The prime minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, was awarded the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize Friday. The Nobel committee applauded Ahmed's "efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation," as well as his "decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea."
Ahmed became prime minister in April of 2018, and in just a few months "oversaw the release of the country's political prisoners, condemning their torture and also freeing jailed journalists," Sky News reports. He's also facilitated talks with the country's political opponents and showed compassion toward exiles, inviting them back. Sky also reports that half of Ahmed's Cabinet is filled with women, a "progressive" move. But his most monumental accomplishment was to help secure a peace agreement with Eritrea, a country with which Ethiopia engaged in a border war from 1998 to 2000. A peace deal was signed last year.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Gladiator II: Paul Mescal 'mesmerising' in 'relentlessly entertaining' sequelThe Week Recommends Ridley Scott's 'primary aim' is fun, in this 'exhilarating' blockbuster
-
Bluesky: the social media platform causing a mass X-odusThe Explainer Social media platform is enjoying a new influx but can it usurp big rivals?
-
Why Justin Welby has stepped down as Archbishop of CanterburyIn the Spotlight 'Lack of curiosity' over claims of abuse of dozens of boys by Christian camp leader had made Welby's position untenable
-
New DNA tests of Pompeii dead upend popular storiesSpeed Read An analysis of skeletal remains reveals that some Mount Vesuvius victims have been wrongly identified
-
NASA's Europa Clipper blasts off, seeking an oceanSpeed Read The ship is headed toward Jupiter on a yearslong journey
-
Detailed map of fly's brain holds clues to human mindSpeed Read This remarkable fruit fly brain analysis will aid in future human brain research
-
Blind people will listen to next week's total eclipseSpeed Read While they can't see the event, they can hear it with a device that translates the sky's brightness into music
-
Melting polar ice is messing with global timekeepingSpeed Read Ice loss caused by climate change is slowing the Earth's rotation
-
An amphibian that produces milk?speed read Caecilians, worm-like amphibians that live underground, produce a milk-like substance for their hatchlings
-
Jupiter's Europa has less oxygen than hopedspeed read Scientists say this makes it less likely that Jupiter's moon harbors life
-
Why February 29 is a leap daySpeed Read It all started with Julius Caesar
