About 100 or 50 thousand years ago in the human genome there was a small mutation of one gene. This mutation made a person capable of creativity and spiritual development. According to the Independent, we are talking about the foxp2 gene, which is responsible for language ability. This opinion is shared by professor of anthropology at Stanford University Richard Klein.

On February 17, the governor of the Saratov region, Dmitry Ayatskov, appealed to local entrepreneurs to help the administration restore the monument to Vladimir Lenin in the center of Saratov. According to preliminary estimates, the restoration of the monument on the central square of the regional center will cost two million rubles, ITAR-TASS reports.

In the elections for the head of the republic of Mordovia, the current president Nikolai Merkushkin is leading by a wide margin, Interfax was told at the information center of the CEC of the republic. At 07.00 Moscow time, 98% of the ballots were processed. Nikolai Merkushkin received 87.47% of the vote. 6.95% of voters voted for Merkushkin's main rival - the director of the Saransk instrument-making plant, communist Anatoly Chubukov.

Last Sunday, a special equipment garage exploded at a gas processing plant in Yakutsk. According to RIA Novosti, as a result, one person received severe burns, 8 pieces of equipment were damaged. Concrete floors collapsed in the garage. A preliminary examination by specialists of the scene showed that the cause of the incident was a safety violation, which was committed by the driver injured as a result of the emergency when refueling his car right in the garage.

Mayor of Krasnoyarsk Petr Pimashkov has started work again, reports Regions.ru with reference to Avtoradio. The head of the city was on vacation for about a month. Such a long absence gave rise to many rumors and conjectures in the media. In particular, information has repeatedly appeared about the possible resignation of Pimashkov - allegedly he was offered the post of senator in the Federation Council instead of Pavel Fedirko.

Nizhnevartovsk air traffic controllers in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug received an official notice of a pay increase. It is reported by Regions.ru with reference to the news agency "Samotlor-express". The salaries of specialists directly responsible for flight safety have increased by 48% since January.

The Ministry of Natural Resources may revoke the license for the Kovykta gas and Verkhnechonskoye oil fields from RUSIA Petroleum, owned by the newborn oil holding BP and TNK. about it writes Vedomosti . The holding formed by BP, Alfa Group and Access/Renova owns, among other things, a 62% stake in the Irkutsk company RUSIA Petroleum.

The International Olympic Committee is awaiting Moscow's application for the right to host the 2012 Olympics, Ekho Moskvy reports. According to IOC President Jacques Rogge, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has already reported on the full readiness of the Russian capital for the main sporting event. However, according to Rogge, negotiations with the Russian government are still ahead. Rogge says Russia's chances of winning the right to host the 2012 Olympics are pretty high.

The device, capable of detecting hidden inserts in video production (the so-called "25th frame" - Ed.), is completely ready for operation. This was reported by Interfax with reference to the statement of the chief researcher of the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Television and Radio Broadcasting Svetlana Nemtsova. "The Ministry of Press, which was the customer of the device, officially accepted it at the end of December.

http://www.newsru.com/world/17feb2003/mit.html In 1938, having signed an agreement with Hitler and Mussolini in Munich, which became the death sentence of independent and democratic Czechoslovakia, Chamberlain and Daladier returned home with a triumph. Turning to the jubilant crowd from the window of his house, the British prime minister, showing the letter of the eternal world between Germany and England, he announced: "My friends!

In New Zealand, cleaning lady Margaret Bimsley bought an ad space in the Dominion Post for NZ$5,000 (nearly $3,000), but she didn't use it for advertising. According to NZPA, at this place she published an open letter to George W. Bush, urging him not to launch a military operation in Iraq. Margaret hopes that her letter will be read by the US ambassador to New Zealand and reported to Washington. She urges Bush to say "No and never again" to war and open the way for a new civilization.

75.09 percent of voters took part in the presidential elections in Mordovia at 20.00 Moscow time. As RIA Novosti reports with reference to the press service of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Mordovia, the highest percentage of voter turnout was recorded in Torbeevsky (92.07%), Tengushevsky (91.68%) and Ichalkovsky (91.56%) districts. In the capital of the republic, Saransk, only 65.42% of citizens with the right to vote came to the polls.

Il-86 flights will not be banned, the State Civil Aviation Service told Interfax. They noted that this liner remains the most reliable in Russia. Last week, the Interstate Aviation Committee decided to suspend the certificate for this aircraft until an additional investigation into last year's Il-86 crash at Sheremetyevo is completed. Then the liner performed a technical flight and crashed immediately after takeoff. As a result, only 2 crew members survived.

Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze said that in the spring the situation in Pankisi could escalate again due to attempts by "destructive elements" to cross the Russian-Georgian border from one side or another. He stated this, as RIA Novosti reports, on Monday in an interview with the National Radio. According to the president, the coming months should be used to further strengthen stability in the Pankisi Gorge.

In the city of Pyatigorsk, Stavropol Territory, four people were detained. According to RIA "Novosti" with reference to sources in the Operational and Coordinating Directorate of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation for the North Caucasus, all the detained young people were previously convicted for possession of weapons and drugs, as well as for theft. Two of the detainees are brothers who worked as deputy directors in one of the nightclubs.