Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado appeared in public Thursday for the first time in 11 months in Norway as her daughter accepted the Nobel Peace Prize award on her behalf.

Machado had been in hiding since Jan. 9, when she was briefly detained after joining supporters in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. Her recognition came after mounting a peaceful challenge to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government.

The crowd chanted, ‘Freedom!’ as Machado stepped onto the hotel balcony in Oslo, Norway, and waved to her supporters before joining them in singing Venezuela’s national anthem.

In an audio recording of a phone call published on the Nobel website, Machado said she wouldn’t be able to arrive to Oslo in time for the award ceremony, but that many people had ‘risked their lives’ to get her there.

‘I am very grateful to them, and this is a measure of what this recognition means to the Venezuelan people,’ she said.

Her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, accepted the Nobel Prize in her place, saying that her mother ‘wants to live in a free Venezuela’ and ‘will never give up on that purpose.’ 

‘That is why we all know, and I know, that she will be back in Venezuela very soon,’ Sosa added.

Outside the hotel, Machado interacted and hugged people in the crowd, as they snapped pictures and sprinkled her with chants of ‘President! President!’

‘I want you all back in Venezuela,’ Machado said.

Machado’s appearance came after President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced the U.S. seized a Venezuelan oil tanker, a move that could further strain relations with Maduro’s government, which already is subject to extensive U.S. sanctions targeting the country’s oil sector.

Since September, U.S. military strikes have targeted alleged narcotraffickers near Venezuela at least 22 times, killing 87 people. Trump has also recently said Maduro’s ‘days are numbered’ and refused to rule out a ground operation in Venezuela. 

Steve Yates, senior research fellow for China and national security policy at The Heritage Foundation, said on ‘Fox News @ Night’ on Wednesday thatMachado’svisitoverseaswas an opportunity to get ‘greater international support’ for her cause, adding that Trump might benefit from having more of America’s allies in Europe support a ‘non-invasion’ approach.

The Venezuelan opposition leader has previously been outspoken in her support for the Trump administration’s actions against Maduro’s regime and the country’s narcotrafficking network.

After the award was announced in October, the newly minted Nobel Peace Prize winner dedicated the award to both Trump and the ‘suffering people of Venezuela.’

Machado said during a ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ interview last month that Venezuela was standing at the ‘threshold of freedom,’ highlighting her new ‘freedom manifesto’ that envisions a future without the Maduro regime.

Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Trump administration is weighing whether to pursue terrorism-related sanctions against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), as officials review allegations the agency has ties to Hamas and consider steps that could further pressure its leadership and operations, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. 

The United Nations agency provides aid, schooling, healthcare, shelter and social services to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. U.N. officials have described UNRWA as the backbone of Gaza’s aid effort during the two-year war between Israel and Hamas, but the Trump administration has accused the group of ties to Hamas – an allegation the agency vehemently disputes.

Washington, once UNRWA’s biggest donor, froze funding in January 2024 after Israel accused roughly a dozen staff members of involvement in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that triggered the war.

In October, Secretary of State Marco Rubio referred to UNRWA as a subsidiary of Hamas.

‘UNRWA’s not going to play any role in it,’ Rubio said at the time when asked whether the agency would assist in delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza. ‘The United Nations is here. They’re on the ground. We’re willing to work with them if they can make it work, but not UNRWA. UNRWA became a subsidiary of Hamas.’

Reuters reported it was unclear whether recent internal discussions focused on sanctioning the entire agency or specific officials or operations, and that U.S. officials have not yet settled on what type of sanctions they might pursue.

The sources said the State Department has discussed declaring UNRWA a ‘foreign terrorist organization,’ or FTO – a step that would financially isolate the agency.

Any broad move against UNRWA could disrupt refugee aid across the region, as the agency is already facing a severe funding crisis. Such sanctions would be highly unusual, since the U.S. is both a U.N. member and the host nation of the body that created the agency in 1949.

William Deere, who heads UNRWA’s Washington office, said the group would be ‘disappointed’ if officials were discussing an FTO designation, calling such a step ‘unprecedented and unwarranted.’

He pointed to multiple investigations – including one by the U.S. National Intelligence Council – that concluded UNRWA remains a neutral and essential humanitarian actor.

The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. The U.S. and Israel have maintained tough positions towards the agency, particularly in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

President Donald Trump in February reaffirmed that the U.S. would not fund UNRWA. In the executive order, Trump said that ‘UNRWA has reportedly been infiltrated by members of groups long designated by the Secretary of State as foreign terrorist organizations, and UNRWA employees were involved in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.’

When the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in April 2025 demanded Israel work with UNRWA, Washington backed Israel, saying it was under no obligation to work with the agency and had ‘ample grounds to question UNRWA’s impartiality.’

UNRWA announced in August 2024 the end of an investigation by the Office of Internal Oversight Services into whether its staff participated in the attacks, as Israel claimed.

The probe examined 19 employees and resulted in nine dismissals over evidence that ‘could indicate’ involvement. The investigation found one case with no evidence of involvement and nine others in which ‘the evidence obtained by OIOS was insufficient’ to prove participation, the agency said.

Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf and Reuters contributed to this report.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged a Ukrainian woman with helping to carry out dozens of cyberattacks on critical U.S. infrastructure, working with Russian-backed hackers, according to newly unsealed indictments.

The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is also offering up to $10 million for information leading to others tied to one of the pro-Russia hacking groups she was allegedly affiliated with.

Victoria Eduardovna Dubranova, 33, was arraigned Tuesday on a second federal indictment after being extradited to the U.S. earlier this year.

Dubranova, also known as Vika, Tory and SovaSonya, pleaded not guilty to charges related to her alleged work with two Russian-backed operations, CyberArmyofRussia_Reborn (CARR) and NoName057(16).

Prosecutors say both groups receive backing from Russian government bodies to push Russian geopolitical interests.

According to the DOJ, CARR was founded and funded by Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU, and operated a popular Telegram channel with more than 75,000 followers.

Officials allege the group’s attacks caused real-world harm, including damage to public water systems that spilled hundreds of thousands of gallons of drinking water.

They also cited a November 2024 breach at a Los Angeles meat processing plant that spoiled thousands of pounds of product and released ammonia.

‘Today’s actions demonstrate the Department’s commitment to disrupting malicious Russian cyber activity — whether conducted directly by state actors or their criminal proxies — aimed at furthering Russia’s geopolitical interests,’ said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. 

‘We remain steadfast in defending essential services, including food and water systems Americans rely on each day, and holding accountable those who seek to undermine them.’

NoName057(16) is described as a Russia-linked hacktivist group responsible for more than 1,500 attacks between March 2022 and June 2025.

Its targets included government agencies, telecommunications firms, the military, financial institutions and transportation authorities across Ukraine, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Norway, Poland and Sweden.

The group also claimed responsibility for cyberattacks on Dutch infrastructure ahead of and during the 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague.

These groups ‘are actively engaging in opportunistic, low-sophistication malicious cyber activity to gain notoriety and create mayhem,’ said Chris Butera, CISA’s acting deputy executive assistant director for cybersecurity.

Dubranova faces up to five years in the NoName case and as many as 27 years in the CARR matter. Trials are set for February and April 2026.

Rewards for Justice announced its $10 million reward with a pointed message aimed at other NoName participants: ‘They call themselves ‘NoName.’ But maybe YOU can name some names,’ it said.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the DOJ for further comment.