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The next pandemic could be more lethal than the current Covid-19 crisis, one of the Scientists that created the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has warned. Prof Dame Sarah Gilbert, speaking Sunday, December 5, at the 44th Richard Dimbleby Lecture, said there needs to be more funding for pandemic preparedness against future pandemics.  Dame Sarah added that people should be cautious until more is known about the Omicron variant warning that vaccines could be less effective against it. She said: "This will not be the last time a virus threatens our lives and our livelihoods. The truth is, the next one could be worse. It could be more contagious, or more lethal, or both. "We cannot allow a situation where we have gone through all we have gone through, and then find that the enormous economic losses we have sustained mean that there is still no funding for pandemic preparedness," she added.  "The advances we have made, and the knowledge we have gained, must n...

Ousted Myanmar leader, Aung San Suu Kyi has been sentenced to four years in prison, months after her government was was toppled by the military and she was arrested, prompting international condemnation.    On Monday, December 6, she was found guilty on charges of inciting dissent and breaking Covid rules under a natural disasters law and now faces 11 charges in total, all of which she has denied.   She has been under house arrest since February when the military launched a coup, toppling her elected civilian government and detaining leaders. It is not clear when or if Ms Suu Kyi will be placed in prison. Co-defendant Win Myint, the former president and Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party ally, was also jailed on Monday for four years under the same charges.   Dr Sasa, a spokesman for the newly formed National Unity Government, a group made up of pro-democracy figures and opponents of the coup, said;  "She is not OK... militar...

  CNN's most-watched anchor, Chris Cuomo has been fired by the network "effective immediately."   Chris was sacked on Saturday December 4, in the wake of revelations he had helped his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, while he faced multiple accusations of sexual harassment.    Prior to this, it was claimed that CNN management was not aware of his actions which breached the traditional ethics of journalism. CNN was initially suspended Cuomo "indefinitely" on Tuesday November 30, but sacked him on Saturday after a law firm retained by the network submitted its findings on Friday December 3.    Producers and other staffers who work on "Cuomo Prime Time" will remain in place. Michael Smerconish, Cuomo's regular substitute, will host the 9 p.m. Eastern hour next week.   CNN said in a statement:    "Chris Cuomo was suspended earlier this week pending further evaluation of ne...

James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of the teen charged in the Oxford High School shooting, pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter charges after police said they arrested them in a Detroit warehouse following an hours-long search.   A judge in Michigan's Oakland County set bond at $500,000 each for James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of Ethan Crumbley, the teen jailed on suspicion of killing four schoolmates and wounding seven other people at Oxford High School on Tuesday.   The detained couple, sitting alone in separate rooms, made their arraignment appearance by video conference with the judge, their attorneys, and the county prosecutor.     Both spoke little beyond saying they understood each charge -- with Jennifer Crumbley appearing to cry between words   and pleaded "not guilty" to each.   During the arraignment, their attorneys stressed their clients had fully intended to turn themselves in befor...

Sweden’s first-ever female prime minister, Magdalena Andersson has dramatically resigned less than 12 hours after being installed over suffering a budget defeat in parliament and then losing her coalition partner in a two-party minority government.   Ms. Andersson said a decision by the Green Party to quit the two-party coalition had forced her to resign but added that she had told the parliamentary speaker she hoped to be appointed prime minister again as the head of a single-party government.   The Green Party said it would leave the government after the coalition’s budget bill was rejected by parliament.   “For me, it is about respect, but I also do not want to lead a government where there may be grounds to question its legitimacy,” Ms Andersson told a news conference.   She added: “A coalition government should resign if a party chooses to leave the government. Despite the fact that the parliamentary situation is unchanged, it needs to be ...

The manhunt for a former Maryland police officer accused of abducting his two daughters ended Thursday, Nov. 18, with him, a woman and two children fatally shot in an apparent murder-suicide, police said.   Former Baltimore County police officers Robert Vicosa, 41, suspended Baltimore County police Sgt. Tia Bynum, 35, and two young children believed to be Vicosa's daughters were found with gunshot wounds in an SUV in Smithsburg, Maryland, after a police pursuit, Maryland State Police confirmed late Thursday, Nov. 18.     Vicosa was accused of abducting his daughters at gunpoint Monday, Nov 15, from the home of his estranged wife in Pennsylvania's Windsor Township, as well as assaulting the wife and stealing her vehicle, police in that state had said.   About 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, Pennsylvania State Police attempted to stop a Ford Edge that matched the description of a vehicle used in multiple crimes, but the driver continued across the Maryland st...

Zainab Aliyu Kila, the Nigerian lady framed by a drug cartel while traveling for lesser Hajj in Saudi Arabia in 2018, has joined the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.   Recall that on December 26, 2018, Miss Aliyu, then a student at Maitama Sule University, Kano, was arrested by Saudi authorities for allegedly traveling with a luggage containing unlawful substances believed to be tramadol. Zainab had traveled through the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, MAKIA, for Lesser Hajj with her mother, Maryam, and sister, Hajara. Shortly after she arrived at the Jeddah Airport, the Saudi Authorities intercepted a bag containing banned substances and traced it to Zainab and she was arrested in her hotel room.     She was charged and detained for four months by the Saudi Arabian anti-drug trafficking agency over alleged drug trafficking charges.   After several appeals by her parents, media, and civil society organization, authori...