Japanese atom bomb survivors' group wins 2024 Nobel Peace Prize

Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo is the winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize for "its efforts to achieve a world free from nuclear weapons," the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced on Friday.

The group's work demonstrated "through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again."

A total of 286 candidates were nominated for the prize this year, including 197 individuals and 89 organizations.

Last year, the prestigious award went to imprisoned women's rights activist Narges Mohammadi from Iran.

The peace prize laureates over the last 30 years include banned Russian rights group Memorial, former US president Barack Obama, the European Union, and the Palestinian and Israeli leaders Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin.

The award this year comes amid a period of intense conflicts around the world, including in the Middle East, Ukraine, Sudan and many other countries.

Making the announcement, the committee warned that it was an alarming time for the world as "new countries appear to be prepared to acquire nuclear weapons."