Tongue-tied

CHINESE surgeons have operated on a man with three tongues, removing two so that he can eat and speak normally for the first time, Xinhua news agency said.

Xian Shihua, 32, a peasant from the south-western province of Sichuan, was born with one tongue, but a second, smaller one grew when he was five years old, and later a third, the agency said. It added: "His largest tongue was 13in long."

- Reuters, Peking