Venezuela's Maria Corina Machado gets Nobel Peace Prize

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her unwavering fight against authoritarianism and her courageous defense of democracy.

This year, there were 338 nominees, including 244 individuals and 94 organisations.

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Known as Venezuela’s "Iron Lady," Machado has remained in hiding for over 14 months after rejecting the results of a widely disputed election declared in favor of President Nicolás Maduro.

Despite government threats, disqualification and repression, Machado has continued to call for free elections and expose human rights abuses. Her recognition comes at a critical time for Venezuela, where political freedoms remain severely restricted.

The committee chose to focus on Venezuela at this time, in a year dominated by US President Donald Trump's repeated public statements that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.

Ahead of the announcement, experts on the award had said Trump would not win it as he is dismantling the international world order the Nobel committee cherishes.

The Nobel Peace Prize, worth 11 million Swedish crowns, or about $1.2 million, is due to be presented in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will.

Four of the other prizes have already been awarded in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, this week — in medicine on Monday, physics on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday. The winner of the prize in economics will be announced on Monday.

With inputs from Reuters