# Former UN rights chief Navi Pillay wins Nobel Peace Prize - Show: Global News Podcast - Published: 2026-10-10 - Canonical: https://podc.club/en/episode/135067274_f9a22fc2ccbf.html - Audio: http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/6/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download-rss-low/proto/http/vpid/p0pfxnwk.mp3 - Source: Edited from a machine transcript of the first 30 minutes of the episode. Not an official summary. The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to Navi Pillay, the South African-born jurist and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, recognising her lifelong work promoting international law and prosecuting war crimes. On the same day, a Houthi ballistic-missile strike on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport killed three people and prompted multiple airlines to suspend flights to the Saudi capital. Also making headlines: the US Defense Secretary announced a public livestream of a military execution for the first time in roughly 60 years, and an ICE agent in New York City fired multiple shots into a vehicle carrying a 5-year-old child. ## What this episode answers ### Why was Navi Pillay awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize? The Norwegian Nobel Committee cited her contributions to the promotion of peace and international law and her significant role in the prosecution of war crimes, pointing specifically to her legal fight against apartheid, her judgeship at the Rwanda genocide tribunal, and her six years as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. ### What damage did the Houthi attack on Riyadh airport cause, and what are the implications for Saudi Arabia? Three people were killed, including a pilot for the Saudi state airline, and several airlines suspended flights to Riyadh; a BBC Middle East specialist said the attack raises serious questions about Saudi Arabia's defence capabilities. ### What criticism has the plan to livestream Nidal Hasan's execution attracted? A Yale Law School visiting professor warned that publicly executing prisoners places the US alongside North Korea and Iran, and also violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the United Nations issued a statement calling the plan 'tantamount to torture,' while a Fort Hood survivor supported the execution but said children should not be watching. ### What were the circumstances of the ICE shooting in New York, and how did authorities and the public react? ICE agents fired multiple rounds at a Dominican-born man inside a vehicle with a 5-year-old child in northern Manhattan; Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned the shooting as inexplicable and demanded all ICE agents leave the city, protests outside a hospital clashed with police, and the Department of Homeland Security defended the operation as a targeted arrest but offered no explanation for why shots were fired. ### What human rights work has Navi Pillay carried out throughout her career? She established her own law firm in South Africa 27 years before the end of apartheid to fight racial discrimination through the courts, later served as a judge at the international tribunal for the Rwandan genocide, and from 2008 spent six years as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, impartially condemning crimes by both Israel and Hamas and violence against children in Syria. ## Article ## 2026 Nobel Peace Prize: Awarded to Navi Pillay The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize will go to Navi Pillay, a South African-born jurist and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The committee recognised her "contributions to the promotion of peace and international law" and her "significant role in the prosecution of war crimes." The committee chair praised her "commitment to universal legal principles and a firm moral compass throughout a long career." Pillay is a South African of Indian descent who established her own law firm 27 years before the end of apartheid to mount a legal challenge to the system of racial segregation. She went on to serve as a judge at the international tribunal created to try those responsible for the 1990s Rwandan genocide, and from 2008 spent six years as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. A BBC correspondent noted that throughout her tenure she was consistently impartial — calling out both Israeli conduct in the occupied Palestinian territories and Hamas crimes in 2014, and condemning violence against children under Syria's Assad government. More recently she oversaw the publication of a UN inquiry report concluding that Israel's actions in Gaza constitute genocide, a finding Israel rejects. Pillay delivered her acceptance remarks from the Nuremberg Palace of Justice in Germany, where Nazi leaders were tried, saying her conviction had grown "that we must stand together to uphold the rule of law and an international legal order based on principle, not selectivity." She joins a line of laureates that includes Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mother Teresa. ## Houthi Attack on Riyadh International Airport Kills Three Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis struck King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh with a ballistic missile, killing three people including a pilot for the Saudi state airline. The Saudi-led coalition claimed to have intercepted two missiles, but footage showing an aircraft engulfed in flames spread widely online, raising doubts about whether the interception was complete. BBC Middle East specialist Sebastian Usher assessed the Houthis as trying to "maximise reputational and economic damage to Saudi Arabia by closing its airspace and striking oil facilities," adding that "this attack raises serious questions about Saudi Arabia's defence capabilities." The Houthis are believed to be holding their positions in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait despite a pro-government counteroffensive. Several airlines have suspended flights to Riyadh, and the British Foreign Office has advised against all but essential travel to the Riyadh region. ## Plans to Livestream Nidal Hasan's Execution Draw Sharp Criticism US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the execution by firing squad of Nidal Hasan — the former Army psychiatrist who killed 13 soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009 — will be broadcast live to the public on December 3. It will be the first US military execution in roughly 60 years. Eugene Fidell, a visiting professor at Yale Law School, was unsparing: "Countries that carry out public executions include North Korea and Iran. It would be the worst thing for the United States to join their ranks — and it also violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the US is a party." The United Nations issued a statement calling the plan "tantamount to torture." Sergeant Alonzo Lunsford, who survived the Fort Hood attack after being shot seven times, said he supports the execution itself but that "children should not be watching this," while indicating that relatives and survivors have the right to view it uncensored. Details on the streaming platform and measures to restrict access for minors have not yet been announced. ## New York: ICE Agent Shoots Man Travelling with Toddler In northern Manhattan, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fired multiple rounds at a Dominican-born man who was inside a vehicle with a 5-year-old child during an arrest operation. The man's condition remains unclear. Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned the shooting, saying "there is no explanation for firing this many bullets into a car with a 5-year-old child," and demanded that all ICE agents leave the city. Protests broke out in front of a hospital where demonstrators clashed with police. The Department of Homeland Security defended the operation as "a targeted arrest" and said the subject had a criminal record, but offered no explanation for why shots were fired. ## Takeaways - Navi Pillay, who stood at the forefront of international human rights from the anti-apartheid movement through the Rwanda tribunal and six years as UN High Commissioner, won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. - The Houthi ballistic-missile strike on Riyadh airport killed three people and grounded flights for multiple airlines, deepening questions about Saudi Arabia's defence capabilities and the contest for the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. - The US faces mounting criticism over both the plan to publicly livestream Nidal Hasan's execution and an ICE agent's shooting into a vehicle carrying a toddler, intensifying debate over law enforcement and human rights standards.