Tag Archives: nobel peace prize

2 Big Stories

Widely questioned as being rather premature, and merited more by vision than achievements so far, President Obama’s award is making the headlines this morning:
Barack Obama wins 2009 Nobel peace prize (Telegraph)

Less than a year after taking office, Mr Obama won the prestigious award after calling for worldwide disarmament.

He had also worked to restart the stalled Middle East peace process since taking office in January.

In an announcement in Oslo, he was honoured “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” the head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Thorbjoern Jagland said.

“Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as (Mr) Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future,” the committee said.

“His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.”

The committee said it attached special importance to Mr Obama’s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.

Royal Mail strike – Christmas come early?
And not in a good way…