In China, prices for laboratory monkeys, which are widely used in the preclinical stage of drug safety assessment, have doubled over the past five years, SCMP reports . Thus, to test drugs with a lower risk of toxicity, about 40–60 monkeys are needed. Whereas for antitumor drugs of the “antibody-drug conjugate” class, up to 100 macaques are required, the publication notes. The cost of one laboratory monkey has risen to 20 thousand US dollars.

The court is considering one of the most high-profile cases in Norwegian history. In the dock is the son of the future queen, Marius Borg Høiby. He faces 38 charges, including threats, rape and drug possession. Høiby cites in his defense that he had a difficult childhood and there was always increased attention from the press and society, but he denies most of the accusations. If the court finds him guilty, the son of the Crown Princess could spend more than 10 years behind bars.

The Tagansky Court of Moscow registered an administrative case for discrediting the Russian army. The suspect was Pavel Gubarev, who in the spring of 2014 was one of the leaders of pro-Russian militants in Donbass, RBC reported . “Whether this is someone’s intention, I don’t know, I can only assume that some people didn’t like my texts. I rate this fact as hopeless stupidity. I don’t expect any consequences for myself,” Gubarev said in a conversation with the publication.

The government refused to provide the largest Russian developer, Samolet, with a preferential loan. Officials did not agree that the company was facing an unprecedented crisis, Kommersant reports . According to the publication’s source, the government did not recognize the financial situation of Samolet as critical. In this regard, the company will not receive a preferential loan of 50 billion rubles from the state, which it previously requested.

During his evening address to the nation, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky noted that the military negotiations were meaningful. However, political issues are still “not sufficiently worked out.” “The military talked about some issues - seriously and meaningfully. Sensitive political issues, questions about possible compromises and the necessary meeting of leaders have not yet been sufficiently worked out. We look forward to another meeting in February,” Zelensky said.

The idea of ​​​​creating a demilitarized zone in Ukraine is considered as one of the possible ways through which the parties want to achieve a truce between Moscow and Kiev, The New York Times reports . Sources familiar with the progress of the negotiations in Geneva told the publication that on the path to creating a demilitarized zone, a key question remains unanswered: who exactly will control this territory?

In London, former top manager of the financial conglomerate HSBC Joseph Molloy appeared in court on charges of fraud in the payment of railway travel. The Times newspaper reports this. According to the publication, the 53-year-old banker used a scheme known as the “doughnut” for 11 months: he purchased tickets only for the starting and ending stations of the route from Orpington to central London, without paying for the main part of the journey.

In Russia, February 18 is celebrated as Dumpling Day, since in Rus' dumplings were a symbol of well-being and prosperity in the home. However, eating dumplings may increase the risk of developing a number of diseases, in particular due to the high content of saturated fat and salt in minced meat.

Two trauma surgeons operated on the healthy arm of an eight-year-old boy, essentially breaking it, the Dnepropetrovsk Regional Prosecutor's Office reported . The incident occurred in September 2022. A mother and her child came to one of the medical institutions. The boy's X-ray examination confirmed a fracture of his right forearm. Then the doctor put a plaster cast on the patient and scheduled a follow-up examination in a month.

A gold rush has begun in a village east of the South African city of Johannesburg after reports that a local resident discovered gold particles in a cowshed, the BBC reports . We are talking about a poor area of ​​the former gold mining town of Springs. According to a local resident, he found several nuggets while digging in a fenced area where cattle used to be kept. After this, dozens of people rushed to the former cowshed, armed with picks and shovels.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, bypassing official channels, is conducting secret negotiations with Raul Castro's grandson Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro. Axios writes about this. Fidel Castro's brother, 94-year-old Raul Castro, is not the formal ruler of Cuba, and 41-year-old Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro is his guardian. The establishment of contact between the US State Department and Castro suggests that Washington considers him the decision-maker.

In Sheffield, UK, social media users are discussing an unusual sound coming from freezers in the Co-op supermarket on Ecclesall Road, The Guardian reports . In January, one Reddit user wrote on a page dedicated to Sheffield that the store's freezers made "the calmest humming sound," likening it to an "electric gong bath." Later, another user posted a video recording the sound.

A man has been sentenced to three years in prison for giving permanent tattoos to children. However, the accused himself was sure that during the session he applied temporary drawings to the children’s skin, The Chronicle reports . “His claim that small drawings would fade turned out to be a lie,” Judge Sarah Mallett said during sentencing, calling the defendant “astonishingly stupid.” According to the publication, 31-year-old Patrick Coe gave permanent tattoos to three young children.

Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov commented on an article by The Economist magazine, which stated that Russia promises the US deals worth $12 trillion in profits in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. The publication called this amount “unrealistic.” “We remain interested in resuming trade, economic and investment cooperation with the United States. It can be truly mutually beneficial,” Peskov told RBC.

The village of Santa Maddalena in the Italian Dolomites is facing an influx of tourists, which locals say has become a serious problem. The DPA agency reported this. Santa Maddalena, with a population of less than 400 people, is located in South Tyrol in the Puez-Geisler Natural Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, between the Villness and Val Gardena valleys. Previously, Geo magazine named the locality the most beautiful village in South Tyrol.