Trio named as 'alternative Nobel' winners

Two activists from Congo and New Zealand and a doctor from Australia have won the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the "alternative Nobel", for work to protect rain forests, improve women's health and rid the world of nuclear weapons. Congolese activist Rene Ngongo, Alyn Ware of New Zealand and Australian-born Catherine Hamlin, who has been based in Ethiopia for five decades, each will receive US$74,000, the Right Livelihood Foundation said. The honorary part of the award, without prize money, went to Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki, 73, for raising awareness of climate change.

Swedish-German philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull founded the awards in 1980 to recognise work he felt was being ignored by the Nobel Prizes. *AP