DHAKA: Pakistani schoolgirl campaigner Malala Yousafzai and a Congolese doctor who helped rape victims are among this year`s Nobel Peace Prize favourites.
The winner of the most coveted of the Nobel honours will be revealed in Olso at 11:00 local time (0900 GMT) Friday.
This year`s record list of 259 nominees remains a secret, but bookmakers and pundits say Malala is a contender.
Gynaecologist Denis Mukwege of the Democratic Republic of Congo is also tipped but predictions are often wrong.
Chelsea Manning, the US soldier convicted of giving classified documents to WikiLeaks has also been listed as a potential nominee.
Youngest ever
Others include Maggie Gobran, an Egyptian computer scientist who abandoned her academic career to become a Coptic Christian nun and founded the charity Stephen`s Children, and Russian former mathematics professor Svetlana Gannushinka who set up the rights group Civil Assistance.
If she wins, Malala, 16, will claim a gold medal, 8m Swedish kronor ($1.25m; £780,000) and the title of youngest-ever Nobel laureate.
The young activist emerged as a contender after continuing her work to promote better rights for girls despite being shot in the head by the Taliban in Pakistan.
Malala rose to prominence in 2009 after writing a blog anonymously for the BBC Urdu service about her life under Taliban rule in Pakistan`s Swat Valley.
On Thursday she was named as the winner of the EU`s Sakharov prize, a 50,000-euro ($65,000) award considered Europe`s top human rights accolade.
Bookmakers have placed Malala as 3/5 favourite on a list which includes long shots such as U2 singer Bono, Russian President Vladimir Putin and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Assassination attempts
Mr Mukwege, who has been listed as a possible Nobel laureate in the past, set up a hospital and foundation to help tens of thousands of women raped by militants and soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
What connects dynamite and peace?
Like Malala, Mr Mukwege was also targeted by assassins a year ago. He escaped injury but temporarily sought exile in Europe.
Previous Nobel peace prize laureates include anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, US President Barack Obama, the Dalai Lama and Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
In 2012 the prize was awarded to the European Union in recognition of its contribution to peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.
Source: BBC
BDST: 0852 HRS, OCT 11, 2013
RS/GCP
