The first cloned child is due to be born in Belgrade this year. This sensational statement was made by the Italian scientist Severino Antinori in an interview with one of the Serbian magazines, NTV reports. However, less than a day after publication, S. Antinori denied the report of the Serbian press and told the Italian agency Ansa that he did not give any interviews in Serbia.

The Hamas group does not claim to participate in the political governance of the Palestinian Authority. This was stated on Saturday by the founder and spiritual leader of the organization, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. According to him, the main and only goal of the organization is not to come to power, but to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Russian navigator Zigmas Zhilaitis, who tried to travel around the globe in honor of the 200th anniversary of the first Russian round-the-world expedition of I.F. Kruzenshtern and Yu.F. Lisyansky, was found without signs of life on board his yacht "Kamchatka" near the port of Golfito (Costa -Ricky). The causes of Z. Zhilaitis's death have not yet been established. The body of the traveler found by Costa Rican maritime police showed no signs of violence. Documents and belongings of Z.

Russian Minister for National Policy Vladimir Zorin, during a press conference in St. Petersburg, highly appreciated the decision to hold a referendum in the Chechen Republic. According to him, “the referendum can create a political mechanism for the republic to overcome the crisis that has developed there.” As V. Zorin notes, the situation has entered the post-conflict stage.

Chechen terrorist Salman Raduev died as a result of hemorrhagic vasculitis (inflammation of blood vessels) of unknown origin and multiple hemorrhages in internal organs, the press service of the GUIN of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation told RBC. According to the press service, S. Raduev died in the therapeutic department of the Perm regional hospital on the night of December 12-13. The GUIN categorically denied the version of the violent death of the terrorist.

US intelligence agencies since September 11, 2001 have prevented over 100 terrorist attacks around the world, but now there are several terrorists in the United States who are ready to commit acts of terror. US FBI Director Robert Mueller stated this in an interview with AP on December 14. According to R. Mueller, the United States will be at war with terrorism as long as the last al-Qaeda militant is free.

In 2-3 months, a publicly accessible sports channel will appear in Russia. This statement was made today by the Chairman of the State Sports Committee of the Russian Federation, Vyacheslav Fetisov, after a meeting of the Council on Physical Education and Sports under the President of the Russian Federation, which was held in the Kremlin, Channel One reports.

British archaeologists have discovered the most long-suffering church in the world - and, in the literal sense of the word. This temple survived two earthquakes, a full-length flood and landslides, and all these sad circumstances happened directly during the construction of the building. The Church of St. Phocas was built in the Turkish city of Sinop, on the Black Sea coast. True, now little remains of the historical part of the city, since it was washed away by sea waters.

North Korea has demanded that the United States withdraw the new James Bond film, Die Another Day, from distribution. According to the DPRK, this “dirty and disgusting parody insults the Korean nation and slanders it,” reports the Rossiya TV channel. Let us remember that in the story, J. Bond is captured by the North Koreans and subjected to brutal torture there.

Iraq's termination of the contract with LUKOIL for the development of the Qurna-2 field was caused not by political, but by economic reasons. Iraqi Ambassador Abbas Khalaf Kunfud announced this today at a press conference in Moscow. According to him, the main reason for this step is LUKOIL’s failure to fulfill contract obligations related to the development of the field. LUKOIL only signed the contract, but did not fulfill it, the diplomat pointed out.

Deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation evaluate the bill limiting the amount of fees for cleaning the territory as a step towards the abolition of turnover taxes. Let us recall that the bill “On Amendments and Additions to the Law of the Russian Federation “On the Fundamentals of the Tax System in the Russian Federation” was unanimously adopted by the State Duma in three readings, which was clearly facilitated by the positive conclusion of the government on the proposed law.

Scientists have come close to solving the problem of cancer. Using gene therapy, they were able to completely cure malignant tumors in laboratory mice. And it would seem that the day is not far off when chemotherapy will be completely replaced by gene therapy, and cancer will no longer be considered an incurable disease, but... A group of American scientists led by Professor Chung Li published the results of their work in the journal Cancer Research.

In 2003 US President George W. Bush intends to implement a program to grow the national economy, Radio Liberty reports. According to him, despite the difficulties, the US economy maintains good conditions for growth. In a radio address to the American people on Saturday, Bush said he would task new Treasury Secretary John Snow and his economic adviser Stephen Friedman with developing measures to stimulate the economy.

Specialists from the Bristol City Zoo managed to raise an albino penguin for the first time in history. Snow-white funny birds of this species are extremely rare in nature, and they have not appeared in captivity until now. But British zoologists managed to obtain an albino penguin in “laboratory” conditions and raise it. Biologically, the albino penguin named Snowball is a species of African penguin that lives on the islands located south of South Africa.

Currently, the revival of mass physical education and sports is extremely important. This was stated by Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin at the first meeting of the Council on Physical Culture and Sports under the President of the Russian Federation. According to V. Putin, the revival of mass physical education and sports is “task number one.” The President drew attention to the need to create incentives for the development of mass physical education and sports in the country. V.