Hopes are high twin panda cubs will survive

Zookeepers in Washington DC are optimistic about the survival chances of twin cubs born to giant panda Mei Xiang.

In more than three decades of trying to breed pandas at the National Zoo, there has been plenty of heartbreak, and more cubs have died than survived.

But now zoo officials do not just have an apparently healthy pair of twins, born on Saturday night, they have a template to follow that gives the cubs a strong chance of survival.