Liberia's President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee and Yemeni women's rights activist Tawakul Karman have been named winners of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the names at a ceremony in the capital, Oslo, on Friday, saying the three were honoured for their "non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work". "We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society," the prize committee said. The committee said that since her inauguration in 2006, Johnson-Sirleaf had "contributed to securing peace in Liberia, to promoting economic and social development, and to strengthening the position of women". Gbowee mobilised and organised women across ethnic and religious dividing lines to bring an end to the long war in Liberia, and to ensure women's participation in elections, said the committee. It said Yemen's Karman had "played a leading part in the struggle for women's rights and for democracy and peace in Yemen" in what was described as the "most trying circumstances both before and during the 'Arab Spring'". Leymah Gbowee will share the prize with her president and Yemeni rights activist [Reuters] The winners will receive their award at a ceremony in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the death in 1896 of prize founder Alfred Nobel. Sirleaf, who became Africa's first elected female head of state in 2005 and is seeking re-election in Tuesday's polls, had been widely tipped to scoop the award. The AFP news agency had cited reports by Norwegian commercial broadcaster TV2, which said on Thursday it had reason to believe Johnson-Sirleaf would be getting the call on Friday. "[sirleaf] is the symbol of the new Africa," said TV2, which in 2009 correctly predicted the surprise win by Barack Obama, the US president. Al Jazeera's Will Jordan, reporting from Liberia's capital, Monrovia, said the prize would be a "big benefit" for Johnson-Sirleaf in her re-election bid. But Jordan said the Liberian leader might struggle to win votes in the capital, as most of her supporters live in rural areas. Observers' favourite played down The head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Thorbjoern Jagland, had told public broadcaster NRK earlier on Thursday that he believed this year's pick would be "well-received all over the world." He said then that the award would be "very powerful ... but at the same time very unifying". While the 2011 pick "is not without conflict", he stressed the prize would "not create as strong reactions from a single country as it did last year" with the choice of Liu Xiaobo. Tawakul Karman won the prize for her non-violent struggle for the safety of women [EPA] He also played down observers' favourite this year: actors within the Arab Spring uprising, which brought the overthrow of autocratic regimes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya and rattled the ones in Syria, Yemen and Bahrain. "There are many other positive developments in the world that we have looked at," he said. "I think it is a little strange that researchers and others have not seen them," he added. Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Institution in Qatar, told Al Jazeera the choice of the three women was "surprising". "People were very excited and thought this year would be the year of the Arab Spring. I am not sure what the rationale was exactly, but I think this might be interpreted as a slight to the Arab world," he said. Esraa Abdel Fattah and Ahmed Maher of Egypt, who founded the April 6th youth movement, had been seen as top picks. The movement, which began on Facebook, "played a key role in maintaining the direction and non-violent character of the uprisings in Egypt," which led to the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in February after 30 years in power, Kristian Berg Harpviken, the head of the Peace Research Institute of Oslo, said. Google executive Wael Ghonim, also a central inspiration to the protests on Tahrir Square in Cairo, was another observer favourite, as was Tunisian blogger Lina Ben Mhenni, who chronicled the revolution in her country on the Internet. Among other names that had been circulating were Sima Samar, an Afghan doctor and women's rights activist, and Russian activist Svetlana Gannushkina and her human rights group, Memorial. The EU, currently battling spiralling debt problems in the eurozone, had also been increasingly mentioned as a possible winner for its role in keeping the peace in most of Europe for more than half a century. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/10/201110773943904523.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- seems like global south women have finally won the greatest token of western affection.

mahiga is funny and can dance. he seems like a nice guy.

Caano_Geel;750153 wrote: Isha allah In 12/13 years I will be the richest man in Somaliland... and isha allah father of five kids. May Allah grant you this dream. Mashallah brother.

hopefully, 12/13 years from now, i'll be in my late mid 30's and married with 8 kids. i doubt i'll be in politics as i've already peaked too early. i'll probably have my own business as i hate working with people.

^^^who cares about your wars, famine, suicide bombs! these boards have been inundated with posts about 'poor old 'somalia' '. you get immuned to it after a while and look for other interesting and newsworthy stuff. jobs was awesome, he created ipads. i doubt any somali person death's, however tragic, warrants the same level of attention. others will tell you the above but politely, but as I'm somali, i hope you get the full picture in its entirely without any gloss or PC.

LOL!

in somaliland but maybe not so in somalia.

everything aspect of my life is shared on this forum lol.

NG, this is defamation. I've never once used that word. I think you owe a public apology.

^ I'll write your obituary.

wow, just had an epiphany!

Tragic news. I was a big fan of Fadumo. AUN

First chapter, you stole my heart away from me Made me believe true love could be We were so close you changed my life How could a love so strong not go right? Where do we go from here? When it's said our love would stay around Why do I even care? The way you looked it can't be found, oh no My heart is broken down I'm turnin' pages once again It's time to make this story end Time to close the book to this story I don't wanna read it no more Time to close the book to this story Another writer will come along, I'm sure Final chapter, I say goodbye, I made you cry I did what I could, you know I tried There's no more to say, so I'll go my way You know it hurts me but that's the price we pay Where do we go from here? When it's said our love would stay around Why do I even care? Because when I looked it can't be found My heart is broken down I'm turning pages once again It's time to make this story end Time to close the book to this story I don't wanna read it no more Time to close the book to this story Another writer will come along, I'm sure Time to close the book to this story I don't wanna read it no more Time to close the book to this story Another writer will come along, I'm sure Time to close the book to this story I don't wanna read it no more Time to close the book to this story Another writer will come along, I'm sure Time to close the book to this story I don't wanna read it no more Time to close the book to this story Another writer will come along, I'm sure

Perfect love song.

Condolences for your loss Aaliyah. May Allah grant him paradise.

kinda saddened by this.

I dont know.

^this is not about qabil. this goes beyond that. its about interest.

Excellent News. We're all proud of Mo Farah.

The one joy in the lives of a mother and daughter comes from the regular letters sent to them from Paris from the family's adored son, Otar. When the daughter finds out that Otar has died suddenly, she tries to conceal the truth from her mother, changing the course of their lives forever. Download here in Divx Quality on Utorrent app; http://isohunt.com/torrents/?ihq=since+otar+left

no!!! these students are very ambitious and completely out of their heads. I was active in the student scene for all of my 6 years at uni and one thing i learnt in that time was 'Somalia' means different things to different people. these students in the clip continue to portray 'somalia' as a war-torn and ravaged place, there is no denying these facts but that doesnt represent all somalis. for all their good intentions and hard work, they are ultimately at a loss like many student groups who came before them and those that'll come after them. the obvious facts are these; these groups and many like them are not realistic, often citing grand ambitious projects as their aims, I've yet to see some of these projects work. they hijack the collective voice of the Somali students with bias and politically-skewed plans. what is this 'somalia' - its nonsensical. they should promote 'Somali'. these groups and those like them, should try to work on uniting Somalis, create the platform for discussions and long terms plans. similarly, they should seek to present Somalis as being diverse and having multi-cultural heritage. we can dress up in fancy suits and propagate a grand vision but, when all is said and done, nothing will be achieved. Somaliland students at least have a reference point to channel their energies. they are encouraged to actively contribute towards the 'real' development of somaliland. we don't need imaginary plans, grand visions and rhetoric, we need tangible results. can they deliver that?

LOL@JB, Naagada Ciryaarta, RedBull Kulaha, More like -

lol@archie, are you saying you're better than Adam. come on man, show some humility, Adam wont mind me saying this but he was/is a cool guy.

^what about Qatati women? have you been refused by a hijabed-up babe!