The risk of hospitalization in case of infection with the Omicron-Summum Covid-19 is three times lower than the same probability in case of infection with delta-stamp. This is with reference to the results of the study of the Security Agency in the field of healthcare of Great Britain (UKHSA) is reported on December 31 by Reuters .

At the beginning of the year, only a small group of crypto enthusiasts knew what non-fungible tokens (NFTs) were, and by mid-December, the NFT market was already valued at $41 billion. This brought it close in value to the global art market, writes the Financial Times . “This year, the NFT market has grown from a $1 billion industry to a multi-billion dollar industry,” an analyst at crypto research firm Messari told the publication.

2021 on the US stock exchanges ends on a high note, albeit not at the very highs, writes The Wall Street Journal. The "Santa Claus Rally" was realized in the past year, the newspaper writes: after recent highs, trading on December 31 will be calm, futures indicate an almost even opening (S&P 500, DJIA and Nasdaq 100 showed minus 0.1% before opening). The S&P 500 will thus see a 27% year-to-date gain, the most since 2019.

Russia in the outgoing 2021 faced difficult challenges, but passed this year with dignity, said Russian President Vladimir Putin in his New Year's greetings to the Russians. Due to the time difference, the residents of Kamchatka were the first to hear it at 15:00 Moscow time.

Ukrainian businessman Maxim Polyakov, who founded the space company Firefly Aerospace in the United States, is forced to sell it. This is not the first time that the US authorities have forced the founders from the CIS countries to give up the rights to their space business. Earlier, the same fate befell the project of the Russian entrepreneur Mikhail Kokorich.

Life expectancy amid the pandemic has fallen to a minimum in the last 10 years, writes Bloomberg. According to the Russian government, life expectancy by the end of 2021 will be 70.2 years. According to the calculations of the demographer from Moscow State University Vera Karpova, cited by Bloomberg, the indicator has already fallen to less than 70 years by the end of the current year. The last time life expectancy was at 70.2 years was in 2012, according to Rosstat data.

The Russian ruble ended 2021 at about the same levels as it started, writes RBC. It weakened only by 0.3% - from 74.4 to 74.65 rubles per dollar (to close on December 30 compared to the opening on January 4). The most expensive dollar in 2021 was worth 77.4 rubles on April 9, the cheapest on October 26 at the level of 69.5 rubles. In the previous year, the ruble was more volatile and traded in the range of 61.78-77.59 per dollar.

2021 has been another big year for tech companies—trillion-dollar caps, an IPO boom, record profits from the economic recovery, and free cash from the Fed. But not only - the past year has laid down several long-term trends that will determine the development of the market in 2022 and beyond. We chose the main ones and discussed them with experts.

The manufacturer of the well-known bouillon cubes Gallina Blanca is leaving Russia: the company that manufactures the company's products for the domestic market will be bought by the Nepalese CG Food, writes Kommersant . The deal took place, but there is no talk of leaving the brand from Russia. Update On February 2, 2022, the owner of the Gallina Blanca brand, the Spanish GBfoods, indeed announced the sale of 100% in Europ Foods GB CJSC to the Nepalese conglomerate Chaudhary Group.

Russia is preparing for a new wave of coronavirus, provoked by the spread of the Omicron strain, Reuters writes , citing sources in the Kremlin. A surge in incidence is expected in January-February, and the number of infections may exceed 50,000 per day. The prospects for a new wave of cases were discussed at government meetings, two Kremlin sources told Reuters.