Malala, Satyarthi receive Nobel Peace Prize

OSLO, Norway (AP) — Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan and Kailash Satyarthi of India received the Nobel Peace Prize on Wednesday for risking their lives to help protect children from slavery, extremism and forced labor at great risk to their own lives.

The 17-year-old Malala, the youngest ever Nobel winner, and Satyarthi, 60, collected the award at a ceremony in Oslo City Hall in the Norwegian capital to a standing ovation. As she received her award, a young man ran onto the stage waving a Mexican flag that he had apparently smuggled into the heavily guarded ceremony, and he was whisked away by a guard.

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg bemoaned the brief interruption and lapse in security. To help protect Malala — who had been shot in the head by Taliban in Pakistan in 2012 — Oslo has been dominated by armed police and security guards for days, with blocked-off streets, metal fences and helicopters whirring above.

In his speech to an audience including Norwegian royalty and politicians, Nobel committee Chairman Thorbjorn Jagland said all children have a right to childhood and education, and "this world conscience can find no better expression" than through this year's winners.

Referring to Malala's serious injury in Pakistan two years ago, he said Islamic extremist groups dislike knowledge because it is a condition for freedom. "Attendance at school, especially by girls, deprives such forces from power," he said.

He praised Satyarthi's vision of ending child labor and how he had abandoned a career as an electrical engineer in 1980 to fight for that vision.

l Peace Prize winners Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan and Kailash Satyarthi of India hold up thei …

Jagland also singled out another Indian, Mahatma Gandhi, who remains the most notable omission in the 113-year history of the Nobel Peace Prize. The chairman said prize winners live according to Gandhi's principle: "There are many purposes I would have died for. There are no purposes I would have killed for."

In his acceptance speech, Satyarthi referred to rapid globalization, high-speed Internet and international flights that connect people. "But there is one serious disconnect. It is a lack of compassion," he said, urging the audience to "globalize compassion," starting with children.

Malala's parents sat side-by-side in the front row of the hall holding hands, and she thanked them for their unconditional love.

"Thank you to my father for not clipping my wings and for letting me fly," she said. "Thank you to my mother for inspiring me to be patient and to always speak the truth — which we strongly believe is the real message of Islam."

Earlier, the flag-waving youth who briefly interrupted the ceremony had shaken Malala's hand in the Grand Hotel, where she was staying, telling her how much he admired her.

The security guard, who removed youth from the stage, said that everyone entering Oslo City Hall was checked for valid invitations and weapons, but conceded that a flag could be smuggled in. He declined to give his name or provide any other details.

"We should have better security than this," Solberg told public broadcaster NRK.

The founder of the Nobel Prizes, Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, said the prize is for people " who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."

The committee has interpreted those instructions differently over time, widening the concept of peace work to include efforts to improve human rights, fight poverty and clean up the environment.

By honoring this year's winners, the Norwegian Nobel Committee linked the peace award to conflicts between world religions and neighboring nuclear powers as well as drawing attention to children's rights.

The other awards — in medicine, physics, chemistry and literature — are set to be presented in Stockholm later Wednesday. The ceremonies are always held on Dec. 10, the anniversary of prize founder Alfred Nobel's death in 1896.

Source : yahoo news