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President Donald Trump was once again denied the Nobel Peace Prize, but the winner made sure to mention him in her initial remarks.And not in a flattering way, reported The Daily Beast.The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, 85, a South African jurist and former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, won the 2026 prize. Trump, 80, had long sought the honor.Pillay was told she had won "while at the Nuremberg court in Germany," which was used for the post-World War II trials of Nazi leaders, the Beast reported. In a video captured by Agnès Callamard, the French human rights activist who heads Amnesty International, Pillay made a remark about Trump that the Beast described as mocking his eagerness for the prize.“If you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump,” she told her applauding admirers.Trump has openly campaigned for the prize, saying he deserves it and pointing to his claims that he has ended multiple conflicts and “pre-wars” since returning to the White House. The United States is currently in the eighth month of a war with Iran.Committee chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes said Pillay won for her work being “instrumental in ensuring war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide” are prosecuted.“Navi Pillay’s commitment to universal legal principles and her firm moral compass are constants in a long career,” Frydnes said. “A common thread runs from her early work defending Nelson Mandela and others who stood up against apartheid to her service as a judge in some of the key international court cases of our time.”Pillay served as a judge on the International Criminal Court and was president of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda before becoming the U.N.’s human rights chief in 2008.Amazing moment. Navi Pillay has received the Nobel Peace Prize ! https://t.co/HL3r1PJzLOWe are at the Nuremberg Court; I cannot think of a stronger symbol for her Nobel prize. We are all so thrilled! This is her first reactions upon hearing the news: https://t.co/Crbj6XdiyQ— Agnes Callamard (@AgnesCallamard) October 9, 2026

A U.S. diplomat sparked outrage after being accused of having “repeatedly suppressed or significantly revised” reporting to paint the Israeli government “in a favorable light,” including by “stonewalling” lawmakers’ probes into Israeli killings of Americans, the New York Times reported.That diplomat is David Milstein, a top aide to U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, and according to three U.S. officials who spoke with the Times on the condition of anonymity, Milstein “stymied embassy reporting” on Israeli settler violence and “suppressed” a detailed embassy report on recent Israeli killings of Americans in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.“NYT reports that a Huckabee top aide is a literal traitor, actively covering up Israeli killings of American citizens and falsifying embassy reports about Israel’s role in settler violence,” wrote Jasper Nathaniel, an independent journalist who reports on Israeli settler violence in the West Bank.Milstein, the stepson of Fox News host Mark Levin, was also accused of creating an environment of fear at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, with some staffers refraining “from writing reports for fear that Mr. Milstein would block or rewrite them,” the Times reported, citing its inside sources.“[The Times] is reporting that he betrayed our country and doctored reports from US sources to help Israel, including the coverup of Americans they had murdered. This is arguably treason, but certainly something you should be arrested for. Is it really tolerable to have our own diplomats working for a different country to undermine our interests?” wrote progressive media figure Cenk Uygur.“He hasn't even been fired yet. Because everyone in [Washington] finds it perfectly normal for US government officials to secretly work for Israel instead. That could describe half the town. That's why he will definitely get away with covering up the murder of American citizens.”Huckabee responded to the report with outrage of his own, calling the Times reporters “sleazy” and referring to the outlet as “the Slimes.” Levin called the Times’ reporting “vile” and hinted that he may be considering taking legal action against the outlet.“By the way, knowingly creating a false impression of misconduct can be defamation by implication,” Levin wrote. “If I were the Times, I would preserve the records. All rights reserved.”NYT reports that a Huckabee top aide is a literal traitor, actively covering up Israeli killings of American citizens and falsifying embassy reports about Israel’s role in settler violence. https://t.co/X6W4uLrEEB— jasper nathaniel (@infinite_jaz) October 8, 2026

Donald Trump has once again been passed over for the Nobel Peace Prize. This year’s winner has spent her career at the kind of institution he’s trying to tear down.The Norwegian Nobel Committee gave the 2026 prize on Friday to Navi Pillay, Reuters reported. Pillay is an 85-year-old South African jurist and a former judge at the International Criminal Court. The committee honored her “for her efforts to promote peace and international law.”“The system of international law is under tremendous pressure, and its institutions are under attack,” the committee said in its citation. “We see a shift towards power politics at the expense of legal frameworks and global respect for law and justice. Whenever might overtakes right, it undermines stability, trust and peaceful co-existence.”Trump has made his campaign against the ICC no secret. Last month he urged countries to leave the court, Reuters reported. His administration has already sanctioned several of its prosecutors and judges, and sources told Reuters it is considering wider sanctions.Pillay also chaired the U.N. commission of inquiry that concluded last year that Israel committed genocide in Gaza. Israel called the report “scandalous.” Earlier in her career, she defended Nelson Mandela and other opponents of apartheid.The president has long said he deserves the prize. He told the U.N. General Assembly last month that it had been his “great honor to settle eight wars.”The committee wasn’t directly rebuking Trump, according to Haakon Gjerloew, acting director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo.“Of course, he might react to someone who has been part of the ICC,” Gjerloew told Reuters, “but it’s not a direct attack on Trump.”Last year’s prize went to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado.

Storm expected to make landfall on US’s northern Gulf coast with risk of flash floods and isolated river floodingIsaias has become the first Atlantic hurricane of the 2026 season, with wind speeds of 80mph and a minimum pressure of 975mb. It is expected to strengthen to a category 2 hurricane as it approaches the US’s northern Gulf coast on Friday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).As a result of the strong El Niño, it has been a notably quiet Atlantic hurricane season. The first hurricane of the season has not formed this late since 8 October 1905, which pre-dates the satellite era (1960s) for tracking hurricanes that has allowed for more non-landfall hurricanes to be discovered. Continue reading...

The Trump administration's seemingly flippant response to a new plague discovered in Russia left two political analysts stupefied Wednesday. Last week, the World Health Organization reported the discovery of a pneumonic plague in Russia after a 28-year-old lab worker died. Russian authorities have denied the cause of the lab worker's death, although the case has raised a specter of concern about another COVID-19-like plague spreading across the globe. In turn, Trump officials have been quick to dismiss concerns about the plague. For instance, Trump claimed that pneumonia has "gotten stronger" over the years and the administration "will help them." Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration is "watching and monitoring it closely."The answers from the administration officials stupefied former Obama administration staffers Tommy Vietor and Ben Rhodes, who discussed it on a new episode of their podcast, "Pod Save the World.""As we learned in COVID, transparency is your only friend when you're dealing with these types of things," Rhodes said. "And if you have these discrepancies between local authorities and the Kremlin, it makes you wonder what in the world you can trust, and that's concerning.""This is just highlighting, once again, that when you have a breakdown in geopolitical trust ... you just feel like this stuff happens and you hope it doesn't get worse because it doesn't seem like Trump, or Rubio, or the World Health Organization are going to share information to keep this thing in a box," Rhodes added. Vietor took issue with the way Trump communicates with the American public about it. "Trump is a g------- idiot," Vietor said.

President Donald Trump attempted Wednesday to distance himself from two political consultants who were recently exposed by The New York Times for their ties to a Russian-aligned government.Citing four sources familiar with the matter who requested anonymity, the Times reported Tuesday that James Blair and Chris LaCivita, whom the outlet described as two of Trump’s “top political advisers,” were in the Balkans over the “past few days” helping a “Russian-aligned government.” The two were in Republika Srpska — a partially self-governing political entity in Bosnia — just ahead of its elections, and were paid “hundreds of thousands of dollars each” to provide “election advice.” The revelation, the Times noted, was just the “latest example of Trump advisers profiting from far-right politicians abroad who have sought favor from the U.S. president while bucking the international community.”In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump disputed the Times’ characterization of his relationship with Blair and LaCivita, and vowed to “terminate” them should he feel their services constituted a conflict of interest.“Chris LaCivita and James Blair are outside consultants. They do not work for me, other than as outside consultants. They most likely have numerous clients, but for that, you would have to ask them,” Trump wrote. “They are allowed to do work for others, just like all consultants in Washington, D.C. I do not have any idea who else they work for but will, on reflection, ask them and, if there’s a conflict, I will terminate them, immediately! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

A towering gold statue of a naked President Donald Trump has gone on display inside a European Parliament building.The 8.5-foot sculpture, titled "Orange Plague" and also known as "King of Injustice," shows a nude Trump holding a set of justice scales and a long golf club topped with a golf ball made to look like the Earth, and he sits on the shoulders of a smaller, clothed man who holds him up, reported The Telegraph.The plinth reads: "I am sitting on the back of a man. He is sinking under my burden. I will do anything to help him. Except stepping down from his back."The statue stands at one of the busiest crossings between two of the parliament's buildings in Strasbourg, France, and is set to remain there until Thursday.Danish artist Jens Galschiot, who made the piece and covered it in 23-carat gold leaf, said it was inspired by "The Emperor's New Clothes," the fairy tale about a vain ruler whose subjects are too afraid to tell him he is naked."Trump represents one of the greatest threats to the rules-based world order, democratic values and our common effort to solving the climate crisis," Galschiot said. "We must address this issue and stand together against such destructive influence."Per Clausen, a left-wing Danish member of the European Parliament, invited the artist to show the statue. He shrugged off any worry about how Trump might react."If someone is so thin-skinned that they cannot tolerate this sculpture being exhibited in the European Parliament, then they have no place on the world stage," Clausen said.The statue has already appeared at last year's COP30 climate summit in Brazil and at this year's Munich Security Conference. Visitors are getting free miniature versions, and Galschiot has posted files online so people can 3D-print their own.The White House has not responded.It's a far cry from the golden tributes Trump prefers. In April, a 15-foot clothed statue called "Don Colossus," showing him with his fist raised, was unveiled at his Miami golf course, and he plans to put two giant golden statues of himself in his presidential library.

President Donald Trump's boast that allies agreed to a "massive" fuel release falls apart on close inspection, according to an economist.Justin Wolfers, an economist at the University of Michigan, argued in an article for his Platypus Economics newsletter on Tuesday that the 100 million barrels of oil and fuel the Group of Seven pledged last week are largely what's left over from an emergency release promised in March.Trump posted on Truth Social on Friday that Europe had agreed to release a "massive amount" of diesel right away, casting it as a concession won in exchange for dropping his threat to ban U.S. diesel exports.But Wolfers wrote that "almost nothing new has happened," with the G7 agreeing to do what it had already promised.Wolfers noted that International Energy Agency members agreed in March to tap their emergency reserves for roughly 400 million barrels after the U.S. attack on Iran made shipping through the Strait of Hormuz dangerous. By his reading, about 100 million barrels of that pledge remain undelivered, and the G7's new communique simply commits the G7 to finishing the job within four months."This is an agreement to agree that they agree about the earlier agreement," Wolfers wrote.He also flagged that the Energy Department offered oil companies up to 40 million barrels from the U.S. reserve on September 29 as part of America's share of the March pledge, raising the possibility that a big chunk of what Trump credited to Europe is American oil already owed. Wolfers said there's no way to know for sure because neither the G7 nor the IEA has disclosed which countries owe what.Taken at face value, Wolfers argued, the release is still tiny next to the shortfall. The package works out to about 0.8 million barrels a day, while traffic through the strait was down about 12 million barrels a day from prewar levels as of August."The daily gap is 15 times larger than the fix," Wolfers noted.The communique promises a "front-loaded substantial diesel release" within 20 days but offers no figures, no country breakdown and no way to enforce it. Wolfers pointed out that the window closes October 22, less than two weeks before the midterms.Traders weren't buying Trump's brag either, Wolfers noted. Diesel futures dropped after Trump's post but climbed back to about $4.55 a gallon wholesale within hours once the actual communique came out, according to Wolfers."It isn't new, it isn't large, and it isn't enforceable," he wrote. "It's the appearance of doing something without the thing actually getting done."