World's oldest person dies at 115

An American woman who was recognised as the world's oldest person for a year has died at the age of 115.

Edna Parker died at a nursing home in Indiana, her family said.

Mrs Parker had been a widow since 1939 and had lived alone in her farmhouse until she was 100. She outlived her two sons, and had 31 other descendants.

With Mrs Parker's death, Maria de Jesus of Portugal, born in 1893, is the world's oldest person, according to the Gerontology Research Group.

Stephen Coles, who maintains the centre's list of centenarians, said Mrs Parker's great-nephew told him she died on Wednesday.

She did not drink alcohol or smoke, and led an active life.

Mrs Parker, a teacher before she became a farmer's wife in 1913, advised people to get "more education," the Associated Press news agency reported.