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Syrian White Helmets share 'Alternative Nobel' with 3 others

Associated Press
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FILE - In this Thursday, Nov. 26, 2015 file photo, Can Dundar, the editor-in-chief of opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet, speaks to the media outside the headquarters of his paper in Istanbul, Turkey. A volunteer group that rescues civilians from bombed-out buildings in Syria shares this year's Right Livelihood Award, sometimes known as the "Alternative Nobel," with activists from Egypt and Russia and a Turkish newspaper. (AP Photo/Vedat Arik, Cumhuriyet, File) (The Associated Press)

In this photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets, men stand amid rubble after airstrikes in al-Mashhad neighborhood in the rebel-held part of eastern Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday Sept. 21, 2016. Ibrahim Alhaj, a member of the volunteer first responders known as the Syria Civil Defense, said 24 people were killed in a series of bombings in several parts of the besieged city Aleppo on Wednesday. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP) (The Associated Press)

In this photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets, rescue workers work the site of airstrikes in al-Mashhad neighborhood in the rebel-held part of eastern Aleppo, Wednesday Sept. 21, 2016. Ibrahim Alhaj, a member of the volunteer first responders known as the Syria Civil Defense, said 24 people were killed in a series of bombings in several parts of the besieged city Aleppo on Wednesday. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP) (The Associated Press)

A volunteer group that rescues civilians from bombed-out buildings in Syria shares this year's Right Livelihood Award, sometimes known as the "Alternative Nobel," with activists from Egypt and Russia and a Turkish newspaper.

The prize foundation on Thursday announced the 2016 winners are the Syria Civil Defense group, also known as the White Helmets; Egyptian women's rights activist Mozn Hassan and the Nazra for Feminist Studies; Russia Svetlana Gannushkina; and Turkish independent newspaper Cumhuriyet.

They will share a cash award of 3 million kronor ($350,000).

Created in 1980, the annual Right Livelihood Award honors efforts that prize founder, Swedish-German philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull, felt were being ignored by the Nobel Prizes.