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The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to Navanethem 'Navi' Pillay for her contributions to peace and international law. Pillay, born in apartheid-era Durban, South Africa, has served as a judge on South Africa's High Court, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the International Criminal Court, and currently the International Court of Justice, and was UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Inside Higher Ed has tracked more than 9,000 job cuts and buyouts across US higher education in 2025, driven by falling international enrollment, state funding reductions, federal funding uncertainty and rising costs. The University of North Texas disclosed a projected $45 million deficit and plans to eliminate or consolidate over 70 academic programs, while East Carolina University is cutting $8.5 million more as part of a three-year, $25 million reduction plan after already discontinuing 44 programs.
The US Department of Homeland Security has published a proposed rule that would make universities pay up to $100,000 to let international graduates participate in Optional Practical Training (OPT), a program letting foreign students work in the US for up to three years after graduation. DHS estimates the change could cut OPT enrollment by as much as 44% and cost universities $8.4–$16.5 billion annually; roughly 420,000 students used OPT in 2025–26.
A federal judge has mandated Apple to pay an additional $184 million in interest related to a patent infringement case brought by Masimo. The case stems from Apple’s use of Masimo’s blood oxygen measurement technology in the Apple Watch, which was previously found to infringe on Masimo’s patent, leading to a $634 million damages award. The interest was calculated based on Masimo’s borrowing rate, not the higher rate requested by Masimo, and the total interest was added to the original damages.
Turbo Basic began as Bob Zale's BASIC/Z, the first interactive compiler for CP/M, before Borland International acquired it and released it for MS-DOS in 1987. Borland sold it for only a couple of years before discontinuing it, after which Zale bought back the rights and continued development under the name PowerBASIC. Unlike interpreters such as GWBASIC, Turbo Basic compiled code, removed the 64KB file-size limit, and offered an integrated edit-compile-run development environment.
Google analyzed five years of aggregated Google Flights data and found that domestic fares have historically been cheapest around 39 days before departure, while international fares bottom out near 89 days out, staying low between 50 and 133 days. The company also found holiday-specific patterns: Thanksgiving fares are lowest around 34 days ahead, Christmas around 56 days, and summer trips closer to departure at about 21 days out.
IEA head Fatih Birol said at the United Nations that the traditional energy trilemma—balancing cost, security and clean energy—is increasingly aligning in favor of electrification, partly due to disruptions from the Iran war raising fossil fuel prices. The IEA's new report finds $100 of electricity now powers an EV nearly three times farther than $100 of gasoline powers a gas car, and buys roughly 40% more heating days via heat pumps than gas boilers.
An Entrepreneur contributor opinion piece argues that AI companies defaulting to English-first product design are overlooking a vast multilingual user base. The piece cites ITU data showing 2.2 billion people remained offline in 2025, mostly in low- and middle-income countries, and warns that simply bolting translation onto English-trained models produces uneven results across languages.
Canadian ICC judge Kimberly Prost has experienced significant disruptions due to U.S. sanctions, including the cancellation of her credit cards and limited access to online services and banking. The sanctions, linked to her involvement in cases related to Israel, Gaza, and Afghanistan, have led to personal inconveniences and financial challenges over the past year. Despite not being legally mandated, many foreign companies have chosen to comply with U.S. restrictions, affecting her daily life.
NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said SpaceX intends to phase out its Falcon and Dragon systems as it focuses on Starship, prompting NASA to consider purchasing two additional crewed launches from Boeing's Starliner. NASA also announced it will spend $359 million to help Boeing rebuild the reaction control thrusters blamed for problems on Starliner's last mission.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed legislation requiring 3D printer makers to build in firearm-blocking technology once ASTM International finalizes an industry standard for such detection. The law only applies to printers sold after a standard exists, leaving current devices unaffected, and California becomes the second state after New York to pass such a rule, with Colorado and Washington considering similar bills. The California DOJ must check quarterly for a published standard from mid-2027 through mid-2029, after which it is no longer obligated to keep checking.
A Falcon 9 rocket launched SpaceX's Crew-13 mission from Cape Canaveral, sending four astronauts to the International Space Station for a six-month stay. The launch, originally planned for mid-September, was delayed so SpaceX could cut into a propellant line and replace a faulty valve in the Dragon spacecraft's propulsion system.