Variety

Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov, journalists whose work has angered the rulers of the Philippines and Russia, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, an award the committee said was an endorsement of free speech rights under threat worldwide. The two were awarded “for their courageous fight for freedom …

India will reopen for tourists from October 15 after being closed for more than a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the government said Thursday. “After considering various inputs, the MHA (home ministry) has decided to begin granting fresh Tourist Visas for foreigners coming to India through chartered flights with …

Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah won the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature “for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee,” the award-giving body said on Thursday. Based in Britain and writing in English, Gurnah, 72, joins Nigeria’s Wole Soyinka as the only …

A South Korean woman who was deluged with thousands of prank calls and text messages after her phone number was highlighted as a key plot point in Netflix’s hit show ‘Squid Game’ may soon get some relief. Netflix and local production company Siren Pictures said on Wednesday they would edit …

The Catholic Church’s leader Pope Francis has expressed sadness and shame over the Church’s inability to deal with the sexual abuse of children by the clergy in France. Francis’ expression of regret came after an independent commission investigating sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in France published a 2,500-page …

Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who stirred worldwide controversy in 2007 with offensive drawings depicting the Prophet Mohammed, was killed in a car crash near the southern town of Markaryd on Sunday, police said. Vilks, 75, who had been living under police protection since the drawings were published, was traveling in …

An independent commission examining sex abuse within the Roman Catholic Church in France believes 3,000 child abusers — two-thirds of them priests — have worked in the church over the past 70 years. The estimate was given by the commission president, Jean-Marc Sauvé, in an interview published Sunday in the …

Korean drama Squid Game is on track to become Netflix’s most popular original series, according to the company’s co-CEO. In a rare move for the streaming service that is known for its secrecy around viewing figures, co-CEO Ted Sarandos released data about the platform’s top-performers during a speech at Code …

Police in the US arrested two suspected drug dealers in possession of enough elephant tranquilizer to kill 50 million people if mixed in with other substances, authorities announced Thursday. Andres Jesus Morales, 30, and Alyssa Christine Ponce, 27, were arrested in the southern California town of Perris on September 14 …

Millions of ardent lovers, in a demonstration of unfathomable love and devotion for their beloved, walk seamlessly and untiringly from one sacred city to another, day and night, braving inclement weather and ominous security threats. Men and women, young and old, come from different corners of the world and converge …

The United Nations chief called on Friday for the world to redouble its renewable energy efforts to avert a climate emergency and address global energy poverty. “Today, we face a moment of truth,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who described the mandate as a “double imperative — to end energy …

Several gorillas at Zoo Atlanta in the southern US state of Georgia have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, the zoo said. The western lowland gorillas were tested after keepers saw them coughing and other symptoms, it said. Initial tests indicated they were positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes …

Four civilians arrived in Florida ahead of a planned liftoff next week for a SpaceX launch into orbit billed as the first all-civilian spaceflight in history. After completing their final day of astronaut training at SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California on Wednesday, September 8, the crew of Inspiration4 arrived in …

Indian authorities are restricting major religious festivals that start this week and attract huge crowds, warning that a new COVID-19 wave had already begun in the financial capital Mumbai. State governments across the country of 1.3 billion people, which saw a devastating coronavirus surge in April-May, are clamping down on …

The United Nations on Tuesday rejected a call by a global non-government network to postpone the upcoming COP26 climate summit in Britain on the grounds that a lack of COVID vaccines risked sidelining developing countries. “For now, no changes are planned, but we understand the concerns,” UN deputy spokesman Farhan …

Ten bulls charged through the streets of Villaseca de la Sagra on Sunday in pursuit of hundreds of runners as the first bull-running fiesta was held in Spain since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Villages and towns across Spain hold the fiestas but they were prohibited last year as …

US-based Alaska Airlines said it will give a $200 reward to its employees who are vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a press release. “Throughout the pandemic, the safety of our employees and guests has always come first, and we are committed to protecting our fellow employees, guests, and loved ones …

A rescue crew was able to find a swimmer who was missing for 12 hours off the Ireland coast after they spotted a dolphin pod surrounding him, the BBC reported last week. “The RNLI volunteers spotted the exhausted man among the dolphins in the sea near Castlegregory in County Kerry,” …

Composer Mikis Theodorakis, whose infectious, earthy score for the film “Zorba the Greek” helped foster a sunny, carefree image of his country for millions of tourists, died on Thursday, aged 96. As news of his passing swept through the nation, parliament held a moment of silence. “Today we lost a …

A zoo in the US state of Texas is set to vaccinate its animals against COVID-19, according to a press release. The San Antonio Zoo’s lions and tigers will be among the first animals to get their coronavirus vaccine doses in the coming weeks. “The first zoo animals to receive …