South African judge Navi Pillay wins the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize

The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to Navi Pillay, a South African jurist and former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights who has served as a judge at the International Criminal Court. The committee said she was instrumental in ensuring war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted, and called her "one of the great defenders of international legal principles in our time." She also headed the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel. The prize is worth 12 million Swedish crowns, about $1.2 million. President Trump has repeatedly said he deserves the prize.