María Corina Machado has been named the winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize.
The Venezuelan opposition leader was hailed with the prestigious award for her "tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela".
Ms Machado, a 58-year-old industrial engineer who lives in hiding, was blocked in 2024 by Venezuela's courts from running for president and thus challenging President Nicolas Maduro, who has been in power since 2013.
"When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognise courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said upon announcing the award winner at a ceremony in Oslo this morning.
María Corina Machado has been named the winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize
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The committee chose to focus on Venezuela despite U.S. President Donald Trump's repeated public statements that he deserves the peace prize.
Ahead of the announcement, experts on the award said Mr Trump would not win it as he is dismantling the international world order the Nobel committee cherishes.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee consists of five individuals who are appointed by the Norwegian parliament.
Members are often retired politicians, but not always. The current committee is led by the head of the Norwegian branch of PEN International, a group defending freedom of expression, while another member is an academic.
Donald Trump was rumoured to win the peace prize following his involvement in the Gaza ceasefire deal
|PA
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The panel evaluates each candidate against criteria established in Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel's 1895 testament, which specifies the award should honour those who have "done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses".
Nominations close on January 31 and members of the committee can make their own nominations no later than their first meeting in February.
They discuss all the nominations, then establish a shortlist, with each nominee then assessed and examined by a group of permanent advisers and other experts.
The committee typically reaches its decision by August or September through consensus or majority vote.
Last year's winner was Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese atomic bomb survivors' organisation, which has a long-standing focus on the threat of nuclear weapons.
The laureate receives a medal, diploma and 11 million Swedish crowns (around £869,000 or $1.19 million).
This year's Nobel Peace Prize winner was revealed today
|REUTERS
Mr Trump was rumoured to be in with a chance of scooping up the award in the lead-up up to today's announcement at Oslo City Hall.
The US President has been outspoken about his desire for a prize won by four of his predecessors - Barack Obama in 2009, Jimmy Carter in 2002, Woodrow Wilson in 1919 and Theodore Roosevelt in 1906.
All but Mr Carter won the award while in office, with Mr Obama named laureate less than eight months after taking office - the same position the president is in now.
Discussions around Mr Trump being hailed with the prestigious award heightened this week, after he announced a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.