STOCKHOLM (AP) — The Right Livelihood Award was awarded Thursday to three activists from the Palestinian territories, the Philippines and Mozambique and to a U.K. pioneering research agency who “have each made a profound impact on their communities and the global stage.”
“Their unwavering commitment to speaking out against forces of oppression and exploitation, while strictly adhering to non-violent methods, resonates far beyond their communities,” the Stockholm-based foundation said about the laureates. It considered 176 nominees from 72 countries this year.
Issa Amro, a human rights activist in the occupied West Bank and his group, Youth Against Settlements, were awarded the prize “for their steadfast non-violent resistance to Israel’s illegal occupation, promoting Palestinian civic action through peaceful means.”
In the Philippines, Indigenous activist Joan Carling was cited “for raising Indigenous voices in the face of the global ecological breakdown and her leadership in defending people, lands and culture.”
Anabela Lemos, a Mozambican environmental activist and director of Justiça Ambiental!, was honored for “empowering communities to stand up for their right to say no to exploitative mega-projects and demand environmental justice.” It is the first time the award went to Mozambique.
Based at University of London, Forensic Architecture was cited “for pioneering digital forensic methods to ensure justice and accountability for victims and survivors of human and environmental rights violations.”
Created in 1980, the annual Right Livelihood Award honors efforts that the prize founder, Swedish-German philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull, felt were being ignored by the Nobel Prizes. To date, 198 laureates from 77 countries have received the distinction.
“The 2024 laureates demonstrate the power of non-violent resistance and truth-telling, placing decision-making into the hands of local communities,” said Ole von Uexkull, the nephew of the prize founder and the organization's executive director.
Previous winners include Ukrainian human rights defender Oleksandra Matviichuk, Congolese surgeon Denis Mukwege and Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. Matviichuk and Mukwege received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 and 2018, respectively.
The 2024 laureates will be given their awards on Dec. 4 in Stockholm. The size of the prize amount was not announced. The foundation said that “the award comes with long-term support to highlight and expand laureates’ work.”
FILE _ Palestinian activist Issa Amro, center, stands with Israeli activists in the embattled West Bank city of Hebron, Dec. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)
FILE - The Right Livelihood Awards are presented by Ole von Uexkull, CEO and member of the jury, during a news conference at Culture House in Stockholm, Sweden on Sept. 29, 2022. (Jessica Gow/TT News Agency via AP, File)
KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (AP) — Typhoon Krathon made landfall Thursday in the major port city of Kaohsiung, bringing torrential rains and fierce winds to southern and southeastern parts of Taiwan, according to weather authorities.
Krathon made landfall in the industrial Siaogang District of Kaohsiung around 12:40 p.m., the Central Weather Administration said. The typhoon packed maximum sustained winds of 126 kph (78 mph) near its center, with gusts of 162 kph (101 mph).
The typhoon is forecast to move slowly north and weaken into a tropical depression by Friday before it reaches the capital, Taipei.
Kaohsiung earlier urged its residents to take cover from potentially disastrous winds.
The slow-moving typhoon, which has been inching toward Taiwan at a speed of about 4 kph (2.5 mph), doused eastern and southern parts of the island over the past five days, forcing thousands to evacuate from mountainous or low-lying areas. Schools and government offices have been shut around the island for two days, and all domestic flights have been canceled.
Gusts and heavy rains pelted the empty streets.
Many residents woke up Thursday to mobile phone alerts urging them to take shelter from the potentially dangerous winds. The weather administration posted a Facebook message warning Kaohsiung and Pingtung County residents to not go outside when the eye of the storm passes above their area and the weather calms briefly, because the winds and storms will pick up again afterward.
Weather-related events attributed to Krathon injured at least 123 people around the island, according to Taiwan’s fire department. Two people died — one after driving into fallen rocks on the road in the southeastern Taitung county, and the other while trimming tree branches in the city of Hualien. Two others remained missing.
A fire at a hospital in Pingtung County killed at least eight people early Thursday. The deaths were attributed to smoke and the cause was under investigation. It was not immediately clear whether the blaze was related to the typhoon.
Thousands were evacuated from areas vulnerable to mudslides and landslides. Almost 40,000 troops were on standby to help with rescue efforts.
Mountainous areas in the island’s south have seen up to 169 centimeters (5.5 feet) of rain over the past five days.
China's weather agency said some eastern and southern parts of Taiwan are set to see extremely heavy rains of up to 40 centimeters (1.3 feet) over the next 24 hours.
Typhoons rarely hit Taiwan’s west coast, affecting instead the mountainous, eastern side of the island.
Kaohsiung officials, in urging residents to be vigilant about the weather, recalled the destruction brought by Typhoon Thelma, which in 1977 devastated the city and caused 37 deaths.
Earlier in the week, Typhoon Krathon lashed northern Philippine islands, where four people were killed and at least 5,000 were displaced, officials said.
A view of Love River as Typhoon Krathon arrives in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
A hotel staff prepares to move a human figure from the doorway to inside as Typhoon Krathon arrives in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
A man rides in the wind and rain generated by Typhoon Krathon in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
Traffic cones litter the pavement as Typhoon Krathon arrives in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
A street view from a hotel that taped the glass of its front door as Typhoon Krathon arrives in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
A woman struggles in the wind and rain generated by Typhoon Krathon in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
Wind and rain blow through Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, as Typhoon Krathon arrives Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
A man struggles in the heavy wind and rain generated by Typhoon Krathon in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
A woman struggles with winds generated by Typhoon Krathon in Kaohsiung, Southern Taiwan, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
A woman struggles with winds generated by Typhoon Krathon in Kaohsiung, Southern Taiwan, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
A woman struggles with winds generated by Typhoon Krathon in Kaohsiung, Southern Taiwan, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
