Aamna Mohdin

Do you want all the fun of a wedding without the hassle of marriage?

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet.

Amid the never-ending debate about gun control in the US, the last gun store in San Francisco—that hotbed of liberalism—has bowed to pressure and is closing for good.

Did you first hear about the devastating earthquake that struck Sichuan on Twitter? You’d be surprised at how many did, as the social-media platform was actually faster at reporting the earthquake than the US government organization tasked with monitoring such events.

Kickstarter has a specific rule barring people from fundraising for charity, but the crowd-funding site broke it this week to help Syrian refugees.

Could the e-book revolution be coming to a screeching halt? Paper books are making a comeback, albeit rather slowly.

The European Union’s highest court has ruled that the rules governing the transfer of personal data from Europe to the US are ”invalid.” The landmark decision today (Oct. 6) will affect thousands of American companies that do business in Europe, including the likes of Facebook and Google.

The Chernobyl disaster in 1986 released 100 times more radiation than the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Some 16,000 people were permanently evacuated from the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident—but what happened to the wildlife left behind?

The World Bank just announced a major global milestone: The number of people living in extreme poverty will likely fall to below 10% in 2015.

Do you tweet about the news, or do you use Twitter to talk to your friends? The answer can provide clues to how much money you earn.

Europe does not have an appetite for genetically-modified crops—15 of the European Union’s 28 member states have now opted out of cultivating them in their territories, including Denmark, France, and Germany. Around two-thirds of Europe’s arable land will be GM-free as a result.

After a dinner date, instead of rating the restaurant, why not review your companion?

Microbes and agar are no longer just scientific tools—they’re key ingredients to making beautiful works of art.

Europe is in the middle of its biggest refugee crisis since World War II. As hundreds of thousands of migrants come to seek a better life, European governments have to determine who to let in and who to keep out.

Germany is open to receiving refugees—more than 400,000 have arrived already this year—and aims to integrate them to the German way of life. To help them do that, Arabic translations of the first 20 articles of the country’s constitution is being distributed in refugee centers.

Ten British women with no viable wombs will get the opportunity to give birth to their own baby, thanks to a pioneering transplant technique. Doctors from Imperial College London have just got the go ahead to begin a clinical trial to carry out the 10 womb transplant and, if successful, Britain could see its first baby born to womb transplant by late 2017 or 2018.

Many smokers will go on to develop some sort of lung problem, but a lucky few always seem to escape this fate.

Banksy’s Dismaland, his dystopian version of a Disney theme park in a rundown English seaside town, will be dismantled and all fixtures will be sent to the refugee camp to build shelters near Calais, France.

When asked during an interview with the BBC if he asked his successor could be female, the Dalai Lama answered yes and said the “the female biologically [has] more potential to show affection… and compassion.”

Have you ever played “20 Questions“ without saying a word?

A paraplegic man was able to use his own legs to walk again—without depending on a robotic exoskeleton.

The first self-injectable contraceptive has just been announced in the UK. Women can now inject themselves from the comfort of their own home, but it still doesn’t detract from the point that the contraceptive injection in itself is not great. In fact, all women’s contraceptives are terrible.

If a monkey takes a selfie with your camera, who owns the photo? British wildlife photographer David Slater has been embroiled in this bizarre debate for the last few years and now animal rights group PETA has stepped in. It is going to court (pdf) to try to give a monkey copyright to the famous smiling selfie he took.

There have been a number of shocking, mass killings across the world, but could these atrocities have been avoided with an early warning system? The US Holocaust Memorial Museum seems to think so. It has created a tool called Early Warning Project, which maps countries most at risk of mass atrocities around the world.