“Nobel Peace Prize awarded”

The 2016 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos for his efforts to end his country's long-running civil war with FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) rebels. The Nobel committee made the announcement in Oslo (Norway) on Friday, five days after voters in Colombia narrowly rejected a peace deal that Santos' government had spent years negotiating. The committee said it had awarded Santos the prize for "his resolute efforts to bring the country's more than 50-year-long civil war to an end, a war that has cost the lives of at least 220,000 Colombians and displaced close to six million people.” It added: "The award should also be seen as a tribute to the Colombian people who, despite great hardships and abuses, have not given up hope of a just peace, and to all the parties who have contributed to the peace process.” The names of other Peace Prize nominees are kept secret for 50 years. This year there were 376 candidates for the peace prize, the highest number ever.

In Other News Walt Disney World will close its parks for just the fourth time since its opening as Hurricane Matthew threatens to make landfall in Florida late Thursday night. Since opening in 1971, the park has only been closed three times since, all in anticipation of hurricanes. Disney World shuttered its gates on Sept. 15, 1999, for Hurricane Floyd; Sept. 4 and 5, 1999, for Hurricane Frances and Sept. 26, 2004, for Hurricane Jeanne. It was also evacuated in a brisk 30 minutes on 9/11, but the parks were not closed beforehand. A slow-moving train in Pennsylvania might have brought some runners' dreams of the Boston Marathon to a halt. Lehigh Valley Health Network's Via Marathon was in full swing Sunday (Sept. 11) when a slow train crossed the race course near Allentown, stopping runners in their tracks.  Runner Charlie Young, from West Chester said the race was his last chance to qualify for the 2017 Boston Marathon.  Young says he and over 100 others were held up for about 10 minutes as the train crossed. He says he missed his qualifying time by 8 minutes. Video and photos show some runners scrambling between the slow-moving cars.  Via (the timing company for the Boston Marathon) says runner times will be addressed on a case-by-case basis due to the disruption.