Jailed Chinese dissident wins Nobel Peace Prize

Languishing in a Chinese prison, Liu Xiaobo is probably unaware that he’s been awarded the world’s top prize for peaceful activism.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee decided to give Liu the prize for his “his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.” The 54-year-old literary critic wrote Charter 08, a document that called for the end of one-party rule in the communist country. He was arrested just days before its publication in 2008, and sentenced to 11 years in prison. The Chinese government was, not surprisingly, angered by the Nobel Committee’s decision, and questioned why the group has decided to reward a “criminal.” The prize carries a $1.5 million award, but with a decade still remaining in Liu’s sentence and his wife under house arrest, it’s unclear where the money will go.