in Mexico
- Storm Helene's toll rises as rescue and cleanup efforts gain pace
- SpaceX launches mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding as cleanup begins
- SpaceX set to launch mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Boeing strike grinds on as latest talks fail to reach agreement
- Iran 'news' sites, hackers target Trump ahead of US election
- US ports brace for potential dockworkers strike
- Japan's speedy, spotless Shinkansen bullet trains turn 60
- US hurricane deaths rise to 44, fears of more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Global stocks mostly rise, cheering Beijing stimulus
- Europe en route for Moon with new simulator, says astronaut Pesquet
- Fireworks forecast if comet survives risky Sun flypast
- Argentina judge orders dictionary to delete pejorative definition of 'Jewish'
- Global stocks rise on rate hopes, Beijing stimulus
Keep going: world's oldest person eyes new longevity record
France's Sister Andre, believed to have become the oldest person alive this week at the age of 118, said Tuesday she would now like to beat the record of oldest person ever and that work and caring for others had long kept her spry.
"People say that work kills, for me work kept me alive, I kept working until I was 108," the Catholic nun told reporters Tuesday in the tea-room of the hospice where she lives in the Mediterranean city Toulon.
Although she is now blind and gets around in a wheelchair, she used to care for other elderly people much younger than herself.
"People should help each other and love each other instead of hating. If we shared all that, things would be a lot better," Sister Andre said.
Fellow nun Sister Therese, almost 89, wheels her to mass in the hospice's little chapel each morning.
She said that Sister Andre had "a mission to serve others" and that "her deep faith helps her" keep going.
But the sister, long feted as the oldest European before the death of Japan's Kane Tanaka aged 119 left her the longest-lived person on Earth, is not above a little indulgence.
As Toulon mayor Hubert Falco told her that she was "an object of pride and an example to the whole world," she was making sure that he had safely stowed the chocolates and traditional Provence sweets that people had brought for her.
- 'Not nice being old' -
Born Lucile Randon in 1904 in Ales, also in southern France, Sister Andre's days are punctuated by prayer, mealtimes and visits from other residents and hospice workers -- as well as a steady flow of letters, almost all of which she responds to.
Last year, she even survived a Covid-19 infection, becoming a symbol of hope for people from around the world.
But she rejects requests for locks of hair or DNA samples.
"Only the good Lord knows" the secret of her longevity, she says with a smile.
While she is "proud" to be the world's oldest person, Sister Andre repeated on Tuesday that "it's not nice being old, because I used to like taking care of others, making children dance, and now I can't do that any more".
But she also has a record to beat in mind: that of Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 in Arles, southern France, aged 122 -- the oldest confirmed age reached by any human being so far.
While Sister Andre does suffer from her limitations "she prays a huge amount and rises above it all," said David Tavella, an activity leader at the hospice who has become her confidant.
She thinks to herself that Calment's record "is within reach, if she's going to stay on Earth, she might as well make it," he added.
Sister Andre's status as the oldest person alive has yet to be confirmed by Guinness World Records, and there is no official institution to bestow the title.
Although other people have come forward saying they are even older than Calment, their claims are difficult to verify because of limited record-keeping in much of the world even in the early 20th century.
But Sister Andre is indeed the oldest "by a long way" of the confirmed super-centenarians according to French longevity tracker Laurent Toussaint -- the next contender being a Polish woman aged 115.
H.Müller--CPN