Briefly

SWEDEN

Three share Nobel Prize in physics

The Nobel Prize in physics was on Tuesday awarded to Alain Aspect of France, John Clauser of the United States and Austria's Anton Zeilinger for discoveries in the field of quantum mechanics. The trio was honored "for experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science", the jury said in a statement. Clauser, Aspect and Zeilinger have figured in Nobel speculation for more than a decade. In 2010 they won the Wolf Prize in Israel, seen as a possible precursor to the Nobel. The prizes carry a cash award of 10 million Swedish kronor (nearly $900,000) and will be handed out on Dec 10.

EUROPE

Trio links up to curb migrant flows

The leaders of Hungary, Austria and Serbia discussed opportunities for closer cooperation against illegal migration during a summit on Monday. In the first eight months of this year, 86,581 irregular entries were detected at the external borders of the European Union with the Western Balkans, border agency Frontex has said, a 190 percent increase from last year. The leaders agreed to organize a second meeting in Belgrade where they would work out the legal details of their cooperation, with a follow-up meeting scheduled in Vienna. Monday's meeting came after announcements by the Czech Republic and Austria last week that they would launch temporary border controls.

AUSTRALIA

Small wallaby added to species at-risk list

Australia listed a small wallaby and the gray snake among 15 new threatened species on Tuesday as it launched a zero-extinction plan for its unique wildlife. Many of Australia's species are clinging to existence, their habitats shrinking from human activity and extreme events such as the 2019-2020 Black Summer bush fires, wildlife groups say. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government announced a 10-year program to try to halt the slide into extinction of 110"priority species" and shield 20"priority places" from further degradation. It aims to prevent any new extinctions of plants and animals while conserving at least 30 percent of Australia's land mass.

Agencies - Xinhua