Infant is popular
The week's news at a glance.
Kalmunai, Sri Lanka
A 4-month-old baby boy found in the rubble after the tsunami must undergo a DNA test to determine which—if any—of 15 desperate couples are his parents, a Sri Lankan judge ruled last week. “Baby 81,” so called because he was the 81st hospital admission of the day, was the subject of a local newspaper article about tsunami orphans. After seeing the child’s photograph, 15 couples who had lost young babies in the disaster came to the hospital to claim him. One couple was arrested last week after storming the ward and trying to snatch the baby. “That is my baby. I know he’s mine,” screamed the woman, Jeyaraja Junitha. But hospital officials say many other couples are just as certain. “They all believe this is their baby,” said one hospital official. “They are not lying. They have just lost their baby and they really believe it’s theirs.”
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Ukraine scrambles as Trump cuts weapons deliveries
Speed Read The halting of weapons shipments was driven by Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby, a Ukraine funding skeptic
-
The first AI job cuts are already here
Feature Companies are removing entry-level jobs as AI takes over
-
July 3 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Thursday’s political cartoons include MAGA frogs boiling in hot water, Donald Trump imagining Elon Musk in a cell, and work requirements for Medicaid