China just gave Ai Weiwei his passport back

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NEED TO KNOW:

Chinese police have returned to the Chinese artist and dissident, Ai Weiwei, his passport. It only took about 600 days.

Ai Weiwei was jailed for almost three months in 2011 for what police at the time said were “economic crimes.” But everyone knew the real reason was a provocative artwork he had made. In the image Ai was nude holding a stuffed alpaca. While the Chinese government had been attempting to cleanse the internet of “pornography” and other offensive things for years, it probably wasn't the image that really bothered them. It was the title, which was a pun. The pun was unflattering toward the government, to say the least.

China jailed the artist for 81 days. The whole thing made international news and highlighted China's ongoing struggle with things like human rights. Ai was eventually released. But because he was still suspected of several crimes — including bigamy and pornography — his passport was taken and he was prevented from traveling overseas.

Well, he got his passport back. And Ai says he is now free to travel. His first stop will be Germany, where his son is studying, he said.

WANT TO KNOW:

It's been a little over a week since Iran and a group of major powers led by the United States finally struck a deal to curb Iran's nuclear program. In exchange, a handful of countries will lift economic sanctions. It was a big win for the administrations of US President Barack Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

But now the two presidents have to sell the deal to hardliners in their respective countries. The Obama administration on Tuesday launched a Twitter feed and a website designed purely to convince everyone that a deal is better than no deal.

The US Congress now has 58 more days to review the deal and vote on it. As GlobalPost's Timothy McGrath writes: "If lawmakers reject it, Obama has promised a veto, which means Congress will need a two-thirds majority to override him. That will be hard to pull off, but Obama doesn't want any chances."

So the administration is collecting every piece of evidence in its favor it can. In one recent tweet, a former Israeli intelligence official is quoted supporting the deal — which is the opposite of statements made by the Israeli prime minister:

In Iran, meanwhile, Rouhani and others are saying things to appease the ultra-conservatives there who still cling to the good old days when people regularly chanted “Death to America.” Abbas Araqchi, a deputy foreign minister, told a news conference that Iran would never accept a return of sanctions after 10 years, when the deal starts to expire. He also said Iran would do “anything” to help allies in the Middle East, which seemed to be an effort to assure hardliners in Iran that it wouldn't suddenly tack toward the West's foreign policy.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reinforced that point in a speech over the weekend in which he said that US policies in the region were “180 degrees” opposed to Iran's. During the speech, those attending chanted "Death to America," which must have really felt nice to those who are nervous about all the diplomacy of the last few months.

No sell was needed to convince the UN Security Council. It voted unanimously to support the deal on Monday.

STRANGE BUT TRUE:

One of Queen Elizabeth II's titles, other than Queen of England, is Seigneur of the Swans. This is apparently not all that important to her. She's fulfilled her duties as Seigneur of the Swans exactly once in her seemingly endless tenure as Queen.

It's not all that hard to see why, really. Here's the story: There was a time when any unclaimed mute swan in open waters in England was deemed the property of the Queen. “This was a more valid piece of legislation back in medieval times, when swans were a delicacy reserved for the wealthiest dinner tables,” writes GlobalPost Senior Correspondent Corinne Purtill, who recently investigated the annual practice of counting the Queen's swans.

These days the counting, or the “upping” as they call it for some reason, is more about conservation than about making sure all of the Queen's feathered friends are accounted for. It is perhaps the process by which they count these swans that is of most interest. It's wild.

Here's a sample from Purtill's investigation:

“The skiffs descend on the young, fuzzy gray birds, penning them in near the bank. The boat maneuvering is awkward, especially with all the pennants. Barber sits in the back of his skiff barking marginally helpful orders like 'Steady on!' and 'There she is.' There is no possible way this is the most efficient way to catch swans,” she writes. “None.”