STAVANGER: Wars, a refugee crisis, famine and artificial intelligence could all be recognized when Nobel Prize announcements begin next week under a shroud of violence.
The prize week coincides with the Oct. 7 anniversary of the Hamas-led attacks on Israel, which began a year of bloodshed and war across the Middle East.
The literature and science prizes could be immune. But the peace prize, which recognizes efforts to end conflict, will be awarded in an atmosphere of ratcheting international violence — if awarded at all.
“I look at the world and see so much conflict, hostility and confrontation, I wonder if this is the year the Nobel Peace Prize should be withheld,” said Dan Smith, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
As well as events roiling the Middle East, Smith cites the war in Sudan and risk of famine there, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and his institute’s research showing that global military spending is increasing at its fastest pace since World War II.
“It could go to some groups which are making heroic efforts but are marginalized,” Smith said. “But the trend is in the wrong direction. Perhaps it would be right to draw attention to that by withholding the peace prize this year.”
Withholding the Nobel Peace is not new. It has been suspended 19 times in the past, including during the world wars. The last time it was not awarded was in 1972.
However, Henrik Urdal, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, says withdrawal would be a mistake in 2024, saying the prize is “arguably more important as a way to promote and recognize important work for peace.”
Civil grassroot groups, and international organizations with missions to mitigate violence in the Middle East could be recognized.
Nominees are kept secret for 50 years, but nominators often publicize their picks. Academics at the Free University Amsterdam said they have nominated the Middle East-based organizations EcoPeace, Women Wage Peace and Women of the Sun for peace efforts between Israelis and Palestinians.
Urdal believes it’s possible the committee could consider the Sudan Emergency Response Rooms, a group of grassroots initiatives providing aid to stricken Sudanese facing famine and buffeted by the country’s brutal civil war.
The announcements begin Monday with the physiology or medicine prize, followed on subsequent days by the physics, chemistry, literature and peace awards.
The Peace Prize announcement will be made on Friday by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo, while all the others will be announced by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. The prize in economics will be announced the following week on Oct. 14.
New technology, possibly artificial intelligence, could be recognized in one or more of the categories.
Critics of AI warn the rise of autonomous weapons shows the new technology could mean additional peace-shattering misery for many people. Yet AI has also enabled scientific breakthroughs that are tipped for recognition in other categories.
David Pendlebury, head of research analysis at Clarivate’s Institute for Scientific Information, says scientists from Google Deepmind, the AI lab, could be among those under consideration for the chemistry prize.
The company’s artificial intelligence, AlphaFold, “accurately predicts the structure of proteins,” he said. It is already widely used in several fields, including medicine, where it could one day be used to develop a breakthrough drug.
Pendlebury spearheads Clarivate’s list of scientists whose papers are among the world’s most cited, and whose work it says are ripe for Nobel recognition.
“AI will increasingly be a part of the panoply of tools that researchers use,” Pendlebury said. He said he would be extremely surprised if a discovery “firmly anchored in AI” did not win Nobel prizes in the next 10 years.
Nobel Prizes to be announced against a backdrop of wars, famine and artificial intelligence
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Nobel Prizes to be announced against a backdrop of wars, famine and artificial intelligence
- The announcements begin Monday with the physiology or medicine prize
India rolls out strictest anti-pollution curbs as toxic smog engulfs Delhi
- Private monitors in several parts of northern Delhi recorded AQI spikes between 550 and 700s
- Authorities invoked stage four of the capital region’s emergency pollution-control framework
NEW DELHI: India’s capital choked under a thick blanket of smog on Sunday, with the government imposing anti-pollution curbs after monitoring stations in some areas recorded extremely hazardous air quality.
Home to 30 million people, Delhi has not recorded a single “clean air” day in 2025, with Air Quality Index readings hitting high above the 50 score throughout the year.
On the AQI scale from 0 to 500, good air quality is represented by levels below 50, while levels above 300 are dangerous.
Worsening since late October, official records over the weekend were in the severe to severe-plus range of 400–500, but as 24-hour averages, they did not capture the peaks. Private monitors in several parts of North and North West Delhi recorded AQI spikes above 550 and even into the 700s in real-time.
On Saturday evening, the Ministry of Environment’s Commission for Air Quality Management invoked stage four — the highest level — of the Graded Response Action Plan for Delhi and surrounding areas.
To “prevent further deterioration of air quality in the region,” the commission suspended all non-essential construction, shut stone crushers and mining operations, stopped entry of trucks into the capital region, and ordered schools to shift to hybrid classes or online, where possible.
While authorities blamed the pollution on “adverse meteorological conditions,” residents have been demanding more government action.
“The situation is so bad in Delhi that we don’t have any option but to force kids to do online classes. The government has failed us; it has not done anything to address the issue,” said Nabanita Nayak, who decided for her teenage children to attend school online only, despite concerns over their screen addiction.
“If the kids are too much in front of laptops, that’s also an issue. As a mother, I am worried.”
Delhi’s pollution has been worsening since Diwali in late October, when the average AQI has been above 370, or “very poor.” Since mid-November, it has been over 400, which means “severe” air quality, with certain areas recording 500 and above, which is classified as a “hazardous” level.
“I don’t feel proud living in Delhi. It’s the capital city of the country … We talk about being a developed nation by 2047 — we have deadlines,” said Jagriti Arora, who is keeping her 7-year-old daughter at home to prevent allergy flare-ups caused by air pollution.
“The government has to do something … China had a big problem with pollution, but now they’ve managed to bring it down.”
Delhi’s air quality deteriorates in winter due to local emissions and seasonal weather conditions. Cold temperatures and low wind speeds result in a temperature inversion, which traps pollutants close to the ground instead of letting them disperse. This allows emissions from millions of vehicles, ongoing construction, and nearby industrial activity to accumulate in the air. Urban waste burning and dust from construction sites further add to it.
“This is not a new thing. This has been happening now for over 10 years,” Arora said. “You can see it. You don’t need to actually look at an AQI meter to see how bad the pollution is these days.”
