Jimmy Carter Worked Tirelessly for Peace and Democracy, Nobel Committee Says

A handout photo made available by the Jimmy Carter Library shows US President Jimmy Carter making a telephone call from the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 07 August 1980 (reissued 29 December 2024). (EPA / White House Photographer / Jimmy Carter Library / Handout)
A handout photo made available by the Jimmy Carter Library shows US President Jimmy Carter making a telephone call from the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 07 August 1980 (reissued 29 December 2024). (EPA / White House Photographer / Jimmy Carter Library / Handout)
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Jimmy Carter Worked Tirelessly for Peace and Democracy, Nobel Committee Says

A handout photo made available by the Jimmy Carter Library shows US President Jimmy Carter making a telephone call from the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 07 August 1980 (reissued 29 December 2024). (EPA / White House Photographer / Jimmy Carter Library / Handout)
A handout photo made available by the Jimmy Carter Library shows US President Jimmy Carter making a telephone call from the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 07 August 1980 (reissued 29 December 2024). (EPA / White House Photographer / Jimmy Carter Library / Handout)

Former US President Jimmy Carter should be praised for his "decades of untiring effort" to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts and to advance democracy and human rights, the body awarding the Nobel Peace Prize said on Monday.

Carter, who was president of the United States from 1977 to 1981, died on Sunday at age 100.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee usually refrains from commenting on the deaths of Nobel Peace Prize laureates. The last time it did so was in 2017 when Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo died in detention.

On Monday, the committee reiterated its praise of Carter citing the citation of the award the US leader received in 2002.

"Upon the death of former US President Jimmy Carter, the Norwegian Nobel Committee would like to repeat its praise for his 'decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development'," the committee told Reuters.

It added: "Earlier this fall, the Committee had the pleasure of congratulating him on his 100th anniversary, stating that his work in favor of peace, democracy and human rights will be remembered for another 100 years or more."



Italian Journalist Cecilia Sala Released from Iran and Returning Home

This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
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Italian Journalist Cecilia Sala Released from Iran and Returning Home

This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)

An Italian journalist detained in Iran since Dec. 19 and whose fate became intertwined with that of an Iranian engineer wanted by the United States was freed Wednesday and is heading home, Italian officials announced.

A plane carrying Cecilia Sala took off from Tehran after “intensive work on diplomatic and intelligence channels,” Premier Giorgia Meloni’s office said, adding that Meloni had informed Sala's parents of the news.

There was no immediate word from the Iranian government on the journalist’s release.

Sala, a 29-year-old reporter for the Il Foglio daily, was detained in Tehran on Dec. 19, three days after she arrived on a journalist visa. She was accused of violating the laws of the country, the official IRNA news agency said.

Italian commentators had speculated that Iran was holding Sala as a bargaining chip to ensure the release of Mohammad Abedini, who was arrested at Milan’s Malpensa airport three days before on Dec. 16, on a US warrant.

The US Justice Department accused him and another Iranian of supplying the drone technology to Iran that was used in a January 2024 attack on a US outpost near the Syrian-Jordanian border that killed three American troops.

He remains in detention in Italy.