Snowden Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

The government keeps quite a close eye on us, as former member of the CIA and contractor for the NSA, Edward Snowden, revealed to everyone. Snowden prompted the well-known NSA leaks, providing information about the intricate surveillance system the NSA maintains on the entire world. There is divided opinion about whether his actions were right, some calling him a hero, and some calling him a criminal. In the eyes of Norwegian politicians, Snorre Valen and Bård Vegar Solhjell, Snowden would be considered a revolutionary. So much so that Valen, Norway's former environment and education minister from the Socialist Left Party, and Solhjell, a fellow parliament member, nominated Snowden for the Nobel Peace Prize. They believe that however detrimental the information released is to governments in the short term, it will enable to work towards a more peaceful world order. The information has stirred much debate, and made people rethink about the trust relationship between citizens and the government, re-opening the emphasis on this subject. These Swedish politicians are not the only ones with this opinion about Snowden, but they might have a difficult time winning him the prize. Nominations for the Nobel Prizes are due the first of February, and the final awards are announced on October 10.

http://www.voanews.com/content/snowden-nominated-for-nobel-peace-prize/1840391.html

Russians seeking black widows as possible Games threat

As the Olympic Games approach, much preparation is being held in Sochi, Russia. One of the main concerns for Russia during this time is to make sure their security is effective. Although their efforts are thorough, it is believed that a possible female suicide bomber could have already slipped past officials. The woman is recorded to be the widow of an Islamic militant that was killed by Russian forces last year. This woman is referred to be a "black widow", so named because they are harder to detect and can change the way they look with makeup and clothes. Several militant groups in the Caucasus are known to use "black widows". To prevent against any trouble, 40,000 security Russian and American personnel have been dispatched for the games. They will remain on on watch, but it is expected that nothing serious will happen.

How A Little Caffeine Can Boost Your Memory

A new study in Nature Neuroscience has discovered that consuming caffeine after attempting to memorize something will allow more to be memorized per session. The experiment took not regular caffeine consumers and had them memorize a series of pictures, afterwards giving them a caffeine pill. The next day they were asked to remember these pictures in detail, and the group that had been given the caffeine did considerably better than those that had not been given the pill. The key factor of this test was that the caffeine was administered after the period of memorization instead of before, which can cause anxiety and lack of focus. Scientists must delve deeper into the uses of this caffeine on the memory that can be held, which may lead to advancements against Alzheimer's disease and other memory loss.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2014/01/13/how-a-little-caffeine-can-boost-your-memory/

Deadly blast hits south Beirut neighborhood

As the civil war in Syria rages on, conflicts have meandered their way in its smaller neighbor, Lebanon. Over the past few months, bombs have exploded over the country targeting Shiite Hezbollah strongholds, most recently in Beirut. Just today, a car bomb exploded in front of a Hezbollah stronghold in the Lebanese capital city, leaving five people dead and around 20 injured. Several cars were ignited in the blast, and the front face of the nearby buildings and store windows were damaged. Other bombings such as this that have targeted politicians have occurred in already delicate Lebanon in the past few months, threatening to tear the country apart, just as it has happened in Syria.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/01/02/bomb-beirut-lebanon-syria/4287507/