The researchers conducted a trial involving 82 adult smokers. The experiment compared the effectiveness of nicotine patches used over eight to 10 weeks with a single high dose of psilocybin, Bloomberg reports . In 2022, half of American smokers were trying to quit. However, only one in ten achieved success, the publication notes, citing data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The federal budget deficit for the first two months of 2026, according to preliminary data from the Russian Ministry of Finance, amounted to 3.449 trillion rubles. It amounted to 1.5% of GDP, Kommersant reported . In January 2026, the deficit was estimated at 1.718 trillion rubles. Thus, in February the “hole” in the state budget doubled. At the same time, the department noted that the high deficit figures at the beginning of the year are associated with advanced financing of expenses.

Despite daily shelling, Iran has been able to retain more than 80-90% of its small boats and minelayers, which it is preparing for large-scale mining in the Strait of Hormuz, CNN reports . As two sources familiar with American intelligence data told the publication, Iran has already begun laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Several dozen mines have been laid in recent days, and their number could later reach hundreds.

Monobank blocked the account of Ukrainian citizen Karina Kolb. This happened after she passed video identification against the background of a flag similar to the Russian one. At the same time, the bank did not investigate that the flag of Slovenia was hanging behind the girl’s back, reports Country Politics. “The client applied for video verification asking why her account was blocked.

Six people were killed as a result of a Ukrainian missile attack on Bryansk. Another 37 people were injured, the governor of the Bryansk region, Alexander Bogomaz, reported this on his telegram channel. Earlier, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky confirmed that a missile strike had been carried out on Bryansk. His main goal, according to Zelensky, was the microelectronics plant of the Silicon El group. This is one of the largest microelectronics production enterprises in Russia.

In Maykop, the body of a 69-year-old patient who suddenly disappeared before an emergency operation was found three weeks later in the hospital elevator shaft. Komsomolskaya Pravda writes about this. The operation was scheduled for February 13, the day before the pensioner’s son came to support him and give him things.

Brent oil immediately fell by more than 15%. Now it is trading in the range of $83 per barrel. At the moment, the price of oil dropped below $82, reports Reuters. The decline in energy prices began immediately after US President Donald Trump announced an end to the military conflict in Iran. Although on Monday the price of oil reached $119 per barrel. At the same time, Wood Mackenzie chief analyst Simon Flowers believes that oil prices will remain high for some time.

Kaliningrad plastic surgeons left a bandage in the stomach of a 41-year-old resident of Khabarovsk, the Baza telegram channel reported . According to his information, the woman came from the Far East to Kaliningrad to correct her figure at Dr. Pershin’s medical center. There, for 750 thousand rubles, during one operation she underwent abdominoplasty, body lift, liposuction and lipolifting, removing four liters of fat, the publication says.

Several major airlines have announced ticket price hikes due to soaring fuel prices amid the war in the Middle East. Reuters writes about this. Australian Qantas Airways, Scandinavian SAS and New Zealand Air New Zealand announced tariff increases. The airlines explained their decision by a sharp jump in fuel prices after the US and Israeli strikes on Iran. According to Air New Zealand, before the conflict, the cost of aviation fuel was about $85-$90 per barrel, but then rose to $150-$200.

A block of ice fell on a 68-year-old woman as she walked along the sidewalk. Doctors arrived at the scene and tried to save her, but to no avail. As the channel notes, the woman died on the spot from her injuries, telegram channel 112 reports . As the channel notes, the incident occurred on Myasnitskaya Street, in the center of Moscow. One of the buildings of the University of the Higher School of Economics (HSE), which houses the Faculty of Urban and Regional Development, is also located there.

Over the past ten years, consumer prices in Russia have increased 10.3 times, the To Be Precise project reported , citing Rosstat data. This means that goods and services that cost 100 rubles in 2000 cost approximately 1,033 rubles by the end of 2025, the researchers explained. According to their calculations, prices grew by an average of 9.4% per year.

Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani responded to threats from US President Donald Trump. He said the Iranians were not afraid of “empty threats” and advised the American leader to fear death himself. He published a message to Trump on the social network X. “The Iranian people are not afraid of your empty threats. Those more powerful than you could not destroy it. So be careful not to die yourself,” Larijani wrote.

After an unsuccessful facelift procedure, surgeon Orkhan Fatullayev from the elite Moscow plastic clinic “Time of Beauty” was accused of harassment. The victim Elvira from Kazan claims that for 265 thousand rubles the doctor disfigured her and harassed her at appointments, the Mash telegram channel reports . The girl flew to Moscow to undergo endoscopic lifting.

A bill has been submitted to the State Duma that would allow conscripts to be sent to the army even during a judicial appeal against the decision to conscript. The document was prepared by a group of deputies led by the chairman of the defense committee Andrei Kartapolov, it was published in the database of the lower house of parliament. The amendments concern Article 29 of the Law “On Military Duty and Military Service”.

New buildings in Russia are massively delivered with defects, Izvestia writes . With reference to a study by the Analytics. Business. Pravo" publication notes that in 2025 various shortcomings were identified in 93% of apartment buildings put into operation. Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, this figure has not fallen below 90%. So, in 2022 it was 90%, in 2023 it increased to 95%, and in 2024 it dropped again to 90%.