Nobel Peace Prize to activists from Belarus, Russia, Ukraine

DONKEY – This year, the Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded to the imprisoned Belarusian human rights defender Ales Bialiatsky, the Russian group “Memorial” and the Ukrainian organization “Civil Liberties Center”, the jury of the award announced on Friday.

The head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Berit Reiss-Andersen, said that the judges wanted to honor “three outstanding fighters for human rights, democracy and peaceful coexistence in neighboring countries – Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.”

“Through consistent efforts in favor of human values ​​and anti-militarism and the principles of law, this year’s laureates have revived and honored Alfred Nobel’s vision of peace and brotherhood among peoples, a vision that is most needed in today’s world,” she told reporters in Oslo.

The award follows a tradition of highlighting groups and activists who are trying to prevent conflict, alleviate hardship and protect human rights.

Last year’s winners had a tough time after receiving the award. Journalists Dmitry Muratov from Russia and Maria Ressa from the Philippines are fighting for the survival of their news organizations, defying government efforts to silence them

They were awarded last year for “their efforts to protect freedom of speech, which is a prerequisite for democracy and lasting peace.”

Nobel prize week began on Monday with Swedish scientist Svante Paabo winning the prize in medicine for unlocking the secrets of Neanderthal DNA that provided a key to our immune system.

Three scientists jointly received the Physics Prize on Tuesday. Frenchman Alain Aspect, American John F. Clauser, and Austrian Anton Zeilinger have shown that tiny particles can remain connected to each other even when separated, a phenomenon known as quantum entanglement that can be used for special computing and for encryption of information.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded on Wednesday to Americans Carolyn R. Bertazza and C. Barry Sharpless and to Danish scientist Morten Meldahl for developing a way to “join molecules together” that can be used to study cells, map DNA and develop drugs that can more accurately target diseases such as cancer.

French author Anne Hernaud won this year’s Nobel Prize for Literature on Thursday. The jury praised her for combining fiction and autobiography in books that fearlessly mine her experience as a working-class woman to explore life in France since the 1940s.

The winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Economics will be announced on Monday.

The prize money is SEK 10 million (almost $900,000) and will be presented on December 10. The money comes from a bequest left by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, in 1895.

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