Russia boycotts Nobel Peace Prize

Via the Telegraph: Russia joins China in boycotting Nobel peace prize

China has pressured countries not to attend and prevented Mr Liu, 54, or any members of his family from travelling to Norway to accept the award.

If that happens, it will be the first time the award has not been given out since 1936, when the Nazis banned journalist Carl von Ossietzky – a pacifist – from leaving Germany.

Dream and reality

Marko Mihkelson, on Obama's prizewinning intentions [my tr.]:

A world free of nuclear weapons is certainly a beautiful goal, but is very difficult to imagine its achievement. Moreover, it is quite debatable whether a world entirely free of nuclear weapons would necessarily be less dangerous or more secure.