Iran has increased its nearly weapons-grade uranium, a United Nations watchdog found, defying international demands to rein in its nuclear program.

Iran now has enough uranium at 60% purity, just below the 90% purity needed for a weapon, to produce about four nuclear bombs, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report said. 

The report found Iran had about 400 pounds of uranium enriched to 60% as of Oct. 26, up 40 pounds from August. 

Around 92 pounds of uranium, enriched at 90%, is needed to make an atomic weapon. 

Iran’s overall stockpile of uranium enriched at any level reached about 14,560 pounds, up 1,880 pounds from August.

It comes as Iran has offered to cease enriching uranium beyond 60% – but only if the European Union and the United Kingdom cease their efforts to slap new sanctions on Iran and the IAEA drops a censure resolution it is pursuing.

During a meeting between IAEA general director Rafael Grossi and high-level Iranian diplomats, ‘the possibility of Iran not further expanding its stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60% U-235 was discussed, including technical verification measures necessary for the Agency to confirm this, if implemented,’ Grossi said. 

He added that Iran said it would consider accepting agency inspectors to conduct oversight of its nuclear materials. 

Experts say there is no credible use of 60% uranium at the civilian level. 

Concerns have swelled among Western nations that Iran could decide pursuing a nuclear bomb is its best deterrent, after Israel hollowed out Hamas and Hezbollah, Iran’s biggest proxies. U.S. intelligence suggests they’ve improved their manufacturing capabilities for doing so over the past year. 

It’s not yet clear whether President-elect Trump will come in with a combative or diplomatic tone toward Iran, but he’s promised to crack down on sanctions on the regime that he claims President Biden failed to enforce. 

The European Union on Monday widened sanctions against Iran for its alleged support for Russia in the war in Ukraine, including targeting the national seafaring company and ships used to transfer drones and missiles. Acting in tandem, the U.K. froze the assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denied that Iran was aiding Russia and warned the sanctions would prompt Iran to retaliate. 

‘There is no legal, logical or moral basis for such behavior. If anything, it will only compel what it ostensibly seeks to prevent,’ Araghchi wrote on X.

‘Freedom of navigation is a basic principle of the law of the sea. When selectively applied by some, such shortsightedness usually tends to boomerang,’ Araghchi wrote.

The IAEA board is expected to move forward with a European-backed censure resolution, which could lead to the issue being escalated to the U.N. Security Council for possible measures against Tehran. 

That resolution would condemn Tehran’s lack of responsiveness and call for creating a comprehensive report of all open questions about Iran’s nuclear work. 

Iran has not formally decided whether to build a nuclear bomb, according to the latest available U.S. intelligence. But as of September 2024, Iran could produce weapons-grade uranium in about seven days and have enough for six to nine nuclear bombs within a month if it wanted to, according to David Albright at the Institute for Science and International Security.

House Speaker Mike Johnson announced a new bathroom policy for the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday in response to controversy related to transgender Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, D-Del.

‘All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings – such as restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms – are reserved for individuals of that biological sex,’ Johnson, R-La., said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital. ‘It is important to note that each Member office has its own private restroom, and unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol.’ 

‘Women deserve women’s only spaces,’ Johnson added. 

‘Like all policies, it is enforceable,’ Johnson later told reporters. ‘But we have single-sex facilities for a reason, and women deserve women’s only spaces. And we’re not anti anyone. We’re pro-women, and I think it’s an important policy for us to continue. It’s always been the, I guess, an unwritten policy, but now it’s in writing.’ 

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., earlier this week introduced a resolution that moves to prohibit members, officers and employees of the House from using ‘single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex.’ 

Mace, who is a rape survivor, was derided by Democrats, including McBride, as a ‘right-wing extremist’ over the resolution, but the South Carolina congresswoman doubled down on Wednesday. 

She introduced another new bill to ‘ban biological men from using women’s private, protected facilities – such as bathrooms and locker rooms – on all federal property’ across the country. 

‘The radical Left would rather call me an extremist than admit they are wrong. The radical Left says I’m a ‘threat.’ You better believe it,’ Mace said in a statement. ‘And I will shamelessly call you out for putting women and girls in harm’s way. Women fought for these spaces, and I will not let them be erased to score political points with a small but loud activist class.’ 

Mace’s office added that ‘the vast majority of Americans recognize the importance of protecting women’s rights and privacy,’ while ‘the woke mob manufactures outrage.’ 

‘Women and girls shouldn’t have to give up their safety or privacy just because the Left wants to win points with their activist base,’ Mace continued. ‘This isn’t controversial – it’s common sense. I’m going to continue defending women and girls from these harmful, out-of-touch, and straight-up weird policies.’

Mace had said she received death threats for bringing the first resolution, sharing to X one social media video of a transgender individual threatening to beat and kill her.  

Johnson, who initially declined to respond to a question Tuesday on whether McBride was a man or a woman, made a definitive clarification later that day, telling reporters, ‘Let me be unequivocally clear: A man is a man, and a woman is a woman. And a man cannot become a woman.’ 

The speaker added: ‘I also believe that we treat everybody with dignity, and so we can do and believe all those things at the same time.’ 

How many? And how fast? That’s the question for the Senate in early January as it will sprint to confirm as many of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees as possible. Senators cannot do much right now for a couple of reasons: Republicans are not in charge of the Senate, and Trump does not take office until noon EST on Jan. 20. However, there will be a flurry of action in January.

First the mechanics.

The incoming president was caught flat-footed in 2016 when he won. Trump lacked the personnel and political infrastructure to quickly develop a Cabinet, so he relied on the Republican National Committee and other ‘establishment’ Republicans to assemble his slate of nominees. Many of the nominees were not ‘Trump people.’ They struggled to build chemistry with the new president. Thus, Trump canned many when they rejected his wishes.

This time around, the incoming president is certainly tapping nominees who are aligned with his movement and are Trump loyalists. They may outrage the left – and, frankly, some on the right. However, they are his picks. That alone might smooth the confirmation process in some respects.

And frankly, it creates simultaneous headaches.

In late 2016, Republicans controlled the Senate. That enabled them to prepare prompt confirmation hearings for early January 2017. The confirmation hearing for former Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., to serve as attorney general came on Jan. 10-11. Future Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly appeared before senators for his hearing on Jan. 10. The hearing for Rex Tillerson to become secretary of state was Jan. 11. The Senate Armed Services Committee heard from Defense secretary nominee James Mattis on Jan. 12.

However, the Senate could not vote to confirm those nominees until the new president took office on Jan. 20. In the waning hours of Jan. 20, the Senate confirmed Mattis and Kelly.

For instance, the Senate did not confirm then-Transportation Secretary Elain Chao – and the wife of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. – until Jan. 31.

The Senate will have a rocket docket in early 2025.

As soon as senators brave the January chill and return from the viewing stand on the West Front of the Capitol on Jan. 20, they will warm their hands. Maybe sip a hot coffee or a scotch. It is then likely the Senate will vote on a comprehensive slate of Trump’s nominees into the evening.

‘I want to see us ready and poised to put President Trump’s nominees into the job on day one,’ said Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn. ‘We should be ready with his many Cabinet positions to confirm on the 21st of January as we possibly can.’

However, Democrats intend to erect roadblocks.

‘What are Democrats prepared to do in response? Whatever it takes,’ Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said on MSNBC. ‘Donald Trump is way beyond making a mockery of what an incoming president should be doing, regardless of who’s in the majority of Congress.’

Others want to at least conduct due diligence on the nominees. They are especially leery of the Senate circumventing the conventional confirmation process and installing some nominees without a vote during a recess of both the House and Senate.

‘That’s why we have to have hearings. That’s why this commotion about recess appointments in which Trump would get some of his cabinet picks in place without hearings and confirmation votes is incredibly disturbing because there are some really serious financial questions about his team. Especially his national security team,’ said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., on CNN.

Trump has signaled – and incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has indicated a willingness – to potentially put some flailing nominees in place via recess appointments.

‘Recess appointments go back to the beginning of our republic,’ said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., on Fox, arguing their legitimacy.

However, Cotton suggested it was only liberals who were exercised about the possibility of recess appointments.

‘Once again, the left doesn’t seem to have learned anything from the campaign or really the last eight years. Hyperventilating about a supposedly anti-constitutional practice, which is in the Constitution itself.,’ said Cotton. ‘But I don’t foresee a need for recess appointments because I expect the Senate to work promptly and efficiently to process all of these nominations and to put Donald Trump’s Cabinet in place.’

Republicans are willing to blame Democrats for potential holdups on various nominees – potentially necessitating recess appointments. Ironically though, the issue would lie with the GOP.

Senate Republicans will have 53 seats next year. It only takes 51 ‘yeas’ to overcome a filibuster on a nominee for an administration post. Also, a simple majority to confirm. That is why some Republicans are keeping an eye on senators who they believe could defect – depending on the nominee.

It starts with McConnell. The Kentucky Republican suffered from polio as a child. Watch to see how he might vote when it comes to Health and Human Services secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Of course, McConnell will no longer lead Senate Republicans, so it is unclear how much sway he still commands around the Senate.

‘When he speaks, people will listen,’ said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to Al Weaver of The Hill.

Also in play is Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., along with Rep. and Sen.-elect John Curtis, R-Utah.

Then there are Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine. Both periodically bucked Trump during his previous term.

‘It would be a mistake in most cases to curtail the investigative process and the public hearings, because that is the Senate’s constitutional responsibility,’ said Collins.

The Maine Republican noted it is OK to short-circuit the process for ‘minor roles in the administration,’ but nothing else.

‘Certainly, when we’re talking about the Cabinet positions, we need to go through the normal process,’ said Collins.

Do not think for a moment that the new president and his enforcers on Capitol Hill will not be tracking potential defectors.

‘We’ve got the numbers to do it ourselves,’ said Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. ‘We don’t need any Democrats to help us.’

There is a reason Trump dispatched Vice President-elect JD Vance to Capitol Hill this week to meet with senators and nominees.

Left-wing Democrats are appalled by some of the president-elect’s picks for his Cabinet, and some of them will follow what colleagues on their side of the aisle do, too.

‘I’m going to be watching every single Senate confirmation hearing because that will be the opportunity for our Senate colleagues to tell the truth. To tell the story. To shame the devil,’ Rep.-elect Lateefah Simon, D-Calif., warned on MSNBC.

So in January, get out your speed gun to clock the pace of confirmations. Also, observe the willingness of Republicans to either go along with the president-elect or stand on principle if they hold substantial opposition to a nominee. That could tell us a great deal about the nature of the Senate under incoming President Trump. The next thing to watch? Whether there will be retribution for those who buck him.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Fox News that his country ‘cannot legally acknowledge any occupied territory of Ukraine as Russian,’ when asked if he was willing to cede land as part of a peace deal. 

Zelenskyy made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Fox News’ chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst before the Pentagon announced Wednesday an additional $275 million in military assistance for Ukraine in its fight against Russia. 

‘Have you accepted that under any sort of cease-fire agreement or peace deal that some Ukrainian territory may remain in Russian hands?’ Yingst asked Zelenskyy. 

‘We cannot legally acknowledge any occupied territory of Ukraine as Russian. That is about those territories… occupied by Putin before the full-scale invasion, since 2014,’ Zelenskyy responded. ‘Legally, we are not acknowledging that, we are not adopting that.’ 

Yingst then asked Zelenskyy about the Russian annexation of the Crimea region in 2014, saying, ‘President Vladimir Putin has been very clear Crimea will never return to Ukrainian hands. Are you willing to give up Crimea in pursuit of a peace deal to end this war and stop the bloodshed in Europe?’ 

‘I was already mentioning that we are ready to bring Crimea back diplomatically,’ Zelenskyy said. ‘We cannot spend dozens of thousands of our people so that they perish for the sake of Crimea coming back… we understand that Crimea can be brought back diplomatically.’ 

Yingst also reported Wednesday that Zelenskyy told Fox News his country will keep fighting without the support of the U.S., but believes his side will ultimately lose the war if the U.S. withdraws its military funding. 

‘As part of the surge in security assistance that President Biden announced on September 26 to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position, the Department of Defense today announced additional security assistance to meet Ukraine’s critical security and defense needs,’ the Pentagon said Wednesday. 

‘This announcement is the Biden Administration’s seventieth tranche of equipment to be provided from DoD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021,’ it added. ‘This Presidential Drawdown Authority package, which has an estimated value of $275 million, will provide Ukraine additional capabilities to meet its most urgent needs, including: munitions for rocket systems and artillery and anti-tank weapons.’ 

President-elect Trump on Wednesday tapped former Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to become U.S. ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in his new administration. 

Trump described Whitaker, who is from Iowa, as ‘a strong warrior and loyal Patriot, who will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended.’

‘Matt will strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability – He will put AMERICA FIRST,’ Trump said in a statement. ‘I have full confidence in Matt’s ability to represent the United States with Strength, Integrity, and unwavering Dedication. I look forward to working closely with him as we continue to promote PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, Freedom, and Prosperity around the World.’

‘Matt is also the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa, and is a graduate of the University of Iowa with a B.A., MBA and J.D., where he played football, and received the Big Ten Medal of Honor,’ Trump added. 

The appointment Wednesday comes at a significant juncture for the alliance. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday formally lowered the threshold for the Kremlin’s use of its nuclear weapons, a move that follows President Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russian territory with American-supplied long-range missiles.

The new doctrine allows for a potential nuclear response by Moscow even to a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Ukraine fired six U.S.-made ATACMS missiles early Tuesday at a military facility in Russia’s Bryansk region that borders Ukraine, adding that air defenses shot down five of them and damaged one more. Ukraine’s military claimed the strike hit a Russian ammunition depot.

Putin first announced changes in the nuclear doctrine in September, when he chaired a meeting discussing the proposed revisions. He has previously warned the U.S. and other NATO allies that allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied longer-range weapons to hit Russian territory would mean that Russia and NATO are at war.

Whitaker served as Acting Attorney General from November 2018 to February 2019.

That was after Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigned at Trump’s request amid Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian collusion by the Trump campaign. Whitaker was Sessions’ chief of staff and was critical of the probe. 

Trump later nominated Bill Barr as the permanent replacement to head the Justice Department following Sessions’ departure.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The first lady of Brazil turned heads when she dropped an f-bomb directed at Tesla CEO Elon Musk during an official event over the weekend.

At the time, Brazil’s first lady, Janja Lula da Silva, was speaking about misinformation on social media during a pre-G-20 social event on Saturday. The G-20 summit began on Monday in Rio de Janeiro.

Lula da Silva, who is married to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, stopped mid-speech when she heard a ship’s horn blaring in the distance.

‘I think it’s Elon Musk,’ the first lady joked in Portuguese. ‘I’m not afraid of you, by the way.’

‘F— you, Elon Musk,’ Janja added in English, prompting cheers from the audience.

The clip, which was posted on X, drew the attention of Musk, who responded with laughing emojis.

‘They will lose the next election,’ the entrepreneur wrote.

Brazil banned X in September, prompting outrage across the world. Brazilian Supreme Court’s Justice Alexandre de Moraes imposed the ban, citing misinformation on X, which the judge felt was not adequately moderated on the platform.

The country lifted the ban a month later, and de Moraes wrote that the decision ‘was conditioned, solely, on [X’s] full compliance with Brazilian laws and absolute observance of the Judiciary’s decisions, out of respect for national sovereignty.’

‘X is proud to return to Brazil,’ X said in a statement at the time. ‘Giving tens of millions of Brazilians access to our indispensable platform was paramount throughout this entire process. We will continue to defend freedom of speech, within the boundaries of the law, everywhere we operate.’

The Brazilian first lady’s joke took place two days before the G-20 summit officially began. President Biden was present at the summit, though he did not appear during the annual family photo with fellow world leaders and missed the photo-op ‘for logistical reasons,’ the White House said.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Biden ignored a reporter’s pleas to speak to the press as she screamed questions at him while he boarded Air Force One to depart from Rio de Janeiro.

On Tuesday, Biden finished up his trip to Brazil, where he attended the G-20 summit and met with world leaders, including Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. 

Video shows that as Biden prepared to board Air Force One, an unidentified reporter tried to grab his attention. She can be heard yelling at the top of her lungs to break through the noise created by Biden’s Boeing 747 plane. It is not clear if Biden chose not to answer her or if he could not hear her questions over the roar from the plane’s engines. 

‘Mr. President, happy early birthday! For your birthday, will you talk to us, sir?’ the reporter said, her voice growing louder with each attempt to ask questions.

‘As a gift to the press will you please talk to us? Mr. President! President Biden, please! We haven’t heard from you all trip!’ 

Her voice sounded almost hoarse with the final cry of, ‘MR. PRESIDENT!’ 

Biden turns 82 on Wednesday and will finish office as the oldest person to serve as president in American history – until President-elect Trump, 78, assumes office in January and serves for four more years.  

Many news outlets have called out Biden for his habit of ignoring reporters’ questions and lack of direct interviews with the media. 

‘For anyone who understands the role of the free press in a democracy, it should be troubling that President Biden has so actively and effectively avoided questions from independent journalists during his term,’ The New York Times said in a public statement in April. ‘The president occupies the most important office in our nation, and the press plays a vital role in providing insights into his thinking and worldview, allowing the public to assess his record and hold him to account.’

The statement went on to say that while Biden may be within his rights to avoid the New York Times in particular, he needs to speak with major news outlets on principle. 

‘However, in meetings with Vice President Harris and other administration officials, the publisher of The Times focused instead on a higher principle: That systematically avoiding interviews and questions from major news organizations doesn’t just undermine an important norm, it also establishes a dangerous precedent that future presidents can use to avoid scrutiny and accountability.’

Fox News Digital’s Alexander Hall contributed to this report.

David French, the conservative New York Times contributor and longtime anti-Trumper, has a provocative take on why the president-elect won.

It’s the economy and the border, stupid.

‘I can’t help but think that if the withdrawal from Afghanistan hadn’t been a bloody mess (that’s when President Biden’s approval rating went underwater, and it never came back), if inflation hadn’t spiked and if migration hadn’t surged at the border, then we’d be having a different conversation.

‘I know that the Harris campaign had answers for all these criticisms. The American people wanted to end the Afghan war, and Biden was saddled with Trump’s terrible deal with the Taliban. Inflation was a global phenomenon, and it was unfair to entirely blame Biden when, by 2023, America had the lowest inflation rate among the Group of 7 countries. The Biden administration had finally cracked down on the border and had endorsed a tough new border bill.’ 

He adds that ‘they also rightly argued that Trump nostalgia was misplaced. It was wrong to give the former president a pass for the pandemic or for the chaos and murder spikes of 2020. His term did not end in 2019, with peace and prosperity. It ended near the beginning of 2021 with disease, violence and cultural decay. Even the memories of the time before Covid are idealized.’

So it was really Joe Biden who lost the election by letting inflation spiral – he was, in fairness, digging out of the pandemic – and turning the border into a free-for-all zone. He was also a terrible salesman for a series of bipartisan victories.

When his mental decline became obvious at the debate, and he stepped aside for Kamala Harris, she had to run on that record – and famously told ‘The View’ that she couldn’t think of a single thing where she differed with the president.

So the powerless Democrats may be more screwed than you think.

Given the party’s evolution from champion of the working class to representing the highly educated coastal elites in politics, academia and journalism, the Dems are left without a winning coalition they once took for granted.

In a Times news story, Jennifer Medina writes:

‘The working-class voters Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign needed were not moved by talk of joy. They were too angry about feeling broke.

‘The losses up and down the ballot leave Democrats in crisis. Voters without a college degree make up a solid majority of the electorate. Without them, the White House could be out of reach. And for a party that stands for and takes pride in its diversity, the erosion of support from voters of color calls its identity into question.’

What’s more, in interviewing hundreds of working-class minority voters, Medina found that ‘for many, hope had already hardened into cynicism. Promises about affordable housing fell flat and promoting accomplishments on insulin prices failed to break through. Simply put, their trust in the Democratic Party was gone.’

Now that brings us to Donald Trump’s self-proclaimed mandate, even if CNN was happy to report that Trump’s vote share had dropped slightly below 50% (Who cares? He’s the 47th president.)

Now comes news, first reported by ABC, that an unidentified hacker has obtained the sworn testimony of Matt Gaetz accusers from the House ethics probe and apparently plans to make it public.

The hacker accessed the file through a law firm involved in a civil suit against Joel Greenberg, a former Gaetz pal now serving an 11-year prison term for sex trafficking. The file includes testimony under oath by a woman who says she had sex with Gaetz when she was 17, back in 2017, and from another woman saying she witnessed the sexual encounter.

Asked for comment, Trump transition spokesman Alex Pfeiffer said: ‘Matt Gaetz will be the next attorney general. He’s the right man for the job and will end the weaponization of our justice system. 

‘These are baseless allegations intended to derail the second Trump administration. The Biden Justice Department investigated Gaetz for years and cleared him of wrongdoing. The only people who went to prison over these allegations were those lying about Matt Gaetz.’

Trump is making calls on behalf of Gaetz, and J.D. Vance is escorting him and other nominees around the Hill. 

The Times reports that Trump realizes that Gaetz may not be confirmed. This is a matter of simple math, since most GOP senators have not committed to supporting him. Yet the president-elect will not back off or force Gaetz to withdraw the nomination.

But if Gaetz falls short, it would be hard for the Senate to reject a replacement nominee, who might have the same views on disrupting and perhaps politicizing the DOJ, but without the ex-congressman’s baggage. 

The House ethics panel, while stymied by Gaetz’s abrupt resignation, is meeting today on the report.   

One new disclosure that could hurt him: Gaetz used his adopted son’s PayPal account to pay one of the women, who was not a minor. Doesn’t that sound like someone with something embarrassing to hide? 

The Democrats have some influence in this process, as they’d only have to pick off four of the 53 GOP senators to block Matt Gaetz. But they are also consumed by their election shellacking and will have a hard time defeating Trump on just about anything.