Washington — President Trump announced Friday that conservative commentator Katie Zacharia will become the next White House press secretary, describing her as a supporter with an “unblemished record.”
A California native, Zacharia briefly served as a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security earlier this year. She now works as a senior communications adviser for Truth Social, Trump’s social media platform. Trump also said she had assisted him during his presidential campaign.
“She has an unblemished record of support, and has been a loyal and brilliant supporter, right from the beginning,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “She is, likewise, a devoted fan and member of MAGA! I am confident that Katie will deliver strong results for our Country as the next White House Press Secretary, as she has the respect of, and will work fantastically with, the Media, the American People, and my Administration.”
Trump wished Zacharia success in the role. The New York Times first reported that she had been offered the position.
The White House press secretary position has been vacant since Karoline Leavitt departed in late August. The James S. Brady Press Briefing Room has not hosted a press briefing since Sept. 3, when Vice President JD Vance spoke with reporters and answered questions.
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Zacharia lives in California and earned both her undergraduate and law degrees from Pepperdine University in Malibu, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Earlier this year, Zacharia detailed her experience wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat to a local gym in an opinion article for the New York Post. She wrote that the gym’s owner eventually asked her to stop wearing it.
“I responded that I would never take my Trump hat off to appease the left,” she wrote. “This is raw, unfiltered intolerance. Freedom of speech doesn’t evaporate at the gym door.”
“The First Amendment has no ‘discomfort’ clause,” she added. However, the First Amendment protects people from government censorship of speech, rather than restrictions imposed by private businesses.
Putin Gives Trump Midterm Boost as Russia Agrees to Supply Diesel
Donald Trump said today that Vladimir Putin had agreed to send hundreds of thousands of tons of diesel to the United States, a move he suggested could help lower pump prices before Americans vote in November.
“I have just concluded a highly successful discussion with President Vladimir Putin, of Russia,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, saying Moscow would “immediately supply over 300,000 tons of diesel fuel to the American and global marketplace.”
Trump said a further 500,000 tons would be released in November, followed by 1 million tons “immediately thereafter.”
He added that Russia could provide another 3 million tons “within a short period of time,” depending on the condition of its diesel refineries, which have been heavily damaged by Ukrainian drone strikes.
At the same time, the Treasury Department said it would relax sanctions on Russia through April 7 to help enable the diesel shipments. The United States and other countries have imposed extensive sanctions since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the arrangement as a “gift to Putin.” Kyiv was taken by surprise by the announcement, an official told Axios.
“Gifts to Putin will not bring peace or any benefit to the civilized world. Russia will ‘repay’” the diesel with “further terror and treachery,” Zelensky said. “Allowing Russia to sell petroleum products is an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged.”
The initial 300,000 tons equates to approximately 2.2 million barrels—less than two hours of global diesel consumption, based on calculations using International Energy Agency figures.
Donald Trump greets Putin on the tarmac after they arrived at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15
The 500,000 tons scheduled for November would amount to roughly 125,000 barrels a day, or about one-eighth of the approximately 1 million barrels of diesel Russia exported daily before Ukraine’s campaign against its refineries.
Trump said the agreement, combined with America’s “total control of the Strait of Hormuz,” would drive diesel prices lower worldwide.
US diesel prices have climbed to record levels amid the overlapping wars in Iran and Ukraine. AAA puts the average price at $6.28 a gallon, more than $2.60 above the $3.68 average recorded a year earlier.
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Diesel futures in the United States dropped about 4.5 percent to $4.66 a gallon on Friday. Brent crude, the global benchmark, was trading near $104 a barrel, down approximately 0.3 percent.
Diesel fuels the trucks and trains that transport goods across the country, as well as much of America’s farm equipment, making higher prices a concern for households.
The cost of living has emerged as a dominant concern for voters ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. In a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in late August, 47 percent of registered voters identified it as the single most important factor in their vote.
The reported agreement with Putin followed claims that Trump had urged Zelensky to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries, arguing that the strikes were contributing to higher diesel prices.
During a September 20 call, Trump repeatedly pressed Zelensky about the attacks and mentioned diesel several times, a source told Axios.
Rescuers work at the site of an apartment building damaged during a Russian air strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on Friday
A plume of smoke rises during a reported airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition on the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital Sanaa, on Friday
The call took place on the same day Ukraine launched its largest drone assault on Moscow since the war began. The city’s mayor said 450 drones had been shot down and that the capital’s main oil refinery was struck.
Ukraine has become increasingly adept at hitting the parts of refineries that take longest to fix, such as the units that turn heavy oil into diesel and jet fuel, which rely on equipment Russia cannot easily replace, analysts say.
Global oil prices were already pushed back above $100 a barrel last month after Iranian-backed militias in Iraq were blamed for a drone attack that shut Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline.
Tehran’s Houthi proxies in Yemen have also seized an island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the mouth of the Red Sea, a vital route after Hormuz was disrupted.
Trump has blamed the diesel spike on Ukraine, rather than his own war with Iran, telling reporters at his golf resort in Ireland on September 13: ‘This isn’t done by the Middle East, this is done by what’s happening with Russia and Ukraine.’
Tsunami Threat Issued After Massive 7.7 Earthquake Hits Panama
A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Panama, prompting an urgent tsunami threat alert.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center warned that dangerous waves could affect coastal areas across nine countries: Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico.
Residents in vulnerable coastal communities were told to remain vigilant and follow guidance issued by national and local authorities.
‘A tsunami is a series of waves. The time between wave crests can vary from five minutes to an hour,’ the National Weather Service (NWS) Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu said in its alert.
‘The hazard may persist for many hours or longer after the initial wave.’
The US Geological Survey (USGS) first measured the earthquake at magnitude 8.0 before revising the estimate down to 7.7.
The quake struck southwest of Pitaloza Arriba, a small village of just over 100 people. Tremors were also felt in Panama City and in the capital of neighboring Costa Rica.
Video from the San Miguelito Metro station in Panama City, roughly 134 miles from the epicenter, showed people rushing to evacuate after the ground began shaking.
A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Panama, prompting an urgent tsunami threat alert
People rushed out of buildings in Panama City after feeling the earthquake
Workers and visitors fled the Santo Tomas Hospital maternity ward in Panama City
Shaken residents gathered in Panama’s streets as they waited for updates on the earthquake’s impact.
Rosendo Domínguez, 60, who is from Herrera province, where the earthquake struck, told The Associated Press: ‘We felt it very strongly. It knocked things over in the kitchen, but we’re okay, though we’re very scared.’
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Workers and visitors at the Santo Tomas Hospital maternity ward in Panama City also evacuated the building.
The evacuation sent even week-old babies outside as residents awaited information about possible damage.
Panama’s Civil Protection agency said it was assessing reports of possible damage in areas close to the earthquake’s epicenter.
The Panama Canal Authority said the country’s vital waterway continued to operate normally.
More than 45 minutes later, a magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck Bajo Corral, about 28 miles east of Pitaloza Arriba.
The USGS later recorded a third earthquake, this one measuring magnitude 5.8, near El Cacao.
The village is located approximately 18 miles southwest of the first earthquake’s epicenter.
A maternity ward in Panama City was forced to evacaute, forcing week-old babies outside
Hospital personnel at the children’s hospital were seen standing outside moments after the earthquake hit
Above is an aerial view of people leaving the hostpital after the earthquake hit
Several other 5.5-magnitude earthquakes hit off the coast of Panama more than one hour after the first struck.
A USGS map shows the strongest shaking from the 7.7-magnitude earthquake was reported near the epicenter on the Azuero Peninsula, with powerful tremors around Ocú and Las Tablas.
Shaking was also reported in Santiago and farther west in David, Boquete and Changuinola. Lighter tremors reached Panama City.
US Sued Over Plan to Blast Utah Canyon Bearing Historic Inscriptions
Conservation organizations have filed a lawsuit against the US government over a proposed Utah road project that would blast through canyon cliffs marked with historic inscriptions and run an oil-truck route near globally significant Native American rock art.
Under the plan, a narrow, winding dirt track in Gate Canyon would be replaced with a paved road. The construction would cut into cliffs rising about 100 feet (30 meters) and threaten at least 47 historic sites, including 19th-century carvings left by Black “Buffalo Soldiers” serving in the US Army, as well as European settlers and pioneers, according to the lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management.
The legal complaint also says the canyon walls provide habitat for threatened wildlife, including the Mexican spotted owl.
The US Department of the Interior, which oversees the Bureau of Land Management, declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.
Gate Canyon branches north from Nine Mile Canyon, a Utah landscape the Bureau of Land Management has dubbed the world’s longest art gallery.
Stretching roughly 46 miles (74 kilometers), Nine Mile Canyon contains the largest concentration of Native American rock art in the United States. More than 1,000 sites feature over 10,000 images, including artwork believed to date back to prehistoric periods.
The proposed paving project is intended to create an alternate trucking corridor to the Uinta Basin oil fields. Conservationists warn that increased traffic could effectively turn Nine Mile Canyon into an oil-hauling highway, putting one of Utah’s most important cultural and scenic landscapes at risk.
The 50-page complaint, filed in the US District Court for Utah’s Central Division, accuses the BLM of moving quickly to approve the blasting and paving in April 2026 while keeping the decision-making process out of public view.
The plaintiffs, including the Center for Biological Diversity, argue that approval of the road proposed by Duchesne County violated several federal protections, among them the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act and the Endangered Species Act.
Gate Canyon lies about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of Salt Lake City. Black soldiers in the US Army carved their names into its sandstone walls while helping build the existing road.
According to the conservation groups, freighters and other pioneers also left behind signatures, using axle grease to mark the canyon’s walls.
The Utah case was filed only weeks after a federal judge halted the Trump administration’s plans for a border barrier through Big Bend National Park in Texas. That ruling came as courts consider an environmental lawsuit challenging the construction.
President Donald Trump has promoted a “Drill, baby, drill” agenda aimed at increasing US oil and gas production. His administration has sought to accelerate energy permits and reduce environmental restrictions as part of a broader push for American energy dominance.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard Allegedly Drove Knife Into Ken Urker’s Headboard in Jealousy-Fueled Incident
Gypsy Rose Blanchard allegedly stabbed the headboard of the bed she shared with boyfriend Ken Urker during a jealous outburst.
New information about the couple’s turbulent relationship—and the fear Urker reportedly experienced amid online criticism—has surfaced more than a week after he was found dead at his home in Raceland, La., on Oct. 1. The cause of death has not been disclosed. However, the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office said there were no immediate indications of foul play.
An incident report obtained by Oxygen said Urker’s body was found near drug paraphernalia, a “brown powdery substance” and a handgun.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard Allegedly Admitted to Stabbing Knife Into Headboard in Prison Call
More than a year before Urker’s death, Blanchard reportedly spoke about tensions in their relationship during a phone call with her friend Amelia Bird, who remains incarcerated.
In an audio recording obtained by The Daily Mail, Blanchard said she had lost her temper after finding a card Urker allegedly wrote to a former girlfriend.
During the September 2025 call, Blanchard told Bird that she drank “vodka, tequila, rum and whiskey” after discovering the note. She said she later returned to find the house empty.
“I go grab a knife in the kitchen, and I go to that headboard, and I stab the motherf—king headboard and I carve ‘wh—e’ in the headboard,” she said, according to the recording.
Blanchard allegedly left Urker a message reading, “sleep with your ‘one and only,’” before breaking a framed photograph of the pair. She also said she scattered the letters they had exchanged while she was in prison, throwing them “in the air like money,” according to the call.
She then cut up a blanket—an episode she filmed for social media—and went to her parents’ home.
Blanchard told Bird that Urker responded by texting, “I took pictures of you stabbing the headboard, and the broken glass.” She said he also threatened to seek sole custody of their daughter, Aurora, who was born in December 2024.
She acknowledged that her criminal history may have made the confrontation more frightening for Urker. Blanchard served prison time after recruiting former boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn to kill her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, in 2015.
“There are people close to me that are, like, ‘You scared the f—k out of him. You know what you were in prison for,’” she told Bird, according to The Daily Mail. “But because of my history, it freaks people out. Let’s just be real. It freaks people out.”
Oxygen contacted representatives for Blanchard for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Captain Brennan Matherne, the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office public information officer, told Oxygen that authorities had not received a report about the alleged incident. He said deputies had not responded to any other calls at Urker’s home besides the October 1, 2026 incident.
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Urker’s sister, Autumn, told The Daily Mail that the couple ultimately chose to reconcile. She said she raised concerns about the relationship with her brother before his death, but he dismissed them.
“I just fell on deaf ears,” she said. “I was the problem.”
Ken Urker’s Sister Says He Slept With Gun Before His Death
Autumn said Urker had faced mounting stress in recent months after leaked prison phone calls fueled conflict between him and Blanchard.
She also said online trolls attacked the relationship, leaving Urker under pressure. According to Autumn, he began sleeping with a gun after receiving “death threats” and being “doxxed.”
“He had to sleep with a gun every night,” she alleged.
Autumn emphasized that, in her view, Urker kept the weapon nearby because of online harassment and threats—not because he feared Blanchard.
In the wake of his death, Blanchard has also pointed to social media, saying Urker faced constant criticism from those online who mocked him for everything from his appearance to the relationship, according to Page Six.
Blanchard—who called Urker her “greatest love story” in a tribute—has launched an online petition calling for social media platforms to be held accountable for how they handle online harassment reports.
“Ken’s passing has made me determined to turn pain into purpose,” she wrote on Instagram. “I cannot change what happened, but I can advocate for a better system for the next person who feels like no one is listening.”
She told People she believed Urker died of a drug overdose.
“I don’t know if it was intentional or not,” she said. “He was not in a good state of mind lately.”
Though an autopsy was completed the morning of Oct. 2, the corner said in a statement to Oxygen that “no definitive cause of death” was determined.
“The case remains pending completion of toxicology testing,” the statement continued, “and no further information regarding the cause of death will be available until those results are received and the investigation is complete.”
Fugitive Ryan Hanafin Waives Extradition After Mother Found Dead in Kitchen
BARRE, Vt. — A 22-year-old Massachusetts man arrested in Vermont Thursday, hours after his mother was found shot to death in her kitchen, has waived extradition and agreed to return to Massachusetts.
Ryan Hanafin became the focus of an interstate manhunt Thursday after his 48-year-old father, Matthew Hanafin, arrived home at about 12:38 a.m. and discovered his wife, 49-year-old Andria Hanafin, dead from gunshot wounds in the Reading, Massachusetts, home, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said.
The prosecutor told the court Friday that she had spoken with Massachusetts State Police and expected authorities to retrieve Ryan Hanafin “pretty quickly” following the brief hearing.
Ryan Hanafin, 22, of Reading, Massachusetts, was arrested in Vermont more than 12 hours after his father found his mother dead in their kitchen. Vermont State Police released this mugshot. (Vermont State Police)
The judge and Hanafin appeared remotely during the hearing, while only attorneys and members of the media were in the courtroom. When asked whether he could hear the judge, Hanafin replied, “Yes sir.”
During the virtual appearance, Hanafin wore a blue protective covering over his chest and shoulders.
A selfie shows Andria Hanafin, 49, of Massachusetts. Her husband, Matthew, found her dead early Thursday, and their oldest son, Ryan, was arrested in Vermont hours later. (Andria Hanafin/Facebook)
“You are charged with crimes, felony crimes, in the state of Massachusetts, and they would like to have you returned,” the judge told him. He explained that Hanafin could either waive extradition or wait for the formal governor’s warrant process, in which the Massachusetts governor would request his surrender from Vermont. That process could take time while officials reviewed the paperwork.
The judge also explained that Hanafin could file a habeas petition to challenge the state’s authority to hold him while awaiting extradition.
Ryan Hanafin appears virtually during an extradition hearing in Vermont on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. He waived extradition and is expected to return to Massachusetts to face unspecified felony charges. His mother was found shot to death in her kitchen early Thursday, Oct. 8, prompting an interstate manhunt that identified him as a “person of interest.” (Rashid Umar Abbasi for News Media)
“The most common basis for that might be that you were the wrong Ryan Hanafin,” the judge said. He then asked whether Hanafin understood that waiving extradition meant giving up the governor’s warrant process and the ability to file a habeas petition.
“Yes sir,” Hanafin answered.
The judge also asked whether Hanafin had taken drugs or had any mental health conditions that could affect his judgment or prevent him from understanding the proceedings.
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Police in Reading, Massachusetts, provided this image of Ryan Hanafin, 22. He is a person of interest in the death of his mother, who was found in her kitchen at about 12:38 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. Police urged anyone who sees him to call 911 and not approach him, warning that he could be armed and dangerous. (Reading Police Department)
“No sir,” Hanafin replied to both questions.
He also told the judge that he had spoken with his attorney and understood the attorney’s advice.
“All right,” the judge said. “Is it your voluntary choice to waive extradition and return to Massachusetts?”
“Yes, that’s what I’d like to do,” Hanafin replied.
The Hanafin home in Reading, Massachusetts. Police arrested 22-year-old Ryan Hanafin in Vermont after his father returned home and found his mother dead in the kitchen. (Google Maps)
It was not immediately clear when Hanafin would be returned to Massachusetts to face charges in Reading, where his mother was shot to death.
The judge set a status conference for next Thursday to make sure Hanafin’s transfer had been completed.
“We’ll set it for status next Thursday just to make sure Massachusetts has retrieved him, and if they haven’t yet, we’ll ask for some status report on that,” he said.
The entire hearing lasted roughly four minutes.
Reading police have so far called him a person of interest and not a suspect, and authorities have not publicly identified the Massachusetts felony charges referenced during Friday’s extradition hearing.
Vermont state troopers were on the lookout for his black Dodge Charge in Warren, Vermont, where he had known ties. About two hours into their search, they found him, and he was arrested without incident, authorities said.
UN Rights Veteran Navi Pillay Delivers Pointed Rebuke to Trump
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Navi Pillay took a playful swipe at Donald Trump on Friday after being recognised for her work advancing peace and international law.
The South African jurist and former UN high commissioner for human rights joked that she could share the honour with the US president if the applause continued.
‘If you clap a little bit more I may share this prize with Trump,’ Ms Pillay said in a video posted on X by Amnesty International’s secretary general. The footage showed her receiving applause after the Nobel announcement.
The decision is likely to disappoint Mr Trump, who placed extraordinary pressure on the Norwegian Nobel Committee last year in an effort to secure the award.
Ms Pillay’s Nobel Peace Prize win is expected to be viewed as a high-profile rebuke to Mr Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Both men have rejected the findings of a UN commission she chaired, which concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. They have also repeatedly criticised the institutions where Ms Pillay has held senior positions.
Israel condemned the decision to honour the jurist, arguing that it gave legitimacy to what it called ‘anti-Israel hatred’. It also invoked Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, saying he must be ‘applauding from hell’.
‘Now that the Nobel commission has rewarded the biggest lie of the 21st century, Joseph Goebbels is certainly applauding from hell,’ Israel’s foreign ministry said in a post on X.
Ms Pillay chaired the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, established by the UN-backed Human Rights Council.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Navi Pillay taunted Donald Trump after receiving the award on Friday
South African jurist and former UN high commissioner for human rights Navi Pillay was honoured for her efforts to promote peace and international law
Winning the Nobel Peace Prize has long been an unfulfilled ambition for Donald Trump
A year ago, the commission concluded that Israel was responsible for genocide in Gaza and had acted with the specific intent of destroying Palestinians there.
It also said that Israel’s president, prime minister and former defence minister had ‘incited the commission of genocide’.
Israel, which has declined to cooperate with the commission since its creation in 2021, has strongly rejected the allegations.
‘The Nobel Prize committee has lost its moral compass,’ Israel’s prime minister’s office said on X. ‘It has awarded its highest honour to a bigot who built her career around inventing and propagating blood libels against the one and only Jewish state.
‘Navi Pillay’s proudest achievement was to legitimise a corrupt prosecutor who turned to her fabrications against Israel hoping that by joining her bigoted lynch mob, he would beat a rape charge. Karim Khan, who was accused by his own ICC employees of raping and sexually molesting them, used Pillay’s lies to build a fake case against Israel.
‘Pillay supplied the lies. Khan weaponised them. And now the misguided members of the Nobel Committee are honouring the woman who propagated this demonisation of the Jews and this travesty of justice.’
Members of the International Criminal Court voted in July to remove Khan as chief prosecutor over alleged sexual misconduct.
He has repeatedly denied every allegation, while his lawyer said he would challenge ‘the lawfulness and fairness of the decision through all available legal mechanisms’.
Announcing Ms Pillay’s award in Oslo, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said her work ‘is a source of hope and inspiration to all those who seek to bring about a more peaceful world’.
While her work has been global in scope, criticism often has been fiercely local, notably in places like Israel and in apartheid-era South Africa as she and peers took on some of the world’s most painful and sensitive legal issues and most vulnerable populations.
Ms Pillay, 85, received the news while attending the Nuremberg Forum, a gathering to discuss international law in Nuremberg, Germany, the location of the trials of Nazi war criminals that helped lay the foundations of international law.
‘Firstly, at this venue, your applause means a great deal to me,’ she said to a standing ovation. ‘You know, you don’t want to receive an award, prize or anything unless the public agrees that you deserve this.’
And joking, she added: ‘But being a lawyer and a judge, I still want to verify this information.’
Winning a Nobel Peace Prize has long been something of an unfulfilled dream for Mr Trump.
Pakistan announced it had nominated him for the prize once again this year for playing a ‘historic role in advancing peace in South Asia’.
Ms Pillay has repeatedly rejected accusations from critics who accused her of anti-Semitism or allegedly turning a blind eye to the Hamas attacks in Israel.
In an interview with the AP last year, she recalled how she worked closely with some Jewish lawyers in the fight against apartheid in her native South Africa and was invited to Israel as the UN rights chief from 2008 to 2014.
Ms Pillay’s win brings renewed attention to Mr Trump’s ongoing feud with the ICC.
The Trump administration already has sanctioned 13 of the ICC’s staff members, among them key prosecutors and nine judges including the court’s Japanese President Tomoko Akane.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has launched what he called a ‘sweeping campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the International Criminal Court’.
In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly last month, Mr Trump called the court an ‘out of control institution’ and an ‘anti-American tribunal with no jurisdiction’ over the US as he urged member states to quit the ‘rogue institution immediately’.
There are fears the court as a whole could be sanctioned, a move that could seriously hamper its ability to mete out justice.
The Norwegian committee said it sought to strengthen international law at a time of conflict.
‘At a time when the number of wars and conflicts is rising, and when judges and institutions of international law are under political attack, the Nobel Committee wishes to issue a reminder that the ability to resolve conflicts without force or violence is dependent on the international rule of law,’ the committee wrote in a news release.
Ms Pillay is currently serving as an ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice, the highest court of the UN, in the ongoing genocide case against Myanmar.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo received nominations for 287 candidates for this year’s prize, with just over a quarter of them organisations.
Experts say the committee typically focuses on the durability of peace, the promotion of international fraternity and the quiet work of institutions that strengthen those goals.
Nominations can be made by a select group of people and organisations, including heads of state or politicians serving at a national level, university professors, directors of foreign policy institutes, past Nobel Prize recipients and members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee itself.
Four of this year’s Nobel prizes were announced this week.
The Nobel for medicine went to three scientists whose work led to a tool that uses light to help unravel how the brain works.
The physics award recognised a scientist’s efforts to demystify a rare group of neutrinos.
The chemistry prize recognised two scientists for untangling mysterious mirror images in molecules, a discovery that has been used to develop countless drugs.
Canadian poet, essayist and translator Anne Carson won the literature prize Thursday for ‘bold and inventive’ works that fuse the classical and the modern and blur the boundaries of poetry and prose.
The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences will be announced Monday.
The prize money this year is 12 million Swedish kronor (about £910,000), whether for an individual, small group of laureates or organisation.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won the prize in 2025 for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in the South American nation, winning recognition as a woman ‘who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness’.
She had not been seen in public since January of that year, when she led demonstrations against then-president Nicolas Maduro, who had been re-elected, despite widely being considered a dictator.
Machado dedicated the prize to the US president for ‘his decisive support of our cause’ and gave him her Nobel medal shortly after Maduro was ousted in January of this year.
The gesture was largely symbolic, however, as the Nobel Committee has stated the honour itself cannot be transferred.