Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi arrested in Iran, supporters say

TEHRAN, Dec 12: Iranian security forces have "violently arrested" Nobel Peace Prize winner and women's rights activist Narges Mohammadi, her foundation has said.

The Narges Foundation said her brother confirmed Ms Mohammadi was detained in the eastern city of Mashhad, along with other activists.

It has called for the immediate release of the 53-year-old and the activists detained alongside her. Iran does not appear to have commented.

Ms Mohammadi was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her activism against female oppression in Iran and promoting human rights.

In December 2024, she was given a temporary release from jail for three weeks on medical grounds, after being held in Tehran's notorious Evin prison since 2021.

She was expected to return to prison soon after, where she was serving multiple sentences.

Her latest arrest reportedly came as she attended a memorial ceremony for Khosrow Alikordi, a lawyer found dead in his office last week.

Norway-based group Iran Human Rights had called for an independent inquiry to establish how he died, saying the circumstances around his death were "suspicious".

Several other activists were detained at the ceremony, where it's reported they shouted slogans, including "death to the dictator" and "long live Iran".

Taghi Rahmani, Ms Mohammadi's husband, said "They arrested Narges violently. The brother of the lawyer witnessed her arrest at the memorial.

"This act is against human rights laws, and amounts to some kind of revenge.

"This happened in Mashhad today and is concerning because the establishment's crackdown has intensified recently."

Venezuela’s Machado taunts Maduro government after dramatic exit to Oslo

OSLO, Dec 11: Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate Maria Corina Machado has declared that authorities in her home country would have attempted everything possible to prevent her journey to Norway, after she emerged publicly for the first time in nearly a year.

Machado greeted supporters from an Oslo hotel balcony in the early hours of Thursday following a high-risk exit from Venezuela, where she had been in hiding since January.

The journey, which purportedly included navigating 10 military checkpoints and crossing the Caribbean by fishing vessel, brought her to the Norwegian capital to collect her Nobel Peace Prize.

During a news conference at Norway’s parliament, the 58-year-old right-wing opposition figure delivered sharp criticism of President Nicolas Maduro’s administration, asserting that the government deploys national resources to suppress its population.

When questioned about an oil tanker seized by Washington on Wednesday, she argued this demonstrated how the regime operates. Asked whether she would support a United States invasion, Machado claimed Venezuela had already been invaded by Russian and Iranian agents alongside drug cartels.

“This has turned Venezuela into the criminal hub of the Americas,” she said, standing alongside Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere.

“What sustains the regime is a very powerful and strongly funded repression system. Where do those funds come from? Well, from drug trafficking, from the black market of oil, from arms trafficking and from human trafficking. We need to cut those flows.”

Nobel Peace Prize winner's daughter accepts award on her behalf

OSLO, Dec 10: A daughter of María Corina Machado, winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, has said her mother is determined to live in a free Venezuela and will "never give up" as she accepted her mother's award in Oslo.

Just before the ceremony, the Venezuelan opposition leader, who has been in hiding, sent a voice message saying she was "safe" and on her way to the Norwegian capital, but would not make it to the ceremony in the City Hall in time.

Ana Corina Sosa accepted the award on her mother's behalf and delivered a lecture written by her mother.

The Nobel Institute awarded Machado the prize for "her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy" in Venezuela.

The opposition leader's daughter started off her speech by speaking of the personal impact of not being able to see her mother for two years.

Machado went into hiding shortly after Venezuela's disputed presidential election in July 2024.

Her daughter told the audience: "And as I wait [for] that moment to hug her, to kiss her, to embrace her, after two years, I think of the other daughters and sons who do not get to see their mothers."

Ms Sosa then read the speech written by her mother, telling the audience that Venezuelans "will hug again, fall in love again, hear our streets fill with laughter and music".

She added: "All the simple joys the world takes for granted will be ours.

"Because in the end, our journey towards freedom has always lived inside us. We are returning to ourselves. We are returning home."

María Corina Machado was last seen in public at a protest on 9 January
The audience in City Hall, which included members of Norway's royal family, gave Ms Sosa a long round of applause and a standing ovation.

There had been much speculation about whether Machado, who has been living in hiding, would be able to defy a travel ban to attend the ceremony.

In an audio recording shared by the Nobel Institute, Machado said: "I will be in Oslo, I am on my way."

However, the director of the Nobel Institute, Kristian Berg Harpviken, said she was expected to arrive "sometime between this evening and tomorrow morning" - too late for the ceremony.

Author Sophie Kinsella dies aged 55

LONDON, Dec 10: Sophie Kinsella, author of the bestselling Shopaholic series of novels, has died at the age of 55, her family have announced.

The writer, whose real name is Madeleine Sophie Wickham, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer in 2022.

A statement posted to her social media accounts read: "We are heartbroken to announce the passing this morning of our beloved Sophie (aka Maddy, aka Mummy).

"She died peacefully, with her final days filled with her true loves: family and music and warmth and Christmas and joy."

Kinsella's books have sold more than 50 million copies in more than 60 countries, and have been translated into more than 40 languages.

Kinsella announced in 2024 that she had been diagnosed with a glioblastoma two years earlier.

The family statement added: "We can't imagine what life will be like without her radiance and love of life.

"Despite her illness, which she bore with unimaginable courage, Sophie counted herself truly blessed - to have such wonderful family and friends, and to have had the extraordinary success of her writing career.

"She took nothing for granted and was forever grateful for the love she received. She will be missed so much our hearts are breaking."

The first two novels in Kinsella's eight-book Shopaholic series were adapted for the 2009 film Confessions of a Shopaholic, starring Isla Fisher.

"I thought, wait a minute, shopping has become the national pastime, and nobody has written about it," Kinsella said of her best-selling series.

Kinsella's other works include Can You Keep A Secret? and The Undomestic Goddess.

Her most recent novella, What Does It Feel Like?, published in October 2024, was a semi-fictional account of her cancer diagnosis, written after she had surgery.

In an introduction to the book, Kinsella said she had "always processed my life through writing".

"Hiding behind my fictional characters, I have always turned my own life into a narrative. It is my version of therapy, maybe."

Her publisher said Kinsella "defined and elevated romantic comedy by populating her stories with real-life issues that combined wit, emotional depth and societal insight".

"Her distinctive voice and style brought her readers from a wide demographic across the world."

A film adaptation of Confessions of a Shopaholic starring Isla Fisher was released in 2009

Kinsella was born in London in 1969, and studied music at New College, Oxford, before switching to philosophy, politics and economics.

She wrote her first novel, The Tennis Party, under her real name aged 24, while working as a financial journalist.

"My overriding concern was that I didn't write the autobiographical first novel," Wickham told the Guardian in 2012. "I was so, so determined not to write about a 24-year-old journalist.

"It was going to have male characters, and middle-aged people, so I could say, look, I'm not just writing about my life, I'm a real author."

The book was acclaimed by critics and became a top 10 bestseller. She released six further novels as Madeleine Wickham.

Five years later, writing as Sophie Kinsella, she published The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic, which introduced readers to Becky Bloomwood, a financial journalist who is a serial shopper and hopeless when it comes to her own finances.

After its huge success, Kinsella went on to write eight further Shopaholic novels and a short story, and another 18 books in total, including one young adult novel and four children's books.

What is a glioblastoma?

Glioblastomas are the deadliest and most aggressive type of brain cancer.

About 3,200 people are diagnosed with a glioblastoma every year in the UK. Of these, just 160 survive for five years or more.

It's a type of cancer that grows quickly - glioblastomas are likely to spread within the brain and come back even after being removed.

Symptoms vary, but can include headaches caused by a build-up of pressure, personality changes, and memory problems. People may also have trouble speaking or experience extreme tiredness, depression, seizures and sight problems.

Common treatments include chemotherapy and radiotherapy, or if a patient is well enough, a surgeon will try to remove as much cancer as possible during an operation.