World News

The organisation responsible for monitoring the destruction of chemical weapons in Syria has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2013 Prize to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons.

The Nobel Committee said: "During World War One, chemical weapons were used to a considerable degree. The Geneva Convention of 1925 prohibited the use, but not the production or storage, of chemical weapons. During World War Two, chemical means were employed in Hitler’s...

One of the biologists whose work on cell systems won him the Nobel prize for Medicine thought he was the victim of a practical joke when first hearing the news. German-born Professor Thomas Sὔdhof, aged 57, said: “I thought at first it was a joke. I have lots of friends who might play these kinds of tricks.” Sὔdhof along with Randy Schekman, 64, and James Rothman, 62, won a share of the 8m Swedish Kroner prize (£776,000) for their work into the internal ‘cargo delivery’ in cells. The scientists worked independently at separate institutions on how ‘vesicles’, bubbles of fat, operate in...

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 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. Two Russian nationals, a Frenchman, a Pole, a New Zealander and a Canadian were all ordered to be held pending the inquiry into the alleged "piracy". A further 24 activists from across the globe including Iain Rogers, 37 and Alex...

Russia’s investigative committee has announced they are to prosecute around 29 Greenpeace activists, who were arrested last Thursday (19 September) following an attempt to climb the Prirazlomnaya oil-drilling platform off the Russian coast. Two Greenpeace activists from the international crew of the Arctic Sunrise were detained during this attempt on the 18 September, with the remaining activists arrested the following day. Among the six British Nationals on the Arctic Sunrise are Iain Rogers, 37 and Alex Harris, 27 from Devon. Alex Harris’s mother Linda has said she fears for her daughter...