Israeli hostage families want Nobel Peace Prize for Trump

Israeli hostage families want Nobel Peace Prize for Trump
US President Donald Trump speaks to the press outside the Oval Office after landing on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, Oct. 5, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 06 October 2025
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Israeli hostage families want Nobel Peace Prize for Trump

Israeli hostage families want Nobel Peace Prize for Trump
  • Hostages and Missing Families Forum said Trump made “possible what many said was impossible”
  • Trump has publicly said he wants the Nobel Peace Prize, though experts say his chances are slim

JERUSALEM: An Israeli advocacy group campaigning for the release of hostages in Gaza on Monday called for US President Donald Trump to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his “determination to bring peace” to the region.
In a letter sent to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said Trump made “possible what many said was impossible.”
“We strongly urge you to award President Trump the Nobel Peace Prize because he has vowed he will not rest and will not stop until every last hostage is back home,” the forum said in a statement, citing the letter.
“At this very moment, President Trump’s comprehensive plan to release all remaining hostages and finally end this terrible war is on the table,” it added.
“In this past year, no leader or organization has contributed more to peace around the world than President Trump,” the forum said.
The call comes as high-stakes negotiations between Israel and Hamas are set to begin later on Monday in Egypt, based on a 20-point plan announced by Trump last week.
Trump has publicly said he wants the Nobel Peace Prize, though experts say his chances are slim.
The US leader claims to have resolved six or seven wars in as many months — a figure experts say is grossly exaggerated.


Thais navigate flooded homes and ancient temples by boat

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Thais navigate flooded homes and ancient temples by boat

Thais navigate flooded homes and ancient temples by boat
AYUTTHAYA: For three months, Thai retiree Somkid Kijniyom has been sleeping in a small boat surviving on dry food handouts in the waist-high floodwaters that have filled his home.
Relentless rains have plunged Thailand’s Ayutthaya province, home to a UNESCO-listed ancient city, into what residents say is its worst flooding in years.
Murky waters have turned residential areas into vast, dangerous canals, reaching depths of up to three meters (10 feet) and creeping up the ancient capital’s iconic temple ruins and gilded shrines.
“I have to endure life. I don’t know what to do,” said Somkid, who eventually constructed a high platform on top of tables to create a safe, dry sleeping area instead of the boat.
But he said the situation was “inconvenient,” enduring unusable toilets, subsisting on food donations and navigating dangerous currents in his boat.
“I hope the water will subside soon,” he said.
The rainy season’s floods affected over 60,000 of the province’s households and killed 18 people this year, Ayutthaya’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office said Friday.
It said that 38 temples in the area were also affected.
Vichai Asa-nok, who had to move out of his flooded home to a temple-run shelter, said the waters “came fast, very fast.”
“The situation has become very difficult,” he told AFP, with the flooding more extensive and lasting longer than in previous years.
Residents claimed the unusual duration — almost four months — and severity were largely due to mismanagement.
Community leader Boonchob Thongseejud said that authorities failed to release water into nearby fields, effectively rendering villages a “rest stop for water” before it gushes south down the Chao Phraya river to Bangkok and into the Gulf of Thailand.
He said water levels had surpassed those seen in a 2011 crisis by approximately 40 centimeters.
While the government has offered 9,000 baht ($280) in aid per household affected, some residents felt it was not enough.
Vichai said the sum is barely enough to purchase basic materials such as plywood to elevate homes, let alone the up to 3,000 baht for cleanup.
“It should be in the tens of thousands,” he said.