Obama receives 12 stitches to lip

LONDON. November 27. KAZINFORM US President Barack Obama has been given 12 stitches after he was hit in the lip during a basketball game; Kazinform refers to BBC News.

Mr Obama was inadvertently struck by someone's elbow during the game on Friday morning, the White House said.

The US president was treated in the doctor's office of the White House following the game at Fort McNair, in Washington DC.

Later, Mr Obama was seen at the White House holding what appeared to be an ice pack to his lip.

"After being inadvertently hit with an opposing player's elbow in the lip ... the president received 12 stitches today, administered by the White House Medical Unit," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement.

Mr Obama was given a local anaesthetic while receiving the stitches, he added.

"The medical unit that treated Obama used a smaller filament than typically used, which increases the number of stitches but makes a tighter stitch and results in a smaller scar," added Mr Gibbs; Kazinform cites BBC News.

See www.bbc.co.uk for full version