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NEW YORK: Navi Pillay did not pick up the phone. When the Norwegian Nobel Committee called on Friday, the 85-year-old South African jurist was at a conference of human rights lawyers in Nuremberg, and the committee's chair, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, could only announce her the winner of the 2026 Peace Prize and plead from the Oslo podium that she answer the next Norwegian number.

Anne Carson stands out among authors adhering to a single genre of writing. For Carson, this year's recipient of Nobel prize for literature often blended verse, prose, dialogue and translation. Indeed it is a genre defying mix. Small wonder, Swedish Academy which awards the prize, called her "bold and inventive oeuvre".

Jeffrey Archer, British writer and politician synonymous with pot-boilers, page-three scandals and perjury, but also page-turners that were among the biggest publishing blockbusters of all times, has died at 86. Archer was a household name in India, and incidentally sold more copies his books here than in his home turf, the UK, owing to the sheer number of Indian readers of his English-language thrillers and high-octane political family dramas, hanging on to every word of the prolific author printed in cheap pirated paperbacks sold on every Indian city’s footpaths and traffic intersections.

A seismic change is underway, redefining work, value and what it means to be human in Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI is not just disrupting industries; it is beginning to outperform humans in areas once considered exclusively theirs, which are complex reasoning, creativity and emotional intelligence. It is envisaged as AI advances, it will displace millions of jobs while also creating once-in-a-generation opportunity for those ready to build, innovate and lead. However, defining question of our time where machines can learn, decide and stimulate emotion, what remains uniquely is human concerns.

Few noted individuals are remembered after their passing, even if they reach the landmark of 100 years. But eminent jazz saxophonist, John Coltrane, belongs to a hardier tribe.

There’s nothing artificial about the concern over what devastations artificial intelligence (AI) could wreck upon humankind. At four different and distinct layers these concerns are being articulated, though at times denied by some uninformed know-it-alls, like Donald Trump, the US president.

Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) poses significant, disproportionate harms to women due to built-in algorithmic biases, lack of regulatory oversight, and historical imbalances in data collection. This is because many foundational artificial intelligence models were trained on datasets overwhelmingly dominated by white men (white people), the technology inherently fails women at much higher rates. Such failures manifest in profound social, legal and psychological consequences.

A Singapore diplomat, a Myanmar activist and a Bangladesh aid-giver will be given the prestigious Magsaysay award this year. Magsaysay award is considered Asia's version of Nobel Peace Prize.

India's solar ambitions have begun to produce substantial findings post passage of Aditya-Li, the country's first dedicated space-based observatory mission to study the sun. It can change the understanding of one of nature's most fundamental problems.

Dolly Parton was around six when she wrote her first song ‘Little Tiny Tussletop’, an ode to her doll with cornsilk hair. She got her first real guitar when she was eight.