Israeli ALS Treatment Goes to Clinical Trial in U.S.

Thetower.org—Last month, BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics, an Israeli bio-technology startup announced two major milestones: the company received a patent from the United States Patent Office its autologous stem cell technology called Nurown and it entered into an agreement with Massachusetts General Hospital to hold a Phase II clinical trial of Nurown. Nurown is thought to be a future cure for neurodegenerative diseases like Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis.

Russian-Iran Sanctions Busting Deal is Reckless

TIP—The potential implications of a planned oil-for-goods program between Iran and Russia after the $20 billion sanctions-busting barter agreement reemerged last week as a controversy in the wake of a Reuters report. Reuters had outlined some details of the deal last January, assessing that it «would enable Iran to lift oil exports substantially, undermining Western sanctions” and quoted Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) declaring that the “reckless and irresponsible move raises serious questions about Russia’s commitment to ending Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.” Both concerns have since then deepened. Iran has for five straight months exceeded the amount of oil it is allowed to export under the terms of the Joint Plan of Action (JPA), and on Monday Sens. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) sent a letter [PDF] to President Barack Obama arguing that further moves by the Islamic Republic to «violate the terms of oil sanctions relief provided for in the JPA» should prompt Washington to act by «re-instating… and sanctioning any violations» of crude oil sanctions.

Nine-Month Old Held for Attempted Murder

Pakistani authorities have arrested a 9-month-old boy, Musa Kahn, and charged him and four adults with attempted murder. They were at a protest in Lahore in February in which stones were thrown at gas company workers attempting to disconnect households that owed the company money. The baby screamed and cried in court and was given a bottle to comfort him. “He does not even know how to pick up his milk bottle properly—how can he stone the police?” his grandfather Muhammad Yasin asked.

Russian Holocaust Denial Bill Gains Approval

(JNS.org)—Russian legislators have given initial approval to a bill against the “rehabilitations of Nazism” that will punish historians for denying Nazi crimes, including the Holocaust, Voice of Russia reported. “Our country has not simply defended itself. We have defended the whole world from Nazism. Our people suffered the greatest casualties in this war. For us, the rehabilitation of Nazism will always be a crime against our country and our people,” said the head of Russia’s Lower House Committee for Security, Irina Yarovaya, one of the bill’s main sponsors. If the bill passes, those convicted could face fines of up to 300,000 rubles ($8,300) or prison terms of up to three years. Those fines and prison terms increase for public officials or members of the media.

Iran Will Never Slow Its Nuclear Research

Reuters reported Wednesday that the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tehran’s negotiating team should not yield to issues “forced upon them.” Tehran and six world powers are in the process of narrow “significant gaps” on the way to an agreement. “These negotiations should continue,” he told nuclear scientists in Tehran, the official IRNA news agency reported. “But all should know that negotiations will not stop or slow down any of Iran’s activities in nuclear research and development.” This is in the wake of last month’s revelations on Iranian TV, where former Atomic Energy Organization of Iran director Fereydoon Abbasi, who headed the agency under President Ahmadinejad, revealed that Iran had concealed information on its nuclear program, on its activity at the heavy water reactor in Arak, and on the location and activity of its production workshops from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Prisoner Alan Gross Goes on Hunger Strike in Cuba

(JNS.org) American-Jewish prisoner Alan Gross, held in Cuba since late 2009 is on a hunger strike to protest his treatment by both the Cuban and American governments. “I am fasting to object to mistruths, deceptions, and inaction by both governments, not only regarding their shared responsibility for my arbitrary detention, but also because of the lack of any reasonable or valid effort to resolve this shameful ordeal,” he said. “Once again, I am calling on President Obama to get personally involved in ending this stand-off so that I can return home to my wife and daughters.” Gross, whose work as a subcontractor for the United States Agency for International Development entailed helping the Cuban Jewish community access the Internet, is serving a 15-year prison term for what Cuba called “crimes against the state.” Secretary of State Kerry spoke to the Gross family on Tuesday. “We are very, very focused on trying to get Alan Gross out of there; his treatment is inhumane,” Kerry said in testimony to Congress.

Combat Cameramen Disprove Palestinian Propaganda

Daily Alert—Last August, IDF combat cameraman Naor Blanco joined a nighttime operation to arrest a wanted terrorist in the Jenin refugee camp. “Shortly after we went in, they started shooting at us from different directions,” Blanco recounts. “That whole time, I held the camera and documented the battle and the exchanges of fire. According to reports that had already been released by Palestinian sources, the IDF had purportedly perpetrated crimes in the nighttime operation.”  In Blanco’s video of the event, which was distributed to all the media networks, “there was clear documentation of the fact that it was the terrorists who opened fire on us. The footage left no doubt that the forces that operated in the field acted with restraint, and the soldiers only fired when a life-threatening situation arose. The footage included cries of ‘Kill the Jews,’ which could be heard constantly in the background. There is nothing better than seeing something with your own eyes, so headlines saying ‘The IDF invaded Jenin’ were switched within minutes and updated to say ‘The IDF carried out an anti-terrorist operation in Jenin.’ My footage from the field changed the entire thrust of the event’s coverage.”