The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has created a simple online tool which can help people see if their area is at high, medium or low risk of contracting coronavirus, which is a decisive factor in new rules the agency released on Friday.

As the huge wave of Omicron-related cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the United States recede, new CDC guidance aims to help more communities return to a semblance of normalcy by assessing the need for pandemic restrictions, such as wearing masks. and social distancing. by district.

The guidance is non-binding, so local mask requirements may still apply, and federal mask requirements for public transportation and air travel remain in effect. until at least March 18. However, some states have had few restrictions to begin with, and many state and local governments have already eased many restrictions, including on masks. The CDC’s actions are likely to trigger more such moves.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, warned Americans not to let their guard down. “We want to give people a break from things like disguises when our levels are low and then be able to call on them again if things get worse in the future,” she said, announcing the new leadership on Friday. “We have to be ready, and we have to be ready for whatever comes next.”

According to the agency’s previous criteria, about 95 percent of US counties were at high risk. Using the new criteria — new Covid-related hospitalizations, percentage of hospital beds occupied by Covid patients, and new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people — less than 30 percent of the population is in high-risk areas.

New CDC tool allows users to define their state and then select their county. This gives a color-coded sensor—green for low risk, yellow for medium, and orange for high—along with the appropriate recommendations. All results are reminders of the importance of vaccinations and boosters, measures that prevented the Omicron wave from causing much more devastating damage in the form of serious illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths.

In Los Angeles County, California, the risk is currently high and it is recommended that you wear a mask in enclosed public areas. Wayne County, Michigan, which includes Detroit, is at medium risk and residents with particular vulnerabilities are urged to ask their doctors if they need masks. New York County, which covers Manhattan, is in a low-risk area and it is recommended that masks be optional. However, it notes that “people with symptoms, a positive test, or contact with someone with Covid-19” must wear masks.

Keeping fit can reduce the risk of dementia by up to THIRD, new research shows

• Small gains in heart and lung health can be extremely beneficial to your health
• The researchers surveyed 649,605 people with an average age of 61
• The most suitable are 33% less likely to develop the disease than the least fit

from Sean Wooler is a health correspondent for the Daily Mail

Published: 02:01 GMT, 28 February 2022 | Updated: 2:01 AM GMT, February 28, 2022

Keeping in shape in middle age can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by up to a third, a study shows.

Even small gains in heart and lung health can be extremely beneficial.

An analysis of 649,605 people with an average age of 61 found that the most fit were 33% less likely to develop the disease than the least fit.

The study’s author, Dr Eduard Zamrini of the Washington Medical Center in Virginia, said it was “exciting” and “very promising” to see a reduction in the number of cases with elevated fitness levels, as there are currently no adequate treatments ”for Alzheimer’s disease.

Keeping in shape in middle age can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by up to a third, a study shows. Even small gains in heart and lung health can be extremely beneficial

He said: “An exciting finding from this study is that as people improve their physical fitness, the risk of Alzheimer’s disease decreases – it was not an all-or-nothing proposal.

“So people can work to make gradual changes and improvements in their physical fitness, and hopefully this will be associated with a associated reduction in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease years later.”

He added: “The idea that you can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by simply increasing your activity is very promising, especially since there are no adequate treatments to prevent or stop the progression of the disease.

An analysis of 649,605 people with an average age of 61 found that the most fit were 33% less likely to develop the disease than the least fit.

“We hope to develop a simple scale that can be customized so that people can see the benefits that even gradual improvements in fitness can bring.”

The researchers examined participants’ “cardiorespiratory fitness,” a measure of how well the body transports oxygen to the muscles and how well they are able to absorb oxygen during exercise.

A limitation of the study is that the participants are predominantly white men, so the results may not be generalized to other populations.

The findings will be presented at the 74th anniversary meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, the world’s largest association of neurologists and neuroscientists in Seattle.

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NDA (No debate for Andrew): MEPs blocked from investigating whether public money was used to fund Duke York’s £ 12 million agreement from an ancient custom banning royalists from debating in parliament

• Prince Andrew arranged a sexual affair with his prosecutor, Virginia Juffre, this month
• She accused Andrew of sexually abusing her three times, claiming he denied it
• The ancient rules mean that deputies are limited to discussing royalty in the municipalities
• Now the MP insists that the Minister come to the Chamber to confirm whether cash is used by taxpayers
• Labor Andy MacDonald writes to Steve Barkley to see if Sovereign Grant has used

from Kaya Terry for Mailonline

Published: 01:59 GMT, 28 February 2022 | Updated: 2:29 AM GMT on February 28, 2022

Prince Andrewan out-of-court settlement worth several million pounds with his accuser Virginia Roberts cannot be investigated by MPs due to an ancient custom forbidding the discussion of royal persons in parliament.

The Duke of York is believed to be facing a legal bill of up to £ 12 million following his out-of-court settlement with Ms Roberts, who is suing the queenson of New York for alleged sexual assault after she claimed to have been trafficked by his friend and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Prince Andrew categorically denied these allegations.

Questions remain as to whether the monarch – who is said to support Andrew – is helping him pay the bill, which includes a £ 2 million donation to Mrs Giuffre’s charity, which helps victims of sexual violence and trafficking.

However, an ancient rule means that MPs are limited to discussing royal persons in the Municipalities, and therefore Prince Andrew’s settlement cannot be called into question.

Meanwhile, Middlesbrough Labor MP Andy MacDonald asked a minister to come to the House to find out if any of the Sovereign Grants taxpayers’ money – money paid to royalty by society – had been used to pay 38-year-old Roberts. , According to The sun.

Prince Andrew’s million-pound out-of-court settlement with his prosecutor, Virginia Roberts, cannot be investigated by lawmakers due to an ancient custom that forbids royalists from discussing in parliament

The Duke of York is believed to be facing a legal bill of up to £ 12 million following his out-of-court settlement with Mrs Roberts, who is suing the Queen’s son in New York for alleged sexual assault after she claimed to have been trafficked. by his friend and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Prince Andrew categorically denied these allegations

Middlesbrough Labor MP Andy MacDonald has asked a minister to come to the House to find out if any of the Sovereign Grants taxpayers’ money – money paid to royalty – has been used to pay 38-year-old Roberts. according to the Sun.

Mr MacDonald has since written to Minister Steve Barkley to confirm whether taxpayers’ money has been used to pay the out-of-court settlement and to establish that “no public funds have been or will be used in part or in full. to satisfy the settlement ”.

Mr MacDonald said: “Raising an issue with the royal family in the house is difficult.”

A government spokesman said: “The sovereign grant supports the monarch and some members of the royal family in carrying out their official duties.

“Prince Andrew stopped receiving support through the Sovereign Grant in 2019, when he stopped performing official duties.”

Mr MacDonald had earlier warned that there would be “omnipotent noise and crying” if it turned out that public money was being used.

“It would just be a step too far,” he said. “I can’t predict what form this protest will take.

“But people would be extremely upset if taxpayers’ money was used as payment for litigation by a man who has so far been quite happy to be associated with a pedophile. [Jeffrey Epstein] and a child trafficker [Ghislaine Maxwell]. ‘

This comes when Prince Andrew was recently forced to relinquish his title to Earl of Inverness following a multi-million pound rape lawsuit from Mrs. Roberts.

Mr MacDonald has since written to Minister Steve Barkley to confirm whether taxpayers’ money has been used to pay the out-of-court settlement and to establish that “no public funds have been or will be used in part or in full. to satisfy the settlement ”

The Duke of York was told to “do the right thing” and to lose his rank amid rage over the accusation against him of civil sex.

Locals said they feared the city would be embroiled in a bad reputation for its continued connection to the royal palace.

Councilor Ron McWilliam, who is on the Inverness District Committee of the Highland Council, wrote to Buckingham Palace urging the prince to relinquish his county.

An SNP member representing the area from Inverness Ness said the duke was no longer speaking on behalf of the city.

He said: “Prince Andrew never had much to do with Inverness in the 36 years he won the title.

“He hardly came here to visit.” And yet we are involved in this by associations. We don’t want him to be associated with Inverness.

“But there is no mechanism to remove the title, so I am writing to Buckingham Palace to get him to do the right thing and give it up in the name of our city.”

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Two Russian billionaires become the first powerful oligarchs to speak out and call for an end to the conflict caused by the president Vladimir Putinthe invasion of Ukraine.

Mikhail Friedman, a native of western Ukraine, and Oleg Deripaska condemned Putin’s invasion, calling for peace talks “as soon as possible” between the two countries with unusual interference. Russialeading business elite.

Mr Friedman, co-founder of Russia’s largest private bank, Alpha, which controls private investment company LetterOne, has called for an end to the bloodshed.

The 57-year-old, who was ranked as the 128th richest man in the world by Forbes in 2021, also said the war was a “tragedy” for people on both sides and told LetterOne officials in a letter that the conflict leads to a wedge between the two eastern Slavic peoples of Russia and Ukraine, which have been brothers for centuries.

He wrote: “I was born in western Ukraine and lived there until I was 17 years old. My parents are Ukrainian citizens and live in Lviv, my favorite city.

“But I also spent much of my life as a citizen of Russia, building and developing business. I am deeply attached to the Ukrainian and Russian people and I see the current conflict as a tragedy for both.

Meanwhile, billionaire Mr Deripaska – who is the founder of Russian aluminum giant Rusal, in which he still owns a stake in the parent company En + Group – used a Telegram post to call for peace talks to begin “as soon as possible” .

The 54-year-old simply said, “Peace is very important.”

The so-called Russian oligarchs, who once had significant influence over President Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s, are facing economic chaos after the West imposed heavy sanctions on Russia over Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Billionaire Mikhail Friedman (pictured), who was born in western Ukraine, said the war was a “tragedy” for the people of both countries and told LetterOne officials in a letter that the conflict was driving a wedge between the two East Slavic peoples of Russia and Ukraine. who have been brothers for centuries

Oleg Deripaska (pictured) also condemned Putin’s invasion, calling for peace talks “as soon as possible” between the two countries in an unusual intervention by Russia’s leading business elite

The so-called Russian oligarchs, who once had significant influence over President Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s, are facing economic chaos after the West imposed heavy sanctions on Russia over Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin

This comes after the Foreign Ministry announced that it was preparing a “hit list” of Russian oligarchs who would be subject to sanctions in the coming months, and feared that the conflict in Ukraine could continue for a decade.

Foreign Minister Liz Truss said there would be “nowhere to hide” for Vladimir Putin’s super-rich Kremlin allies.

Last week, Boris Johnson identified eight wealthy Russians who will be affected by travel bans and asset freezes, along with more than 100 individuals, legal entities and subsidiaries.

Separately, the Interior Ministry will give more powers to the National Crime Agency to investigate the issuance of unexplained wealth orders to find out where the money comes from.

Ms Trus said new names would be added to the list every few weeks as ministers sought to increase pressure on Putin following his invasion of Ukraine.

Washington has also imposed sanctions on Deripaska and other influential Russians over their ties to Putin following alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election, which Moscow denies.

After consulting with his security council from senior officials, Putin said he had ordered a special military operation to protect people, including Russian citizens, from “genocide” – an accusation the West called baseless propaganda.

Foreign Minister Liz Truss said yesterday that there was a “list of blows” of Russian oligarchs subject to sanctions

The office of the Ukrainian president announced that the talks between Kiev and Moscow will be held on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border.

“This crisis will cost lives and harm two nations that have been brothers for hundreds of years,” Friedman said.

“While the decision seems frighteningly far away, I can only join those whose ardent desire is for the bloodshed to end. I am sure that my partners share my opinion.

One of Friedman’s longtime partners, Peter Aven, attended a meeting in the Kremlin with Putin and 36 other major Russian businessmen last week, the Kremlin said.

Another Moscow billionaire told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the war would be a disaster.

“This will be catastrophic in all respects: for the economy, for relations with the rest of the world, for the political situation,” said the billionaire.

The billionaires who met with Putin in the Kremlin on Thursday were silent, he said.

“Businessmen understand the consequences very well. But who wants business opinion on this?

Kremlin “sends more than 400 mercenaries from private militia to Kiev to assassinate President Zelensky and his government” – the group said peace talks were “smoke and mirrors”

• Private militia known as Wagner’s group “flew in from Africa five weeks ago”
• It is run by oligarch Evgeny Prigogine, a close ally of the Russian president
• The highly trained operatives have a list of 23 people, including the prime minister and the cabinet

from Lawrence Dolimore for Mailonline

Published: 02:31 GMT, 28 February 2022 | Updated: 3:14 AM GMT, February 28, 2022

More than 400 Russian mercenaries were brought in from Africa to assassinate Ukrainian President Vladimir Greenit became clear last night.

A private militia known as Wagner’s group is said to have orders Vladimir Putin to remove Zelensky – and 23 other government figures – to allow Moscow to take over its Eastern European neighbor.

According to timesthe mercenary army led by oligarch Yevgeny Prigogine – a close ally of the Russian president, often referred to as “Putin’s cook” – was sent five weeks ago and offered a huge sum for the mission.

Highly trained operatives are said to be waiting for the Kremlin to shed the green light, and the list of those killed includes Ukraine’s prime minister, the entire cabinet, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko and his brother Vladimir – both boxing champions who have become iconic. figures on the front line of the capital.

However, the plans shook as they reached the top echelons of the Ukrainian government on Saturday morning.

A private militia known as Wagner’s group is said to have ordered Vladimir Putin to destroy Vladimir Zelensky (pictured) – and 23 other government figures – to allow Moscow to take over.

The mercenary army led by oligarch Yevgeny Prigogine, a close ally of the Russian president (pictured), often referred to as “Putin’s cook”), was sent five weeks ago.

This prompted Kiev to declare a 36-hour “hard” curfew, ordering everyone to enter indoors so that soldiers could sweep the streets for Russian saboteurs.

Citizens were warned that they risked being “liquidated” if they were spotted outside during curfew, as they could be presumed to be enemies.

A source familiar with the Wagner Group told the Times that between 2,000 and 4,000 mercenaries actually arrived in Ukraine in January, but with different missions.

Some were sent to rebel-held areas of Donetsk and Luhansk in the east of the country – while the 400 tasked with removing Zelensky headed for Kiev from Belarus.

The group allegedly tracked Zelenski and his colleagues on their mobile phones, claiming they knew where they were at all times.

Another source claims that the assassins were told to put the brakes on while Putin held “peace talks” with Zelensky this week.

But they have reportedly been informed that the Russian leader has no desire to reach a deal, denouncing the border meeting with Belarus as “smoke and mirrors”.

The news of their assassination plans does not seem to embarrass Zelensky, who admitted that he was “target number one” during an address to the nation, telling them that Russian special forces were pursuing him.

Wagner (pictured in Syria) has conducted covert operations in Africa and the Middle East, including Syria, and most recently they were on the ground in Ukraine to direct Russian tanks to the capital.

When the United States offered to remove it, he told President Joe Biden, “I need ammunition, not transportation.”

Wagner has conducted covert operations in Africa and the Middle East, including Syria, and most recently they were on the ground in Ukraine to direct Russian tanks to the capital.

General Sir Richard Barnes, former Commander of the Joint Force Command, said: “They are very effective because they are difficult to determine.

“They can emerge from the shadows, do a lot of violent things and then disappear again, without it being obvious who is responsible. They are not directly related to the Russian government and are therefore plausible.

Sources told the Times that the militia had been informed of Putin’s plans for Ukraine back in December, long before it was told to the Russian military.

Soldiers and generals were afraid to oppose the invasion plans, and several were executed, the mercenaries said.

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The Ukrainian Air Force claims to have struck two drones at Russian targets using Turkish-made drones.

This was announced by the Chief of the Air Force of Ukraine Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk Facebook the type used are Bayraktar TB2 drones, describing them as “life-giving” in a Facebook post.

The video was published on Twitter the Ukrainian embassy depicts a Russian convoy of more than a dozen vehicles scattered in pieces engulfed by a huge orb of fire.

The footage is said to have been taken near the town of Malin, about 60 miles northwest of Kiev.

Ukraine’s air force says it has carried out successful drone attacks on Russian forces

An image taken by a Turkish drone shows an alleged convoy of Russian trucks driving

Seconds later, the entire group was smashed to pieces after being hit by a drone

Ukrainian servicemen push a Bayraktar TB2 drone or unmanned aerial vehicle (UCAV), photo file from June 2021

The Air Force says one of the strikes took place in the southern Ukrainian town of Chernobaevka.

The area has been at the center of intense fighting over the past few days.

“Never a rose without a thorn,” the embassy wrote in a tweet. “The Russian invaders must come to terms with the Bayraktar TB2.”

On Saturday, Ukrainian forces released another video of a drone showing another Russian convoy hit by a drone, this time in the southern city of Kherson.

The first shipments of Turkish drones began arriving in Ukraine in 2019. Wall Street Journal.

The TB2 can stay in the air for 25 hours at an altitude of 25,000 feet, and the pilot can control it for several hundred miles.

In a second video released on Saturday, Russian tanks can be seen near the southern Ukrainian city of Chernobaevka.

It can be seen that the drone’s camera is aimed at a tank before a rocket is launched

Soldiers can be seen walking towards tanks while a Turkish drone flies overhead

For a moment, the convoy was scattered to pieces, as seen in footage recorded by the drone

The explosion from the rocket can be seen emanating outside at an astonishing speed

Ukrainian forces managed to stop the Russian offensive in the capital by blowing up bridges in the city to prevent an offensive by Moscow troops.

Russian forces were killed Sunday afternoon in Bucha, near Gostomel Air Base in northwestern Kiev, after falling into a trap when the Irpin bridge to the city was destroyed.

Footage published online allegedly shows the dire consequences of what military experts said was probably a drone strike on a column of Russian airborne forces, with parts of vehicles scattered on the road in a distorted, fire pile.

Earlier on Sunday, Ukrainian servicemen were filmed wandering downtown Kiev to impose a 39-hour curfew to keep people away from the streets.

Mayor Klitschko said Russian troops had failed to enter the city despite the bombing.

Russian tank burns in the Ukrainian city of Sumy, in northeastern Ukraine, pictured Sunday

Ukraine’s defense ministry said on Sunday it had killed more than 4,300 Russian soldiers in the first three days of fighting. Russia has not released up-to-date information on its military losses. In the photo: A fighter from the Ukrainian Territorial Defense examines a destroyed Russian infantry mobile vehicle GAZ Tiger after a fight in Kharkiv on Sunday

Russian forces entered Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, on Sunday

He also warned those outside after 5 pm and would be considered part of “enemy sabotage and intelligence groups” before 8 am – he later said there were no Russian troops in the city.

But he said at least nine civilians had been “lost or killed” in the capital, including one child, since the invasion.

Satellite images taken Sunday also show a large deployment of Russian ground forces moving toward the Ukrainian capital Kiev from approximately 40 miles away, a private US company said.

Images published by Maxar Technologies show a deployment of hundreds of military vehicles spanning more than 3 miles.

The company has been tracking the build-up of Russian forces for weeks. The latest photos cannot be checked independently.

Satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows Russian ground forces in a convoy near Ivankov, Ukraine

This satellite image of Maxar shows a column of Russian military vehicles moving towards Kiev, on the road P-02-02 (Shevchenko Road) on the outskirts of Ivankov

The Ministry of Health of Ukraine announced on Sunday that 352 civilians, including 14 children, have been killed since the beginning of the Russian invasion. It also says 1,684 people, including 116 children, have been injured

This was the day when the expected attack on Kiev did not take place again and the Ukrainians claimed to have driven Russian forces out of the country’s second city, Kharkiv.

Oleh Sinekhubov, head of the Kharkiv regional administration, said today that Ukrainian troops had managed to retake the city. In a Telegram post, he said: “Control over Kharkov is entirely ours!

“The armed forces, the national police and the defense forces are working and the city is completely cleansed of the enemy.”

Kharkov’s defense came after Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said today that Ukrainian troops had killed or wounded more than 4,300 Russian soldiers in the first three days of fighting. Russia has not released up-to-date information on its military losses.

After a grueling night of Russian attacks on the outskirts of the city on Sunday, Mayor Vitali Klitschko was silent for a few seconds when asked if there were any plans to evacuate civilians if Russian troops managed to take Kiev

Charred military vehicles and wreckage are seen in Bucha, Ukraine, on Sunday

From the Russian invasion of Ukraine continuing, more than 4,000 U.S. military personnel stationed in Europe will be extended.

The extension, announced Sunday, is part of the United States’ efforts to inspire confidence in its Eastern European allies during the crisis.

“I don’t want to speculate on the timeline, but I’m sure it will only be as long as they are needed,” said John Thomasi, a spokesman for the army in Europe. CNN when asked about the time frame for this long-term deployment.

The troops – members of the combat team of the 1st Armored Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division – were due to return abroad in nine months in March.

The teams will now continue their training and deterrence missions with troops from Poland, Romania and the Baltic states.

Paratroopers assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division provide humanitarian assistance in support of the United States Agency for International Development

Firefighters are inspecting the damage to a building after a rocket attack on the city of Kiev

Map of United States military bases in Europe

The military also said the deployment of “additional support units” would also be extended.

The armed forces regularly change combat brigades on and off the continent to maintain a permanent military presence in the region.

“The deployment of a ready and reliable US force in Europe in support of the US military in Europe and Africa is a testament to the strong and unwavering US commitment to NATO and Europe,” Thomasi added.

Russian forces are said to have taken over a small Ukrainian town in the south on Sunday night.

Berdyansk, is a port city with a naval base on the northern coast of the Sea of ​​Azov, in the southeastern part of Ukraine is home to 100,000 people.

Charred military vehicles and wreckage are seen in Bucha, Ukraine

US President Joe Biden met with the National Security Council on the Ukrainian-Russian crisis

Defense Minister Lloyd Austin meets with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba at the Pentagon on Tuesday

French President Emmanuel Macron (right) congratulates Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left)

It is located near the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 and from which it launched one of several invading forces.

Elsewhere in the country, Russian troops are said to be approaching the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, a city of nearly 3 million people. The mayor expressed doubt that civilians could be evacuated.

Ukrainian defenders are resisting, which seems to be slowing Russia’s progress.

Kiev was ominously quiet on Sunday morning after explosions lit up the morning sky and authorities reported explosions at an airport. The main boulevard was virtually deserted, as strict curfew prevented people from taking to the streets. Authorities have warned that anyone who dares to leave without a pass will be considered a Russian saboteur.

Terrified residents rushed to homes, underground garages and subway stations in anticipation of a full-scale Russian attack. Food and medicine are running out, said Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Authorities are distributing weapons to anyone who wants to protect the city. Ukraine is also releasing military-experienced prisoners who want to fight and training people to make incendiary bombs.

The southern Ukrainian city has a small naval base on the Sea of ​​Azov

A woman responded while paramedics resuscitated a girl injured in a shelling at a city hospital in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, on Sunday. The girl did not survive

“Right now, the most important issue is to defend our country,” Klitschko said.

In the southern port city of Mariupol, where Ukrainians were trying to repel the attack, a medical team at a city hospital desperately tried to revive a 6-year-old girl in unicorn pajamas who was fatally wounded in Russian shelling.

Nearly 560 miles away, Faina Bistritska was under threat in the town of Chernihiv.

“I wish I had never lived to see this,” said Bistritska, an 87-year-old Jew who survived World War II. She said sirens are lit almost constantly in the city, about 90 miles from Kiev.

Chernigov residents have been told not to turn on any lighting, “so as not to attract their attention,” said Bistritska, who lives in a corridor away from windows so she can better protect herself.

Peaky Blinders, Series 6, Ep. 1

BBC1, last night

Rating:

A man enters a bar in the roughest and most difficult city in the world and orders a glass of water.

This sounds like a joke setting – but it’s the beginning of the end for Peaky Blinders (BBC1).

Writer Stephen Knight’s incomparably stylish, incredibly bloody gangster drama is back for its latest series, without even stopping for the opening credits or their sinister themed tune, Nick Cave’s thunderous Red Right Hand.

Fragmented blurring images from the previous season shot across the screen, as if the central character Thomas Shelby (Killian Murphy) was watching his life flash before his eyes.

The sound of his dying first wife’s last heavy breath echoed deafeningly in his ears, and, sinking to his ankles in mud like the battlefields of Flanders, where Tommy lost his mind, he screamed and raised a revolver to his brain.

We left him there for the last time, in 2019. This time he pulled the trigger. The gun was empty – his brother Arthur (Paul Anderson), who loved him, took the bullets.

His second wife, Lizzie, who despised him, burst through the mud in her satin pajamas to throw bullets at his head and call him a coward.

To any viewer who comes to the show recently, this blizzard of highly stylized images may seem incomprehensible.

do not worry. Everyone feels this way when they first encounter Peaky Blinders. When the drama debuted on BBC2 in 2013, it looked like an inappropriate mix of heavy rock soundtrack, historical fantasy, comic book villains and ballet violence in a funny cadence, with a double handful of the supernatural.

Writer Stephen Knight’s incomparably stylish, incredibly bloody gangster drama is back for its latest series, without even pausing for the opening credits or their sinister themed tune, Nick Cave’s thunderous Red Right Hand

It’s still all that, but after half a dozen episodes, the colliding elements combine into a hypnotic collage – like one of those eye-catching kaleidoscopic paintings that merge into a three-dimensional portrait if you watch them long enough.

Telly snobs will tell you that they were attracted from the beginning, but the truth is that the first two series attracted a small audience. It wasn’t until the show aired on Netflix that it found its fans.

Today it is so popular that a film is planned after this final season. Tragically, this will happen without the central figure of Helen McCrory as Aunt Polly. The 52-year-old mother of two, who was married to actor Damien Lewis, died last year after a secret battle with cancer.

Her absence could lead to the decision to give up music and titles. Instead, we watched Tommy cut a bag of corpses sent by IRA mobsters who killed Polly for unexplained reasons. Tommy’s grief seemed unfeigned. He knelt and wept over her.

Murphy said: “Helen was my closest colleague in Peaky and one of the best actors I’ve worked against. Every material, every scene … she made it special. She could make strength and vulnerability, one after another.

In a long funeral procession, Polly’s wooden caravan was set on fire with her body and all her belongings inside, in homage to the family’s Gypsy roots. At the end of the class, an inscription dedicated the episode to McCrory’s memory. Again there was no music – this time only bird songs.

Since Polly is dead and Arthur is a hopeless opium, the whole focus is now on Tommy. Prior to that, he was not only a whiskey smuggler and arms dealer, but also a rising MP.

Telly snobs will tell you that they were attracted from the beginning, but the truth is that the first two series attracted a small audience. It wasn’t until the show aired on Netflix that it found its fans

His political career seems to have been abandoned, but his feud with his cousin Michael (Finn Cole), Polly’s son. Tommy arranged for Michael to be jailed on drug charges, and then began the slow seduction of his wife, the puppet-like American mall Gina (Anya Taylor-Joy).

It is straight from the pages of the history of jazz chroniclers John O’Hara or Damon Runnon.

Tommy himself is more like Gary Cooper as a cowboy, written by a miserable French philosopher. When he walked into that Canadian bar and announced his name, “Je m’appelle Thomas Shelby,” it could have been High Noon, rethought by Jean-Paul Sartre. There was a short discussion about the meaning of life with the locals, a bunch of depressed existentialists. “Since I swore alcohol, I’ve become a calmer and more peaceful person,” Tommy explained before pulling out a knife and a pistol.

In the ensuing melee, a man’s face was cut off and the pigeon was shot. Everyone was trying to get the sober Tommy to break his promise. Gina smiled as she waved a glass of brandy under his nose. A Boston thug filled a glass with rechargeable acid and ordered him to remove it. Tommy refused. “Now I realize that whiskey is just fuel for the powerful engines in your head,” he was quoted as saying by William Blake.

For now, he is in the wagon pulled by a horse. Everyone can guess how long before they fall. But when he does, there will be all the hell to pay.