Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon opened his eyes yesterday for the first time since suffering a massive stroke on Jan. 4, but hospital officials said the reports were generated by the Sharon family's "impression of eyelid movement, whose medical significance is unclear."
The Web site of the Yediot Ahronot newspaper reported that Sharon opened his eyes twice yesterday. On one occasion, after a recording of a grandson's voice was played, the prime minister's eyes teared, he blinked, and then quickly opened his eyes, the site said. But they closed before doctors reached his room, the site added.
Dr Anthony Rudd, a stroke specialist at St. Thomas' Hospital in London, said eye movement -- including eye opening -- is "not a dramatic breakthrough."
"A coma is not an absolute all-or-nothing state. There are various stages," Rudd said.
Sharon underwent a successful tracheotomy on Sunday evening to help wean him off a respirator that has been helping him breathe hospital officials said, but Sharon's failure to regain consciousness was drawing increasing concern.
The surgery took less than an hour and followed a CT scan that showed no changes in his brain. Though Sharon was taken off sedatives on Saturday, he had not regained consciousness more than a day later. The hospital continued to describe his condition as critical but stable.
His stand-in, Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, will remain in his post until Israel's election on March 28, according to a ruling on Sunday by Attorney-General Meni Mazuz. He sidestepped a ruling that Sharon would be permanently incapacitated, requiring the Cabinet to name a replacement.
Sharon had to undergo the tracheotomy procedure to insert a plastic tube in his windpipe because the former tube to a respirator would have started to cause damage if it remained in place, said Doctor Philip Stieg, chair of neurosurgery at the Weill-Cornell Medical College in New York.
Sharon's comatose state and the fact that he was undergoing the tracheotomy do not bode well for the prime minister's future, Stieg said. It is becoming more probable as time passes that Sharon will either remain in a vegetative state or have low cognitive abilities, he said.
``It suggests that the brain damage is as serious as we thought it was based on earlier reports and now its all playing out,'' Stieg said.
``He's not turning the corner, he's not waking up ... they're having to do more things to keep him alive,'' Steig added.
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
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