Although the specific details of US-initiated indirect talks with Iran are unknown, Tehran is already reaping billions of unfrozen dollars in rewards. In return, Iran may have promised to temporarily stop enrichment at 60%, a number it already had no plan to exceed. In an unforeseen development, the US initiated indirect talks with Iran in May, signaling Washingtons desire to Continue reading Why the US Sought Secret Talks with Iran

Building the scientific case

BY DR CHRISTOPHER EXLEY | JUNE 20, 2023

In my recent book I write about building a case for an aetiological role for aluminium in breast cancer. Herein I will revisit the chapter in my book and examine the case for aluminium anew.

My interest in breast cancer was sparked by the research of oncologist Philippa Darbre linking breast cancer incidence and occurrence with the regular use of antiperspirants. My interest in these cosmetics went back much further and I was concerned that antiperspirants were significant contributors to the body burden of aluminium. Please read my book for an account of the history, but to cut a long story short, I collaborated with Darbre and we showed that breast tissue biopsies obtained from women with breast cancer contained aluminium. Of particular interest was that breast tissues closest to the underarm consistently contained a higher content of aluminium. Of course, our research was ignored by the breast cancer community and campaigned against by breast cancer charities, including the charity that provided the breast tissue biopsies used in our study! However, it was followed up by a number of research groups in Europe and the US and evidence began to be put forward to support aluminium as a carcinogen in breast cancer. Perhaps foremost amongst these groups is research led by Stefano Mandriota in Switzerland. Mandriota, an oncologist of some repute, showed that mouse mammary epithelial cells underwent malignant transformations upon exposure to aluminium. Aluminium-induced tumours were the result of genomic instability. The most recent publication from this group highlights the importance of chromosome instability in aluminiums carcinogenicity. Mandriotas meticulous cell and animal studies are building the case for a role for aluminium in breast cancer. These studies continue today and deserve our full support.

A role for aluminium in breast cancer is not dependent upon a link to the regular use of antiperspirants. However, the most definitive clinical trial yet to fully investigate such a link mak...

Syria: Seven killed in Russian air strikes on Idlib province

At least seven people have died following Russian air strikes in Syria's Idlib province, a war monitor said on Sunday.

"Four civilians were killed in Jisr al-Shughur and three rebel fighters were killed nearby by Russia air strikes," Rami Abdurrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), told AFP.

He said that at least 25 civilians were also wounded in the strikes on the opposition-held territory and that the death toll was likely to rise.

SOHR said the Russian strikes came in response to rebel drone attacks over the past week that killed four civilians, including two children.

Syria: Desperately needed aid reaches remote Rukban camp

Read More

Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in Syria since war broke out in 2011, many of them civilians, and millions have been internally and externally displaced, with many becoming refugees, predominantly in the Middle East and Europe. 

After opposition gains in the early years of the war, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was able to turn the tide with Russian and Iranian backing, and opposition forces are now in control of only portions of the norther...