Laureate's widow is free but her brother is a hostage

FINALLY, after frantic appeals from around the world and much suspense, the Chinese Communist Party has agreed to let Liu Xia, the 57-year-old widow of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, leave the country and go to Europe.

Ms Liu, painter, poet and photographer, arrived in Berlin exactly three days before the anniversary of the death of her husband from lung cancer while serving the eighth year of an 11-year prison sentence for drafting a petition calling for democracy and human rights in China.

Ms Liu had never been charged with any crime but she lost her freedom when her husband won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010. Her unofficial, and illegal, house arrest lasted for eight years.