Politics
Venezuela’s Machado ‘will not receive Nobel Peace Prize in person’
- Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado named winner in October.
- Machado dedicated honour in part to US President Donald Trump.
- Maduro says Trump aims to oust him to seize Venezuela’s oil.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado will not receive the Nobel Peace Prize in person at Wednesday’s award ceremony in Oslo, the director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute said on Wednesday, with her current whereabouts unknown.
Machado, 58, was due to receive the award at a ceremony at Oslo City Hall in the presence of King Harald, Queen Sonja and Latin American leaders, including Argentine President Javier Milei and Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa.
The ceremony starts at 1 pm (1200 GMT).
Machado was due to receive the award in defiance of a decade-long travel ban imposed by authorities in her home country and after spending more than a year in hiding.
“She is unfortunately not in Norway and will not stand on stage at Oslo City Hall at 1 pm when the ceremony starts,” Kristian Berg Harpviken, the director of the institute and the permanent secretary of the award body, told broadcaster NRK.
Asked where she was, Harpviken said: “I don’t know.”
Dedicated to Trump
The ceremony will still go ahead. When a laureate is unable to attend, a close family member usually steps in to receive the prize and deliver the Nobel lecture in place of the laureate.
In this case, it will be Machado’s daughter, Ana Corina Sosa Machado, Harpviken said.
When she won the prize in October, Machado dedicated it in part to US President Donald Trump, who has said he himself deserved the honour.
President Nicolas Maduro, in power since 2013, says Trump is trying to overthrow him to gain access to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves and that Venezuelan citizens and armed forces will resist any such attempt.
The Nobel Institute did not immediately reply to a request for further comment.
US military strikes
Machado has aligned herself with hawks close to Trump who argue that Maduro has links to criminal gangs that pose a direct threat to US national security, despite doubts raised by the US intelligence community.
The Trump administration has ordered more than 20 military strikes in recent months against alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and off Latin America’s Pacific coast.
Human rights groups, some Democrats and several Latin American countries have condemned the attacks as unlawful extrajudicial killings of civilians.
Venezuela’s armed forces are planning to mount a guerrilla-style resistance or sow chaos in the event of a US air or ground attack, according to sources with knowledge of the efforts and planning documents seen by Reuters.
In 2024, Machado was barred from running in the presidential election despite having won the opposition’s primary by a landslide. She went into hiding in August 2024 after authorities expanded arrests of opposition figures following the disputed vote.
The electoral authority and top court declared Maduro the winner, but international observers and the opposition say their candidate handily won, and the opposition has published ballot box-level tallies as evidence of its victory.
Christopher Sabatini, a senior fellow for Latin America at Chatham House, said the Nobel prize had given “a strong signal of international validation … (of) the democratic results that had been forgotten”.
He told Reuters it had also elevated Machado to “a person that … the international community and the world can hang their hopes on,” he said.
“Oftentimes, democratic movements need a face. They need a story.”
- Contract supports APG-66 and APG-68 radar systems.
- Work to be completed by March 2036.
- Includes multiple allies under foreign military sales plan.
The United States Air Force has contracted Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. in a $488 million deal to provide engineering and technical support for F-16 radar systems under its Foreign Military Sales programme, with Pakistan among the beneficiary countries.
According to an official award notice issued by the US Department of War, the firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract covers support for F-16 System Programme Office Foreign Military Sales (FMS) as well as Air Force and Navy requirements.
The contract includes engineering and technical support for APG-66 and APG-68 radar systems. The work will be carried out at Linthicum Heights, Maryland, and is expected to be completed by March 31, 2036.
The contract involves foreign military sales to multiple countries, including Bahrain, Belgium, Chile, Denmark, Egypt, Greece, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Korea, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Thailand and Türkiye.
The US Air Force said the contract was awarded on a sole-source basis. Fiscal 2026 non-appropriated, Air Force and Navy funds amounting to $2,644,922 have been obligated at the time of the award.
The Air Force Lifecycle Management Centre at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting authority for the agreement, which was awarded on April 27, 2026.
The development comes months after the United States, in December 2025, approved the sale of advanced technology and support services worth $686 million for Pakistan’s F-16 fighter aircraft fleet.
According to a letter from the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) to Congress dated December 8, the package covers Link-16 data link systems, cryptographic gear, avionics upgrades, training, and wide-ranging logistical support.
The DSCA says the decision aligns with Washington’s broader strategic aims, stating the sale “will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by allowing Pakistan to retain interoperability with US and partner forces in ongoing counterterrorism efforts and in preparation for future contingency operations.”
The letter notes that the upgrades are intended to modernise Pakistan’s Block-52 and Mid-Life Upgrade F-16s and address operational safety requirements. According to the letter, the sale will “maintain Pakistan’s capability to meet current and future threats by updating and refurbishing its Block-52 and Mid Life Upgrade F-16 fleet.”
- US approves of sales to Qatar, UAE, Kuwait and Israel.
- US govt says emergency exists to waive congressional review.
- Washington faces scrutiny for military ties with Kuwait, UAE, Qatar.
US President Donald Trump’s administration has bypassed congressional review to approve military sales totaling over $8.6 billion to Middle Eastern allies Israel, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
The State Department announcements on Friday came as the US and Israel’s war against Iran marked nine weeks since its start and more than three weeks since a fragile ceasefire came into effect.
The State Department said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined that an emergency existed that required immediate sales to those countries and waived the congressional review requirements for the sales.
The announcements included approving military sales to Qatar of Patriot air and missile defence replenishment services costing $4.01 billion and of Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems (APKWS) costing $992.4 million.
The principal contractor in the APKWS sales to Qatar, Israel and the UAE was BAE Systems, the State Department said.
RTX and Lockheed Martin were the principal contractors in the integrated battle command system sale to Kuwait and in the Patriot air and missile defense replenishment sale to Qatar, the State Department added.
Northrop Grumman was also a principal contractor in the Kuwaiti sale.
Over the years, Washington has faced scrutiny for military ties with Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar over those countries’ human rights track records that rights advocates say involve restrictions on and reported abuses of minorities, journalists, voices of dissent, the LGBT community and labourers.
Those nations have denied supporting or engaging in domestic rights abuses.
US support for Israel has also come under scrutiny from rights experts, particularly over Israel’s assault on Gaza that has killed tens of thousands, caused a hunger crisis and led to assessments of genocide from scholars and a UN inquiry.
Israel calls its actions self-defence after Hamas-led fighters killed 1,200 people in an October 2023 attack.
Washington has maintained support for its allies.
- Pentagon announced withdrawal of 5,000 troops.
- Transatlantic tensions simmer over Iran, tariffs.
- Germany on right track with Bundeswehr expansion: minister.
BERLIN: A planned drawdown of US troops from Germany should spur Europeans to strengthen their own defences further, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Saturday, following the latest salvo from Washington against transatlantic ties.
The Pentagon announced on Friday that the United States would withdraw 5,000 soldiers from Germany, its largest European base, as a rift over the Iran war and tariff tensions place further strain on relations between the US and Europe.
Pistorius said the move was expected.
Trump had threatened a drawdown in forces earlier this week after sparring with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has questioned Washington’s strategy in the Middle East.
Germany boosting troops, military infrastructure
Pistorius said the partial withdrawal would affect a current US presence of almost 40,000 soldiers stationed in Germany. Other estimates put the active-duty troop presence at 35,000.
“We Europeans must take on more responsibility for our own security,” Pistorius said, adding, “Germany is on the right track” by expanding its armed forces, speeding up military procurement and building infrastructure.
Germany wants to boost the number of active-duty Bundeswehr soldiers from a current 185,000 to 260,000, though critics of the defence minister have called for more in response to a widely perceived growing threat from Russia.
Nato members have pledged to take on more responsibility for their own defence but with tight budgets and vast gaps in military capability it will take years for the region to meet its own security needs.
Long-range fire battalion cancelled
The US military presence in Germany, which began as an occupation force after World War Two, peaked during the 1960s when hundreds of thousands of American military personnel were stationed there to counter the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
The US presence includes the giant Ramstein airbase and Landstuhl hospital, both of which have been used by the US to support its war in Iran, as well as previous conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Pentagon decision means one full brigade will leave Germany and a long-range fires battalion that was due to be deployed later this year will be cancelled.
The loss of the long-range fires will be a particular blow to Berlin, as it had been due to form a significant extra element of deterrence against Russia while Europeans developed such long-range missiles themselves.
what happens to stranded passengers now?
US awards $488m F-16 radar support contract for Pakistan, other countries
US bypasses congressional review for military sales of $8.6bn to Middle East allies
-
Tech5 days agoA Brain Implant for Depression Is About to Be Tested in Humans
-
Tech1 week agoThey Wanted to Join Raya. They’ve Been on the Waiting List for Years
-
Tech5 days agoAlmost 90% of women leave tech industry within 10 years | Computer Weekly
-
Tech1 week agoWhy Do I Like Dyson’s PencilVac So Much?
-
Fashion1 week agoNorth India cotton yarn steady despite continued push by spinners
-
Entertainment1 week agoAnne Hathaway makes shocking confession about Taylor Swift’s music
-
Sports1 week agoUS says Iran can play in Fifa World Cup but IRGC-linked individuals won’t be allowed
-
Tech1 week agoUS Special Forces Soldier Arrested for Polymarket Bets on Maduro Raid