Latest News

Venezuelan Nobel winner emerges to collect prize in Oslo after months in hiding

Published

2 months ago

2025/12/11

Priyan

María Corina Machado greets crowds in Oslo [BBC]

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who has been in hiding for months, has told the BBC that she knows “exactly the risks” she’s taking by travelling to Norway to collect her Nobel Peace Prize.

Machado appeared in Oslo in the middle of the night, waving from the balcony of a hotel. It was the first time she has been seen in public since January.

The 58-year-old made the covert journey despite a travel ban and a threat from the Venezuelan government that she would be labelled as a fugitive.

In an emotional moment, Machado waved to cheering supporters who had gathered outside the Norwegian capital’s Grand Hotel, blowing them kisses and singing with them. To their delight, she then came outside and greeted them in person, climbing over the security barricades to get closer.

“Maria!” “Maria!” they shouted, holding their phones aloft to record the historic moment.

The Nobel Institute awarded Machado the prize this year for “her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy” in Venezuela. Earlier on Wednesday, her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her mother’s behalf.

Until Wednesday night, the mother of three had not seen her children in about two years, having sent them away from Venezuela for their own safety.

In an interview with the BBC’s Lucy Hockings after her balcony appearance, Machado said she had missed their graduations, and the weddings of her daughter and one of her sons.

“For over 16 months I haven’t been able to hug or touch anyone,” she said. “Suddenly in the matter of a few hours I’ve been able to see the people I love the most, and touch them and cry and pray together.”

During the BBC interview, Machado had many rosary beads hanging around her neck, which she said supporters had given to her outside the hotel.

There has been much speculation about whether she will be able to safely return to Venezuela.

“Of course I’m going back,” she told the BBC. “I know exactly the risks I’m taking.”

“I’m going to be in the place where I’m most useful for our cause,” she continued. “Until a short time ago, the place I thought I had to be was Venezuela, the place I believe I have to be today, on behalf of our cause, is Oslo.”

Considered one of the country’s most respected voices in Venezuela’s opposition, Machado has long denounced President Nicolás Maduro’s government as “criminal” and called on Venezuelans to unite to depose it.

She was barred from running in last year’s presidential elections, in which he won a third six-year term in office. The vote was widely dismissed on the international stage as neither free nor fair, and many nations view his rule as illegitimate.

The Maduro government has repeatedly threatened her with arrest, accusing her of calling for a foreign invasion and labelling her a terrorist for protesting against the election results.

Last month, Venezuela’s attorney general said Machado would be considered a fugitive if she traveled to Norway to collect her prize, saying she was accused of “acts of conspiracy, incitement of hatred, and terrorism”.

It made her journey to Norway difficult and risky.

The details of the trip were kept so tightly under wraps, that even the Nobel Institute did not know where she was or whether she would be in Oslo in time for the prize ceremony.

The Wall Street Journal reports that to escape Venezuela, Machado wore a disguise, managed to get through 10 military checkpoints without being caught, and sailed away on a wooden skiff from a coastal fishing village.

The plan was two months in the making, it reports, citing a person close to the operation, and she was assisted by a Venezuelan network that helps people flee the country. The US was also involved, the report says, but it is unclear to what extent.

Machado did not deny these details to the BBC, but also would not elaborate on the journey.

“They [the Venezuelan government] say I’m a terrorist and have to be in jail for the rest of my life and they’re looking for me,” she said. “So leaving Venezuela today, in these circumstances, is very, very dangerous. “I just want to say today that I’m here, because many men and women risked their lives in order for me to arrive in Oslo.”

Jorgen Watne Frydnes – chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, who sat with Machado during the interview – had described her journey to Norway as “a situation of extreme danger”.

Sitting next to her during the BBC interview, he said it was an “emotional” moment for him. “In the middle of the night to have you here, it’s incredible,” he said. “It’s hard to describe what it means to the Nobel committee and to all of us.”

Machado accused Maduro’s regime of being funded by criminal activities such as drugs and human trafficking, repeating calls for the international community to help Venezuela “cut those inflows” of criminal resources. “We need to address this regime not as a conventional dictatorship, but as a criminal structure,” she told the BBC.

Maduro has always vehemently denied being connected to cartels.

When asked whether she would support a US military strike on Venezuelan soil, given Washington’s recent attacks on alledged drug vessels, Machado did not answer directly but instead accused Maduro of “giving away our sovereignty to criminal organisations”.

“We didn’t want a war, we didn’t look for it… it was Maduro who declared war on the Venezuelan people,” she added.

Machado says she and her team are ready to form a government in Venezuela, and that she offered to sit down with Maduro’s team to work out a peaceful transition, but “they rejected it”.

[BBC]

All News Advertisement

Latest News

India vs Pakistan is finally here. Over to cricket now

Published

1 hour ago

2026/02/15

Priyan

Hardik Pandya has been Pakistan's bogeyman [Cricinfo]

Well, everything about this game is big picture. If we needed a reminder of how much in cricket is sustained by this fixture, it came over the past two weeks, when it dangled over the precipice of not happening at all. The result of an India-Pakistan match might feel like it means everything, but, as the ICC view has appeared for at least the last decade and a half, it doesn’t have to mean anything at all. It just needs to happen.

And then there’s the rivalry. Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav triumphantly declared, after the second of three Asia Cup wins over Pakistan in Dubai, that this was no longer a rivalry, as if it were solely the cricket played within the boundary that had set its terms. India may now measure its cricketing standards against teams that play superior cricket to Pakistan, but crowds still pack stadiums more consistently against this side, and it draws more eyeballs than games against purportedly better competition. In Pakistan, meanwhile, there has never really been an attempt to deny that a win against India matters most of all.

Perhaps it is absence that has made Pakistan supporters’ hearts grow fonder. They have won three games against India in the past decade, and two of them have become iconic enough to be referred to in numerical shorthand. You’d need little further explanation in Pakistan beyond “180 runs” and “152-0” to know what you were talking about. But while they represent two of Pakistan’s three wins, the 17 defeats on the other side of the ledger have clustered into one sad muckheap.

The slightly smaller picture is that this game doesn’t have much riding on it from the tournament’s perspective. Both sides have come through scares to compile 2-0 records against less fancied opposition, and a defeat is unlikely to complicate progress to the next round for either. This, really, is a game that exists for its own sake, outside the context of the tournament it is a part of.

On the field, well, we know the score. India have both a cricketing and psychological edge, having won their three games against Pakistan at the Asia Cup in three different ways. They won with the ball in the first, the bat in the second, and the mind in the final, opening up further wounds in a rivalry whose tide Pakistan are struggling to find ways to reverse. India’s top order is uniquely devastating in T20Is, their middle order has heft, their spin has dazzling world-class variety, and their fast bowling has Jasprit Bumrah. There are increasingly few nits to pick with any of it.

It can feel bleak at times for Pakistan, but only those who know little about Pakistan cricket will assume they go in without hope. Curiously, for all the gulf that has opened up between these sides, Pakistan will be scratching their heads wondering how they don’t come into this match with a three-game T20 World Cup win streak over India. After their decisive win in 2021, they let victory slip from their hands in Melbourne in 2022 and in New York in 2024. It is where they will have learned how vast the difference between hope and belief is, and in moments where the match presents them with opportunities, as those two and last year’s Asia Cup final did, Pakistan will need to find a way to grasp them.

India against Pakistan gets talked about a lot, and almost never for the right reasons. But, for a few hours on Sunday, that’s exactly what could happen. That, in itself, is perhaps a good enough reason to get a game on Sunday, and, with any luck, a good one.

Perhaps no player in this India side loves playing against Pakistan more than Hardil Pandya. Against this opposition, he has a better bowling average, a better bowling economy rate and a better bowling strike rate than his overall T20I numbers. While his T20I batting numbers against Pakistan are not great, every Pakistan fan remembers his 43-ball 76 in a losing cause in the 2017 Champions Trophy final. In the last three games, he has dismissed Babar Azam, Saim Ayub and Fakhar Zaman, with his two-in-one credentials in this fixture offering India the ultimate luxury.

Shaibzada Farhan has played three matches against India, all within two weeks of each other. He scored 40 in the first, following up with two half-centuries, and helped Pakistan get off to dream starts in two games against India at the Asia Cup. Most famous was his relative comfort in dealing with Jasprit Bumrah, against whom he scored at a strike rate of 150 without once losing his wicket. He struck him for three sixes during that purple patch, more than any other batter has managed against Bumrah in their T20I careers. If Pakistan are to finally get over the line against India, they may require the same overperformance at the top, even if Bumrah is a hard man to keep down for long.

Abhishek Sharma has made a recovery in time for the game and will replace Sanju Samson. India wish to add another spin option, which likely means one of Washington Sundar or Kuldeep Yadav will come in for Arshdeep Singh.

India (probable): Ishan Kishan (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.

Pakistan have shown a willingness to stick with Babar Azam in the middle order, and with a commanding performance over USA, there is little immediate clamour for change. There remains a possibility of Fakhar Zaman being brought in, possibly as Usman Khan’s replacement, which would hand Farhan the gloves. Wholesale changes, however, are unlikely.

Pakistan (probable): Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Salman Agha (capt), Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk)/Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Tariq, Abrar Ahmed

Business

“We Are Building a Stable, Transparent and Resilient Sri Lanka Ready for Sustainable Investment Partnerships” – PM

Published

2 hours ago

2026/02/15

Priyan

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya addressed members of the Chief Executives Organization (CEO) during a session held on Thursday [3 February 2026] at the Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo, as part of CEO’s Pearl of the Indian Ocean: Sri Lanka programme.

The Chief Executives Organization is a global network of business leaders representing diverse industries across more than 60 countries. The visiting delegation comprised leading entrepreneurs and executives exploring Sri Lanka’s economic prospects, investment climate, and development trajectory.

Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister emphasized that Sri Lanka’s reform agenda is anchored in structural transformation, transparency, and inclusive growth.

“We are committed not only to ensuring equitable access to education, but equitable access to quality education. Our reforms are designed to create flexible pathways for young people beyond general education and to build a skilled and adaptable workforce for the future.”

She highlighted that the Government is undertaking a fundamental pedagogical shift towards a more student-focused, less examination-driven system as part of a broader national transformation.

Reflecting on Sri Lanka’s recent political transition, the Prime Minister stated:

“The people gave us a mandate to restore accountability, strengthen democratic governance, and ensure that opportunity is not determined by patronage or privilege, but by fairness and merit. Sri Lanka is stabilizing. We have recorded positive growth, restored confidence in key sectors, and are committed to sustaining this momentum. But our objective is not short-term recovery it is long-term resilience.”

Addressing governance reforms aimed at improving the investment climate, she said:

“We are aligning our legislative and regulatory frameworks with international standards to provide predictability, investor protection, and institutional transparency. Sustainable investment requires trust, and trust requires reform.”

Turning to the recent impact of Cyclone Ditwa, which affected all 25 districts of the country, the Prime Minister underscored the urgency of climate resilience.

“Climate change is not a distant threat. It is a lived reality for our people. We are rebuilding not simply to recover, but to build resilience, strengthen disaster mitigation systems, and protect vulnerable communities.”

Inviting CEO members to consider Sri Lanka as a strategic partner in the Indo-Pacific region, she highlighted opportunities in value-added mineral exports, logistics and shipping, agro-processing, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals, and innovation-driven sectors.

“We are not looking for speculative gains. We are seeking long-term partners who share our commitment to transparency, sustainability, and inclusive development.”

She further emphasized collaboration in education, research, vocational training, and innovation as essential pillars for sustained economic growth.

Concluding her address, the Prime Minister expressed appreciation to the Chief Executives Organization for selecting Sri Lanka as part of its 2026 programme and reaffirmed the Government’s readiness to engage constructively with responsible global investors.

The event was attended by the Governor of the Western Province, Hanif Yusoof, and other distinguished guests.

[Prime Minister’s Media Division]

Latest News

US military kills 3 in latest attack on boat in the Caribbean

Published

2 hours ago

2026/02/15

Priyan

A screengrab of a video posted by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on October 29, 2025, reportedly showing the aftermath of an attack on a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean [Aljazeera]

The United States military has attacked a boat in the Caribbean Sea, killing three people, as it continues deadly air strikes that have killed at least 133 people since September 2025.

US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which oversees military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, said US forces “conducted a lethal kinetic strike” earlier on Friday, killing three people.

The US military again repeated its claim, without providing any evidence, that it was targeting people suspected of drug trafficking, and described those slain in the attack as “narco-terrorists”.

SOUTHCOM released a video of the attack that appears to show a missile strike on the boat which then explodes into flames, leaving the vessel obliterated.

International law and human rights experts have repeatedly said such attacks amount to extrajudicial executions, even if those targeted are alleged to be engaged in trafficking drugs.

The killings on Friday follow an attack on Monday in the eastern Pacific Ocean, where SOUTHCOM said it struck a vessel, killing two people and leaving one survivor.

SOUTHCOM said it had notified the US Coast Guard that there was a survivor from the attack, but did not provide details on the survivor’s condition or chances of rescue and survival.

The first attack by US forces on vessels in international waters, which took place in September 2025, included a follow-up strike that killed survivors who were clinging to the wreckage of a destroyed boat.

US administration officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the commander of the operation, Admiral Frank Bradley, were placed under scrutiny for the order to carry out the second attack on survivors.

[Aljazeera]