SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize will be announced October 11. 2014's been a tough year for peace, with so many places in the world embroiled in war, suffering and ferment. But there are a few names that seem to keep coming up for the prize. Pope Francis has been nominated and Malala Yousafzai, the 17-year-old advocate for education and women's rights. Then there are few names that may be surprises - Edward Snowden, the former national security agency contractor who revealed a lot of agency secrets, Chelsea Manning, the former U.S. soldier known as Bradley Manning, who's serving a 35-year sentence for disclosing classified information through WikiLeaks, and Vladimir Putin. The International Academy of Spiritual Unity and Cooperation of Peoples of the World nominated the president of Russia for his efforts to prevent the U.S. from launching airstrikes on the Assad regime. Putin's been nominated despite Ukraine and Chechnya and Georgia and supplying arms to the Assad regime in Syria. The group said that Mr. Putin is a promoter of peace. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.