The achievement is the first of its kind anywhere in the world Researchers at a US lab have passed a crucial milestone on the way to their ultimate goal of achieving self-sustaining nuclear fusion. Harnessing fusion - the process that powers the Sun - could provide an unlimited and cheap source of energy. But to be viable, fusion power plants would have to produce more energy than they consume, wh

Corals are likely to suffer as a result of the changes to our oceans The health of the world’s oceans is deteriorating even faster than had previously been thought, a report says. A review from the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO), warns that the oceans are facing multiple threats. They are being heated by climate change, turned slowly less alkaline by absorbing CO2, and su

Scientists say they have made a significant leap towards creating a vaccine that would protect against every form of flu. The influenza virus is a constantly shifting target so seasonal flu vaccines rapidly become useless and new ones are needed each year. A team at Imperial College London say they have made a "blueprint" for a universal flu vaccine. Their discovery is published in the journal Nat

Properties across Hong Kong were raided, along with businesses in Macau and Guangdong Police in Hong Kong have arrested more than 1,800 people in a crackdown on the organised crime gangs known as triads. They raided about 2,500 properties - including discos, massage parlours and nightclubs - in a month-long operation covering Macau and parts of mainland China, as well as Hong Kong. Drugs, pornogra

Syrian state TV broadcast footage of what it claims are chemical agents, allegedly discovered in rebel-held areas, as Naomi Grimley reports It said many were treated with atropine, a drug administered to those with "neurotoxic symptoms". "MSF can neither scientifically confirm the cause of these symptoms nor establish who is responsible for the attack," said MSF Director of Operations Bart Janssen

Disturbances, such as wildfires, contribute to the reduction of carbon sequestration in Europe's forests European forests are showing signs of reaching a saturation point as carbon sinks, a study has suggested. Since 2005, the amount of atmospheric CO2 absorbed by the continent's trees has been slowing, researchers reported. Writing in Nature Climate Change, they said this was a result of a declin

Barack Obama interrupted his holiday to make a statement on Egypt On the streets of Cairo it's not just a fledgling democracy that lies in ruin. US policy too is in tatters - in the eyes of many - or at least America's reputation and credibility. Since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in 2011, the US has struggled to strike a balance between support for the tenuous progress towards democracy and protec

Researchers have to drill through thousands of metres of ice to reach the surface of Lake Vostok There could be some complex animals living in Lake Vostok, which lies close to 4km below Antarctica's ice sheet. The possibility is raised by scientists who have sifted genetic material in ice drilled from close to Vostok's surface. They found signatures for organisms such as bacteria that are often as

General Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi makes the televised announcement Egypt's army has removed President Mohammed Morsi from power, suspended the constitution and pledged new elections following mass protests. The army chief announced the move in a TV address. The head of the constitutional court is expected to be sworn in as interim leader on Thursday. Mr Morsi's supporters denounced the move as a milita

Hassan Rouhani: "The nuclear issue and the sanctions will also be resolved" Reformist-backed candidate Hassan Rouhani has won Iran's presidential poll outright, avoiding the need for a run-off vote. There was a high turnout among the 50 million Iranians eligible to vote for a successor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. His eight years in power have been characterised by economic turmoil and Western sanction

Thousands of people were evacuated from Magdeburg, Germany Some 23,000 people were forced to leave their homes in the east German city of Magdeburg after a dam burst on the flood-swollen River Elbe. Although water levels in Magdeburg were reported to be receding on Monday, the city and areas of the country further north remain on high alert. In Hungary, 1,200 people had to leave their homes but fl

The BBC's Kurt Barling: ''The police cannot rule out that this was a racist attack'' An Islamic centre in north London has been destroyed by a fire in an apparent hate crime attack. The Met Police said the fire, which happened at the Al-Rahma Islamic Centre in Muswell Hill in the early hours, is being treated as suspicious. A spokesman said the letters EDL (English Defence League) were sprayed on

Shale oil production adds economic value, but critics say the costs to the environment are also large A steeper-than-expected rise in US shale oil reserves is about to change the global balance of power between new and existing producers, a report says. Over the next five years, the US will account for a third of new oil supplies, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), external. The U

Mycorrhizae are mutualistic - they both need and are needed by the plants whose roots they inhabit Plants can communicate the onset of an attack from aphids by making use of an underground network of fungi, researchers have found. Instances of plant communication through the air have been documented, in which chemicals emitted by a damaged plant can be picked up by a neighbour. But below ground, m