Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 6 October 2026. These are the top five things you need to know about the 2026 Nobel Prize.
Neuroscientist wins 2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine for optogenetics
American neuroscientist Karl Deisseroth, a Stanford Professor of Bioengineering and Psychiatry, has won a third of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics. His lab published the seminal paper in 2005, and the technique has since helped identify circuits governing pain, thirst, reward and attention. Deisseroth told Scientific American he was drifting off to sleep when the late-night call came.
Peter Hegemann shares the prize after investigating how a swimming alga senses light through its eyespot. With Georg Nagel, he discovered channelrhodopsin, a protein now used as a molecular switch for nerve cells. Researchers use it to reactivate memories, evoke feelings and drive behaviour in the lab, and to study neurons involved in psychiatric and neurological disorders.
Georg Nagel, co-discoverer of channelrhodopsin, completes the medicine trio. Each laureate holds a one-third share of the monetary prize. A Nobel official said all three called it wonderful to share the award and described the others as friends. The work builds on an idea from 1962 laureate Francis Crick, who suggested light might control specific cells.
The Nobel Foundation has raised the cash award to 12 million Swedish kronor ($1.2 million) per full prize category, up from 11 million kronor ($1.1 million) in 2025. Where a prize is shared, the money is divided among the laureates, so each medicine winner takes roughly $400,000 of the $1.2 million total. Winners also receive a medal and a diploma at a Stockholm ceremony on 10 December.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee received 287 nominations for this year's Peace Prize, made up of 208 individuals and 79 organisations. That is down from 338 last year, when 244 individuals and 94 organisations were put forward. The winner will be announced on Friday 9 October, with the economics prize closing the season on 12 October.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 28 October 2026, exploring five election stories shaping world politics, from leadership struggles in Israel ...
The cost of the U.S. war in Iran has climbed above $47 billion, according to Pentagon data obtained by Reuters, as spending on munitions, equipment...
A week before the U.S. midterm elections, the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) electronic filing system was targeted by hackers, ...
Russia and Ukraine have begun a regional ceasefire to allow the start of a humanitarian effort in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky, both sides said on Tuesday, but they continue strikes elsewhere, including the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
Israel's election appeared headed for a prolonged political standoff on Tuesday after exit polls suggested neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his main challenger, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, had secured a clear path to a parliamentary majority.
Serbia's Aleksandar Vučić has conceded defeat after a student-led protest movement took the majority of seats in Sunday's parliamentary elections.
Russian strikes hit several parts of Ukraine overnight, injuring at least six people and targeting energy and port infrastructure, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said U.S. warnings about imminent Russian ballistic missile attacks had resumed.
Nearly two years after the 20 October 2024 parliamentary elections, Iraq’s Kurdistan Region remains without a cabinet. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) won 39 of 100 seats and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) 23, leaving neither able to govern alone.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 28 October 2026, exploring five election stories shaping world politics, from leadership struggles in Israel and mounting economic pressures to election security concerns in the U.S. and political fallout in Brazil.
The cost of the U.S. war in Iran has climbed above $47 billion, according to Pentagon data obtained by Reuters, as spending on munitions, equipment losses and military operations continues to rise.
A week before the U.S. midterm elections, the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) electronic filing system was targeted by hackers, according to an email seen by Reuters, as “super PAC” committees and dark money groups are spending record sums in the final days of campaigning.
Israel's election appeared headed for a prolonged political standoff on Tuesday after exit polls suggested neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his main challenger, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, had secured a clear path to a parliamentary majority.
Israel’s election has produced no clear winner, leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main rival Gadi Eisenkot competing to form the next government as vote counting continues and neither bloc appears to have secured a parliamentary majority.
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