There are 273 candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize this year, the second-highest number of nominees ever, and the laureate(s) will be announced Friday before the prize ceremony in December. Here are some notable candidates for this year’s award:
- Pope Francis: Nominated for his tireless work in bringing attention to the marginalized and terminally ill Catholic Church
- Mussie Zerai: The Eritrean priest and humanitarian brings some strong stats to the table with over 5,000 refugees saved and 5.2 peace-above-replacement value
- Denis Mukwege: The gynecologist has been working to treat rape victims in Africa, which is really important, but the peace prize already did a women thing last year, so the odds are against him
- Angela Merkel: Could enslave rest of Europe but has chosen not to
- Juan Manuel Santos and Timoleon Jimenez: Favored by many oddsmakers, the Colombian president and FARC guerilla leader are backed by a high-profile $2 million Nobel Prize Award billboard and print promotional campaign
- Dan Quinn: Has already restored order and discipline to the Atlanta Falcons locker room
- The Nobel Peace Prize Committee: The five-person committee was anonymously nominated for their tireless, outstanding work on behalf of the Nobel Foundation
- PeaceMaker 2000: While still dealing with issues of overheating and runtime errors, the battery-powered mechanized peacekeeping unit has contributed to a 15 percent drop in conflict in several controlled laboratory experiments
- Lilly White: The noted Phoenix-area 2-month-old is singlehandedly responsible for saving the crumbling relationship of her parents