Newspapers throughout the Middle East are up in arms over Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

In the Arab world, commentators strongly condemn it, with some calling for revenge and others gloomily predicting it will spark an ever-deepening spiral of violence in the region.

The Israeli press is split between those who believe the killing was justified and those who share their Arab counterparts’ belief that Israel will pay a high price.

In Sheikh Yassin, Israel has crossed the red line previous governments avoided crossing for fear of setting off reprisals commensurate with the crime. Israeli oppression will not force the Palestinians to kneel.

Al-Quds - Palestinian territories

History will remember him as a leader who placed the Palestinian cause at the centre of Islam. History will record too that the martyrdom operations forced the low-life Fascist killers to stop believing that the Arabs are stupid cowards who are easy to subdue.

Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah - Palestinian territories

Despite the public pain, Hamas will recover from this crisis, which should give it greater internal unity. The death of the symbol will turn into a tremendous moral wind that will push thousands of sympathisers to Hamas’s ranks.

Al-Ayyam - Palestinian territories

The Yassin assassination was justified. But does not mean necessary and wise. Yassin’s assassination was not a necessity in terms of thwarting terror attacks and a very high price is likely to be paid.

Haaretz - Israel

The killing of Yassin has spawned the usual flurry of claims that it was a futile and foolish act. This is insanity. Does anyone really think that Hamas needed further excuses to kill as many Israeli men, women, and children as possible?

Jerusalem Post - Israel

He deserves death? Certainly. The question is do we deserve it? How many Jews will be killed because of his death?

Commentary in Yediot Aharonot - Israel

Yesterday Israel crossed a Rubicon of blood. Sharon wants to erase the disgrace of leaving Lebanon. Now he is leaving the Gaza Strip, he intends to leave it with a big bang. Meanwhile, the region is awash with blood. Madness celebrates.

Commentary in Maariv - Israel

Yassin should have been killed a long time ago and we rightly liquidated him. According to the same rule, Arafat and Nasrallah have to be killed if Sharon really intends to defeat terrorism.

Commentary in Yediot Aharonot

Had Sharon been a real leader, had Mofaz been a real man, they would have announced in a clear, loud voice that in the next few weeks they would be travelling only in buses, eating in restaurants and travelling without body shields. There is no reason in the world why they should not share with the rest of Israel’s citizens the great risk and blood they imposed on us. There is a limit to arrogance and cowardice.

Commentary in Yediot Aharonot - Israel

Israel wakes up this morning to a new morning. The next terrorist wakes up as usual and thinks to himself: where will I strike and how many Jews will I kill? If there is a terrorist organization it must be liquidated. If there is an infected area it must be disinfected. Sharon still wants to withdraw from Gaza and wide swathes of Judea and Samaria. This also must be stopped by all means.

Commentary in Hatzofe

By killing the leader of the Islamic resistance, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the Israeli government has committed an act of terrorism which has added to its black record. It is the strongest evidence that Sharon’s government has decided to bury the peace process for ever. It will bring about endless avenues of violence that no-one can end. It is a crime against Arabs, Muslims and the entire world.

Al-Ahram - Egypt

It is not the first terrorist crime, and it will not be the last. Ariel Sharon and his generals are terrorists par excellence. The blood of the martyrs will not be shed in vain.

Commentary in Tishrin - Syria

The crime of assassinating Sheikh Ahmed Yassin should not pass without punishment. It should provide the impulse for a national move and action which does not exclude any Arab.

Commentary in Al-Thawrah - Syria

By all criteria - human, moral, political, strategic or even from a security point of view - Sharon’s criminal assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin is extreme madness.

Commentary in Al-Hayat -

Does Sharon expect Hamas to disappear after this operation? Does he expect that suicide operations inside Israel will end? The fact is that the operations will continue and so will the killings…the key to ending them is peace. Nothing else.

Commentary in Al-Sharq al-Awsat - London-based

Even a crime as outrageous as the killing of Sheikh Yassin came as no surprise.

- Egypt

Israel’s action confirms to the Muslim world that enmity with it will remain forever.

Al-Riyadh - Saudi Arabia

Suicide and other operations carried out by Hamas will not end. They are likely to multiply instead.

Commentary in Al-Ayyam - Bahrain

The butcher Sharon has ignited the fire. Sooner or later he will burn with it. The resistance will never die. All its men are ‘Yassins’.

Al-Bayan - United Arab Emirates

The assassination of Sheikh Yassin has revealed the main shortcoming of the Arabs - their impotence - which has given Sharon the chance to realise and implement his policy.

Al-Siyasah - Kuwait

This crime confirms once again that Israel, despite its talk, is frightened of its own future, while the Palestinian people are confident of theirs, despite the challenges they are facing daily.

Commentary in Al-Watan - Qatar

There is no doubt that the assassination of Sheikh Yassin was no run-of-the mill operation, and neither will be the Palestinian .

Al-Sahafah - Sudan

This hideous crime will only foment the Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation.

El Khabar - Algeria

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.

The finding, by Queen’s University, Belfast, also casts doubt on the use of the anti-impotence drug by IVF clinics.

The researchers will tell a British Fertility Society meeting that the drug does enhance sperm movement.

However, it also seems to undermine the timing of a chemical process needed to fertilise the egg.

The message we want to get across is that caution should be taken when using recreational drugs if you are hoping to start a family Dr Sheena Lewis

This process, known as the acrosome reaction, releases digestive enzymes that break down the egg’s protective outer layer, allowing the sperm to penetrate more easily.

Viagra seems to speed up the acrosome reaction, so that by the time the sperm reaches the egg it has no digestive enzymes left to penetrate the outer layer. Sperm that have undergone this process are known as fully “reacted”.

The researchers tested 45 samples of semen. They found that up to 79% more sperm were fully “reacted” in samples treated with Viagra.

The findings echo previous work on mice showing that in the presence of Viagra fewer eggs are fertilised - and fewer of the resulting embryos continue to develop.

use

Researcher Dr Sheena Lewis said the acrosome reaction involved the channelling of charged calcium atoms, or ions.

It would be a terrible shame if an unnecessarily alarmist headline put people off using a treatment which may actually help them Dr John Dean

This was known to influence numerous cellular mechanisms - and could effect early embryonic development.

Dr Lewis said: “When Viagra came out in 1998 it was aimed at men with impotence problems, primarily older men not interested in having children. Now it has become a very popular drug for sexual enhancement.

“The message we want to get across is that caution should be taken when using recreational drugs if you are hoping to start a family.”

Dr David Glenn, who also worked on the study, said: “Nearly half of licensed fertility units in the UK currently use Viagra to assist patient semen production.

“Our study raises questions about the drug’s use in assisted .”

Sheena Young, from the support group Infertility Network UK, said it was important that people who used Viagra were fully aware of its full effect.

“When Viagra was introduced it was never meant for this purpose.”

Caution urged

However, Dr John Dean, secretary general of the European Society for Sexual Medicine, told BBC News Online that it was difficult to draw firm from the study.

He said lab results often did not reflect what happened in the human body, and sperm was known to be highly sensitive when removed from its natural environment.

“Childless couples - and the general population - should be aware that in the five years that Viagra has been around no overall detrimental effect on fertility has been observed,” he said.

“It would be a terrible shame if an unnecessarily alarmist headline put people off using a treatment which may actually help them.”

Although the government does not run a national screening programme, men can request testing. But should they?

Experts’ views are mixed.

Prostate cancer, the second most common cause of cancer-related death in UK men, is treatable, but the disease can be advanced before the man gets any symptoms.

The prostate specific antigen (PSA) test can help doctors decide whether prostate cancer is likely, but it is not foolproof.

Some men with prostate cancer do not have a raised PSA and some men with a raised PSA do not have prostate cancer.

For every 100 men with a raised PSA, only about a third will have any cancer cells in their prostate.

It is not yet clear if lives are saved by the test Dr Chris Hiley, the Prostate Cancer Charity Prostate test ‘of little value’

If PSA is raised, the man will need a biopsy of their prostate - a needle which extracts cells from the gland - to diagnose the problem. Biopsy can be painful and cancers can still be missed.

Even if cancer is present, a man may die with it rather than from it.

By the age of 80, about 50% of men will have prostate cancer but only 4% will ultimately die of the disease as a result.

Also, the treatments available have , including impotence, incontinence and psychological stress.

And there is no consensus as to the best treatment. A project is running for the next 10-15 years in the UK to work out whether it is best to treat men with prostate cancer with surgery or radiotherapy or simply to monitor them.

Researchers also disagree about whether actually save lives.

Pros and Cons

The NHS’s screening committee advises against PSA testing for men with no symptoms who are unlikely to live for longer than 10 years.

Men can get a PSA test from their GP if they wish to after all of the pros and cons have been discussed with them.

Despite this, private health companies like BUPA routinely offer PSA testing to men over the age of 50 as part of “wellman” checks (BUPA Wellness Classic, Premier or Later Life Health Assessment).

Reasons for an increased PSA Prostate cancer A benign prostate growth (BPH) Urine infection Ejaculating in the past 48 hours Vigorous exercise such as riding a bike in the past 48 hours Prostate biopsy in the past six months A digital rectal examination in the past week

Dr Peter Mace, clinical director of BUPA Wellness, said:
“Before offering men routine screening for prostate cancer (PSA), we ensure that they are informed of the pros and cons of testing. Ninety per cent of them have the test.

“Where we find an illness, people are very grateful that it has been caught early. Where nothing is found, people are relieved.

“The majority of our health assessment clients have private medical insurance which covers the cost of follow-up tests or treatment.

“We believe that regular health screening is a valuable contributor to people’s knowledge of their own health.”

A survey by the Prostate Cancer Charity found two-thirds of 150 male GPs would not bother to have a PSA test.

Dr Chris Hiley, head of policy and research at the Prostate Cancer Charity, said: “We believe all men need to know that PSA testing is available from their GP, but that it is not yet clear if lives are saved by the test.

“Men need to be fully informed of the risks and benefits of this type of testing.”

Knowledge better than ignorance

Mr Neil O’Donoghue, consultant urologist at University College London, said it was more debatable what to do when the test is positive rather than whether to do the PSA test itself.

“Ignorance is not always bliss in relation to PSA.

“If a man asked me whether he should have a PSA test, I would say he should have it. It’s always better to have . You don’t have to do anything about it.

“You still have to take decisions if someone has an elevated PSA. The first is ‘Are they going to go for a biopsy?’ and the second is ‘If the biopsy is positive, what sort of treatment should we offer them?’

He said the best treatment depended on many factors, such as the patient’s age and the aggressiveness of the cancer.

He thinks men with a life expectancy of less than 10 years should be offered and could benefit from screening and treatment.

If there’s one check that every man should have routinely its blood pressure Peter Baker Men’s Health Forum

Peter Baker from the Men’s Health Forum said: “We are not in a position where we can say men should have a PSA test when they have no symptoms.

“We do not have the evidence yet to say that lives would be saved. We do not know which the best treatment is and if it saves lives.

“I certainly would not advise someone to rush off and have a PSA test. Talk to your doctor.”

He said men who are at greater risk of prostate cancer - those with a family history of prostate cancer, whose father or brother had it, and men of descent - should think about it more actively than other men.

Private health checks could be very expensive and that men should be encouraged to get simple health checks for free through the NHS, he added.

“If there’s one check that every man should have routinely its blood pressure because blood pressure produces no symptoms but it’s a killer,” he said.

Russian newspapers pull no punches as they examine the state of the nation following last week’s tragic events in Beslan.

The president and the government come in for particular condemnation, but nobody is immune from scathing criticism, in what can be seen as a case of profound .

Beslan, and other tragedies testify to one of our fundamental characteristics - indifference to the squandering of human life. To us, human life is not the most precious thing. We are ready to sacrifice a huge number of people. This happened 100 years ago, and 300 years ago, and during the rule of Ivan the Terrible. Corpses floated down the Volkhov river for a week, but the state’s objective was achieved - Novgorod was forced to join Moscow. Exactly the same thing has happened now. We have lost several hundred people, but we have shown that we cannot be spoken to in that manner.

They are calling on us to unite. But the government must change its ways if we are to unite around it. You can unite around a government which at least talks to its people in a normal way, which is transparent, understandable, predictable. It is impossible to unite around the present government.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

If the press had not been working in Beslan, the country would not have found out about this tragedy, just as it does not know about Samashki and Bamut scene of bloody battles in Chechnya. It would not have united in common grief, there would not have been any mourning - but there would have been City Day in Moscow, there would have been festivals, competitions and concerts. And the president would not have had to appear wretched and confused, as he appeared during his strange and lacklustre address to the nation, which had been waiting so long for the authorities to react. And you and I would not have been so ashamed of ourselves and of our government. And when you are not ashamed, no conclusions get drawn.

Commentary in Gazeta

There is one other sad thing that a journalist should point out - the indifference and passivity of a significant part of our public, at such critical moments in our history. During the first tragic days of September, our TV stations continued to churn out sentimental soaps, while restaurants and casinos in Moscow and other rich cities remained packed with merrymaking clients who, it turns out, couldn’t give a damn about the future of the Russian state and the security of ordinary citizens.

Much will probably depend on the behaviour of our economic elite, who have made incredible fortunes out of Gorbachev’s economic “innovations” and Yeltsin’s privatisation. They should give some thought to the need for and modesty. The provocative behaviour of many latter-day millionaires, the endless media reports about their purchase of sports clubs, jet planes, foreign islands and resorts and about extravagant society events prevent, like nothing else, the true consolidation of Russian society.

Krasnaya Zvezda

Why is it that so many people have cheerfully analysed the mistakes of Putin’s policies in the Caucasus, but nobody has analysed the mistakes of strategy? Why is it that repentance is demanded of Putin, but nobody intends to apologise for supporting exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky’s ravings about explosions in Moscow apartment blocks? Or did Putin also arrange Beslan? For how much longer will they call for talks with Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, whose military-political impotence has long since become an amorphous cover for terror?

There is only one conclusion to be drawn. The creation of a full-fledged civil society has ceased to be a pious dream of a handful of disillusioned intellectuals, and has become a question of life or death for the country as a whole. Either we find each other or they will finish us off.

Commentary in Izvestiya

We in Russia are fond of reproaching everybody for double standards, whilst we ourselves, for the sake of our prestige in the Arab world, continue to cling on to Yasser Arafat, for whom terror has always been and still is a way of exerting political pressure on Israel. We try to fight against terrorism, yet we protect Syria because it buys weapons from us. We prefer to overlook the fact that Damascus has sheltered 15-odd terrorist organisations and openly approves of terrorist attacks if they are directed against Israelis.

Countries which have suffered from terrorist attacks have one common weakness. They are so concerned at rebuffing terrorism that they do not particularly concern themselves with the reasons for it. Not only Russia, but also Israel is trying to play down the connection between terror and the problem of a real and full settlement of the conflicts. Moscow asserts that ‘the political process’ in Chechnya is in full swing and the situation is swiftly changing for the better. However, this does not convince the terrorists. Jerusalem repeats that there is nobody in Palestine with whom to conduct talks, and shuts itself off from it with a wall. But the terrorists find loopholes in it. Meanwhile, both Russia and Israel cherish the hope that the fire can be extinguished by foisting loyal leaders on Chechnya and Palestine.

Commentary in Kommersant

Vladimir Putin has appealed to the nation for the first time in all the years of his rule. The tragedy in Beslan was the reason. Immediately after the president’s address, some political analysts described it as an act of political penitence. There were indeed strong elements of repentance in what the president said: “We stopped paying due attention to issues of defence and security”; “We allowed corruption to strike at the judicial and law-enforcement spheres”; “We could have shown greater efficiency if we had acted in good time”; “We have failed to recognise the complex and dangerous nature of the processes taking place in our own country and the world”.

The issue here is how to interpret the pronoun “we”. The president and his team? But if “we” means the president and the entire Russian people, that is something completely different. This is apportioning blame among all citizens of the country - even though the absolute majority of them do not have any possibility of influencing… the processes taking place in our own country and the world.

Commentator in Komsomolskaya Pravda

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.

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