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As part of long-standing, ongoing efforts to be better prepared to save lives following radiological and nuclear emergencies, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is purchasing a supply of the drug Nplate from Amgen USA Inc; Nplate is approved to treat blood cell injuries that accompany acute radiation syndrome in adult and pediatric patients (ARS). Amgen, based in Thousands Oaks, California, developed Nplate for ARS with support from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the HHS Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), as well as the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases,...

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani praised Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s historic visit to his country on Tuesday. “The two sides discussed political and security developments in the region and the challenges facing its countries, including the Iranian nuclear file, terrorism, religious extremism, poverty, as well as social issues,” Al-Zayani said. “They underlined the importance of intensifying joint efforts to address regional challenges and threats, maintain stability and security in the Middle East, and enhance regional and international peace.” He added: “Prime Minister Bennett invited his Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Prime Minister to visit the State of...

The Biden administration is at odds with Israel over the best way to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett intends to present US President Joe Biden with a plan to halt a nuclear Iran when the two hold their first meeting together in the White House later this week. “We will present an orderly plan that we have formulated in the past two months to curb the Iranians, both in the nuclear sphere and vis-à-vis regional aggression,” Bennett told the government at its weekly meeting on Sunday. -----Snip “We inherited a not-so-simple situation. Iran is...

"Senators Told North Korea Nuclear Threat Is UrgentBY: Bill Gertz - April 26, 2017 5:57 pm The Senate took part in a rare White House briefing on Wednesday to hear what senior leaders described as "an urgent national security threat" posed by North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. The hour-long secret session for all senators was held at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next to the White House, and included a brief appearance from President Trump who made short, introductory remarks. Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also took part in the session. His...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his country to be ready to use its nuclear weapons at any time and the military to be in "pre-emptive attack" mode in the face of growing threats from its enemies, state media said on Friday. The comments, carried by the North's official KCNA news agency, marked a further escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula after the U.N. Security Council imposed harsh new sanctions on the isolated state for its nuclear programme. North Korea, known for belligerent rhetoric, has previously threatened pre-emptive attacks on its enemies, including South Korea and the...

While the world focuses on the dangers that a nuclear-armed Iran could present in the Middle East, a potentially more dangerous and unstable nuclear proliferation is occurring in the Indian Ocean. In the coming years India, Pakistan, and perhaps China will likely deploy a significant number of nuclear weapons at sea in the Indian Ocean. This could further destabilise already unstable nuclear relationships, creating a real risk of a sea-based exchange of nuclear weapons. Observers have long seen India-Pakistan nuclear rivalry as the most unstable in the world, and South Asia as the most likely location of nuclear conflict. This...

(CBS) — It was stunning for those who watched Thursday night as federal agents investigated a possible nuclear threat at Chicago’s Ogilvie Transportation Center. CBS 2′s photojournalist Lana Hinshaw-Klann happened to be at the scene and used a cell-phone camera to record agents in action. Reporter Dave Savini looks into what agents were looking for and what they found. Sources say the agents were members of the elite TSA VIPR team on the 5:04pm Union Pacific West line. They were carrying hand-held nuclear-detection devices that picked up a reading.

The problem with Iran’s enrichment facilities has become more acute in recent years. When the West refused to supply 20%-enriched uranium for the small Tehran Research Reactor, where the Iranians produce medical isotopes, Iranian nuclear experts went ahead in June 2010 and fed their 5%-enriched uranium into the centrifuges to produce 20%-enriched uranium, by themselves. With a stockpile of 20%-enriched uranium, the Iranians would cut by more than half the time they needed to take the next enrichment step to weapons-grade uranium.

Cuba's iconic revolutionary Fidel Castro warned that the world was on an "inexorable" march into the abyss this year because of climate change and the threat of nuclear war. In an article published Thursday -- Castro's first since November 2011 -- the 85-year-old retired leader also took aim at the United States and at gas shale "fracking," a new source of fossil fuels condemned by environmentalists. He did not, however, address rumors of his death, which were denied by an official Cuban blogger after they surfaced on Twitter earlier this week. "Many dangers threaten us, but two of them, nuclear...

Apologists for the Obama administration will spend the next year touting U.S.-Israel security cooperation in an effort to bolster the DemocratÂ’s re-election chances. But a report in the Guardian this past weekend about the breakdown of communication between the two countries on the most important issue facing them undermines that talking point. According to the Guardian, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak both refused to reassure Defense Secretary Leon Panetta that Israel would consult with the United States first before launching an attack on IranÂ’s nuclear sites. Panetta, who did the Iranians a favor last week...

Seismology charts are now revealing that the 5.8 magnitude tremor that rattled the entire East Coast including Washington DC was not a natural earthquake but an earthquake that resulted from an underground nuclear detonation.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez hailed its alliance with Russia and said his country had a right to develop nuclear energy as he started a visit to Moscow on Thursday. Chavez is planning to buy tanks in Russia, after committing to $5 billion in earlier arms deals, and discuss construction of a nuclear plant which will use Russian technology. "We are going to develop nuclear power and nothing will stop us," he told Russian and Venezuelan students...in Moscow. Chavez said he was going to sign "important deals" in the oil and gas sector without elaborating, and also agree on the supplies...

'Our aim is not incremental sanctions, but sanctions that will bite." Thus did Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seek to reassure the crowd at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee two weeks ago about the Obama Administration's resolve on Iran. Three days later, this newspaper reported on its front page that "the U.S. has backed away from pursuing a number of tough measures against Iran" in order to win Russian and Chinese support for one more U.N. sanctions resolution. This fits the pattern we have seen across the 14 months of the Obama Presidency. Mrs. Clinton called a nuclear-armed Iran...

Chance meeting in Moscow restaurant between Greek, Israelis prime ministers dedicated mainly to economic issues, but Netanyahu takes opportunity to strengthen central message: Nuclear arms race underway in Middle East that includes Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt After his meeting with Russian president, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unexpectedly bumped into Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou Monday in a Moscow restaurant and took the opportunity to continue on the objective of his Russia trip – to warn against the Iranian nuclear threat. One of the threats to world peace out of a number of existing threats of the military nuclearization of Iran...

Mottaki says 'Zionist regime is in its weakest position' following Goldstone Report, Lebanon and Gaza wars, but warns entire region 'must be prepared for crazy operations against us' Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Monday referred to Israel as "a mad nation led by insane people". In an interview to the al-Jazeera network, Mottaki said that the Islamic Republic was not taking the Jewish state's threats to launch a military attack on its nuclear facilities seriously, but stressed that Tehran must be prepared for an Israeli attack. According to the Iranian minister, "The Zionist regime in the region is in...

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Israel warned a stronger line with Iran is necessary because nuclear weapons "in the hands of a fanatical regime" pose a worldwide threat. Israeli President Shimon Peres urged the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed El Baradei, to work "in a serious and steadfast manner against Iran's nuclear armament," The Guardian reported Sunday. As the two men met Saturday in Davos, Switzerland, Peres said, "A nuclear weapon in the hands of a fanatical regime such as the one in Iran poses a threat not only to Israel but also...

Note: The following blog entry is a quote: http://www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/20268.htm Iranian Nuclear Chief: We'll Progress In Nuclear Fusion Iranian Atomic Energy Organization director Ali Akbar Salehi has said that Iran is researching nuclear fusion and that it will make great progress in that area. Source: ISNA, Iran, September 22, 2009 Posted at: 2009-09-23 ### ### Note: The following blog entry is a quote: http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/20234.htm Blog Details Iran: We've Started Producing Improved Centrifuges Iranian Atomic Energy Organization director Ali Akbar Salehi says that Iran has begun to produce a new generation of improved centrifuges, and that he assesses that Israel is not...

Iran is vigorously pursuing several missile and space programs at an almost feverish pace with impressive achievements. Iranian missile technology now seems to be more advanced than that of North Korea. A recent report claims that it will take the Iranians just six years to develop a nuclear warhead that could be carried by a ballistic missile.

Mossad head Meir Dagan assured Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that Saudi Arabia would allow IAF jets to fly over the kingdom during any future raid on Iran's nuclear facilities, The Sunday Times reported. The British paper reported that Dagan held talks with Saudi officials earlier this year on the topic. However, the Prime Minister's Office issued an official denial on Sunday morning, saying the report was "completely false and baseless." The Israeli media has already carried unconfirmed reports that high-ranking officials, including former prime minister Ehud Olmert, held meetings with Saudi officials, but the kingdom has denied the reports. "The...

Ahmadinejad has called on the United States and Britain to stop interfering in Iran's internal affairs, threatening to deprive them of a place in "the circle of friendship with the Iranian nation." Ahmadinejad evidently took his lead from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had already warned foreign leaders not to meddle in Iran's domestic affairs. Khameni declared that continued interference would lead Iran to respond "in other fields". Clearly a reference to the country's nuclear or advanced missile capabilities. So while the world's attention is riveted on the drama playing out on the streets of Iran where courageous opponents of Ahmadinejad...