Equatorial Guinea: Controversial UNESCO science prize finally awarded

The UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences, controversially endowed by Equatorial Guinea, was finally awarded in Paris 17 July, after years of wrangling and postponements. The three prize winners - from Egypt, Mexico and South Africa - each received US$100,000 from Equatorial Guinea's vice president, Ignacio Milam Tang, amid speculation about whether the country's dictatorial president, and the prize's original funder, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, would attend in person (he did not).