Russian Reality

Bloomberg: Pfizer Vaccine Provides Partial Protection Against Omicron COVID-19 strain of coronavirus. This is reported by Bloomberg, citing a study by the African Health Research Institute in South Africa. According to study leader Alex Sigal, the loss of immune defenses is “severe but not complete.” In particular, infection with the new omicron strain leads to an approximately 40-fold decrease in antibodies that block viruses. As noted by the researchers, the booster dose of the vaccine can provide additional protection. Previously, the vice president of the vaccine group at Pfizer Ralf Rene Reinert said in a conversation with the agency that the company's experts did not expect significant decrease in the effectiveness of the drug. On December 7, a virologist, doctor of medical sciences, professor, chief employee of the Gamaleya Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology Anatoly Altshtein told Lente.ru that data on the effectiveness of vaccines against the new omicron

Analysts called on China to fund Indonesia's energy transition China and Japan have sponsored large-scale development of the coal industry in Indonesia, which, according to experts, does not have enough funds to implement its plan to achieve zero emissions, according to the South China Morning Post. Of the 31.9 gigawatts of coal-fired power plants in operation in Indonesia, about 41 percent were sponsored by Chinese organizations and about 17 percent by Japanese organizations, according to a study published in November by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). In addition, just over half of the 13.8 gigawatts of coal projects under development received financial assistance from Japan or China. Excessive expansion of coal production over the past 15 years has resulted in a 50-60 percent surplus in generating capacity at Indonesia's main state-owned electricity company, Perusahaan Listrik Negara, as IEEFA analysts Elrika Hamdi and Putra Adhiguna pointed out

Instagram will have a function for deleting photos, likes and comments published a long time ago and also change the policy regarding the content that is recommended to teens. The planned innovations were announced by the head of the social network, Adam Mosseri. According to him, the company will disable users' ability to mark or mention teenagers who are not subscribed to them. It will also be possible to delete photos, comments or likes published a long time ago without contacting the moderators. In 2022, the creators promised to launch an application for parents and guardians, allowing them to see how much time their children spend on social networks. Earlier, the developers of the Telegram messenger released updates to protect content. Channel owners now have the ability to prevent subscribers from forwarding messages, saving content, or taking screenshots. Also, users can delete correspondence for a specific day or a selected

Ushakov: in the conversation between Putin and Biden there was a place for jokes and exchange of compliments This was told by the assistant to the head of Russia Yuri Ushakov, reports TASS. At the same time, he noted that in the conversation there was a place for jokes and exchange of compliments between the presidents. Earlier it was reported that Biden welcomed the opportunity to communicate clearly and directly with Vladimir Putin. According to the adviser to the head of the United States on national security, Jake Sullivan, the discussion between Biden and Putin was direct and frank. On December 7, the presidents of Russia and the United States held an online meeting. The White House reported that the main topics of the talks were the situation in Ukraine, strategic stability, cyber security and regional issues, for example, Iran.

Ushakov: Putin during talks with Biden told him about Moscow's “red lines” Russian President Vladimir Putin during online talks with the American leader Joe Biden told him about the “red lines” of Moscow. This was stated by the aide of the Russian President Yuri Ushakov, RIA Novosti reports. According to him, the “red lines” for Moscow are the further advance of NATO to the east and the deployment of offensive weapons in Ukraine. On the eve of negotiations with Putin, Biden refused to respect anyone's “red lines” on the situation with Ukraine. Thus, the American leader commented on the statements that Moscow considers the deployment of weapons in Ukraine, in particular hypersonic weapons, and the approach of NATO infrastructure to the Russian borders as “red lines”. “I do not recognize anyone's red line,” the US President emphasized.

MSU graduate Saule Omarova withdrew her candidacy for the post of head of the US Treasury … A native of the USSR no longer aspires to the post of head of the Office of Currency Control in the US Treasury, Reuters reports. According to the White House press service, published on Tuesday, December 7, US President Joe Biden granted Omarova's request to withdraw her candidates. Earlier it was reported that if appointed, a graduate of Moscow State University could become the first woman to head the department in 158 years of its existence. At the same time, Republicans and representatives of the banking sector criticized Omarova's candidacy. Thus, Senator from the Republican Party John F. Kennedy asked her to explain her ties with the All-Union Leninist Communist Youth Union (Komsomol) and demanded to provide confirmation of her withdrawal from the “organization of young communists”.