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Epidemiologist confident that UK is close to endemic

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“The northern hemisphere countries we know best are at different stages of a pandemic, and the UK is probably the closest thing to getting out of a pandemic if not already out of a pandemic and the disease is now endemic,” he said. during an event at the British research institute Chatham House, where he is a researcher.

Heymann referred to the UK Statistical Office’s ONS report on population immunity, which estimated that “about 95% of the population in England and slightly less in other parts of the UK have antibodies either from vaccinations or from natural infection. “”.

One sign is the lesser-than-expected impact of the Ómicron option on a country where the British government has resisted introducing additional containment measures in England beyond the use of masks in most closed public places, telecommuting and the introduction of a sanitary pass. and also to accelerate revaccination.

“These antibodies control a virus that now looks more like an endemic coronavirus than a pandemic. People who become seriously ill are those who have not previously had an infection or [não] were vaccinated, ”explained a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Heymann believes the UK is also the country that has adapted best to “living with the virus”, where people “self-assess the risks,” such as using self-testing to detect infection or before events. Transmission.

This strategy has supported the food and entertainment sector in England in recent weeks, although Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have imposed restrictions on the number of people who can join, closed football matches and the closure of nightclubs.

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“The UK has been living with the virus since late summer (…) which means people are vaccinated or ready to be vaccinated and vaccines are available and people are protecting others indoors with masks even if they have been vaccinated because they can be infected after vaccination, ”he stressed.

He added that another important measure to help the authorities make decisions is the constant monitoring of admissions and occupancy of intensive care units, which the United Kingdom must “detect when something goes wrong.”

According to Heymann, who was in charge of the infectious diseases division of the World Health Organization, the next step will be to develop “rules along the way” to learn how to live with the virus, as is currently the case with diseases such as tuberculosis or AIDS. . took part in smallpox and polio control programs.

“We just need to learn to make our own assessment of this infection and hope that in the end, in the next few years [a covid-19] is becoming an endemic coronavirus, like the other four coronaviruses, and is kept under control either through population immunity or because the virus itself has become less virulent, ”he said.

UK Education Secretary Nadhim Zahavi said on Sunday in statements to Sky News that the UK should be one of the first countries to “show the world how the transition from pandemic to endemic is progressing,” and acknowledged, for example, to shorten the isolation period. to reduce the impact of employee accidents in essential services.

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Vladimir Putin has delayed the invasion of Ukraine at least three times.

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Putin has repeatedly consulted with Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu about the invasion, Europa Press told Ukraine’s chief intelligence director Vadim Skibitsky.

According to Skibitsky, it was the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), which is responsible for counterintelligence and espionage work, that put pressure on Gerasimov and other military agencies to agree to launch an offensive. .

However, according to the Ukrainian intelligence services, the FSB considered that by the end of February sufficient preparations had already been made to guarantee the success of the Russian Armed Forces in a lightning invasion.

However, according to Kyiv, the Russian General Staff provided the Russian troops with supplies and ammunition for only three days, hoping that the offensive would be swift and immediately successful.

The head of Ukrainian intelligence also emphasized the cooperation of local residents, who always provided the Ukrainian authorities with up-to-date information about the Russian army, such as the number of soldiers or the exact location of troops.

The military offensive launched on February 24 by Russia in Ukraine caused at least 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 7.8 million refugees to European countries, which is why the UN classifies this migration crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945). gg.). ).

At the moment, 17.7 million Ukrainians are in need of humanitarian assistance, and 9.3 million are in need of food aid and housing.

The UN has presented as confirmed 6,755 civilian deaths and 10,607 wounded since the beginning of the war, stressing that these figures are much lower than the real ones.

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Life sentence for former Swedish official for spying for Russia

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A Stockholm court on Monday sentenced a former Swedish intelligence officer to life in prison for spying for Russia, and his brother to at least 12 years in prison. In what is considered one of the most serious cases in Swedish counterintelligence history, much of the trial took place behind closed doors in the name of national security.

According to the prosecution, it was Russian military intelligence, the GRU, who took advantage of the information provided by the two brothers between 2011 and their arrest at the end of 2021.

Peyman Kia, 42, has held many senior positions in the Swedish security apparatus, including the army and his country’s intelligence services (Säpo). His younger brother, Payam, 35, is accused of “participating in the planning” of the plot and of “managing contacts with Russia and the GRU, including passing on information and receiving financial rewards.”

Both men deny the charges, and their lawyers have demanded an acquittal on charges of “aggravated espionage,” according to the Swedish news agency TT.

The trial coincides with another case of alleged Russian espionage, with the arrest of the Russian-born couple in late November in a suburb of Stockholm by a police team arriving at dawn in a Blackhawk helicopter.

Research website Bellingcat identified them as Sergei Skvortsov and Elena Kulkova. The couple allegedly acted as sleeper agents for Moscow, having moved to Sweden in the late 1990s.

According to Swedish press reports, the couple ran companies specializing in the import and export of electronic components and industrial technology.

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The man was again detained at the end of November for “illegal intelligence activities.” His partner, suspected of being an accomplice, has been released but remains under investigation.

According to Swedish authorities, the arrests are not related to the trial of the Kia brothers.

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Ukraine admitted that Russia may announce a general mobilization

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“They can strengthen their positions. We understand that this can happen. At the same time, we do not rule out that they will announce a general mobilization,” Danilov said in an interview with the Ukrainska Pravda online publication.

Danilov believed that this mobilization would also be convened “to exterminate as many as possible” of Russian citizens, so that “they would no longer have any problems on their territory.”

In this sense, Danilov also reminded that Russia has not given up on securing control over Kyiv or the idea of ​​the complete “destruction” of Ukraine. “We have to be ready for anything,” he said.

“I want everyone to understand that [os russos] they have not given up on the idea of ​​destroying our nation. If they don’t have Kyiv in their hands, they won’t have anything in their hands, we must understand this,” continued Danilov, who also did not rule out that a new Russian offensive would come from “Belarus and other territories.” .

As such, Danilov praised the decision of many of its residents who chose to stay in the Ukrainian capital when the war broke out in order to defend the city.

“They expected that there would be panic, that people would run, that there would be nothing to protect Kyiv,” he added, referring to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The military offensive launched on February 24 by Russia in Ukraine caused at least 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 7.8 million refugees to European countries, which is why the UN classifies this migration crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945). gg.). ).

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At the moment, 17.7 million Ukrainians are in need of humanitarian assistance, and 9.3 million are in need of food aid and housing.

The Russian invasion, justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security, was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing political and economic sanctions on Russia.

The UN has presented as confirmed 6,755 civilian deaths and 10,607 wounded since the beginning of the war, stressing that these figures are much lower than the real ones.

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