Not This Year's Nobel Peace Prize Winner

In the midst of a campaign to see him nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, Belgium's revered Father Francois Houtart has confessed to child molestation.

The confession was published in a Belgian newspaper Wednesday and confirmed by the organization the priest founded, deepening a sex-abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church in the country. After a spate of accusations this year, the church in September published the harrowing accounts of more than 100 victims of clerical sex abuse, some as young as 2 when they were assaulted. In October, after supporters of 85-year-old Francois Houtart began working to nominate him for the Nobel, a woman contacted the nonprofit organization he founded and said the priest had abused her brother 40 years ago, according to its director, Bernard Duterme.

The committee to nominate Houtart for his anti-globalization work has disbanded.

Imprisoned Chinese Dissident Liu Xiaobo Awarded Nobel Peace Prize

Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, who is one year into an eleven year prison sentence, was today awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In a statement, the Nobel Committee said Liu, 54, was awarded the prize "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China." Liu is serving his sentence at Jinzhou prison in Liaoning, hundreds of miles from his home and wife, Liu Xia, in Beijing. His wife reacted to the news by expressing her thanks that Liu's physical condition seems to have improved in jail, that he's allowed to read and that the two can exchange regular letters. "We have no regrets," she said. "All of this has been of our choosing. It will always be so. We'll bear the consequences together. I've known Liu since 1982. I've watched him change little by little year by year, and we know that we have to pay the price under the current situation in China."

China had warned the Norwegian government that they were not to consider Liu for the honor, claiming that he was ineligible. Liu was imprisoned in 2009 for signing onto a document calling for free elections and expanded human rights in China. He is the first Chinese citizen to win the prize.