Separated twins begin new lives

Twin Nepalese girls born joined at the head and separated by doctors in Singapore have flown home to start new lives.

The parents of 18-month-old Ganga and Jamuna Shrestha hugged doctors and friends as they bundled their daughters through Singapore's Changi Airport yesterday.

Singapore General Hospital is the only home the twins have known for a year. It was there that a team of 20 doctors, after months of preparation, separated them in a gruelling 100-hour operation in April.

Jamuna, who was the quieter of the twins before the surgery, is "very active and can speak a few words," said her grandfather, Arjun Dev Shrestha, at the airport. She can sit up on her own, but neither of the girls can yet walk.

Singapore paid for the initial medical costs and the family's travel after hearing about the case.