As with any other month in any year, October 2013 has its top world stories. It is autumn in the northern hemisphere and for Europe, this means storms. For the USA it means tornado season and for some places you will start to see the first snows of the season. From the world of medical science, freak weather, found children and big movements in the world of politics, October 2013 saw its fair share of important news stories. Here is a small selection.

1. The Fight Against Alzheimer’s

The biggest news story of the month came in the research against the neurodegenerative diseases. It was discovered that a certain chemical could protect brain cells against death and that might eventually lead to treatment for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and a variety of other illnesses. The tests were conducted on mice which were infected with Prions disease ‘ most died within twelve weeks but those who were given the compound had no sign of dying brain tissue. It is said that a cure for any of these diseases in humans is still a long way off.

2. There’s a Storm Coming

The UK braced itself for the worst storms since the same month in 1987. Experts predicted wind speeds approaching 100mph, flooding and trees collapsing. In anticipation, major bridges were closed and train and ferry services were cancelled. People were warned not to go out unless they had to. Thankfully, they turned out to be not as bad as expected but sadly four people died in the worst storms since 1987 (when wind speeds were recorded at 115mph). There was a lot of damage but not as much as predicted.

3. Bush Fires

The worst bush fires ever recorded in Australia came to a head in October as a state of emergency was declared in the province of New South Wales. Hundreds of homes across tens of thousands of hectares were destroyed and a number of people were killed as emergency services sought to limit the damage of the fire. It also re-opened the climate change debate in the country ‘ something that successive Australian governments had been accused of ignoring. The fires arrived early and have been the worst since 2009.

4. Child Returned

For just a few weeks, the world’s news was focused on the unusual tale of a child found in a travelling camp in Greece. It was clear that those claiming to be her parents were not actually her biological parents and a worldwide manhunt was launched. The parents were eventually discovered in Bulgaria. The Greek Roma claimed that they had given their child to the camp because the actual parents couldn’t afford to keep her. The story gave new hope to parents of missing Madeleine McCann.

5. Kenyan Rape

Rape and how alleged cases are dealt with is a political hot potato all over the world. It is said that convictions are rare yet when they are, more often than not the punishment does not fit the crime. This was certainly the case in Kenya in October 2013. A group of men convicted of the crime against a 16 year old girl (and afterwards dumped her in a pit, causing damage to her spine) were sentenced to lawn cutting. Outraged protests and a worldwide petition followed in the wake of the sentence.

6. DC Comics to Move

The giants of the comic world had their national head offices in New York since their foundation. In October, they announced that over the following two years they would move all the way across the country to Los Angeles ‘ so ending a 70 year relationship with the metropolis. All 100 staff still based in New York will be offered relocation packages to move to Burbank, California. The New York offices were famously where Superman, Batman and The Green Lantern were created during the golden age of the comic.

7. Suicide Bomber Kills Self ‘ Injures None

The first suicide bomber in Tunisia was reported in October ‘ with zero casualties and zero fatalities. It was reported that the man walked off of a beach at a popular resort, stood in front of a hotel and promptly detonated. A suspected accomplice was arrested soon after. It was believed that the man was going into the hotel when the bomb went off. The Tunisian government, though itself Islamist, has recently taken a hard-line against extremist groups and it is believed that Al Qaeda is attempting to gain influence inside the country.

8. Gas Grilling

After public outcry following year on year astronomical price rises, the big six gas suppliers in the UK were called before a Commons Select Committee to justify yet another 10% price rise to their customers. MPs accused the companies of failures of transparency, of unfair trading and profiteering from a vital utility. The most common phrase heard was ‘people will soon have to make the choice between heating and eating’. Amid accusations that wholesale prices were dropping, MPs demanded justification and a clear understanding of how they calculate their pricing structures.

9. NSA Caught Red Handed

The biggest news story of the month centred on the US secret service the NSA (National Security Agency) and its culture of spying on practically everyone all of the time, including the world leaders of key allies of the USA. Amid cries of anger from Canadian, British, Australian and other governments ‘ Angela Merkel of Germany in particular, President Obama claimed not to know about the depth and breadth of the actions of the agency; he insisted that once he found out (sometime during the summer of 2013) he called an immediate halt.

10. Australia’s Lost World

Despite having covered most of the globe, we are still discovering new species every day and in October 2013, three such new species were discovered in the Cape Melville rainforest of New South Wales, Australia. One such species is a Gecko that is camouflaged to look like a life, another is a golden skink and the third is a frog that inhabits the rocky areas of the valleys within the forest. Three new vertebrate species in one small area was an impressive find.

Conclusion

This is obviously not an exhaustive list of top news stories but it represents some of the most compelling tales from politics, business, science and human interest stories. As with anything, a lot of these stories were not completed in that month but October began the process of some interesting events.