WASHINGTON • The Nobel Prize for Peace will be announced today in Oslo. There's no shoo-in candidate this year, but a think-tank in Norway has issued a shortlist of front runners.
Here are the top five candidates, according to Mr Kristian Berg Harpviken, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo.
THE WHITE HELMETS
In besieged rebel-held areas of Syria, an all-volunteer team known as the Syrian Civil Defence is on the front lines rescuing and treating civilians trapped within the country's many battlefields.
By some counts, the group, better known by the nickname "White Helmets", saved up to 60,000 people, often at tremendous risk to themselves.
SVETLANA GANNUSHKINA
The Russian mathematician and human rights activist has been a contender for almost a decade.
She is a champion of migrant rights, an advocate for a Russian reckoning with the evils of the Soviet past, and a defender of justice and the rule of law.
Ms Gannushkina, 74, is Mr Harpviken's top pick this year.
JEANNE NACATCHE BANYERE, JEANNETTE KAHINDO BINDU AND DENIS MUKWEGE
The fractious conflicts that have roiled Congo for years have seen the hideous use of rape as a tactic of war.
Through their church group, "Mama" Jeanne and "Mama" Jeannette have sought out the many survivors of rape and built a network of support for the victims.
Dr Mukwege, a leading gynaecologist, has aided thousands of victims of rape and played a key role in publicising the brutality of the violence to the outside world.
ERNEST MONIZ AND ALI AKBAR SALEHI
Mr Harpviken believes that among all the politicians and diplomats involved in negotiating Iran's nuclear deal with world powers, the US secretary of energy and the head of the Iranian atomic agency perhaps deserve the greatest recognition.
EDWARD SNOWDEN
The former United States National Security Agency whistleblower may be a bete noire in Washington, but he commands tremendous respect around the world.
His nomination by a pair of Norwegian academics this year triggered fevered speculation over whether Russia, his current host-in-exile, would let him leave to receive the award - and what would happen once he lands in Norway.
WASHINGTON POST
