The U.S. Treasury has informed Nippon Steel that the panel reviewing its proposed purchase of U.S. Steel has not yet come to an agreement on how to address security concerns, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing several sources familiar with the talks.
Saturday, December 14, 2024
Uranium Wars
by James Rickards
Uranium production is best understood as an industry played out on a geopolitical chessboard.
Enriched uranium is used to fuel nuclear reactors. The degree of enrichment is not high. Natural uranium (sometimes called yellowcake) has about 0.7% U-235 isotope. This is enriched to 3% to 5% for use in most reactors (called low-enriched uranium or LEU). Some specialized reactors require uranium enriched to 20% U-235 isotope, but those are rare.
Uranium is also used in nuclear weapons, especially fusion thermonuclear bombs. Those are enriched to a minimum of 20% U-235 and more often are enriched to 90% U-235 (highly enriched uranium, HEU) for the most powerful weapons.
Uranium itself is not rare, but its mining and production are controlled by only a few countries working with source countries. The real stranglehold on HEU is the enrichment process itself, which is highly technical and, again, controlled by a handful of countries.
Countries with large or expanding nuclear arsenals (U.S., Russia, China and North Korea) will do what they have to do to obtain HEU. They are not price sensitive, but they are not large drivers of the world price either. The main driver is the demand for LEU for use in nuclear reactors. The two leading builders of nuclear reactors, both for domestic use and for export, are Russia and France. (The U.S. has good nuclear reactor technology and building capacity, but it is highly constrained by regulations as part of the green new scam).
France’s yellowcake comes almost exclusively from Niger. Russia has diverse sources including Russia itself, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and now Ukraine. China gets uranium from inside China and Namibia and South Africa. India sources uranium from mainly inside India.
A recent coup d’état in Niger has thrown France’s supply situation into turmoil. There is no evidence yet that Russia planned the coup; it was most likely indigenous. When I traveled in West Africa and Central Africa in the early 1980s, I was accustomed to staying in hotels with artillery shells and machine gun bullet holes in the facades from the last coup.
Still, it is clear that Russia is fanning the flames among the revolutionary forces and helping to keep the coup forces alive. The U.S. and UK conducted a clandestine coup in Ukraine in 2014 that deposed a pro-Russian president. One can almost hear Putin saying to himself, “Two can play.”
Meanwhile, France failed in its efforts to organize a multilateral force around the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). France proposed to supply well-trained French Foreign Legion and other special forces to the effort. U.S. efforts to intervene have also failed.
Russia’s reaction was to deploy Wagner Group mercenaries to support the coup. What is likely at this point is more chaos and at least a temporary cut-off of exports of uranium from Niger.
My first visit to the Niger capital of Niamey was memorable. It happened in 1981, over forty years ago. Niamey is completely surrounded by the Sahara Desert. It’s not near the desert; it’s in the desert. When it was built, it was more of an oasis on the Niger River but the Sahara is highly dynamic. It moves, sometimes hundreds of miles in any direction, creating more desert and even leaving green areas behind that become more fertile. Niamey was a place that was swallowed by the Sahara.
I was there as a senior officer of Citibank from the head office in New York checking in on the Niamey branch. (I covered francophone Africa at the time including Côte D’Ivoire, Senegal, and the Congo, formerly Zaire). My hotel room was interesting. The shower was a marked-off area of the bedroom with a drain and a small fringe to keep water from spreading. There was no shower curtain. The shower itself was a hose with a garden-type nozzle. It worked fine.
I looked out the window in the morning and saw something I had only seen in movies and never expected to see in real life – a caravan. It was a real one with camels tied together in a line laden with goods and camel drivers riding a few, and some herders walking alongside. They wore turbans and robes and were headed out into the desert. I’m not sure where they were going. Timbuktu is not far in case you’re in the neighborhood.
Finally, I made it to the office and sat across from the Chief Country Officer. Before we got down to business, I told the Chief I had a question.
“I understand what I’m doing here, but what are we doing here? Why on earth does Citibank have an office in such a primitive and deserted place?”
The Chief looked at me like I was the new kid on the block. (I was). He answered my question with one word: “Uranium.”
He went on, “We’re here to keep an eye on the uranium and keep an eye on the French. We use finance as needed as a tool to maintain economic control.”
At that time, it wasn’t unusual for the CIA to use bank and energy company officials as sources working under non-official cover. I quickly understood what I had walked into.
I suppose the hotels are nicer today and the caravans are mostly gone. What has not changed is the importance of uranium and the competition among the U.S., Russia and France for access. Now that the French presence has been ejected and the U.S. presence has been stymied, we’ll see how things play out.
More chaos and possibly war are next on the agenda. That creates its own uncertainties. What is certain is that Russia will be the winner. The chaos alone will result in a higher price for uranium. If Russia prevails, they will tighten their stranglehold on global supply and leave the French in desperate straits.
'Top podcaster spread health misinformation, claims BBC probe'
Prominent podcaster Steven Bartlett has been accused of allowing misleading health information to be shared on his Diary of a CEO stream, which has millions of subscribers.
A BBC investigation claims to have analysed 15 recent health-related episodes of the podcast and uncovered 14 claims made by interviewees that ran counter to scientific evidence – including anti-vaccine sentiments – without being challenged by the host.
The case plays into concerns that podcasts can be a double-edged sword when it comes to health information, with the power to do great good – as a patient education tool, for example, if delivered by expert, knowledgeable commentators – but also considerable harm if they become a platform for fringe viewpoints.
It also emphasises the challenges that can emerge as legacy mainstream media outlets cut staff in the face of financial pressures and health information is increasingly provided by a scattered network of digital platforms without rigorous fact-checking and editorial oversight. In the UK, podcasts are not subject to oversight by media regulator Ofcom.
The BBC's probe into Diary of a CEO has followed an increase in emphasis on health topics by Bartlett that, according to the broadcaster, has resulted in a big increase in viewers and subscribers for the podcast, which currently has around 15 million views per month on YouTube.
A recent paper on health podcasts in the journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases estimated that in less than 15 years, the format – across all topics – has gone from being virtually unknown to becoming a multibillion-dollar industry, with around 500 million listeners worldwide.
Bartlett told The Times newspaper earlier this year that he expected to make £20 million ($25m) in revenue from Diary of a CEO this year, according to the BBC report. The podcast has been running since 2017.
Other problematic claims uncovered by the investigation include that following a keto diet can treat cancer and that evidence-based medication is "toxic" for patients.
The BBC also highlights strap lines such as "23.3 million people will die yearly because of this" and "we've been lied to about medication," which were used to promote an interview with UK cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, who has advocated to suspend mRNA COVID-19 vaccination programmes.
Cécile Simmons, from the Institute of Strategic Dialogue, a think tank specialising in disinformation research, told the BBC this type of divisive content – which she described as "health-related clickbait" – can help to grow audiences.
Flight Studio, Bartlett's production company, said in a statement that the BBC had focused on a "limited proportion" of almost 400 guests on the podcast, adding that it showcases a range of voices who are offered "freedom of expression."
Similar allegations were directed earlier this year at US podcast The Huberman Lab, presented by Stanford neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, which has millions of subscribers and focuses on health-related topics.
https://pharmaphorum.com/news/top-podcaster-spread-health-misinformation-claims-bbc-probe
Assad's Fall Is A Major Blow To Russia
by Andrew Latham via RealClearWorld,
Russia’s 2015 military intervention in Syria was a bold assertion of its great power ambitions, rescuing Bashar al-Assad's regime and projecting influence in the Middle East. However, recent rebel advances and Assad’s sudden deposal threaten to isolate Russia’s Khmeimim airbase and Tartus naval facility, undermining both the practical and symbolic foundations of Moscow’s global power status.
The fall of Assad promises to be a major blow to Russia, which is already bogged down in Ukraine. Its ramifications are likely to be felt across Moscow’s foreign policy, which could soon face some stark and unenviable choices.
The Russian presence in Syria is central to the Kremlin’s broader strategy of force projection. Its Mediterranean bases allow Moscow to sustain military operations in the Levant, North Africa, and beyond, countering U.S. influence. With the key city of Homs having fallen to the rebels, supply routes to Khmeimim and Tartus have been severed, forcing reliance on vulnerable air and sea routes. This will weaken Russia’s operational readiness and its ability to influence events in neighboring theaters, including Africa.
Khmeimim also serves as a logistical hub for Russian private military contractors (PMCs) like the Wagner Group, active in Libya, Mali, and the Central African Republic. These contractors are central to Moscow’s efforts to expand its influence in Africa, providing security and securing lucrative economic deals. With Khmeimim isolated, sustaining these operations would become costly and inefficient, reducing Moscow’s ability to achieve its geopolitical objectives on the continent.
The isolation of Khmeimim and Tartus will severely constrain Russia’s ability to sustain military operations in Syria and beyond, undermining its ability to conduct airstrikes, reconnaissance, and rapid-response missions. PMCs, reliant on robust logistics, will face disruptions, emboldening opposition forces and exposing the fragility of Russia’s African partnerships. These setbacks will ripple through Moscow’s strategic calculations, undercutting its influence and economic goals.
The symbolic consequences of a rebel victory will be even more damaging. Moscow has portrayed its intervention in Syria as a demonstration of its reliability as an ally and its ability to uphold the sovereignty of client states. The loss in Syria will puncture this narrative, exposing the limits of Russian power and credibility. Regional actors, including Iran, Turkey, and the Gulf states, will recalibrate their perceptions of Moscow’s influence, while African partners might pivot toward more reliable alternatives such as China or the West.
Domestically, the repercussions of a diminished role in Syria will be significant. President Vladimir Putin has marketed the Syrian intervention as a triumph of Russian statecraft, portraying it as a cornerstone of Russia’s resurgence on the global stage. While critics of Russia’s foreign interventions have questioned their costs for years, the fall of Assad could amplify these doubts in ways the prolonged conflict in Ukraine has not. Syria's collapse would symbolize a failure of Russia's ability to safeguard allied regimes, striking at the narrative of strategic competence that Putin has worked to project. Public perceptions of Russian strength, carefully curated through state-controlled media, could falter, creating broader political vulnerabilities. Moreover, Syria has served as a testing ground for Russian weapons systems, and reduced visibility in the region would weaken their appeal to buyers, further diminishing Russia’s geopolitical leverage and economic gains from arms exports. The rebel victory in Syria will resonate globally. For the United States and its allies, it will validate strategies to contain Russian influence and embolden further countermeasures. NATO could leverage Russia’s difficulties to underscore the limitations of its global reach, while China might accelerate efforts to dominate regions like Central Asia and Africa, further sidelining Moscow in regions where it traditionally competes.
Russia now faces a stark choice: escalate its military commitment to protect its strategic interests, such as its naval facility in Tartus and airbase in Khmeimim, or accept a diminished role in the region. Escalation would aim to preserve these assets and reassert influence but risks clashes with other regional powers and would strain resources already stretched by commitments in Ukraine and Africa. Retrenchment, however, would signal a devastating blow to Russia's credibility as a reliable guarantor of allied regimes worldwide, sending a clear message to its partners in Africa, the Middle East, and beyond that Moscow cannot be counted on to defend its allies in times of crisis. This erosion of trust would undermine Russia’s broader global strategy and invite further challenges to its influence elsewhere.
Already there is evidence Russian warships have left Tartus, raising questions about Russia’s commitment to its Syrian bases. As Russia navigates this crisis, it must confront the limits of its resources and the fragility of its aspirations. Great power status requires not just military might but strategic resilience. The outcome of the Syrian conflict will shape the future of Russia’s role in the evolving international order. For Moscow, the stakes could not be higher.
Andrew Latham is Professor of Political Science at Macalester College and a Non-Resident Fellow at Defense Priorities.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/assads-fall-major-blow-russia
ADHD Or Something Else? One In 4 Adults Are Self-Diagnosing
by Amy Denny via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Imagine being the school band director and waking up at 1 a.m. on the day of a big parade to realize that you never booked the school bus to transport your students.
For Lisa Burden, this experience was more than a nightmare. It was a wake-up call to her own shortcomings. While exceptionally bright and creative, she also had to contend with another side of herself. She’d struggled since childhood with challenges like being able to keep track of things and being told she talked too much.
“There were responsibilities that I would just forget to do. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to do them,” she told The Epoch Times. “I came to a point when I had to admit I could not keep it all in my head. I’ll have a thought, and then I don’t know when I’ll have that thought again.”
While attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition that can undermine a person’s ability to navigate our modern age, in some ways, it is more helpful to think of it as a mismatch of mental abilities. ADHD involves symptoms of inattentiveness, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity, among others.
People with ADHD have brains that think differently in a world that’s become more sedentary and rigid. Experts say seeing ADHD through a new lens can help adults strengthen their thinking, improve their relationships, and accentuate their strengths.
Maybe It Is ADHD
About 15.5 million—or 6 percent—of American adults have been diagnosed with ADHD. About half were diagnosed as adults, with one-third of those diagnosed receiving treatment, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
To be diagnosed with ADHD as a child, one needs to have six symptoms involving inattentiveness, hyperactivity, or impulsivity. An adult diagnosis requires five.
Those symptoms include the following:
- Trouble paying attention or being easily distracted
- Being disorganized
- Procrastinating
- Inability to plan or organize
- Difficulty recalling daily tasks
- Losing things frequently
- Being extremely talkative or frequently interrupting
- Trouble multitasking or focusing on larger projects
- Finding it hard to follow instructions or finish projects
- Inability to sit still for lengthy periods
- Fidgeting
- The need to be constantly moving
- Prioritizing immediate rewards over future rewards
There are a few other criteria, too, including symptoms that have been around since before age 12, with clear evidence that they are severe, frequent, and persistent enough to cause problems in at least two areas of life, such as at work, school, church, or home.
Finally, hormonal and mental disorders, such as depression, anxiety, or a psychotic disorder, must be ruled out. However, there is no definitive diagnostic tool, such as bloodwork or brain scans, for ADHD.
Beyond Stereotypes
Experts understand ADHD better than they did two decades ago. The stigma is lifting, and awareness is growing, according to Marcy M. Caldwell, a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in the treatment and assessment of adult ADHD.
She told The Epoch Times that social media has given voice to people who are describing their experiences with ADHD and raising it as a possibility for many people who might not have considered it previously.
For a number of years, ADHD was stereotypically considered a disorder associated with young boys. That, particularly, left a lot of girls undiagnosed in childhood who went on to be diagnosed as adults.
However, professionals are beginning to better understand that symptoms can vary depending on race, sex, and age, Caldwell said. They are also noting that children often don’t outgrow ADHD, as was previously believed in most cases. Rather, she said symptoms relapse and remit throughout life depending on other circumstances.
“In that waxing and waning, the symptoms can come up again around major life events,” Caldwell said. “In normal life, the major events come up at different times. But in 2020, we were all hit with a major life event, so there was a big upsurge in diagnosis that happened after COVID as everyone was adjusting to very new circumstances.”
Pillars of Brain Health
Caldwell described the ADHD brain as working as an off-on light switch, whereas a neurotypical brain can adjust lighting with a dimmer switch. That is, for those with ADHD, the light switch is either on—hyperfocusing, usually with enjoyable tasks—or off for tasks that aren’t as pleasurable.
It takes far more energy, she said, for someone with ADHD to use their brain like a dimmer switch, though it can be done. That energy can come from the following foundational health pillars:
- Sleep
- Exercise
- Nutrition
- Medication
- Meditation
- Connection
“Those are six really hard things, and there’s a lot involved with them. You don’t have to do all of them,” she said.
However, on a day when you don’t get much sleep, you can try one of the others to boost your brain energy, typically exercise, according to Caldwell.
Movement as Fuel
Any exercise is great for boosting energy, though specific exercises may be more tolerable to different brain states, said Caldwell. Rowing, running, and walking are helpful for those who are inattentive. Meanwhile, sports like soccer or karate—during which you must respond to a constantly changing environment—are good for those struggling with hyperactivity and impulsivity.
The problem, Caldwell added, is that most people try to change how their brains work so they can function in the world rather than changing the world for how their brains work. That means if you need to move more, as many with ADHD do, consider using a standing or treadmill desk, take frequent breaks, and exercise before work to build up energy stores.
“A lot of people start out with more ability to regulate their tasks and attention, and as the day goes on, they have less capacity to do that,” she said. “Save things that aren’t as taxing for later in the day.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/adhd-or-something-else-one-4-adults-are-self-diagnosing
Rhode Island hit by data breach as hackers demand ransom
Hundreds of thousands of Rhode Island residents' personal and bank information, including Social Security numbers, were very likely hacked by an international cybercriminal group asking for a ransom, state officials said on Saturday.
In what Rhode Island officials described as extortion, the hackers threatened to release the stolen information unless they were paid an undisclosed amount of money.
The breached data affects people who use the state's government assistance programs and includes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and healthcare purchased through the state's HealthSource RI, Governor Dan McKee announced on Friday.
Hackers gained access to RIBridges, the state's online portal for obtaining social services earlier this month, the governor's office said in a statement, but the breach was not confirmed by its vendor, Deloitte, until Friday.
"Deloitte confirmed that there is a high probability that a cybercriminal has obtained files with personally identifiable information from RIBridges," the governor's office said in a statement on Saturday.
A representative from McKee's office was not immediately available to Reuters for comment.
Anyone who has applied for or received benefits through those programs since 2016 could be affected.
The state directed Deloitte to shut down RIBridges to remediate the threat, and for the time being, anyone applying for new benefits will have to do so on paper applications until the system is back up.
Households believed to have been affected will receive a letter from the state notifying them of the problem and explaining steps to be taken to help protect their data and bank accounts.
Testing pioneering drug to regrow teeth
People with missing teeth may be able to grow new ones, say Japanese dentists testing a pioneering drug they hope will offer an alternative to dentures and implants.
Unlike reptiles and fish, which usually replace their fangs on a regular basis, it is widely accepted that humans and most other mammals only grow two sets of teeth.
But hidden underneath our gums are the dormant buds of a third generation, according to Katsu Takahashi, head of oral surgery at the Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital in Osaka.
His team launched clinical trials at Kyoto University Hospital in October, administering an experimental medicine to adult test subjects that they say has the potential to jumpstart the growth of these concealed teeth.
It's a technology "completely new" to the world, Takahashi told AFP.
Prosthetic treatments used for teeth lost to decay, disease or injury are often seen as costly and invasive.
So "restoring natural teeth definitely has its advantages", said Takahashi, the project's lead researcher.
Tests on mice and ferrets suggest that blocking a protein called USAG-1 can awaken the third set, and the researchers have published lab photographs of regrown animal teeth.
In a study published last year, the team said their "antibody treatment in mice is effective for tooth regeneration and can be a breakthrough in treating tooth anomalies in humans".
'Only the beginning'
For now, the dentists are prioritising the "dire" needs of patients with six or more permanent teeth missing from birth.
The hereditary condition is said to affect around 0.1 percent of people, who can have severe trouble chewing, and in Japan often spend most of their adolescence wearing a face mask to hide the wide gaps in their mouth, Takahashi said.
"This drug could be a game-changer for them," he added.
The drug is therefore aimed primarily at children, and the researchers want to make it available as early as 2030.
Angray Kang, a dentistry professor at Queen Mary University of London, only knows of one other team pursuing a similar objective of using antibodies to regrow or repair teeth.
"I would say that the Takahashi group is leading the way," the immunotechnology expert, who is not connected to the Japanese research, told AFP.
Takahashi's work is "exciting and worth pursuing", Kang said, in part because an antibody drug that targets a protein nearly identical to USAG-1 is already being used to treat osteoporosis.
"The race to regenerate human teeth is not a short sprint, but by analogy a set of back-to-back consecutive ultra-marathons," he said.
"This is only the beginning."
Chengfei Zhang, a clinical professor in endodontics at the University of Hong Kong, said Takahashi's method is "innovative and holds potential".
"The assertion that humans possess latent tooth buds capable of producing a third set of teeth is both revolutionary and controversial," he told AFP.
He also cautioned that "outcomes observed in animals do not always directly translate to humans".
The results of the animal experiments raise "questions about whether regenerated teeth could functionally and aesthetically replace missing teeth", Zhang added.
'Over the moon'
A confident Takahashi argues that the location of a new tooth in a mouth can be controlled, if not pinpointed, by the drug injection site.
And if it grows in the wrong place, it can be moved through orthodontics or transplantation, he said.
No young patients with the congenital disorder are taking part in the first clinical trial, as the main objective is to test the drug's safety, rather than its effectiveness.
So for now, the participants are healthy adults who have lost at least one existing tooth.
And while tooth regeneration is not the express goal of the trial this time around, there is a slim chance that it could happen to subjects anyway, Takahashi said.
If so, the researchers will have confirmed that the drug can be effective for those with acquired toothlessness—which would be a medical triumph.
"I would be over the moon if that happens," Takahashi said.
This could be particularly welcome news in Japan, which has the second-oldest population in the world.
Health ministry data shows more than 90 percent of people aged 75 or older in Japan have at least one tooth missing.
"Expectations are high that our technology can directly extend their healthy life expectancy," Takahashi said.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-12-japanese-drug-regrow-teeth.html
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