EU to discuss arms embargo on Syria
By Anonymous on May 27, 2013 02:49 am 26 May 2013 Last updated at 21:21 ET 
The rebels and their supporters say the EU arms embargo must be lifted
European Union foreign ministers are to discuss British and French calls for them to ease sanctions against Syria so weapons can be supplied to the rebels.
At a meeting in Brussels, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague is expected to argue that the current sanctions regime, which is due to expire at the end of this week, is no longer working.
He wants it amended so arms can be sent to "moderate" forces in the opposition.
However, several EU states are totally opposed to ending the arms embargo.
Earlier, Syria's foreign minister confirmed the government would "in principle" attend an international peace conference which the US and Russia hope will take place in Geneva next month.
Walid Muallem said it would be "a good opportunity for a political solution" to the conflict, which the UN says has left more than 80,000 people dead.
Members of the main opposition coalition are currently discussing whether to attend the conference, but spokesmen have said they would if President Bashar al-Assad agreed to step down.
'Devastating consequences' Mr Hague has argued that partially lifting the EU arms embargo, so that weapons could be given to rebel groups, would complement, rather than work against, the peace process because it would strengthen the opposition's hand in negotiations with President Assad.
Last week, he told British MPs that weapons would be supplied only "under carefully controlled circumstances" and with clear commitments from the opposition.
"We must make clear that if the regime does not negotiate seriously at the Geneva conference, no option is off the table," he said. "We have to be open to every way of strengthening moderates and saving lives rather than the current trajectory of extremism and murder."
On Monday, Mr Hague and the French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, will urge other European governments to amend the embargo text to allow weapons to be supplied to the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, or allow more assistance to be sent.
Another possibility is for the existing embargo, which expires at midnight on 31 May, to be extended without amendment for a short period to see if the Geneva conference is successful.
Unanimity is needed, and several countries are opposed, reports the BBC's Matthew Price in Brussels. They include Austria, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden.
One Austrian source told the BBC that allowing lethal weapons to be sent into a war zone would turn EU policy on its head, our correspondent adds.
William Hague and Laurent Fabius argue that easing the embargo would put pressure on President Assad
Many countries are also afraid that anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons given to rebel fighters considered "moderate" might end up in the hands of jihadist militants, including those from the al-Nusra Front, which has pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda.
The lack of a centralised command structure and allegations of human rights abuses by rebel fighters are also sources of concern.
The European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU's diplomatic service, has cautioned against "any counterproductive move" that could harm the prospects of the Geneva conference. It suggests extending the embargo to allow "more time for reflection".
Oxfam has warned of "devastating consequences" if the embargo ends.
"There are no easy answers when trying to stop the bloodshed in Syria, but sending more arms and ammunition clearly isn't one of them," the aid agency's head of arms control, Anna Macdonald, said in a statement on Thursday. "International efforts should be focused on halting arms transfers to all sides and finding a political solution to the crisis."
US Secretary of State John Kerry has been lobbying EU member states hesitant about lifting the embargo, which our correspondent says has forced the debate in Brussels and added weight to the British and French position. Still, a compromise may be impossible, he adds.
Read in browser » 
Woolwich police release three men
By Anonymous on May 26, 2013 10:34 pm 26 May 2013 Last updated at 20:49 ET 
On Sunday, Drummer Rigby's family visited the spot in Woolwich where he was murdered
Three man arrested in south London on Saturday in connection with the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby have been released on bail, Scotland Yard has said.
The men, aged 21, 24 and 28 have been bailed to return to a police station in south London.
Michael Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Adebowale, 22, who were arrested at the crime scene in Woolwich, south-east London, remain in custody.
A 22-year-old man arrested on Sunday in north London is still being held.
Read in browser » Stroke stem-cell trial shows promise
By Anonymous on May 27, 2013 12:01 am 27 May 2013 Last updated at 00:01 ET 
By Pallab Ghosh Science correspondent, BBC News 
Trial patients will get progressively higher doses of stem cells
Five seriously disabled stroke patients have shown small signs of recovery following the injection of stem cells into their brain.
Prof Keith Muir, of Glasgow University, who is treating them, says he is "surprised" by the mild to moderate improvements in the five patients.
He stresses it is too soon to tell whether the effect is due to the treatment they are receiving.
The results will be presented at the European Stroke Conference in London.
Complete paralysis BBC News has had the first exclusive interview with one of the patients involved.
They are taking part in a small clinical trial involving nine patients in their 60s, 70s and 80s at Glasgow's Southern General Hospital to assess the safety of the procedure which involves injecting stem cells into the damaged brain part.
It is one of the first trials in the world to test the use of stem cells in patients.
Results to be presented on Tuesday show that there have been no adverse effects on the patients so far and there have been improvements to more than half participating in the trial.
However, at this stage it is not possible to say whether the improvements are due to the close medical attention the patients are receiving. It is well documented that the feeling of wellbeing resulting from such attention, known as the placebo effect, can have a positive effect on people's health.
But it is thought that stroke patients do not recover after the first six months of their stroke. All the patients involved in the trial had their strokes between six months and five years before they received the treatment.
The recovery of any one of them - let alone five - was not expected, according to Prof Muir, who is in charge of the trial.
"It seems odd that it should all just be chance and a placebo effect," he told BBC News. "We are seeing things that are interesting and somewhat surprising.
"We've seen people who now have the ability to move their fingers where they have had several years of complete paralysis," Prof Muir said.
"We have seen some people that have been able to walk around their house whereas previously they had been dependent on assistance and we have had improvements that have enabled people to recognise what is happening around them."
'Temporary change' These improvements have made it easier for the patients to do day-to-day tasks such as dressing themselves, walking and being more independent.
"My expectation had been that we would see very little change and if we did see change it would be a relatively short-lived temporary change. (But) we have seen changes that have been maintained over time," Prof Muir said.
Among the patients to have shown improvements is 80-year-old Frank Marsh, who had a stroke five years ago.
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
Frank and Claire Marsh on the "terrific small improvement" he has made
Prior to his attack Mr Marsh, a former teacher, was fit and active: a member of the Glasgow Phoenix Choir and a keen piano player. The stroke left him with poor strength and co-ordination in his left hand and poor balance.
He needs a walking stick to help him move around the house and he can no longer play the piano.
After the injection of stem cells into the damaged area of his brain, his balance and mobility improved as did his hand strength. He can now also tie up his shoe laces.
Mr Marsh said he believed the operation had gradually led to improvements.
"I can now grip things that I couldn't grip before, like the hand rails at the swimming baths," he said.
Phase two trial His wife, Clare, also a teacher, said that the small improvements had made him more independent. "He had reached a plateau and wasn't really improving (after his stroke). But following the operation he is able to do things he couldn't do before, such as make coffee, dressing and holding on to things."
Mr Marsh added that he hoped the improvements would continue: "I'd like to get back to my piano. I'd like to walk a bit steadier and further."
However, Mrs Marsh felt that there would be no further progress for her husband, but hoped that others might benefit from the clinical trial that he is participating in.
"The great potential is what it is going to do for the future," she said. "I told Frank at the beginning that this may not help you, but it might help your grandson."
Mrs Marsh is right in that even if it is proved that the stem-cell treatment really works it will be a long time before any treatment might be widely available.
The results so far pave the way for a so-called phase two trial later this year which will be desirable to determine whether any improvement is due to the treatment.
If the phase two trial does show that the stem-cell treatment is the cause of the improvements, it could still take many years before it becomes widely available. Larger phase three trials will be needed to assess who the treatment is most suitable for and at what stage it might be most effective.
Ethical approval Commenting on the research, Dr Clare Walton of the Stroke Association said: "The use of stem cells is a promising technique which could help to reverse some of the disabling effects of stroke. We are very excited about this trial; however, we are currently at the beginning of a very long road and significant further development is needed before stem cell therapy can be regarded as a possible treatment."
The stem cells were created 10 years ago from one sample of nerve tissue taken from a foetus. The company that produces the stem cells, Reneuron, is able to manufacture as many stem cells as it needs from that original sample.
It is because a foetal tissue sample was involved in the development of the treatment that it has its critics.
Among them is anti-abortion campaigner Lord Alton. "The bottom line is surely that the true donor (the foetus) could not possibly have given consent and that, of course, raises significant ethical considerations," he said.
Reneuron says the trial - which it funded - has ethical approval from the medicine's regulator. It added that one tissue sample was used in development 10 years ago and that foetal material has not been used since.
Follow Pallab on Twitter @bbcpallab
Read in browser » Jolie's aunt dies of breast cancer
By Anonymous on May 27, 2013 01:17 am 27 May 2013 Last updated at 01:17 ET 
Angelina Jolie's uncle praised the actress for electing to have a double mastectomy
Angelina Jolie's aunt has died of breast cancer, nearly two weeks after the Hollywood star said she had had a double mastectomy to avoid such a fate.
Debbie Martin passed away at the Palomar Medical Centre in Escondido on Sunday, aged 61, the hospital said.
Mrs Martin was the sister of Jolie's mother Marcheline Bertrand, who died of breast cancer in 2007 at the age of 56.
Her husband, Ron Martin, said the sisters had both had the same mutated BRCA1 gene, which Jolie inherited.
"Angelina has been in touch throughout the week and her brother Jamie has been with us, giving his support day by day," he told E! News.
"They both loved Debbie very much and although Angie is not able to come right now she has sent her love and support which was very nice."
Mr Martin also praised the actress for electing to have a double mastectomy, telling the Associated Press: "Had we known, we certainly would have done exactly what Angelina did."
On 14 May, the 37 year old wrote in the New York Times that she had had the operation after doctors estimated she had an 87% risk of breast cancer and a 50% risk of ovarian cancer.
"I decided to be proactive and to minimise the risk as much I could," she explained, adding that her chances of developing breast cancer had now dropped to less than 5%.
The BRCA1 gene is present in everyone but only mutates in one in 1,000 people. Anyone with the mutation has a 50-80% chance of developing breast cancer.
Read in browser » Nick Ross defends rape comments
By Anonymous on May 27, 2013 12:29 am 27 May 2013 Last updated at 00:29 ET 
Ross presented Crimewatch from 1984 to 2007
Former Crimewatch presenter Nick Ross has issued a statement defending himself against criticism over comments he made about rape.
In his book, Crime, he said it had become "sacrilege to suggest that there can be any gradation: rape is rape".
"The real experts, the victims, know otherwise," he said.
After criticism from anti-rape campaigners and on social media, he said rape was "one of the most defiling crimes" and could never be justified.
The controversy comes after extracts from the "Sex" chapter of his book Crime - subtitled "how to solve it and why so much of what we're told is wrong" - was published in the Mail on Sunday.
'False storm' The extract featured said: "Half of all women who have had penetrative sex unwillingly do not think they were raped, and this proportion rises strongly when the assault involves a boyfriend, or if the woman is drunk or high on drugs: they went too far, it wasn't forcible, they didn't make themselves clear."
He adds: "For them, rape isn't always rape and, however upsetting, they feel is a long way removed from being systematically violated or snatched off the street."
After publication, a number of newspapers reported that he had suggested "rape isn't always rape".
Sarah Green, campaigner with the End Violence Against Women charity, said: "It's really disappointing - more than that, it's horrible - that a reputable journalist like Nick Ross, with expertise associated with crime through Crimewatch, is trotting out with the same spurious myths about rape."
And Jacqui Hames, who presented Crimewatch with Ross for 16 years, tweeted: ".@nickrosscom Just caught up with the MOS - struggling to match the man I know with the comments!!!! What on earth is going on?"
In a statement released on Sunday, Ross - who left BBC One's Crimewatch in 2007 - said the reaction to his writing was "a false storm".
He said it "sickens and appals" him that people could suggest the blamed rape victims or "belittle what they suffer", adding that "the opposite is true".
"For the record, lest it needs saying, and, as I make clear in the published extracts, anyone who suffers such a violating crime should be the centre of our concerns."
The book cited research which found many victims did not regard what happened to them as rape, "even though in law it plainly was", he added.
"In other words victims themselves plainly see gradations in rape."
He said that, "far from taking a chauvinistic view, my chapter on sexual crime disparages the patronising views of women that still too often prevail".
He added: "Far from blaming people, my book says we are too quick to blame and that it tends to distract us from finding solutions to crime.
"While I acknowledge the self-evident truth that we - all of us - may, through our actions, make ourselves safer or more vulnerable to crime, that is not even remotely the same thing as justifying assault."
Read in browser » 'Rocket launched' towards Israel
By Anonymous on May 26, 2013 06:26 pm 26 May 2013 Last updated at 17:58 ET 
A rocket has been fired from southern Lebanon towards Israel, Lebanese media and security sources say.
The rocket launch could be heard from the Lebanese town of Marjayoun, about 10km (6 miles) from the Israeli border, the National News Agency reported.
The Israeli military said it was investigating reports from residents of the northern Israeli town of Metula that they had heard an explosion.
No launch was detected and there were no reports of any damage, it added.
Read in browser » 
No comments:
Post a Comment