China frees dissident Nobel Peace laureate's widow Liu Xia
Beijing, July 10 : After seven years of house arrest, Liu Xia, the widow of activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, on Tuesday left for Germany.
Liu Xia had been under house arrest since 2010 when her late husband was awarded the top peace prize while serving his sentence for "anti-China" activities.
He died of cancer in 2017, becoming the first Nobel Peace Prize winner in custody since German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky in 1938.
Liu Xia took a plane to Berlin at 11 a.m., family friends said. She has never been charged with any crime but said in May that she was ready to die in protest over her continued detention.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry, which was cagey about the details and reasons for freeing Liu Xia, said the 57-year-old poet left for Germany for treatment of her own volition.
"I should say Liu Xia travelled to Germany for medical treatment in accordance with her own will," Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.
Her husband, a university professor turned human rights campaigner, was jailed in 2009 on charges of inciting subversion.
He died of liver cancer in 2017 and his ashes were scattered at sea.
Liu Xia is said to have suffered from depression after spending years under heavy surveillance. The development came three days before the anniversary of her husband's death.
Chinese authorities earlier maintained that the dissident's widow was a free citizen but she faced restrictions on her movements and had been kept under surveillance.
Patrick Poon, China Researcher at the human rights group Amnesty International, said it was "wonderful news that Liu Xia was finally free and that her persecution and illegal detention at the hands of the Chinese authorities came to an end".
He added: "The Chinese authorities tried to silence her, but she stood tall for human rights." Amnesty further called for an end to the harassment of Liu Xia's family who remained in China.
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SRH knocked out of play-off race after washout against DC
Hyderabad, May 5 (PTI): Sunrisers Hyderabad were eliminated from the play-offs race after their Indian Premier League fixture against Delhi Capitals was called off due to heavy rain following the first innings here on Monday.
Pat Cummins-led SRH pace attack ran through the DC batting line-up to limit the visitors to 133/7 before rain dashed the slim hopes of the home team. Both teams shared a point each for the abandoned game.
With 13 points from 11 games, DC remain in contention for a top-four spot.
After reaching the final last year, it was a season to forget for SRH who could not replicate their ballistic run of 2024 with the bat. Having collected only seven points from 11 matches, SRH will now be playing for pride.
Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were already eliminated from the competition.
Before rain lashed the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, the hosts put up a clinical effort with the ball and were on course for only their fourth win of the season until rain arrived, creating large puddles of water on the outfield. The match officials decided to call off the game at 11.10 pm local time.
The shot selection of Delhi Capitals' batters contributed to their downfall after being put in to bat.
They were left reeling at 29 for five in 7.1 overs with captain Cummins causing the maximum damage.
Cummins had Karun Nair caught behind on the very first ball of the match with a good length ball around the off-stump. It was a rather loose shot from the DC batter first up.
Faf du Plessis departed in Cummins' following over, a failed attempt to put the relentless Australian away for a boundary. Not getting any loose ball from Cummins, the South Africa went for a pull on the charge only to be caught by the wicket-keeper.
Cummins' third victim was Abhishek Porel who was caught after mistiming a flick.
Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat then got into the act by dismissing Axar Patel and K L Rahul respectively. The in-form Rahul went for a drive on the up but ended up edging it to Ishan Kishan behind the stumps.
It was one way traffic until Tristian Stubbs (41 not out off 36) and impact player Ashutosh Sharma (41 off 26) combined to take DC to a respectable total. They shared a 66-run stand off 45 balls.
Sharma was able to break the shackles by depositing leg-spinner Zeeshan Ansari for a couple of sixes over long-on in the 15th over.
Stubbs did not look as comfortable as Sharma in the middle but managed to provide much needed support to the latter. The South African could find only four boundaries with the last one coming off the final ball of the innings.
🚨 News 🚨
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 5, 2025
Match 55 between @SunRisers and @DelhiCapitals has been called off due to wet outfield.
Both teams share a point each.
Scorecard ▶ https://t.co/1MkIwk4VNE
#TATAIPL | #SRHvDC pic.twitter.com/VnVZWjsjGJ
