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Questions over Machado's Whereabouts as Nobel Event Postponed

It remains unclear whether Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado will be able to attend the ceremony in person. Odd ANDERSEN / AFP
It remains unclear whether Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado will be able to attend the ceremony in person. Odd ANDERSEN / AFP
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Questions over Machado's Whereabouts as Nobel Event Postponed

It remains unclear whether Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado will be able to attend the ceremony in person. Odd ANDERSEN / AFP
It remains unclear whether Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado will be able to attend the ceremony in person. Odd ANDERSEN / AFP

Nobel officials delayed a press conference with Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado in Oslo Tuesday, but said they remained confident Venezuela's elusive opposition leader would collect her award in person.

It was not known whether Machado, who has been in hiding since August 2024, was in the city. The Venezuelan government has said it would declare her a "fugitive" if she attends, putting her at risk of arrest if she tries to re-enter the country, AFP reported.

Her family is already in the Norwegian capital and said they hoped she would attend.

The press conference, traditionally held by the prizewinner on the eve of the December 10 award ceremony in Oslo, was expected to be the 58-year-old's first public appearance in 11 months.

In a message to the media early Tuesday, the institute said the press conference was "postponed", without giving a reason for the delay.

"Everything suggests that we will manage to organize a press conference today," Nobel Institute spokesman Erik Aasheim told AFP.

It remained however unclear whether Machado had arrived in Oslo and would be able to accept her award in person on Wednesday.

The chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Jorgen Watnes Frydnes, told AFP early Tuesday that her presence was "more or less" confirmed.

Machado has accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of stealing the July 2024 election she was banned from standing in, a claim backed by much of the international community.

She has lived in hiding in Venezuela since August 2024.

She last appeared in public at a demonstration in Caracas on January 9, protesting against Maduro's inauguration for his third term.

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Machado on October 10 for her efforts to bring democracy to Venezuela, challenging the iron-fisted rule of Maduro, who has been president since 2013.

'Fugitive'

Venezuela's attorney general, Tarek William Saab, said last month the opposition leader would be considered a "fugitive" if she travelled to Norway to accept the prize.

"By being outside Venezuela and having numerous criminal investigations, she is considered a fugitive," Saab told AFP, adding she is accused of "acts of conspiracy, incitement of hatred, terrorism."

Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said Monday he did not know if she would travel to Oslo.

The Nobel prize ceremony will take place on Wednesday at 1:00 pm (1200 GMT) at Oslo's City Hall.

Several members of Machado's family, including her mother, three sisters and daughter, were already in Oslo for the event.

"I would never have imagined it. I had heard and read that she had been nominated" for the award, her mother Corina Parisca de Machado told AFP on Monday, recalling the day her daughter won.

"I thought: 'Caramba! (Wow!) What a wonderful day that would be'," the 84-year-old added.

Several Latin American leaders, including Argentine President Javier Milei -- like Machado, an ally of US President Donald Trump -- were also expected to attend the ceremony.

Seen in Oslo on Monday was Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino, who said he came to "congratulate the hero of democracy and the struggling Venezuelan people" and voiced hope for a "return to democracy in Venezuela as soon as possible".

A large police presence has meanwhile stood guard since Monday outside the Grand Hotel in central Oslo, which traditionally hosts the Nobel Peace Prize laureates, AFP journalists said.

While Machado has been hailed by many for her efforts to bring democracy to Venezuela, she has also been criticized by others for aligning herself with Trump, to whom she has dedicated her Nobel Prize.

The Oslo ceremony coincides with a large US military build-up in the Caribbean in recent weeks and deadly strikes on what Washington says are drug smuggling boats.

Maduro insists that the real goal of the US operations -- which Machado has said are justified -- is to topple the government and seize Venezuela's oil reserves.

If Machado does come to Norway to accept her prize, the question then arises of how she would re-enter Venezuela.

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Varieties

Beware: Your Morning Coffee Could Lead to Chronic Pain

Greater coffee consumption could lead to higher pain (AFP) 
Greater coffee consumption could lead to higher pain (AFP) 
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Beware: Your Morning Coffee Could Lead to Chronic Pain

Greater coffee consumption could lead to higher pain (AFP) 
Greater coffee consumption could lead to higher pain (AFP) 

A new research has suggested that while starting the morning with a cup of coffee is essential to help kickstart your day, it could also be worsening chronic pain.

A study by academics at Nicolaus Copernicus university in Poland has linked greater coffee consumption to higher pain levels in older adults, the Independent reported.

The research, which surveyed 205 healthy adults aged between 60 and 88 across two years, asked participants to track their fish and coffee intakes and pain levels using a ten-point scale.

Scientists found an increased coffee intake was linked to a 6.56-point rise in pain intensity when compared with those who decreased their coffee intake.

However, an increased oily fish intake was associated with a 4.45-point reduction in pain intensity. Researchers said this may be linked to the anti-inflammatory properties of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in the fish.

“Participants who increased their frequency of fish consumption over two years experienced a significant reduction in pain intensity compared to those who decreased or maintained their intake, independent of multiple covariates,” the authors wrote.

“Conversely, those who increased coffee consumption reported elevated pain scores relative to those with decreased or unchanged intake.”

However, researchers said “caution” was needed in interpreting the conclusions of the study, saying future research was needed to confirm the associations.

A study published in 2020 found that having a cup of coffee before breakfast could lead to digestive pain and uncomfortable heartburn.

Scientists at the University of Bath found that, while one night of poor sleep had a limited impact on metabolism, drinking coffee could have a negative effect on blood glucose control.

Varieties

2025 Will Be World’s Second or Third-Hottest Year on Record, EU Scientists Say

Last year was the planet's hottest on record. (AFP)
Last year was the planet's hottest on record. (AFP)
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2025 Will Be World’s Second or Third-Hottest Year on Record, EU Scientists Say

Last year was the planet's hottest on record. (AFP)
Last year was the planet's hottest on record. (AFP)

This year is set to be the world's second or third-warmest on record, potentially surpassed only by 2024's record-breaking heat, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Tuesday.

The data is the latest from C3S following last month's COP30 climate summit, where governments failed to agree to substantial new measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reflecting strained geopolitics as the US rolls back its efforts, and some countries seek to weaken CO2-cutting measures.

This year will also likely round out the first three-year period in which the average global temperature exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial period, when humans began burning fossil fuels on an industrial scale, C3S said in a monthly bulletin.

"These milestones are not abstract – they reflect the accelerating pace of climate change," said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at C3S.

Extreme weather continued to hit regions around the globe this year. Typhoon Kalmaegi killed more than 200 people in the Philippines last month. Spain suffered its worst wildfires for three decades because of weather conditions that scientists confirmed were made more likely by climate change.

Last year was the planet's hottest on record.

While natural weather patterns mean temperatures fluctuate year to year, scientists have documented a clear warming trend in global temperatures over time, and confirmed that the main cause of this warming is greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels.

The last 10 years have been the 10 warmest years since records began, the World Meteorological Organization said earlier this year.

The global threshold of 1.5 Celsius is the limit of warming which countries vowed under the 2015 Paris climate agreement to try to prevent, to avoid the worst consequences of warming.

The world has not yet technically breached that target - which refers to an average global temperature of 1.5 Celsius over decades. But the UN said this year that the 1.5 Celsius goal can no longer realistically be met and urged governments to cut CO2 emissions faster, to limit overshooting the target.

C3S's records go back to 1940, and are cross-checked with global temperature records going back to 1850.

Varieties

Indian Pride as Asiatic Lions Roar Back 

This photograph taken on November 9, 2025 shows a lioness resting after a kill in Gir National Park in India's western state of Gujarat. (AFP)
This photograph taken on November 9, 2025 shows a lioness resting after a kill in Gir National Park in India's western state of Gujarat. (AFP)
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Indian Pride as Asiatic Lions Roar Back 

This photograph taken on November 9, 2025 shows a lioness resting after a kill in Gir National Park in India's western state of Gujarat. (AFP)
This photograph taken on November 9, 2025 shows a lioness resting after a kill in Gir National Park in India's western state of Gujarat. (AFP)

A powerful roar rocked the forest before the silhouette of a lioness appeared at an Indian reserve, a potent image of how conservation efforts have brought the creatures back from the brink.

In Gir National Park, Asiatic lions reign over a 1,900-square-kilometer (735-square-mile) expanse of savannah and acacia and teak forests, their last refuge.

For a few minutes, cameras clicked wildly from safari jeeps, but as night falls and visitors leave, the mighty cat has still not moved a paw.

Gir's success stems from more than three decades of rigorous conservation to expand the lions' range, which now raises questions about the future of coexistence with humans.

Park chief Ramratan Nala celebrates the "huge success": lion numbers have risen by a third in five years, from 627 to 891.

"It's a matter of pride for us," Nala said, the head of government forests in the sprawling Junagadh district of the western state of Gujarat.

The Asiatic lion, slightly smaller than their African cousins, and identified by a fold of skin along its belly, historically roamed from the Middle East to India.

By the early 20th century, only about 20 remained, nearly wiped out by hunting and habitat loss.

"They've been resurrected from the brink of extinction," said wildlife biologist Meena Venkatraman.

- 'Our lions' -

After India broke free from British rule in 1947, a local prince offered "his" lions sanctuary.

In recent decades, the authorities have invested heavily by protecting vegetation, securing wells and roads, and even building a hospital.

"The thing about lions is that if you give them space, and you protect them and you give them prey, then they do extremely well," said Andrew Loveridge, from global wild cat conservation organization Panthera.

In 2008, they were removed from the IUCN Red List of species threatened with extinction, and moved to the category of merely "endangered".

Unlike in Africa, poaching is virtually absent.

"The local people support the conservation of Asian lions," Nala said, reporting zero cases of poaching for more than a decade.

"These are our lions," his deputy Prashant Tomas said. "People are very possessive about them".

- 'Secret to success' -

Local communities fiercely protect the lions for cultural, religious and economic reasons, because they attract tourists.

Loveridge said that people accepted some livestock would be lost.

"In general, they're less likely to kill the lions in retaliation for livestock losses, which is something that is very prevalent in many sites in Africa," he said.

"Indian wildlife managers have managed to contain that conflict, to a large degree -- in many ways, that's their secret to success."

But rising numbers mean lions now roam far beyond the park.

About half the lion population ranges across 30,000 km2, and livestock killings have soared, from 2,605 in 2019-20 to 4,385 in 202324.

There are no official figures on attacks on humans, though experts estimate there are around 25 annually.

Occasionally, an attack hits the headlines, such as in August, when a lion killed a five-year-old child.

- 'Spread the risk' -

As lions move into new areas, conflicts grow.

"They are interacting with people... who are not traditionally used to a big cat," said Venkatraman.

And, despite their increasing population, the species remains vulnerable due to limited genetic diversity and concentration in one region.

"Having all the lions in a single population may not be a good idea in the long term," she added.

Gujarat has resisted relocating some lions to create a new population, even defying a Supreme Court order.

Nala pointed out that Gir's lions are separated into around a dozen satellite populations.

"We cannot say that they are all in one basket," he said.

Loveridge accepted that it "is starting to spread the risk a little bit".

But he also warned that "relatively speaking, a population of 900 individuals is not that large", compared with historic numbers of tens of thousands.

Long-term security of the species remains uncertain, but momentum is strong -- and protection efforts are having a wider impact on the wildlife across the forests.

Venkatraman described the lions as a "flagship of conservation".

"That means because you save them, you also save the biodiversity around."