Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's latest brain scan showed some improvement and his doctors said yesterday that they would bring him out of an induced coma within a day to assess brain damage. One of his surgeons ruled out the possibility of Sharon returning to office.
Sharon, who suffered a debilitating stroke last week, remained in critical condition yesterday at Hadassah Hospital. But his vital signs, including intracranial pressure, were normal, Dr Shlomo Mor-Yosef, the hospital's director, said after doctors completed a new brain scan of Sharon.
"His condition is still critical but stable, and there is improvement in the CT picture of the brain," Dr Mor-Yosef said. He did not answer questions from reporters and gave no prognosis.
But one of Sharon's surgeons, Dr Jose Cohen, was quoted as saying that while Sharon's chances of survival from the stroke are high, his ability to think and reason would be impaired.
"He will not continue to be prime minister, but maybe he will be able to understand and to speak," the Argentina-born Cohen said in comments published yesterday by the Jerusalem Post. His remarks reinforced the widespread belief that Sharon's days as prime minister are over.
A senior official at Hadassah suggested that even Cohen's dire assessment might be too optimistic.
"There was expression of hopes and thoughts ... in which some people expressed optimism," Dr Yair Birenboim, the No. 2 administrator at Hadassah, told Israel Army Radio. "That was definitely an expression that we think was premature."
Birenboim is not directly involved in Sharon's treatment, but is briefed on the prime minister's condition, hospital officials said.
Sharon has been hospitalized since suffering the stroke on Wednesday night. He has undergone two rounds of surgery to stop bleeding in the brain and to relieve pressure inside his skull.
also see story:
Palestinians mourn Beirut refugee massacre in 1982
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
RSS