Former Israeli President Shimon Peres suffers serious strokeSeptember 14, 2016 - 12:02 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Former Israeli President Shimon Peres is in intensive care after suffering a serious stroke, medical officials say, according to BBC News. Doctors at the Sheba Medical Centre near Tel Aviv, where he is being treated, said Peres, 93, was "in a critical condition but stable". Peres' son-in-law and personal physician said there was "no imminent threat to his life", adding that he had a "pretty good chance of survival". Dr Rafi Valden said Peres was responsive - he had squeezed his hand. There was "certain optimism after doctors "lessened the dose of sedation", he said, adding the former president was being sedated and ventilated again to let his brain recover. In January, he underwent successful minor surgery at the same hospital after suffering a small heart attack. The veteran politician has held almost every major political office since Israel was founded in 1948, and was the architect of Israel's secret nuclear programme. He twice served as prime minister and was president from 2007 to 2014. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 for his role negotiating the Oslo peace accords with the Palestinians a year earlier, a prize he shared with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was later assassinated, and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Despite his age, Peres has maintained an active public schedule, mostly through his non-governmental Peres Centre for Peace, which promotes closer ties between Israel and the Palestinians. Hours before his hospitalisation, Peres uploaded a video to his Facebook page urging people to buy local products. When leaving hospital after his heart treatment in January, Peres told reporters he was "so happy to return to work, that was the whole purpose of this operation". Photo: Wikimedia Commons Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Concept to complete Yerevan Cascade discussed at city hall A conceptual proposal to complete the Cascade complex in downtown Yerevan has been presented by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Pashinyan visits flood-hit region Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday, June 8 visited the disaster area in the Lori province. €3.5 mln EU grant to support justice reforms in Armenia The European Union has paid €3.5 mln grant to Armenia within a €11mln program on Support to Justice Reforms. Yerevan reacts to Baku’s proposal to see Minsk Group abolition Alen Simonyan has declared that Armenia is taking steps aimed at concluding a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. |