- France mourns Mayotte victims amid uncertainy over government
- UK economy stagnant in third quarter in fresh setback
- Sweden says China denied request for prosecutors to probe ship linked to cut undersea cables
- African players in Europe: Salah leads Golden Boot race after brace
- Global stock markets edge higher as US inflation eases rate fears
- German far-right AfD to march in city hit by Christmas market attack
- Ireland centre Henshaw signs IRFU contract extension
- Bangladesh launches $5bn graft probe into Hasina's family
- US probes China chip industry on 'anticompetitive' concerns
- Biden commutes sentences for 37 of 40 federal death row inmates
- Clock ticks down on France government nomination
- 'Devastated' Australian tennis star Purcell provisionally suspended for doping
- Mozambique on edge as judges rule on disputed election
- Mobile cinema brings Tunisians big screen experience
- Philippines says to acquire US Typhon missile system
- Honda and Nissan to launch merger talks
- Police arrest suspect who set woman on fire in New York subway
- China vows 'cooperation' over ship linked to severed Baltic Sea cables
- Australian tennis star Purcell provisionally suspended for doping
- Asian markets track Wall St rally as US inflation eases rate fears
- Luxury Western goods line Russian stores, three years into sanctions
- Wallace and Gromit return with comic warning about AI dystopia
- Philippine military says will acquire US Typhon missile system
- Afghan bread, the humble centrepiece of every meal
- Honda and Nissan expected to begin merger talks
- 'Draconian' Vietnam internet law heightens free speech fears
- Israeli women mobilise against ultra-Orthodox military exemptions
- Asian markets track Wall St rally as US inflation eases rate worries
- Tens of thousands protest in Serbian capital over fatal train station accident
- Trump vows to 'stop transgender lunacy' as a top priority
- Daniels throws five TDs as Commanders down Eagles, Lions and Vikings win
- 'Who's next?': Misinformation and online threats after US CEO slaying
- Only 12 trucks delivered food, water in North Gaza Governorate since October: Oxfam
- Brightline Interactive Successfully Delivers A Scalable Immersive Simulation To A Global Government Service Integrator, Positioning Itself As A Leading Operating System For Processing And Visualizing Complex Information In 3D Space
- Langers edge Tiger and son Charlie in PNC Championship playoff
- Explosive batsman Jacobs gets New Zealand call-up for Sri Lanka series
- Holders PSG edge through on penalties in French Cup
- Slovak PM Fico on surprise visit to Kremlin to talk gas deliveries
- Daniels throw five TDs as Commanders down Eagles
- Atalanta fight back to take top spot in Serie A, Roma hit five
- Mancini admits regrets over leaving Italy for Saudi Arabia
- Run machine Ayub shines as Pakistan sweep South Africa
- Slovak PM Fico on surprise visit to Kremlin
- Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 35
- 'Incredible' Liverpool must stay focused: Slot
- Maresca 'absolutely happy' as title-chasing Chelsea drop points in Everton draw
- Salah happy wherever career ends after inspiring Liverpool rout
- Three and easy as Dortmund move into Bundesliga top six
- Liverpool hit Spurs for six, Man Utd embarrassed by Bournemouth
- Netanyahu vows to act with 'force, determination' against Yemen's Huthis
Myanmar, climate activists among Nobel Peace Prize nominees
Myanmar's defenders of democracy, a Belarus opposition leader, the pope, and environmental activists like Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough have emerged as likely nominees for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.
Following the January 31 deadline for nominations, several names are believed to have made it onto this year's list, as those eligible to nominate are allowed to reveal their choice.
But the complete list is kept a well-guarded secret for 50 years, as stipulated by the Nobel statutes.
On Tuesday, the first anniversary of Myanmar's February 1, 2021 military coup that toppled Aung San Suu Kyi, a Norwegian lawmaker said he had nominated Myanmar's self-proclaimed shadow government, the "National Unity Government".
"It's the only legitimate government in Myanmar", Ola Elvestuen, a member of parliament for the small Liberal Party, told AFP.
The NUG was formed last April and is made up of dissident lawmakers in hiding or exile, many of them from Suu Kyi's party.
The country was plunged into chaos after the junta grabbed power by alleging massive fraud during elections in late 2020 which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won by a landslide.
Myanmar's civil disobedience movement has also been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, proposed by a Norwegian university professor.
Thousands of people are eligible to submit nominations for the prestigious prize, including lawmakers and cabinet members of all countries, former laureates and some university professors.
The five members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee can also submit their own personal preferences at their first meeting of the year, on March 4.
- Knee-deep for the climate -
Many of the names believed to have been put forth this year have been in the running for several years, including Pope Francis, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, and tireless British environmentalist David Attenborough, who has been nominated together with UN biodiversity experts.
Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya is the favourite candidate of the Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO).
She "has played a leading role in non-violently challenging (President Alexander) Lukashenko and the Belarusian authorities, calling both for fair elections and an end to violence against those demonstrating against the abuses of the current regime", said PRIO director Henrik Urdal.
Meanwhile, another Norwegian MP said he had nominated Tuvalu's Foreign Minister Simon Kofe, who made headlines for giving a speech to the COP26 climate summit while filmed knee-deep in ocean water.
"Tuvalu and the other Pacific island nations are doing an important job in waking us up to solve the world's greatest threat to long-term peace: The climate crisis", Guri Melby wrote in a post on Twitter.
Other names cited in Norwegian media include the Arctic Council, WikiLeaks, whistleblower Chelsea Manning, Iranian women's rights activist Masih Alinejad who campaigns against mandatory use of the hijab, and NATO, as tensions flare between the West and Russia over Ukraine.
The world's focus has been on the Covid-19 pandemic for two years, and individuals or organisations fighting for better health are also likely to have been nominated.
Being nominated for a prize is however in no way a sign of approval by the Nobel committee.
The name of this year's laureate will be announced in October in Oslo.
Last year, the prize went to two journalists fighting for freedom of information, Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Russia's Dmitry Muratov.
C.Kovalenko--BTB