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   From: mike.darling@thinkprogress.org   
      
   OSLO -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has been nominated for   
   the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize — but the conflict in Ukraine is   
   also likely to be on the Nobel committee's agenda.   
      
   A record 278 candidates, including 47 organizations, received   
   nominations for the 2014 prize, said the Norwegian Nobel   
   Institute's director, Geir Lundestad.   
      
   Committee members who met on Tuesday added their own proposals   
   with a focus on recent turmoil around the globe.   
   "Part of the purpose of the committee's first meeting is to take   
   into account recent events, and committee members try to   
   anticipate what could be the potential developments in political   
   hotspots," Lundestad said.   
      
   Russia seized control of Ukraine's Crimea region after President   
   Viktor Yanukovich was ousted on Feb. 22, prompting the most   
   serious confrontation between Moscow and the West since the end   
   of the Cold War.   
      
   On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Putin to   
   stand down and said the U.S. is looking for ways to de-escalate   
   the mounting tensions.   
      
   "It is clear that Russia has been working hard to create a   
   pretext for being able to invade further," Kerry said. "It is   
   not appropriate to invade a country, and at the end of a barrel   
   of a gun dictate what you are trying to achieve. That is not   
   21st-century, G-8, major nation behavior."   
      
   Pope Francis and former U.S. National Security Agency contractor   
   Edward Snowden also received nominations as well as Putin.   
      
   Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai, shot in the head by the   
   Taliban for advocating girls' right to education, is also   
   thought to be among the candidates, as are several Russian   
   dissidents who have spoken out for human rights.   
      
   Conflicts between protesters and the governments of Thailand and   
   Venezuela are also expected to be debated by the committee.   
      
   "We are getting an increasing number of nominations from people   
   in countries that have never submitted nominations before,"   
   Lundestad said.   
      
   Although nominations are kept secret for 50 years, thousands of   
   people around the world are eligible to propose candidates,   
   including any member of any national assembly, and many make   
   their picks public.   
      
   The committee narrowed its list to between 25 and 40 on Tuesday   
   and it will cut its list to about a dozen by the end of April.   
      
   First awarded in 1901, the prize includes 8 million Swedish   
   crowns ($1.24 million) in cash. The winner will be announced on   
   the second Friday of October and the prize will be presented on   
   Dec. 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.   
      
   http://www.cbsnews.com/news/vladimir-putin-nominated-for-nobel-   
   peace-prize/   
      
       
      
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