Hello, I'm Jerry Smit with the BBC news.
A new research has been published today on a drug that could slow the pace of brain decline in people with Alzheimer's. The disease affects tens of millions of people worldwide. Scientists hope the drug, Solanezumab, might be more effective than previously thought. James Gallagher reports.
Solanezumab was the great hope of dementia research. It targets the deformed proteins that build up in the brain during Alzheimer‘s disease. Trials of the drug seemingly ended in failure in 2012. But when the US company Eli Lily looked more closely at the data, there were hints it could be working for patients in the earliest stages of the disease. Those people have continued to take the drugs, and we will find out how they have progressed at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Washington later today.
The US police investigating the death of a black woman in custody in Texas have released video footage of the arrest. The video recorded by a police camera shows the woman Sandra Bland being stopped after failing to signal when changing lane. After the initial argument, she gets out of the car. Then they both move out of sight. But the audio indicates the confrontation becomes physical. Breaks in continuation suggest the video was edited. A coroner says Ms. Bland hanged herself in jail 3 days later. Her family is demanding an independent inquiry.
A powerful bomb explosion in northern Afghanistan has killed at least 50 people mostly civilians, 30 more were injured. Reports say the suicide attacker was targeting the police, but it also hit a busy market. There was no immediate admission of responsibility. Separately, in the southern province of Uruzgan, the Taliban is reported to have killed a tribal leader and hung his body from a pole.
The United States says it’s killed a senior Al-Qaeda militant in an airstrike in Syria. A Pentagon statement said Muhsin aL-Fadhli was targeted while in a vehicle near the town of Sarmada on July the 8th. He described him as the leader of the Khorasan Group which was sent by Al-Qaeda from Pakistan to Syria to plot attacks against the West. x has more details.
The information we have, not just on the strike but also on the Khorasan Group as a whole, is basically what the Americans have been saying about this group. It first came to global attention when the Americans first started striking in Syria, and they say basically the Khorasan is the part of Al-Qaeda that focuses on external operations mainly attacking America and its allies outside Syria, and that sets the part, for example, from Jabhat al-Nusra which is the Al-Qaeda branch in Syria focus on fighting the Syrian regime.
World news from the BBC.
Reports from Turkey say 2 policemen have been killed in the southeastern town of Ceylanpinar. It’s not clear who carried out the attack. It took place 2 days after 32 activists were killed in a suicide bombing in nearby Suruc.
The Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is trying to rally support within his Syriza party ahead of a second vote in Parliament on reforms needed as part of the planned bail-out. He told officials that the people of Greece had pinned their hopes on remaining within the euro zone. Parliament in Athens is due to vote on banking reform and changes to the civil justice system.
The Church of England will consecrate its third most senior female bishop at Canterbury Cathedral later today. Rachel Treweek, a former speech therapist will become the Bishop of the Gloucester. She'll be the first woman to lead a diocese and have a seat in the House of Lords. Bishop Treweek said it would be a immense privilege.
'That feels quite daunting, but again what an immense privilege to be able to use my voice in the Lords. This is not something that I ever imagined to be able to as a follower of Christ in the House of Lords.'
The Supreme Court in Pakistan has suspended the death sentence for a Christian woman convicted of blasphemy and agreed to hear her appeal. Asia Bibi was convicted for insulting the Prophet Muhammad. She denies the charge, saying the Muslim women who accused her were acting on a personal grudge. Pakistan has never executed anyone for blasphemy.
Researchers in Britain say they’ve discovered manuscript fragments in their archive collection which could be the world’s oldest examples of the Koran. Carbon testing on the fragments suggests they date from the 7th century. The researchers from the University of Birmingham say the writer of the manuscript could have met the Prophet Muhammad or heard him preach.