Oldest American celebrates 115th birthday

The oldest living American, one of the few living people born in the 19th Century, has marked her 115th birthday.

Jeralean Talley was born on 23 May 1899 and is the world's second-oldest person, according to a list maintained by the Gerontology Research Group.

The oldest is Misao Okawa in Japan, who is 116, according to the group.

Asked how she has lived so long, Ms Talley told the Detroit Free Press: "It's all in the good Lord's hands. There's nothing I can do about it."

She plans to celebrate with family and friends at a local church in Michigan on Sunday.

Born in Montrose, Georgia, she moved to Michigan in 1935 and had one child with her husband, Alfred, who died in 1988.

Her daughter Thelma Holloway, 76, lives with her mother in Inkster in Wayne County, and three more generations of her family live nearby.

Ms Holloway helps with her mother's care, although a fishing trip last year is evidence of Ms Talley's continued good health, and she can still walk with the aid of a walking frame.