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This thread has been pulled.
Pulled on 01/04/2006 10:32:09 PM PST by Admin Moderator, reason:
bogus source
THAT STORY ON THE MARINE ACCIDENT, YOU CAN'T POST TO IT
ANY FURTHER---SEE ABOVE. For sure going to watch the 11:00
news to see what is what.
The prime minister had been taking blood thinners since the first stroke to prevent another clot, but such drugs also raise the risk of cerebral hemorrhages, which account for only about 10 percent of strokes.
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probably taking Heparin or Coumadin
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Today: January 04, 2006 at 22:1:58 PST
JERUSALEM (AP) -
Ariel Sharon's massive stroke threw Israeli politics and Mideast peacemaking efforts into turmoil, threatening momentum for a deal with the Palestinians and enhancing the position of hard-liners.
The Israeli prime minister broke away from the Likud Party of Benjamin Netanyahu in November, and the new centrist party he formed had been the favorite to win March 28 elections. But Kadima was largely a one-man show which would have an uncertain future without the 77-year-old Sharon.
Medical experts said the chances are slim for Sharon to make a full recovery from the sort of massive stroke he suffered Wednesday.
In recent months, many Israelis have placed high hopes on Sharon as the politician best positioned to draw Israel's final borders in a settlement with the Palestinians.
The prime minister - once his country's foremost champion of Jewish settlement-building in the West Bank and Gaza - in September became the first Israeli leader to relinquish land the Palestinians claim for a future state when he led Israel out of the Gaza Strip.
Sharon's transformation from hawk to pragmatist - combined with last year's death of longtime Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat - has given the Middle East a chance for a return to peacemaking after five years of relentless bloodshed.
In March, Sharon had been expected to face off against Netanyahu, the tough-talking former prime minister who recently won the Likud primaries, and Amir Peretz, the union leader who recently unseated veteran Israeli politician Shimon Peres as head of the liberal Labor Party.
None of Sharon's possible successors were seen as having his ability to pull together the next ruling coalition.
Sharon's deputy, former Jerusalem mayor Ehud Olmert, has already taken over the reins of power after the stroke and could emerge as Sharon's successor heading the Kadima, or Forward, party.
Olmert, although a familiar face in Israeli politics, would likely have a far tougher time beating either Netanyahu or Peretz than Sharon would have.
After losing to Peretz in the Labor primaries, Peres, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, joined Sharon in Kadima, and it was not clear if he would seek leadership of the new party. The 82-year-old Peres, though serving briefly as prime minister three times, has never won an Israeli election outright and lost to Netanyahu in 1996.
At the time of his stroke, Sharon was still in the process of coming up with a list of candidates to run under the Kadima banner. Now both Kadima's parliamentary lineup and its electoral future have been thrown into question.
Sharon had indicated that he expected significant progress toward peacemaking in 2006, despite continued violence and growing chaos in the Palestinian territories. Nonetheless, no major peace moves had been expected until after the Israeli elections in March and Palestinian parliamentary elections scheduled for Jan. 25.
Though Sharon made history by pulling Israeli troops and civilians out of the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank, most Palestinians regard the ex-general as an enemy because of his bloody military campaigns against Palestinian guerrillas in Lebanon, Jordan and elsewhere.
Sharon's exit from the political stage would scramble Israeli politics but also redraw personal relations that are key to Mideast diplomacy.
Sharon and President Bush forged close ties after a rough beginning and the Israeli leader has been a frequent visitor at the White House. Bush warmly embraced Sharon's withdrawal from Gaza and backed his tough policy against Palestinian militants, echoing Sharon's demand that the Palestinians take steps to stop attacks on Israel.
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EDITOR'S NOTE - Steven Gutkin is the Associated Press bureau chief in Jerusalem.
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Today: January 04, 2006 at 20:18:44 PST
Doctors said Wednesday that the chances of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon making a full recovery from the massive stroke he suffered are slim.
The 77-year-old leader suffered a cerebral hemorrhage - bleeding in his brain - while en route to an Israeli hospital to have a hole in his heart fixed.
"It's among the most dangerous of all types of strokes," with half of victims dying within a month, said Dr. Robert A. Felberg, a neurologist who directs the stroke program at Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans.
Doctors rushed Sharon into surgery, which could be a good or a bad sign, depending on the extent, location and duration of the bleeding, said Dr. Larry Goldstein, director of Duke University's stroke program.
"Bleeding in some areas of the brain, if it's caught early enough, you can actually have not a bad outcome," he said.
If it occurs around the brain or in a back area known as the cerebellum, it can be drained more easily, often through a hole in the skull. Bleeding deep inside the brain can require opening the skull to operate, he said.
But in general, such strokes have a poor prognosis, Goldstein said.
The U.S. doctors have not examined Sharon but are experts in the field.
Sharon's scheduled heart procedure was intended to prevent a repeat of the mini-stroke he suffered last month, which doctors said was caused by a blood clot. The hole, a birth defect, was discovered afterward.
The prime minister has been taking blood thinners since then to prevent another clot, but such drugs also raise the risk of hemorrhages. These account for only about 10 percent of strokes. Other possible causes are ruptured blood vessels, an aneurysm, or bulge in a vessel wall that bursts, or even chronic high blood pressure.
Blood thinners may not have caused the latest stroke but could have made the bleeding worse and may account for its severity, said Dr. Philip Steig, chair of neurosurgery at Weill-Cornell Medical Center in New York.
Steig said doctors would likely try to treat the stroke by drilling a hole in Sharon's skull to remove the blood, which will have formed a blood clot. It is important to remove the blood because the bleeding creates pressure on the brain, enclosed in the skull, causing damage that may be irreversible.
It's possible that doctors may leave his skull open to give the brain space to swell.
"His prognosis is not good," Steig said. "The damage may be too severe to recover from. It will depend on how severe the bleeding was and how long the pressure in his skull has been elevated.
"The fact that he's on a respirator means it's extremely serious. The likelihood that he is going to make a normal recovery is extremely slim. The death rate from this kind of thing is high."
Steig said that depending on the severity of the stroke, doctors may be able to sustain Sharon on a respirator for weeks.
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Emma Ross is based in London; Marilynn Marchione is based in Milwaukee.
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JERUSALEM (AP) -
Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who took over after Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke Wednesday, is a seasoned operator and Sharon confidante who is comfortable in cutthroat local politics and in world capitals alike.
Like Sharon, his mentor in recent years, Olmert underwent a political transformation from hawk to moderate, from backing Israeli control of all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip with constant settlement expansion to helping Sharon lead Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and part of the West Bank in the summer.
Olmert, 60, a longtime ally of Sharon in the hardline Likud Party - which both quit in November - gained governing experience in his decade as mayor of Jerusalem, one of Israel's most sensitive jobs, balancing conflicting Jewish and Palestinian interests and wrestling with constant budget shortfalls by raising money abroad.
Olmert was born in 1945 in the town of Binyamina in northern Israel. His military service included a stint as an officer in an infantry unit and later as a reporter for the Israeli army journal.
He earned his bachelor's degree in psychology and philosophy and later a law degree from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and worked briefly as a lawyer before entering politics.
He was first elected to parliament in 1973, at the age of 28. In 1988, he became a minister without portfolio in Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir's government and in 1990 was promoted to health minister.
In 1993, he was elected mayor of Jerusalem, defeating the legendary Teddy Kollek, who had run the city for nearly four decades.
In 1999, he challenged Ariel Sharon for leadership of the Likud Party. He lost badly, but since his defeat became increasingly closer to Sharon and in recent years has generally been considered the prime minister's most loyal political ally.
In 2003, he left Jerusalem City Hall to serve in Sharon's second government. He was appointed vice premier and minister of industry, trade and labor. Following the resignation of Benjamin Netanyahu in August, he took over as finance minister.
Married and a father of four, Olmert lives in Jerusalem and is known to be a die-hard fan of the Beitar Jerusalem soccer club.
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Sharon is a mixed bag but prayers sent for him and his family
Poor man. Prayers for his recovery.