The Hague, NETHERLANDS (AP) — Navi Pillay, the veteran South African-born jurist who won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, made a name for herself defending the rights of Nelson Mandela and leading a panel that found that Israel committed genocide in Gaza.
She has also worked for years as a judge in international courts that have sought to deliver justice for atrocities such as the Rwanda genocide and to adjudicate divisive issues of law between nations.
Pillay, 85, heard she had won the prestigious award while attending a law forum in Nuremberg, Germany, the location of the trials of Nazi war criminals that helped lay the foundations of international law.
Pillay’s win brings renewed attention to U.S. President Donald Trump’s attacks on the International Criminal Court, where Pillay was a judge from 2003 to 2008.
The court was created in 2002 to be a last stop for the most serious international crimes, such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and aggression.
The United States and Israel are not members, but 125 other countries have signed the court’s foundational treaty, the Rome Statute. The ICC becomes involved when nations are unable or unwilling to prosecute crimes on their territory. The court’s newest member, Ukraine, formally joined in January.
Judges at the court have convicted 11 people. One of the cases that Pillay was involved with as an ICC judge centered on Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga, the first to have been convicted at the court. He was sentenced in 2012 to 14 years in prison for conscripting child soldiers.
But Trump accuses the court of being anti-American and his administration has sanctioned 13 of the ICC’s staff members, among them key prosecutors and nine judges including the court’s Japanese President Tomoko Akane.
In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly last month, he urged member states to quit the “rogue institution immediately.” There are fears the court as a whole could be sanctioned, a move that could seriously hamper its ability to mete out justice.
Pillay left the ICC in 2008 to serve as U.N. human rights chief. In 2019 she returned to The Hague, to serve as a judge at another court, The International Court of Justice.
She is currently sitting as an ad hoc judge at the ICJ in the ongoing genocide case against Myanmar.
Set up in the aftermath of World War II, the ICJ is the highest court of the United Nations and adjudicates disputes between countries. Certain U.N. bodies, including the General Assembly, can request advisory opinions from the court’s 15 judges.
All 193 U.N. member states are members of the ICJ, though not all of them automatically recognize its jurisdiction.
When countries do not have a national on the court’s permanent, 15-judge panel, they can appoint an expert of their choice. Gambia selected Pillay when it accused Myanmar of committing genocide against the Rohingya minority group.
Pillay served as the head of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the U.N.-backed court established to prosecute the perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Speaking Friday after hearing of the Nobel prize, she said that one of her proudest judicial achievements was the Rwanda tribunal’s groundbreaking prosecutions of sexual violence as a war crime for the first time.
Sexual violence is often seen as collateral damage or even as a reward for soldiers in times of conflict, Pillay told reporters. “We finally recognized that as an international crime in the Rwandan tribunal. I am proud of that,” she said.
The Rwandan Tribunal also was the first international court to prosecute genocide. The crime was codified after WWII and the Holocaust as constituting acts “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group."
In her capacity as ad hoc judge at the ICJ, Pillay will soon rule on whether that definition applies to Myanmar.
South African-born jurist and former U.N. human rights chief Navanethem "Navi" Pillay, speaks at the Nuremberg Forum in Nuremberg, Germany, Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, following the announcement that she had been awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. (Daniel Karmann/dpa via AP)
Max Verstappen snatched pole position for the Formula 1 Singapore sprint race in a hectic qualifying session Friday, while Mercedes' George Russell seized a chance to make up ground on standings leader Kimi Antonelli.
Verstappen went fastest by 0.120 of a second from Russell, whose strategy of “all-out attack” this week leaves him starting Saturday's sprint five places ahead of Mercedes teammate Antonelli. Charles Leclerc begins the sprint third for McLaren.
After winning last week's Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia with an upgraded Red Bull car, Verstappen has now shown he can build on that success on a very different sort of track. Starting on pole is extra valuable in Singapore because overtaking is difficult on the tight street circuit.
The sprint is Russell’s best chance of challenging Antonelli this weekend because the British driver must serve a grid penalty for Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix.
Russell's power unit suddenly failed Sunday during the Bahrain Grand Prix, leaving him with a penalty this week for an engine change.
After that, it's "all-out attack, just trying to enjoy the weekend," Russell said Thursday. "Obviously not an ideal situation, but Singapore is a place I love and I’ll try and carve my way through the pack.”
On a day when Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff slammed as ‘brainless’ the claims that Mercedes would favor Antonelli over Russell, the Italian produced one of his worst qualifying performances of the year, nearly seven-tenths of a second off the pace.
Russell is using an older-specification car in Singapore, while Antonelli tries to make the best of an updated package which hasn't worked as expected in recent races.
With the final sprint race of the season Saturday, Russell and his rivals will have an unusual daylight race on the streets of the southeast Asian city state, before the typical night race Sunday.
Russell said Singapore was “probably the second-bottom of the list” in terms of the ease of fighting back after a penalty, and predicted he may need to serve another for an engine change before the season is over.
It's a big contrast with the last time Antonelli had to serve a penalty. Mercedes changed his engine for the Italian Grand Prix in a planned move, calculating that overtaking was easy enough at Monza that he could limit the damage. He did far more than that and took a statement victory in his home race.
Antonelli finished second behind Verstappen in Malaysia for his sixth podium finish in the last seven races, moving him 84 points clear of Russell in the standings.
With 33 points on offer across Singapore's sprint race and Grand Prix, if Antonelli scores 16 points more than Russell this week, he'd have a shot at sealing the title at the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, on Oct. 25.
Lando Norris may have a fix for his McLaren's straight-line speed problem, but this weekend could still spell the end of his title defense if Antonelli outscores the McLaren driver by 18 points. Leclerc and Verstappen could also be eliminated from contention.
Singapore is always a tough test for drivers because of the heat and humidity. This week, add in a haze of air pollution from forest fires in nearby Indonesia.
The haze was present last week in Malaysia, too. Singapore organizers said Friday they are monitoring the conditions but there are “currently no plans to modify our entertainment activities” around the race.
Cadillac's Valtteri Bottas has plenty of first-hand experience of the local conditions after cycling from Sepang to Singapore this week.
There's also a chance of rain affecting the action on Saturday and Sunday. Not only is a wet street track a tricky proposition, but there's extra scrutiny on the cars after a software bug on a wet track caused the start to be delayed in Malaysia.
The FIA says the software fix rushed out for Sunday's race is ready for use again in Singapore and a new version is coming for the United States Grand Prix.
See AP’s full auto racing coverage here
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands steers his car during the sprint qualifying session ahead of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix in Singapore, Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Britain's George Russell steers his Mercedes at pit line during the first free practice ahead of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix, in Singapore, Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Mercedes driver George Russell, of Britain, sits on his car at pits before the first free practice ahead of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix, in Singapore, Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Workers pose for photos during a hazy day ahead of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix weekend at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore, Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
A gardener waters plants during a hazy day ahead of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix weekend at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore, Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy reacts during an interview ahead of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix weekend at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain adjust his cap at the paddock ahead of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix weekend at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
