Harvey J Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M Rice win Nobel medicine prize
Americans Harvey J Alter and Charles M Rice, and British scientist Michael Houghton were awarded the Nobel Price for Medicine or Physiology on Monday for the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus.
The head of the Nobel Committee, Thomas Perlmann, announced the winners in Stockholm.
The World Health Organisation estimates there are over 70 million cases of hepatitis worldwide and 400,000 deaths each year. The disease is chronic and a major cause of liver inflammation and cancer.
The prestigious award comes with a gold medal and prize money of 10 million Swedish kronor (over $1,118,000), courtesy of a bequest left 124 years ago by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel.
The medicine prize carried particular significance this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has highlighted the importance that medical research has for societies and economies around the world.
The award is the first of six prizes being announced through October 12. The other prizes are for outstanding work in the fields of physics, chemistry, literature, peace and economics.
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Russia, Ukraine trade accusations over nuclear plant attacks
The Kremlin echoed that Monday, claiming that Kyiv was attacking the plant and urging Western powers to force a stop to that. Ukraine's military intelligence spokesman, Andriy Yusov, countered that Russian forces have planted explosives at the plant to head off an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive in the region.
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Kremlin accuses Kyiv of shelling nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia
The Kremlin accused Ukrainian forces on Monday of firing on Europe's largest nuclear power plant in occupied Ukraine and warned that the alleged attacks could have "catastrophic consequences". Kyiv said Moscow was responsible and called for the area to be demilitarised, saying two employees had been wounded in recent attacks. Fighting continued meanwhile along battle lines stretching across eastern Ukraine, and Russia continued its crackdown on dissent at home.
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Pakistani militant with $3 million US bounty killed in Afghanistan: Report
A senior Pakistani militant with $3 million US bounty on Abdul Wali, also known as Omar Khalid Khurasani's head has been killed along with three aides in neighbouring Afghanistan, three militant commanders and an intelligence official said on Monday. Khurasani and his aides were killed in an explosion from an apparent roadside bomb while travelling in a car in southeastern province of Paktia on Sunday, the sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
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UN Security Council to hold emergency meeting on Monday over Gaza fighting
The UN Security Council was to hold an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss the situation in Gaza, where a truce is holding between Islamic Jihad militants and Israel after three days of deadly conflict. China, which holds the presidency of the Security Council in August, announced the emergency meeting on Saturday, with Ambassador Zhang Jun expressing his concern over Gaza's worst fighting since an 11-day war last year.
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France in midst of 4th heat wave amid historic drought
France was in the midst of its fourth heat wave of the year Monday as the country faces what the government warned is its worst drought on record. Read US Senate poised to pass Biden's cornerstone climate and health bill The high temperatures aren't helping firefighters battling a wildfire in the Chartreuse Mountains, near the Alps in eastern France, where authorities have evacuated around 140 people.
