Iran dramatically accelerating uranium enrichment to near bomb grade, IAEA says

 Iran is "dramatically" accelerating its enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% level that is weapons grade, U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told Reuters on Friday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency later confirmed in a confidential report to member states that Iran was speeding up uranium enrichment, a process that refines the raw material so that it can be used as fuel in civil nuclear power generation or, potentially, nuclear weapons.

The IAEA findings will deepen alarm in Western countries that say there is no justification for enriching uranium to such a high level under any civilian programme and that no other country has done so without producing nuclear bombs.

Iran denies pursuing nuclear weapons.

Tehran already has enough material enriched to up to 60% purity to be able to make four nuclear weapons if it enriches it further, according to an IAEA yardstick.

"Today the agency is announcing that the production capacity is increasing dramatically of the 60% inventory," IAEA chief Grossi said on the sidelines of the Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain.

He said Iran's production capacity was set to rise to "seven, eight times more, maybe, or even more" than the current level of 5-7 kg of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity a month.

In the report to member states, which was seen by Reuters, the IAEA said Iran had increased the enrichment rate of the material being fed into two interconnected cascades of advanced IR-6 centrifuges at its Fordow plant.

The plant had already been enriching uranium to up to 60% purity with material enriched to up to 5% purity. The material being fed in now has been enriched to up to 20% purity, accelerating the process of reaching 60%.

That change means Iran will "significantly" increase the amount of uranium it enriches to 60% purity, reaching more than 34 kg a month at Fordow alone, the report said.

Iran is also enriching uranium to up to 60% at another site, Natanz.

The report said Iran must as a matter of urgency facilitate tougher safeguards measures, such as inspections, to ensure Fordow is not being "misused to produce uranium of an enrichment level higher than that declared by Iran, and that there is no diversion of declared nuclear material."

European and Iranian officials last week made little progress in meetings on whether they could enter serious talks on the nuclear programme before Donald Trump returns to the White House in January.

'DANGEROUS AND RECKLESS'

Tehran was angered by a resolution last month put forward by Britain, Germany and France, known as the E3, and the United States that faulted Iran's cooperation with the IAEA.

"This is a serious escalatory step by Iran, which we strongly condemn," a German foreign ministry source said of Iran accelerating uranium enrichment to 60% purity. "It is obvious that such measures significantly worsen the framework for diplomatic efforts."

Kelsey Davenport, director of non-proliferation policy at the Arms Control Association advocacy group in Washington, said Iran's acceleration at Fordow was "a dangerous and reckless escalation that risks derailing the prospects for negotiations with the United States."

"Increasing the capacity to move more quickly to multiple bombs' worth of weapons-grade uranium increases the risk of miscalculation and military action," she said.

After pulling the United States out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, Trump pursued a "maximum pressure" policy that sought to wreck Iran's economy. He is staffing his planned administration with hawks on Iran.

Grossi said last month Tehran had accepted a "request" to cap its stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% to ease diplomatic tensions.

Diplomats said at the time that Tehran's step was conditional on the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors not passing a resolution against Iran over insufficient cooperation with the agency, which the Board then did.

"We do not have any diplomatic process ongoing which could lead to a de-escalation, or a more stable equation when it comes to Iran," Grossi said. "This is regrettable."

The E3 have said they want revive talks before the 2015 deal expires in October 2025. The deal lifted sanctions against Iran in return for restrictions on Iran's atomic activities. Since Trump left the deal, Iran has abandoned those restrictions.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-iran-dramatically-increasing-enrichment-144001836.html

FDA must disclose more COVID-19 vaccine records, US judge rules

 A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to publicly disclose more information underpinning its authorization of COVID-19 vaccines, after failing to persuade the court to end the public records lawsuit.

In a ruling, on Friday, U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth, Texas, ordered the agency to produce its “emergency use authorization” file to a group of scientists who wanted to see licensing information that the FDA relied on to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is long passed and so has any legitimate reason for concealing from the American people the information relied upon by the government in approving the Pfizer vaccine,” wrote Pittman, appointed in 2019 by then-President Donald Trump.

The lawsuit, filed in late 2021, attracted attention after the FDA said it could take decades to process and disclose records to Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency, the group that brought the case.

The FDA declined to comment.

Attorney Aaron Siri, representing the Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency, welcomed Pittman’s order.

“The FDA clearly lacks confidence in the review that it conducted to license Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine because it is doing everything possible to prevent independent scientists from conducting an independent review,” Siri said.

He said the agency was “hiding from the court and the plaintiff one million pages of clinical trial documents from the COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials.”

The FDA has power to grant “emergency use authorization” for vaccines and some other medical products.

Representing the Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency, attorney Aaron Siri said the FDA was “hiding from the court and the plaintiff one million pages of clinical trial documents from the COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials.”REUTERS

The lawsuit said, “the medical and scientific community and the public have a substantial interest in reviewing the data and information underlying the FDA’s approval of the Pfizer vaccine.”

The agency has countered that its “emergency use authorization” file did not fall within the scientist group’s records request.

The FDA said in a filing that it has produced more than 1 million pages of records in the lawsuit.

The filing also said that it had set up “unprecedented and extraordinary operations” — spending more than $3.5 million — to comply with Pittman’s directives to speed up the search and delivery of responsive records.

Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency, whose members include professors and scientists from Yale, Harvard, UCLA and Brown, has posted thousands of records on its website.

The case is Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, No. 4:21-cv-01058-P.

https://nypost.com/2024/12/06/business/fda-must-disclose-more-covid-19-vaccine-records-us-judge-rules/

'Never do ‘a– to grass’ squats, according to an orthopedic surgeon'

 Don’t even think about tapping that grass.

When Dr. Scott Brotherton was recently asked what’s something that he would never do as an orthopedic surgeon, he said, “squats past 90 degrees,” also known as deep squats.

Two major types of deep squats are parallel — when you lower your hips until your thighs are parallel to the ground, typically bending your knees 110 to 120 degrees — and “a– to grass,” when you lower your hips even more, until your butt nearly touches the ground.

Dr. Scott Brotherton (pictured here) warns against “squats past 90 degrees.”tiktok/@orthopedicspecialists

There’s been much debate on strength and conditioning forums over which squat is best for developing leg muscles and improving mobility. For Brotherton, one type of squat is a clear loser.

“Nothing says patella cartilage injury like a– to grass,” the Florida-based doctor said on TikTok.

The patellofemoral joint is where the kneecap (patella) meets the thighbone (femur) at the front of the knee. When you bend your knees for a deep squat, you can put excessive stress on that joint.

The stress can damage the cartilage that cushions the joint, especially if you are lifting heavy weights or using improper technique.

Knee cartilage injuries are common. Treatment often involves resting, icing and elevating the knee, wearing a brace, taking anti-inflammatory medicine and/or doing physical therapy.

If the injury is severe, surgery may be needed to stimulate growth of healthy cartilage.

Don’t let Brotherton’s warning scare you from doing squats. They are a great way to work your gluteus maximus, quadriceps and hamstrings, enhance stability and balance, strengthen your core, burn calories, improve posture and prevent muscle loss associated with aging.

Squatting with an improper form can lead to knee cartilage injuries. You may want to consult with an exercise professional.Pixel-Shot – stock.adobe.com\
Proper form is key. Some say you should keep your knees aligned over your toes, shift your weight back into your heels, rotate your pelvis backward and squeeze your glutes.

Be careful not to hunch your back, overextend your hips, let your chest drop down or use too much weight to start. Stop if you experience knee pain.

https://nypost.com/2024/12/06/lifestyle/why-you-shouldnt-do-a-to-grass-squats-orthopedic-surgeon/