Dissident Ai Weiwei rejoins the twitterati

The dissident Ai Weiwei has begun posting new messages on Twitter after a long silence imposed by a detention and a warning from the Chinese government.

He was released in June after being held for 80 days but his bail conditions prevented him from speaking publicly. But Mr Ai, 54, has now resumed tweeting, saying yesterday: "Lunch 10 dumplings, bodyweight regains 3kg."

He wrote several messages on the microblogging website on Friday and more yesterday. In one, he posted a photograph of his feet on a set of scales which read 97kg.

Mr Ai was the most high-profile target of a sweeping crackdown on critics of China's ruling Communist Party this year. His detention on 3 April sparked an international outcry, with some countries saying it was a sign that the human-rights situation in China was deteriorating.