A Russian rights activist and an opposition newspaper are both contenders for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize.
The staff of Russia’s Novaya Gazeta newspaper have been nominated for the second time, having first been tipped for the prize back in 2015.
Svetlana Gannushkina, a migration rights activist and chairperson of the Civic Assistance organization, was also nominated. She also won the Right Livelihood Award, a Swedish human rights prize frequently
called the “alternative Nobel Prize,” in September this year.
A record 376 people and organizations have been nominated for the 2016 prize, including mass surveillance whistle-blower Edward Snowden.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC leader Timoleón Jiménez, who signed a historic peace agreement last month, also stand among the likely winners.
A wide variety of organizations and individuals -- from national assemblies to university professors -- have the right to submit nominations for the Nobel Prize, often creating a number of surprising contenders.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was nominated for the honor back in 2014, having been chosen by an obscure Russian organization called the International Academy of Spiritual Unity and Cooperation of Peoples of the World. The group nominated Putin for his efforts in preventing U.S. military intervention in Syria by convincing the Assad regime to surrender its chemical weapons. Putin did not win the award.
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