srijeda, 31. kolovoza 2016.

Israel 'approves 464 settlement homes in West Bank'

By  13:56:00  No comments
Israel has approved the construction of 285 new homes at Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to the settlement watchdog Peace Now.
A 234-unit nursing home in Elkana, 30 houses in Beit Arye and 20 in Givat Zeev got the go-ahead on Tuesday.
Retrospective permits were also issued for 179 existing homes in Ofarim.
The US said it was "deeply concerned" and warned that settlement expansion posed a "very serious and growing threat" to peace with the Palestinians.
About 570,000 Israelis live in more than 100 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
Peace Now reported that the latest planning decision by the Israeli military-run Civil Administration in the West Bank meant 2,623 housing units at settlements had been approved so far this year. The figure includes 756 illegally-built homes that have been retrospectively "legalised".
A senior US official told the AFP news agency that settlement expansion - as well as continuing demolitions of Palestinian homes - "fundamentally undermines the prospects for a two-state solution and risks entrenching a one-state reality of perpetual occupation and conflict".
"We are particularly troubled by the policy of retroactively approving illegal outposts and unauthorised settlement units," the official said.
"These policies have effectively given the government's green light for the pervasive advancement of settlement activity in a new and potentially unlimited way."
On Tuesday, Israel reacted angrily to similar criticism of its settlement activities by the UN special co-ordinator for the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov.
"It is difficult to read in these actions a genuine intention to work towards a viable two-state solution. This appears to reinforce a policy, carried out over decades, that has enabled over half a million Israelis to settle in territory that was occupied militarily in 1967," he told the UN Security Council.
A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Mr Mladenov of distorting history.
"Jews have been in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria for thousands of years and their presence there is not an obstacle to peace," David Keyes said, using the biblical names for the West Bank.
There have been numerous rounds of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians since the early 1990s, with the last collapsing in acrimony in 2014.
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Brazil President Dilma Rousseff removed from office by Senate

By  13:55:00  No comments
Brazil's Senate has voted to remove President Dilma Rousseff from office for manipulating the budget.
It puts an end to the 13 years in power of her left-wing Workers' Party. Ms Rousseff had denied the charges.
Sixty-one senators voted in favour of her dismissal and 20 against, meeting the two-thirds majority needed to remove her from the presidency.
Michel Temer has been sworn in as president and will serve out Ms Rousseff's term until 1 January 2019.
The centre-right PMDB party politician had been serving as acting president during the impeachment proceedings.

'See you soon'

Ms Rousseff did win one battle on Wednesday - a Senate vote on banning her from public office for eight years failed to pass, meaning she could in theory return to politics.
Pledging to appeal against her impeachment, she told her supporters: "Right now, I will not say goodbye to you. I am certain I can say: 'See you soon.'"
She added: "They have convicted an innocent person and carried out a parliamentary coup."
Venezuela's leftist government reacted to the vote by removing its ambassador and freezing relations with Brazil.

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Alzheimer's drug study gives 'tantalising' results

By  13:40:00  No comments
A drug that destroys the characteristic protein plaques that build up in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's is showing "tantalising" promise, scientists say.
Experts are cautious because the drug, Aducanumab, is still in the early stages of development.
But a study in Nature has shown it is safe and hinted that it halts memory decline.
Larger studies are now under way to fully evaluate the drug's effects.
The build-up of amyloid in the brain has been a treatment target for many years.

Dropped out

This study, of 165 patients, was designed to test Aducanumab was safe to take.
After a year of treatment, it also showed the higher the dose the stronger the effect on amyloid plaques.
The researchers then carried out tests on memory and found "positive effects".
However, 40 people dropped out of the study, half because of side effects they experienced, such as headaches. These too were much more common with a higher dosage.
The next phase of research - phase 3 - involves two separate studies. These are recruiting 2,700 patients with very early stage Alzheimer's across North America, Europe and Asia in order to fully test the drug's effect on cognitive decline.
Dr Alfred Sandrock of the biotech company Biogen, which worked with the University of Zurich on the research, said: "Phase 3 really needs to be done and I hope it will confirm what we have seen in this study.
"One day I could envisage treating people who have no symptoms because if you have amyloid in the brain it's likely you'll develop Alzheimer's one day."

'Significant step'

However, there have been many disappointments in Alzheimer's drug development, and it is over a decade since the last drug for people with the condition was licensed.
Other experts have welcomed this latest research - but with caution.
Dr David Reynolds, chief scientific officer at Alzheimer's Research UK, said the results provided "tantalising evidence that a new class of drug to treat the disease may be on the horizon".
And Dr James Pickett, head of research at the Alzheimer's Society, added: "What is most compelling is that more amyloid was cleared when people took higher doses of the drug.
"No existing treatments for Alzheimer's directly interfere with the disease process and so a drug that actually slows the progress of the disease by clearing amyloid would be a significant step."
However, Dr Tara Spires-Jones, of the Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems at the University of Edinburgh, said: "I am cautiously optimistic about this treatment, but trying not to get too excited because many drugs make it through this early stage of testing then go on to fail in larger trials."
And John Hardy, professor of neuroscience at University College London, said: "These new data are tantalising but they are not yet definitive."
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US election 2016: Trump arrives in Mexico to meet President Pena Nieto

By  13:38:00  No comments
US Republican candidate Donald Trump has arrived in Mexico to meet President Enrique Pena Nieto.
The trip is contentious as during his campaign Mr Trump has branded Mexican migrants "rapists" and "murderers", and vowed to build a wall along the border.
He will face protests on his visit, with ex-President Vicente Fox among those saying he is not welcome.
Mr Trump will later fly to Phoenix, Arizona, to deliver a key speech on measures to tackle illegal immigration.
The Republican has seen his poll ratings slip since the party conventions last month.
Both nationally and in key states, he trails Hillary Clinton, who enjoys particularly strong support among minorities.

Mr Trump tweeted that he was looking forward to meeting President Pena Nieto.
Mr Pena Nieto has invited both US candidates to visit, but has faced criticism at home over Mr Trump.
Vicente Fox told CNN: "We don't like him. We don't want him. We reject his visit."
Former First Lady Margarita Zavala tweeted: "We Mexicans have dignity, and we reject your hate speech."
At least two demonstrations are planned in Mexico City.
But Mr Pena Nieto said: "I believe in dialogue to protect Mexican interests in the world and, principally, to protect Mexicans wherever they are."

Mr Trump going to Mexico is a bold move. It shows he is willing to confront a nation he has mocked in the past. It may make him - dare I say? - look statesmanlike. And if President Pena Nieto slams him afterwards, it could end up working to Mr Trump's benefit.
There is no better way to get conservatives to rally around a candidacy than to have a foreign leader cast aspersions on the nominee.
One risk is that Mr Trump might say or do something controversial while there, although this probably will be a very tightly controlled meeting.
Another is that Mr Trump's base, the voters who cheered as he called undocumented Mexican immigrants "rapists" and "drug dealers", will consider this visit consorting with the enemy.
The stakes were already considerable for Mr Trump's immigration speech on Wednesday night. They just got higher.
Mr Pena Nieto has previously accused Mr Trump of hurting US-Mexico relations and compared the Republican's rhetoric to that of German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
Mr Trump has threatened to stop cash sent home by Mexicans based in the US until the country pays for the wall he intends to build.
BBC Mexico correspondent Katy Watson says that prospect has worried many Mexicans who rely on remittances from their families who live in the US.
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