Eye bank denies fault in injuries:

America

A South Dakota-based eye and tissue bank says it isn’t responsible for injuries caused by infected corneas that were shipped to the Palestinian territories.

Two Palestinians are suing the South Dakota Lions Eye and Tissue Bank, alleging the corneas provided for their transplants caused eye problems, the Argus Leader reported. The lawsuit says the 19-year-old woman became blind in her right eye and that the 17-year-old male’s vision is threatened in both eyes.

The plaintiffs argue that the corneas shouldn’t have been used because they were recovered from a Minnesota man who had severe health problems and suffered an unattended death in his hot apartment in July 2015. They allege that the eye bank was aware that test results showed the corneas were infected several days before they were used in the transplants.

The eye and tissue bank, now known as Dakota Lions Sight & Health, said in its response to the federal lawsuit that problems with the transplants were beyond its control, and that Palestinians have no right to sue in the United States. It’s up to the surgeon who is doing the transplant to approve whether or not to use the corneas, according to Dr John Berdahl, the volunteer medical director of the eye bank.

Berdahl said he doesn’t know if their doctors have “the same process we do, but the process we go through is a pretty rigorous one.” (AP)

‘France will always be France’:

French President Francois Hollande on Thursday brushed aside comments by White House hopeful Donald Trump that France was “no longer” the country it was because of a string of deadly jihadist attacks.

“France will always be France, because France will never yield and because France is always the bearer of ideals, values and principles, for which we are recognised throughout the world,” Hollande said in a speech in the southwest town of Rivesaltes.

“When you lower your standards, you are no longer what you are. That’s something that may happen to others, on the other side of the Atlantic,” Hollande added, referring indirectly to Trump without naming him.

During a news conference in Florida on Wednesday, the US Republican presidential nominee brought up the murder of an elderly French priest, and said a friend who recently visited the country told him: “I wouldn’t go to France ... France is no longer France.”

“They won’t like me for saying that,” Trump added, “but you see what happened in Nice. You see what happened yesterday with the priest, who is supposed to be a spectacular man. France is no longer France.”

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls had already reacted on Wednesday evening on Twitter saying France was still France and strong. (AFP)