Nobel Peace Prize: Bookies favour Trump, Kim, Moon Jae
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another possible laureate is nadia murad a 25-year-old yazidi woman who was kidnapped by islamic state militants in 2014 and endured three months as a sex slave before managing to escape1 the bookies odds for the nobel peace prize winner point towards the koreans or donald trump. the experts are betting on the fight against sexual violence or defenders of the press1 at 0900 gmt the annual nobel prize-giving week reaches its peak as the five-member norwegian committee ends the guessing game by announcing this years winner1 and anticipation is likely to be heightened after the postponement of this years literature prize for the first time in 70 years over a rape scandal that came to light as part of the metoo movement which took off exactly a year ago1 this year a total of 331 individuals and organisations were nominated for the prestigious peace award almost a record number. but with the list a closely guarded secret guessing who might be a contender is largely a game of chance1 among the bookmakers the choice was largely unanimous with north korean leader kim jong un and his south korean counterpart moon jae-in frontrunners for the prize for their efforts at rapprochement between the two nations1 but choosing kim may be a step too far for the norwegian committee given the uns damning verdict on north koreas long-standing and ongoing systematic widespread and gross violations of human rights1 another unexpected favourite is donald trump who at 7-1 is one of three frontrunners flagged by online bookies betsson with the odds suggesting the bombastic american president is 10 times more likely to win than figures like frances emmanuel macron or russias vladimir putin1 taking a step back from the international spotlight several nobel experts see the prize honouring those involved in the fight against sexual violence at a time when the aftershocks of the metoo movement are still making waves around the globe1 a top contender would likely be congolese gynaecologist denis mukwege better known as doctor miracle who has spent two decades helping women recover from the violence and trauma of rape in war-torn eastern democratic republic of congo1 but all speculation ends friday when the prize is unveiled in oslo1 one area yet to be honoured by the nobel committee is the campaign to protect press freedom which has been spearheaded by organisations like the committee to protect journalists cpj and reporters without borders rsf1 such an award would be a nod to the role of a free press as a pillar of democracy at a time when the profession is increasingly under threat from repression violence and the proliferation of fake news1 other potential laureates include the world food programme the un refugee agency unhcr jailed saudi blogger raif badawi and russian human rights champions like the ngo memorial and opposition newspaper novaya gazeta1 last year the prize was won by the international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons ican1 the 2018 nobel season opened on monday with two immunologists james allison of the us and tasuku honjo of japan winning the medicine prize for research into how the bodys natural defences can fight cancer1 tuesdays physics prize was won by three scientists arthur ashkin of the united states gerard mourou of france and donna strickland of canada for inventing optical lasers that paved the way for advanced precision instruments used in corrective eye surgery1 and on wednesday us scientists frances arnold and george smith and british researcher gregory winter won the chemistry prize for applying the principles of evolution to develop proteins used to make everything from biofuels to medicine1 this years award season will end on monday with the economics prize1 up to three nominees can share the prize which consists of a gold medal a diploma and a cheque for nine million swedish kronor around 1 million or 867000 euros1 the award will be presented at a ceremony in oslo on december 10 the anniversary of the 1896 death of prize creator alfred nobel a swedish philanthropist and scientist1