Human rights crusaders eye Nobel Prize (AAP)

The 2008 Nobel Peace Prize could go to a Chinese or Russian activist in an attempt to highlight the human rights situation in those countries, where the award would unleash strong reactions, experts said ahead of Friday's announcement. Beijing has pre-emptively voiced strong opposition to such an honour being bestowed on a Chinese activist, calling on the five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee to make "the right choice". Now that the Beijing Olympics are over, many observers however predict the committee this year could choose to send a stinging reminder to the Chinese regime to stick to its vow to improve human rights after the games. Nineteen years after the prize went to the Dalai Lama, the head of the International Peace Research Institute in Oslo, Stein Toennesson, says Hu Jia, an imprisoned Chinese campaigner for civil... [read full story]