Yves Chauvin of France and Americans Robert H Grubbs and Richard R Schrock on Wednesday won the Nobel Prize for a breakthrough in carbon chemistry that opens the way to smarter drugs and environmentally friendlier plastics. The Nobel jury declared "fantastic opportunities" had resulted from the trio's work.

The Nobel season opens with the medicine prize announcement, with the peace and literature awards both tipped to be coloured by the Arab Spring.

While organic food and "green" products are gradually catching on among wealthier, educated people around the globe, natural living has long been the norm across Europe's Nordic region. "The Nordic countries tend to have a broader, more general consciousness of environmental issues than in other European countries," says Stockholm University researcher Hans Raemoe.

The world's first web page will be dragged out of cyberspace and restored as part of a project to celebrate 20 years of the web.

Norway's Anders Behring Breivik has told the court he was inspired by al-Qaeda, after a judge who wanted him to face the death penalty was dismissed.

A slick black head breaks the surface, drawing shrieks from whale watchers in a lucrative activity that some say should replace whale hunts.

The Nobel season opens with the medicine prize announcement, with the peace and literature awards both tipped to be coloured by the Arab Spring.

Yves Chauvin of France and Americans Robert H Grubbs and Richard R Schrock on Wednesday won the Nobel Prize for a breakthrough in carbon chemistry that opens the way to smarter drugs and environmentally friendlier plastics. The Nobel jury declared "fantastic opportunities" had resulted from the trio's work.