---
title: "U.N. confirms chemical arms were used repeatedly in Syria, and other stories – our morning round-up"
date: "2013-12-13T08:41:24+00:00"
modified: "2013-12-13T08:41:24+00:00"
url: "https://newhumanist.org.uk/2013/12/13/u-n-confirms-chemical-arms-were-used-repeatedly-in-syria-and-other-stories-our-morning-round-up/"
post_id: 6061
categories: ["Uncategorised"]
---

# U.N. confirms chemical arms were used repeatedly in Syria, and other stories – our morning round-up

[U.N. confirms chemical arms were used repeatedly in Syria](http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/12/13/uk-syria-crisis-chemical-un-idUKBRE9BB1BT20131213)

Chemical weapons were likely used in five out of seven attacks investigated by U.N. experts in Syria, where a 2 1/2-year civil war has killed more than 100,000 people, according to the final report of a U.N. inquiry published on Thursday. (Reuters)

[North Korean leader’s uncle executed for ‘treachery’](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25359939)

The once-powerful uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been executed after being purged for “acts of treachery”, state media say. (BBC)

[Australia backtracks on gay marriage law](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/10513745/Australia-backtracks-on-gay-marriage-law.html)

Australia’s top court struck down gay marriage in the nation’s capital on Thursday, ruling that parliament must decide on same-sex unions – to the anguish of dozens who have wed under a landmark law. (Telegraph)

[Supreme Court judges allow Scientology wedding](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25331754)

A woman who wants to marry in a Church of Scientology chapel has won her Supreme Court challenge. Five Supreme Court judges ruled the church was a “place of meeting for religious worship”. (BBC)

[Universe really is a hologram according to new simulations](http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=universe-really-is-a-holo&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciam%2Fspace+%28Topic%3A+Space%29)

A 10-dimensional theory of gravity makes the same predictions as standard quantum physics in fewer dimensions. (Scientific American)