The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad ‘for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict’, Metro says.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has received nominations for 216 individuals and 115 organisations.

Only a few dozen of the nominees are known, as the committee keeps the list of nominations secret for 50 years, although some candidates are revealed by their nominators.

Among those put forward this year were the Syrian civilian aid group the White Helmets, Russia’s Novaya Gazeta newspaper, Edward Snowden and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Last year’s winner was the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

The 2018 prize is worth nine million Swedish kronor (£777,000).

Past winners who came under criticism include former US president Barack Obama, who won in 2009 after less than a year in office. Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un were the bookmakers’ favourites for the prize in the run-up to the announcement.

Julie Bishop, former Australian foreign minister, said: ‘That is an extraordinary proposition in anyone’s language.’ However, she added: ‘President Trump adopted an unorthodox diplomatic stance…. he’s continued to promote the personal relationship between the two leaders as the basis for a negotiated peace.’