Argentine President Cristina Kirchner has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and she is scheduled to undergo surgery next week, two months after being re-elected in a landslide vote, her spokesman said.
Kirchner, the country’s first elected female president, was found to have cancer “on the right lobe of the thyroid gland” during a routine medical examination on Dec. 22, spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro said.
“The illness has been contained,” Scoccimarro said in a statement, adding that the cancer had not metastasized.
Tests carried out on Tuesday showed the cancer had also not spread to Kirchner’s lymph nodes, he added.
The 58-year-old Kirchner is expected to spend 72 hours in hospital and then three weeks recovering from the surgery, he said. During that time, Argentine Vice President Amado Boudou will carry out her duties.
“The prospects [for recovery] are excellent and no one should expect any further development of the tumor after the operation,” said oncologist Marco Bruno, a member of the Argentina Cancer Association.
He added that because the tumor had been diagnosed early, it could be safely removed, allowing the patient to lead a normal life.
Kirchner was re-elected in October with more than 54 percent of the vote, a first-round landslide that buried her nearest competitors and won her back control of the National Congress.
The win, a year after her husband and predecessor’s sudden death, was powered by a slew of popular social programs and years of strong, virtually uninterrupted economic growth.
Former Argentine president Nestor Kirchner is credited with rescuing Argentina by breaking with the IMF, restructuring the debt and promoting spending.
As the president, Nestor co-governed with his wife, and when Cristina was elected at the end of 2007, Nestor was a top adviser.
He died of a heart attack on Oct. 27 last year at the age of 60 while the couple were on vacation at their resort home in southern Argentina.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source