The New York Times reports that the artist and political activist Ai Weiwei was walking to meet his mother at a restaurant on Mother’s Day when he encountered a fight on Ghost Street in Beijing. Read More

Just a little public service announcement from the offices of The Observer: PBS sent over a note to say that it will show Alison Klayman’s very excellent documentary about Ai Weiwei, Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (2012), as part of its Independent Lens program on Feb. 25. It’s a perfect chance to catch the film if you missed it as it screened in theaters across the United States last year! Read More

Last night Elton John played Beijing and, minutes into the show, dedicated his two-hour performance “to the spirit and talent of Ai Weiwei,” according to the AP. Read More

This year’s Nobel Prize for Literature has been awarded to Chinese novelist Mo Yan. He is the first writer from that country to win the accolade. The Communist Party, naturally, is pleased. Artist and activist Ai Weiwei is not, London’s The Week reports on its website. Read More

It’s over.

Today, surprising no one, a Chinese court denied Ai Weiwei’s latest appeal of the $2.4 million in fines and back taxes he was ordered to pay last year after being held in detention for almost three months. Many observers believe the charges were motivated by his outspoken criticism of the Chinese government. The court declared that there will be no more appeals, The Guardian reported. Read More

The flacks at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., have, in the past, said that that they’re “optimistic” dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei will be able to attend their upcoming exhibition of his work. Following a recent interview with The New York Times, however, the museum’s honchos may no longer be so optimistic. Read More

In recent months artist and dissident Ai Weiwei has been a staunch and somewhat surprising defender of the rights of Bo Xilai, the senior politician who’s been accused of corruption, and his wife Gu Kailai, who was recently found guilty of murdering British businessman Neil Haywood with cyanide-laced water. Mr. Ai has stated repeatedly that everyone—even humiliated party leaders and their partners—deserve their days in court, as The New Republic‘s Marc Tracy has noted. (Disclosure: Mr. Tracy is a friend of this writer.) Read More

Though the details of the affair are a bit unclear at the moment, it appears that Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei was involved in some sort of altercation between rival political bloggers in a Beijing park, according to The Telegraph, which reports that some are referring to the showdown as the “Chaoyang ‘Rumble in the Jungle.’”

In place of heavyweights George Foreman and Muhammed Ali in the bout were Wu Danhong, a political science and law professor accused of being paid to support government rhetoric, and a liberal journalist named Zhou Yan. The Financial Times reports that Mr. Zhou challenged Mr. Wu to a debate in the park after the two had battled in prose online. Read More

Despite the fact that today marked the expiration of the one-year bail term that Chinese officials had imposed on Ai Weiwei after detaining him last year for almost three months, it was not a good  day for the Chinese dissident and artist. After being blocked yesterday from attending a hearing on his company’s appeal of a $2.4 million tax fine (his wife attended in his place), he said that the government is now threatening to bring new charges against him. Read More