World News

Beyond the Red Carpet: How the Breakthrough Prize Creates Cultural Impact

While the glamorous scenes from the Breakthrough Prize ceremony capture immediate attention—celebrities in formal wear, scientists on the red carpet, $3 million awards—the event's true significance lies in its lasting cultural impact. The 11th annual ceremony, held at Santa Monica's Barker...

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"Master of the contemporary short story," Alice Munro wins Nobel Prize in Literature

The Canadian author Alice Munro has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Described by the jury as a "master of the contemporary short story", Munro, 82, has published numerous collections over a 45-year career.

Born in Wingham, Ontario in 1931, her mother was a teacher, and a father a fox farmer. After finishing high school, she began studying journalism and English at...

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Alice Munro

Nobel Prize in Literature

European Parliament votes on tobacco and e-cigarettes

Legislation to limit the use of tobacco products by young people has been approved by the European Parliament.

However, the plans went through in a more limited form than originally proposed.

The draft legislation proposed that all flavoured tobacco products be banned from sale by law in 2014. It also called for the banning of slim cigarettes, packs of ten cigarettes and making...

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Higgs boson theorists awarded Nobel Prize for physics

The British scientist Peter Higgs has been jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics with his Belgian colleague François Englert for their theoretical work on the Higgs boson particle.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2013 “for the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic...

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Nobel Prize

Peter Higgs

François Englert

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Physics

large hadron collider

Russian court begins remand hearing on Greenpeace piracy.

A Russian court has begun remand hearings for the Greenpeace activists held on piracy charges today.

The activists crewing The Arctic Sunrise - including 6 Britons - were arrested by the Russian Coastguard on suspicion of piracy during a protest against oil drilling.

The hearing will determine if the activists will remain in custody before a preliminary trial hearing.

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Russians hold Devon Greenpeace activists for piracy

Russia’s investigative committee has announced they will prosecute around 29 Greenpeace activists arrested last Thursday (19 September).

The international crew of the Arctic Sunrise was arrested following an attempt to climb the Prirazlomnaya oil-drilling platform off the Russian coast.

Two activists were detained during this attempt on the 18 September with the remaining...

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Samaritans challenge stigma barrier to men seeking help

Samaritans are marking World Suicide Prevention Day by calling on society to stop expecting men to conform to the traditional view that “real men” should not need to seek help.

Stigma as a major barrier to suicide prevention is a key theme for this year. The expectations society has of men contributes to the fact that men are three times more likely to take their own lives than women...

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Samaritans

World Suicide Prevention Day

men and suicide

American crime writer, Elmore Leonard dies aged 87

The American author Elmore Leonard, who wrote the crime novels, Get Shorty and Out Of Sight , has died at the age of 87 according to a brief statement on his website . He had been recovering after a recent stroke.

Born in New Orleans, Elmore John Leonard Jr. began writing westerns in the 1950s, before becoming one of the most popular and critically acclaimed crime writers of his...

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Sale of Washington Post sparks potential new era for digital news

"The Internet is transforming almost every element of the news business: shortening news cycles, eroding long-reliable revenue sources, and enabling new kinds of competition, some of which bear little or no news-gathering costs."

Jeff Bezos, Chairman and CEO of Amazon.com, who has bought The Washington Post.

In news that has stunned the media industry, The Washington Post...

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Global investigation reveals true scale of ocean warming

Warming oceans are causing marine species to change breeding times and shift homes with substantial consequences expected for the broader marine landscape, according to a new global study.

The three-year research project, funded by the National Centre for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis in California, has shown widespread systemic shifts in measures such as distribution of species...

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Mandela 'steadily improving' as his 95th birthday is celebrated

As the South African nation celebrates Nelson Mandela's 95th birthday today, President Jacob Zuma has paid tribute to the former president whose health is "steadily improving", according to doctors.

Mandela, or 'Madiba' (his Xhosa clan name) as he is affectionately known by South Africans, remains in hospital undergoing care and treatment for a recurring lung infection. His condition...

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