Experts visited the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and released a report about the state of danger stemming from bombing and shelling around Europe's largest nuclear reactor. Their conclusion: That’s dangerous and it should stop.
Okay thanks. We already knew that. We hoped they would say WHO was doing it but they refused. When asked about it, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said this:
“I cannot make that determination. We do not have the means to do that. As you know, you would need to be looking or monitoring the military operation in the region and all its vastness, which is not only beyond the mandate of the IAEA, but would require enormous capabilities.”
IAEA is calling for that area to be demilitarized in order to protect the plant but Russia calls this solution “not serious.” It is not militarized in the first place, they say. It is not a military zone. It is guarded by Russian forces and run by Ukrainian citizens.
A Ukrainian general admitted to targeting this area last week and Russia has shown images of the shells that were shipped to Ukraine from the U.K. This report really does nothing to condemn or stop that from happening more so the threat of a nuclear disaster persists.
The U.S. is moving towards annual Covid boosters, much like the flu shot. The White House says that this is the best way to prevent “fatigue with repeat inoculations.”
Yes, fatigue. So tedious.
This comes just days after the U.S. rolled out the omicron-targeted Covid booster. Given how often the public has been asked to get boosted and how low booster adoption is, the White House is positioning this latest version as the one we’re using this flu season. It’s just this year’s. Next year, expect another.
Does that mean that we won’t hear much about Covid boosters in the spring and summer? Perhaps but the White House says that elderly and immunocompromised people may need more frequent boosters.
The current omicron boosters will be available for appointments soon but clinical trials are just getting underway. The FDA allowed the manufacturers to skip that part this time around but they will get around to it at the same time as patients are offered the vaccine.
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The United Nations says that Iran has increased its supply of enriched uranium by 30% but Iran says that that is meant for nuclear energy not for nuclear weapons.
The United States has been trying to revive a nuclear weapons treaty with Iran but that is not going well because the two countries disagree on sanctions. They also disagree on how much Western countries will retain the right to inspect nuclear facilities. Given that the U.S. was the first country in the world to launch a hacking attack on a foreign power and that foreign power was Iran’s nuclear facilities, can you blame them?
Iran does need enriched uranium to run its first nuclear power facility. It also has two more in the works because, as we’ve said many times, nuclear power is the safest and most environmentally-friendly type of energy we’ve got right now.
So some fundamental questions:
Can the West let them have uranium to power their country or does the West not want them to have that for ulterior reasons? Is the worry about nuclear weapons legitimate given that the United States is the only country that has ever actually used a nuclear weapon? Could this possibly be related to the fact that Russia is the one helping them build those nuclear power plants?
Humans aren’t the only ones who become depressed during lockdowns. According to new research, primates in zoos became more solitary and sedentary during Covid quarantines.
Each primate showed different behaviors, just like humans. Olive baboons were less sexual and less dominant. Chimpanzees ate less and engaged less with their enclosures.
The animals seemed to resume normal behavior when their human visitors returned. Thank goodness they didn’t have to deal with Zoom meetings and virtual learning!
News By The Numbers
300. That is how many shops in Denmark turned out the lights on Monday to protest high energy costs.
2. That is how many mommies Penny Polar Bear has on Peppa Pig. Her mommies are the show’s first same-sex couple.
1 million. That is how many chicken sandwiches Wingstop sold in just six days after the chain decided to compete in the chicken sandwich wars.
19 degrees Celsius. That is the most you can heat a room in Switzerland or else face fines or possible jail time if a new law passes. That is 66 degrees Fahrenheit.
115,000. That is how many railway workers are threatening to strike in the U.S. If that and the UPS strike happens, you’d better start knitting your Christmas presents now!
