Snowden, Putin Cited As Nobel Peace Candidates Hit Record
By Pierre-Henry Deshayes (AFP) – 23 minutes ago
Oslo — US whistleblower Edward Snowden, Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai and Russian President Vladimir Putin are among the nominees for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, as the Nobel Institute announced Tuesday a record 278 candidates.
"The number of nominations increases almost every year, which shows a growing interest in the prize," the head of the institute, Geir Lundestad, told AFP.
The Nobel committee convened Tuesday for the first time this year to examine the candidate list and will announce the laureate in Oslo on October 10.
As usual, the committee refused to reveal the identity of any of the nominees, but Lundestad said that 47 of the 278 candidates were organisations.
Even though the list is kept secret for at least 50 years, the sponsors can choose to reveal the name of their nominee.
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