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PO Box 15072, 104 65 Stockholm, Sweden
Phone: +46-8-702 03 40 Fax: +46-8-702 03 38
E-mail: press @ rightlivelihood.org, info @ rightlivelihood.org
A press
conference with the Recipients of this year's Right Livelihood Awards
will take place in Stockholm on Monday, Dec 8th. The Award Ceremony
will be held the same day at 6 pm in the 2nd Chamber of the Swedish
Parliament.
Four women will come to Stockholm to receive the Awards:
Krishnammal Jagannathan (India),
who receives the Award together with her husband Sankaralingam
Jagannathan and their organisation LAFTI (Land for the Tillers'
Freedom) "for two long lifetimes of work dedicated to realising in
practice the Gandhian vision of social justice and sustainable human
development, for which they have been referred to as 'India's soul'."
Amy Goodman (USA),
founder and award-winning host of Democracy Now!, a daily grassroots,
global tv/radio news hour, is honoured "for developing an innovative
model of truly independent political journalism that brings to millions
of people the alternative voices that are often excluded by the
mainstream media."
Asha Hagi (Somalia).
The Jury honours Asha Hagi "for continuing to lead at great personal
risk the female participation in the peace and reconciliation process
in her war-ravaged country."
Monika Hauser (Germany),
gynaecologist and founder of medica mondiale, receives an Award "for
her tireless commitment to working with women who have experienced the
most horrific sexualised violence in some of the most dangerous
countries in the world, and campaigning for them to receive social
recognition and compensation."
Founded in 1980, the Right
Livelihood Awards are presented annually in the Swedish Parliament 'to
honour and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to
the most urgent challenges facing us today'.
Press Conference Details
Press conference with Laureates and Jakob von Uexkull, Founder and Chairman of the Award:
9.30-11.30 am, Monday 8 December International Press Centre at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Fredsgatan 6, Stockholm
Only for journalists - please bring your press card!
Award Ceremony on December 8
The
Right Livelihood Awards will be presented in the Swedish Parliament on
Monday, 8 December, at 6 pm. A number of seats will be available for
the press. Please note that the Swedish Parliament requires special press accreditation. Journalists who do not have this accreditation need to contact the Right Livelihood Award Foundation latest on Monday morning (info @ rightlivelihood.org, or +46 8 70 20 340).
If you bring filming equipment, please contact us. Please note that we ask film teams to arrive at the Parliament building by 5 pm.
The programme for the Ceremony looks as follows:
Attention Broadcasters: Videos available
For streaming and broadcast-standard video supporting this press release, please visit www.thenewsmarket.com/rightlivelihood. Further videos
with interviews and shots from the press conference will be uploaded
during Monday (Dec 8) afternoon, a video from the first part of the
Award Ceremony will be uploaded later that day. If you are a first-time
user, please take a moment to register. In case you have any questions,
please email journalisthelp @ thenewsmarket.com.
During the Award Ceremony, a live signal from the Parliament is expected to be offered via the Eurovision network.
Close up on the Laureates
Amy Goodman is going to broadcast her show Democracy Now! from Stockholm
on Dec 8 and 9, 14.00-15.00 GMT+1. Journalists are welcome to attend.
The show will be sent from ABC Newsfeeds studio i Vasastan,
Surbrunnsgatan 32, www.abcnewsfeed.se.
For information on the Laureates' programme, please see https://www.rightlivelihood.org/programme_2008.html.
The Right Livelihood Award was established in 1980 to "honour and support courageous people solving global problems". It has become widely known as the 'Alternative Nobel Prize' and there are now 182 Laureates from 72 countries.
"Restarting his reckless war with Iran won't make America stronger," said Sen. Bernie Sanders. "It will cost more lives and waste more taxpayer dollars."
Key progressives in Congress took aim at President Donald Trump on Wednesday amid his second straight night of attacks on Iran.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) first said Tuesday that its forces had "begun launching a series of powerful strikes against Iran," in response to attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Then, Trump said Wednesday that the ceasefire established under the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed last month was "over" and "I don't want to deal with" the Iranians.
As oil prices soared, CENTCOM announced later Wednesday that "at the direction of the commander in chief, US Central Command forces have started conducting additional strikes against Iran to further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway."
Minutes later, progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) declared: "After getting the United States into a war based on lies, Trump has now declared the ceasefire with Iran 'over' after less than a month. Restarting his reckless war with Iran won't make America stronger. It will cost more lives and waste more taxpayer dollars. END THIS WAR."
Meanwhile, Trump shared a series of videos of the bombings across Iran on his Truth Social platform Wednesday evening.
The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) said in a statement that "the Trump administration is steering the United States back toward an illegal and disastrous war with Iran. Rather than implementing the agreement it negotiated, it has chosen escalation over diplomacy."
"A return to war is illegal," NIAC emphasized. "Congress passed a war powers resolution directing the president to terminate hostilities, and a majority of Americans oppose another war with Iran. If President Trump wants to return to war, he must seek congressional authorization. If he refuses, Congress must enforce the law."
The US House of Representatives voted 215-208 in favor of a war powers resolution aimed at ending Trump's illegal war of choice on Iran early last month. After a few weeks, the Senate also passed it, with a 50-48 vote—but just a day later, under pressure from the president, Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.) and Rand Paul (Ky.) helped the GOP block a subsequent measure.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), sponsor of the blocked resolution, said at the time that "after both Republican-majority Houses took the historic step of voting that additional war against Iran is illegal without congressional authorization, President Trump came to the Capitol and tried to browbeat Republican senators for upholding their oaths of office."
"To appease his temper tantrum, Republicans agreed to defeat a superfluous motion to proceed to a separate War Powers Resolution currently pending before the Senate," he continued. "The vote is of no consequence and does not undo the expressed position of Congress that further war against Iran is illegal unless Congress votes for it."
Kaine also spoke out Wednesday morning, saying: "Congress voted against more war with Iran. The U.S. should not be launching new strikes without congressional authorization and restarting a war that has raised gas prices, killed Americans, and hurt the economy. The U.S. and Iran must return to a ceasefire."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) weighed in Wednesday afternoon: "Donald Trump's war with Iran has cost American lives, and jacked up prices on gas and groceries for millions across the globe. Congress voted against this war. Congress shouldn't allow Donald Trump to continue it."
Key House members have also spoken out since the strikes resumed Tuesday. Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas) said that "Trump is extending his disastrous, illegal war with Iran. Congress and the American people have demanded the war end. Instead, Trump is choosing higher gas prices, more lives lost, and more instability. Outrageous."
Noting the new attacks and Trump's ceasefire comment, CPC Chair Emerita Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) similarly stressed that "this is another escalation in a war that the American people do not want. The House and Senate passed bipartisan war powers resolutions for this exact reason. This war must end NOW."
Oil price jumps should "start being passed along tomorrow and in the days ahead" in the form of higher gasoline prices, said one industry analyst.
President Donald Trump's illegal war with Iran is sending oil prices surging—again.
While attending the 36th NATO Summit of Heads of State and Government in Türikye on Wednesday, Trump said that the ceasefire agreement he struck last month with Iran is "over," while adding, "I don’t want to deal with them," in reference to the Iranians.
Shortly after the president's remarks, Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices each jumped by more than 4% during Wednesday trading, marking the end of a steady decline in prices that occurred in the weeks since the ceasefire deal was first announced.
Later in the day, Trump went on a lengthy rant about Democrats criticizing his failed campaign promise to bring down the price of groceries starting on his very first day in office, and he falsely claimed that the price of oil "is coming down very big."
At this point, a reporter interjected and said that oil prices on Wednesday were surging upward.
"If we hit Iran, oil goes up a little bit," Trump replied. "That's all right."
Trump on Inflation: And now inflation is way down. Everything is great. The prices are coming down. They made up a phony word: affordability. Oil is coming down very big.
Reporter: Brent crude is up today.
Trump: Every time we hit Iran, oil goes up a little bit. That's all… pic.twitter.com/ZvG0a5RYZh
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 8, 2026
Although the price of gasoline has been following the price of oil downward, any increase in petroleum prices will almost certainly send it back upward.
In a social media post, petroleum industry analyst Patrick De Haan said the renewed fighting between the US and Iran, combined with Russia banning exports of diesel fuel, would likely cause more pain at the gas pump in the near future.
"With news of Russia suspending diesel exports, markets have accelerated their climb," De Haan explained. "In addition, the current national average for diesel of $4.75 per gallon could head back to $5 per gallon in the next week or two, while the national average gas price heads to $4 per gallon."
De Haan added that spot gasoline prices on Wednesday were up by between $0.14 and $0.20, projecting that "today's jumps could start being passed along tomorrow and in the days ahead."
"Is this the future you want to see? Where AI executives pretend like they have the answers, that they are doing good, and you're giving them a stage?"
A protester was violently removed from the United Nations AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva on Wednesday after Palestine defenders disrupted a presentation by a senior Amazon executive to denounce Big Tech's complicity in Israel's genocidal war on Gaza.
Pro-Palestine activists linked to the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement are protesting the UN International Telecommunications Union (ITU) conference over its partnerships with tech titans, especially Amazon and Google. In 2021, the pair signed a $1.2 billion contract for Project Nimbus, which provides cloud services to the Israeli government and military.
Under the deal, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud provide the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli government agencies with cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence tools, and data storage. The contract prohibits Google or Amazon from refusing service to Israeli government, military, or intelligence agencies.
Project Nimbus sparked the #NoTechForApartheid campaign, in which disaffected tech workers and dozens of advocacy groups rose up against Big Tech’s complicity in Israeli human rights crimes in Palestine, including the Gaza genocide; apartheid; and illegal occupation, settler colonization, and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank.
On Wednesday, activists interrupted a summit speech by Amazon vice president and chief technology officer (CTO) Werner Vogels, with protesters taking the stage—two of them holding a large sign reading "No Tech for Apartheid"—as others in the audience chanted "Drop Project Nimbus!"
"You are making Project Nimbus, a project of billions of dollars that Amazon is investing so that Israel has free access to your servers," the man who upstaged Vogels said as the Amazon CTO stood by with his hands on his hips. "You are investing billions in that. Your technology, Project Nimbus, develops Lavender, develops the software Where's Daddy, that actively tracks, using AI, people in Palestine, and when they come back, they kill them together with their families."
"And you know this... and you're making millions out of this," the protester continued. "You're sitting here as if you're trying to do good, as if you're trying to be for the good of AI. What do you have to say for yourself? How do you sleep at night?"
"Maybe that's why you're looking so panicked. Maybe that's why you cannot even stand on this stage anymore and look at these people, because you know exactly what your technology is being used for," the activist said after Vogels stepped off the stage.
"They know exactly where their profits are coming from, and they continue anyway," the protester added, drawing loud cheers.
As the activists holding the sign were removed from the stage, the man speaking gestured to Vogels and others and said: "You should be stopping them! You should be stopping those criminals right here! Why are you facilitating genocide? Why are you continuing to be complicit in the deaths of innocent people three years on?"
Security personnel then removed the man from the stage as he said: "No violence. No violence."
"Why are you putting me in a chokehold?" he asked as he was violently ejected. "Is this the future you want to see?... Where AI executives pretend like they have the answers, like they are doing good, and you're giving them a stage? Shame on you, Amazon! Drop Project Nimbus!"
Activists with the BDS movement and other groups also protested at last year's AI for Good summit, which came on the heels of a report by UN independent Palestine expert Francesca Albanese detailing corporate complicity and direct participation in Israeli crimes against Palestinians and specifically naming dozens of companies, including Amazon and Google parent company Alphabet.
More than 250,000 Palestinians have been killed or wounded, including thousands of people who are missing and presumed dead and buried beneath the rubble of the flattened Gaza Strip, since Israel launched its US-backed war on October 7, 2023, when Hamas led the deadliest attack on Israel in the country's 78-year history. Around 2 million Palestinians have been forcibly displaced, while Israel's "complete siege" of Gaza fueled famine and disease.
Israel is facing a genocide case filed by South Africa at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The International Criminal Court, also located in the Dutch city, has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza.
The Geneva summit follows the creation earlier this month of the ITU's AI for Good Global Commission, which is co-chaired by Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and Rwandan President Paul Kagame, whose repressive 32-year rule has been criticized for persistent human rights abuses. Both Amazon and Google are represented on the commission.
The summit also comes amid growing worldwide opposition to the unchecked development of AI technology, which experts warn will lead to job losses on an unprecedented scale, widening economic inequality, environmental and climate harms, social isolation, increased government surveillance, "killer robots," and, in the long term, possibly even human extinction.