A young Chinese couple are facing many years in jail after allegedly selling their baby daughter to raise money for an iPhone and other luxury goods.

The couple, identified only as Miss Zhang and Mr Teng, are said to have placed anonymous advertisements in newspapers suggesting they would be willing to part with their baby – unborn at that stage – in exchange for 50,000 yuan (about £5,000).

Police in Shanghai have charged the couple with human trafficking after accepting money for the baby, who was born at home and still only weeks, or months old, when sold.

Having received the money, which was deposited in their bank account, the couple went out on a spending spree, using part of the proceeds to buy an iPhone, State media reported today.

The unemployed couple, who have two other children, were also accused of using the money to purchase a number of luxury goods.

They are understood to have told prosecutors that they were acting in their daughter’s best interests, claiming they had hoped to find a home for her with a financially stable family who would be able to provide her with an eduction.

But prosecutors said they believed the couple’s bank records show they had hatched a ‘sinister conspiracy’ to profit from the sale of the baby.

In an attempt to hide that they were behind the sale of a child, the couple tried to conceal the fact that Miss Zhang was pregnant and she had even gone to the length of giving birth at home.

They are said to have told neighbours that the baby bump during Miss Zhang’s pregnancy was a tumour.

Police were forced to lock down part of an Australian terminal building after a kangaroo surprised shoppers by creeping into a pharmacy.

The marsupial, who was pictured in the skincare aisle of the store, probably made his way to the right part of the Melbourne Airport – he had been hit by a car outside and suffered minor injuries.

The eastern grey male, who was nicknamed Cyrus, had to be sedated and carried out of the airport by wildlife volunteers.

As he made his way through the terminal, astonished passengers hurried out of its path.

Cyrus was taken to a nearby vet’s where his injuries were assessed.

It is not the first time a kangaroo has caused a stir at Melbourne Airport.

In January a marsupial had to be shot with a tranquiliser gun after leading security guards and police on a chase around the terminal car park.

At least 17 people have died and hundreds of flights have been canceled as Typhoon Wipha pummeled the Tokyo area on Wednesday.

A local government official in Oshima, a small island 120 km (75 miles) south of Tokyo, said that a majority of the people died after heavy rain triggered flooding and landslides that blocked roads and crushed houses.

Rescuers were unable to reach about some people in the area hit by landslides.

More than 500 domestic and international flights were canceled at Tokyo’s Narita and Haneda airports and the national rail operator halted bullet train services in central and northern Japan.

The typhoon is moving north along the Pacific coast of Japan and is expected to reach the northernmost island of Hokkaido by late Wednesday.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the main electricity supplier in Tokyo and central Japan, said blackouts affected more than 56,000 households.

A stampede outside a temple in central India killed at least 89 people Sunday, authorities said.

The incident occurred on a bridge over the Sindh River while pilgrims were headed to the temple for a Hindu festival.

“The death toll could go much higher as about 25,000 people were present on the bridge at that time,” said D.K. Arya, a local deputy police inspector.

A rumor that the bridge was about to collapse caused panicked people to stampede, police told CNN sister network CNN-IBN.

Many people jumped off the bridge into the river, Arya said.

The stampede occurred at a temple in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.