Analysis of the control doping sample “B” taken from the Polish heavyweight boxer Mariusz Wach after the fight with the Ukrainian Vladimir Klitschko confirmed the presence of doping in his body. Like Sample A, the control sample tested positive for illegal anabolic steroids. This was reported by the online publication Boxingscene.com. In January 2013, Wach was suspended for a year by the German Boxing Federation (BDB). The athlete was also awarded a fine of 5,113 euros.

Americans have launched a large-scale fundraising campaign for a homeless man named Billy Ray Harris. He became a local celebrity in early February when he returned a woman's platinum and diamond engagement ring that she had mistakenly given to him instead of change. According to Yahoo!, money can be donated at GiveForward.com. At the time of writing, the amount that will be transferred to Harris after the end of the action in May 2013 exceeded 60 thousand dollars.

Latvian President Andris Berzins refused to sign amendments under which intelligence services could stop scientific research that, in their opinion, threatens the country's national security. DELFI reports this. The head of state returned the document to parliament for revision.

The American investment fund Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing has confirmed the acquisition of the Metropolis shopping and entertainment center, located on Leningradskoye Shosse in Moscow, from the Kazakh company Capital Partners. As the consultant of the transaction, Jones Lang LaSalle, said in a statement, it became the largest in the history of the Russian commercial real estate market. The terms of the deal have not been officially disclosed.

Investigators uncovered an attempt to steal a billion rubles from the Russian budget through an illegal VAT refund. provides details of the activities of the criminal group The newspaper Kommersant in its issue dated February 22.

An international team of Russian, Mongolian, Swiss and British geologists has found that a rise in global temperatures of just 1.5 degrees Celsius could cause “significant” areas of permafrost to melt. The work was published in the journal Science , and its summary is provided by BBC News. During the study, scientists analyzed the dynamics of fluctuations in the icing limit in several caves in Yakutia and the Irkutsk region.

The premiere of Dina Garipova’s song “What If,” with which she will represent Russia at Eurovision 2013, will take place on the “Sunday Time” program on February 24. reports this with reference to a representative of the press service of Channel One RIA Novosti . The press service clarified that Garipova’s upcoming performance at Eurovision will be the subject of a separate story in the final information program.

American spy satellites found the Russian cruise ship Lyubov Orlova, which was lost a month ago, in the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, reports Agence France-Presse . The ship, with no people on board and all equipment turned off, is drifting 2,400 kilometers west of the coast of Ireland. In early February, the “ghost ship” was spotted from another ship, but then it almost immediately disappeared over the horizon. “Lyubov Orlova” was arrested in Canada in 2010 for debts to the shipowner.

Co-founder of the groups Joy Division and New Order, bassist Peter Hook, will again come to Russia with a concert. With his group The Light, he will perform on April 17, 2013 at the Moscow Hall club, and on April 19 at the St. Petersburg Cosmonaut. This is stated on the musician's website . The Light's repertoire consists of songs by Joy Division.

Penitentiary service employees must remove 24-hour video surveillance cameras from the hospital ward of ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych stated this during the “Dialogue with the Country” program. “I would remove these cameras so as not to anger anyone. I would like the employees of the State Penitentiary Service to hear me,” said the head of state.

The new US Secretary of State John Kerry misspoke and called Kyrgyzstan “Kyrzakhstan”. Global Post reports this. The publication provides the context in which Kerry made the slip. “Brave American employees work in some of the most dangerous places on the planet. They are fighting corruption in Nigeria. They establish the rule of law in Burma.

Former general director of Russian Space Systems OJSC Yuri Urlichich got a job at Sitronics OJSC. reports this today Interfax . Urlichich was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of OJSC Sitronics, part of AFK Sistema. The board of directors was headed by the former president of Sistema, deputy chairman of the board of directors of AFK Alexander Goncharuk. Urlichich left RKS in November 2012, citing health reasons.

BioWare studio announced the latest story addition to the game Mass Effect 3. The DLC announcement appeared on the company's official forum. The addition will be called Citadel. The space station will be its main setting: there, Commander Shepard, who will become a victim of a conspiracy, will have to reveal its true background. To do this, in particular, he will need to get into the Council Archives.

On the night of Friday, February 22, an employee of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Devi Siradze, was shot dead in Tbilisi. This was reported by Novosti-Georgia with reference to the Imedi television company. According to Georgia Online, the murder was committed in the apartment of former Sports Minister Lado Vardzelashvili. As it turned out, Siradze, who had recently returned from abroad, was visiting the former minister.

Scientists have used analysis of the magnetic properties of obsidian artifacts to trace the dynamics of trade and social networks during the decline of the Akkadian Empire. The work was published in the Journal of Archaeological Science , and its summary is provided by NatureNews. Scientists analyzed 97 obsidian artifacts found at the Tell Mozan site in Syria, where the ruins of the city of Urkesh are preserved.