World
Gao Zhen, Detained Chinese Artist, Keeps Creating From Prison
For the wife, Zhao Yaliang, the pictures are visual love letters from her husband, the imprisoned artist Gao Zhen.
Mr. Gao is in a Chinese detention center, awaiting trial and almost certain conviction on charges that he broke a law against slandering the country’s heroes and martyrs, according to Ms. Zhao. He is being prosecuted for irreverent sculptures of the revolutionary leader Mao Zedong that he made more than 15 years ago, before the law even existed.
Mr. Gao, 69, is part of a generation of avant-garde Chinese artists that achieved international fame in the 2000s. While he later emigrated to the United States, Mr. Gao was detained in August 2024 at his studio on the outskirts of Beijing when he and his family visited China.
The authorities have since blocked Ms. Zhao, a writer and photographer, from leaving the country. She and their son, who is a U.S. citizen, have been stuck in China for over a year. The State Department said in a statement that the United States was “deeply concerned” about Mr. Gao’s arrest and the restrictions placed on Ms. Zhao. “We strongly oppose any exit ban that prevents a U.S. citizen child from departing China,” it said.
Speaking by video chat, Ms. Zhao, 47, says that while in detention, her husband wrote letters and made some 80 of these hand-torn pictures — a version of the traditional folk art of Chinese paper cutting, or jianzhi.
“He’s telling me to take better care of myself and our son,” she said, pointing to an image of a woman with two streaks running down her face — a portrait of herself weeping.
Mr. Gao faces up to three years in prison for acts that “damage the reputation” of Chinese heroes and martyrs.
His arrest under that law, which was passed in 2018, is testimony to how much the space for expression has shrunk in China. In the early 2000s, he and his younger brother Gao Qiang held secret exhibitions in Beijing and got away with taking on taboo topics like the 1966-76 decade of political turmoil known as the Cultural Revolution, which resulted in the death of their father, and the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre. Known as the Gao brothers, the duo were seen as cultural ambassadors to the West, representing a China that was more willing to face its past.
In today’s China, that kind of reckoning has become nearly impossible, as the leader Xi Jinping has overseen a crackdown on the questioning of official narratives. The law against slandering martyrs and heroes has also been used to punish journalists, stand-up comedians and regular citizens making comments online.
Mr. Gao was arrested for three provocative sculptures of Mao Zedong that he made with his brother. In one, the revolutionary is depicted with breasts and a Pinocchio nose; in another, a group of Chairman Maos with guns prepare to execute Jesus Christ. The third, called “Mao’s Guilt,” portrays the former leader, who was responsible for years of famine and upheaval, kneeling in repentance.
“Mao Zedong has been dead for nearly half a century, yet his ghost still haunts China, harming Chinese people,” said Mr. Gao’s brother, who also emigrated to New York. He said the Chinese authorities had arrested Mr. Gao merely for doing his job as an artist.
“This humiliation,” the brother said, “torments me every day.”
The trigger for Mr. Gao’s detention may not have been his art but his decision to move to the United States. He and his family relocated from Beijing to New York in 2022, joining his brother and other government critics who have been driven away by Mr. Xi’s crackdown and severe pandemic-era controls.
When his mother-in-law became ill last year, his wife decided to return for a visit. Mr. Gao insisted on joining her and their son, even though friends warned it could be dangerous. He wanted to revive their work studio and argued he was not important enough for the police to bother with. As a permanent U.S. resident Mr. Gao had traveled back and forth between China and the United States without issue for the last decade.
But on the morning of Aug. 26, almost three months after he had returned to China, more than 30 police stormed Mr. Gao’s art studio in Sanhe City in Hebei Province, near Beijing. Four of the officers grabbed Ms. Zhao, forcing her and their son into the kitchen. She tried to comfort their son as they watched officers pin her husband to a couch and handcuff him.
“Now with him being taken away, I realize that we were always living on the edge of a cliff,” Ms. Zhao said.
Victoria Zhang, a friend of the Gao brothers and president of Kunlun Press and the Borderless Culture and Art Center in New York, believes the Chinese authorities want to make an example of Mr. Gao to silence others who have moved overseas.
“Don’t assume that just because you’ve fled abroad, the Chinese Communist Party can’t touch you. The moment you return home they will punish you,” Ms. Zhang said.
Ms. Zhao later attempted to return to New York with her son but was stopped at the airport in Beijing by officials who said she was not allowed to leave on national security grounds. When she tried to go to the U.S. Embassy for help, the two were intercepted by police and taken back to Sanhe City.
“It’s the strategy they always use — controlling your family to get you to confess quickly,” she said. Despite this, she says her husband will not plead guilty.
She and their son are staying in an apartment in Sanhe City, where they lead an existence in limbo. While Jia longs for New York, where he went by the name of Justin, Ms. Zhao tries to keep his life as normal as possible. After he missed the first semester of first grade, the police found a local school for him to enroll in. The mother and son’s days are now filled with school and after-school activities, and her attempts to limit his screen time. They spend weekends in the 798 Art District in Beijing, where the Gao brothers once held exhibitions.
Still, she worries about the trauma her son has experienced. For a time, he refused to leave her side, and he still wakes up at night with nightmares. Although the boy saw his father being detained by police, Ms. Zhao tells him that “Dad is just away at work.” This has also become the story that the son now repeats at school when classmates ask.
“In reality, he understands. He knows everything. He just wants to comfort me,” Ms. Zhao said.
Along with the letters, the torn paper portraits were a source of solace for Ms. Zhao, but now all their correspondence has been stopped. In August, Ai Weiwei, the dissident Chinese artist, published a letter that appeared to be from her husband. Since then, Mr. Gao has been cut off from getting pen and paper, in what Ms. Zhao believes is punishment for that public communication. And he can no longer send or receive letters.
Ms. Zhao says her husband’s health has suffered during detention. He has often needed a wheelchair, and he may be suffering a hardening of the blood vessels called arteriosclerosis, which could cause a stroke and other problems.
She worries about his mental health too. He has been banned from using the detention center’s library and he is not allowed time outdoors, she said.
Ms. Zhao now spends her days working on some of her husband’s projects and keeping a diary with Jia. Their lawyer is allowed to have weekly meetings with Mr. Gao at the detention center, but she is not allowed to see him. She and her son go anyway, waiting outside.
“I get to feel a little closer to him,” she said.
Paris Saint-Germain won back-to-back Champions League titles after a 4–3 penalty shootout victory over Arsenal in Budapest. Following a 1–1 draw through extra time, Gabriel Magalhães missed the decisive spot kick to hand PSG the trophy.
World
Box Office: ‘Backrooms’ Scares Up $38 Million on Friday, Already Shattering Record for A24’s Best Opening Weekend
Kane Parsons’ “Backrooms” has already shattered the record for A24’s best opening weekend.
Adapted from Parsons’ viral YouTube series, “Backrooms” earned $38 million domestic on Friday from 3,442 theaters, and is projected to gross $85 million to $90 million through the weekend. That’s more than triple the previous record holder, Alex Garland’s thriller “Civil War,” which earned $25.5 million in 2024 to claim the title of A24’s best debut.
“Backrooms” follows a small-town furniture store owner who discovers a portal to an otherworldly dimension in his showroom. Cast members include Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve and Mark Duplass. James Wan, Shawn Levy and Osgood Perkins serve as producers. Chernin Entertainment was the co-studio and co-financier of “Backrooms.”
This weekend’s other newcomers include Nate Bargatze’s family comedy, “The Breadwinner,” and Focus Features’ war drama, “Pressure.” “The Breadwinner” fared the best of the two, grossing $2.75 million on Friday from 3,525 North American theaters for a fifth-place finish. By Sunday, it should make $7.5 million.
TriStar Pictures’ “The Breadwinner” follows Bargatze as a dad who is forced to take charge of his chaotic household when his wife leaves on a month long buiness trip. Other cast members include Mandy Moore, Stella Grace Fitzgerald, Birdie Borria, Charlotte Ann Tucker, Colin Jost and Zach Cherry.
“Pressure” landed at No. 6 on Friday with $2.46 million domestic from 1,829 screens. It’s expected to pull in $5.4 million by the end of the weekend. The WWII thriller stars Brendan Fraser as Dwight D. Eisenhower, who must decide whether or not to launch D-Day in the face of brutal conditions. Other cast members include Andrew Scott, Kerry Condon, Chris Messina, Damian Lewis and Tamsin Topolski.
Friday’s silver medal went to Curry Barker’s “Obsession,” which made $8.1 million on its third Friday in theaters. After a stellar $28 million over Memorial Day, the indie horror is expected to make another $28 million by Sunday. That’s a 19% uptick from the $22 million it earned over last weekend’s three-day frame.
“Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” took third with just $6.5 million on its second Friday in North American cinemas, an 70% drop from its opening day. While initial projections saw the Lucasfilm western grossing $40 million by Sunday, that number now looks closer to $25 million, according to rival estimates. That figure would push the film’s domestic total to $136 million through two weekends.
Lionsgate’s “Michael” finished in fourth, adding $3.5 on Friday. It should collect $12.7 million by Sunday, which would bring its domestic earnings to $340 million in six weekends of release.
Gazans react to the killings of Hamas terror leaders
Interviews with Gazans expressing frustration with Hamas leadership after Israel’s killing of senior commanders, as many residents say civilians — not Hamas leaders — have paid the price of the war (Credit: Jusoor News)
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Just before celebrations for Eid al-Adha, a major Muslim holiday, began in Gaza, an Israeli airstrike hit a building in Gaza City, killing Mohammed Odeh, the newly appointed head of Hamas’ military wing, according to Israeli officials and later confirmed by Hamas.
Reports from regional media said members of Odeh’s family were also killed in the strike. Two hours later, Gaza’s markets were full.
Fox News Digital reviewed video filmed in Gaza showing crowded Eid streets, children shopping and families gathering, with little visible reaction to the killing of the Hamas commander Israel described as one of the architects of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.
The contrast underscored what many Gazans and analysts describe as a growing disconnect between Hamas leaders and civilians exhausted by nearly three years of war, which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry — figures that do not distinguish between civilians and combatants — and displaced most of Gaza’s population.
ISRAEL ANNOUNCES IT KILLED ONE OF THE ARCHITECTS OF THE OCT. 7 ATTACKS
Palestinians shop at a crowded Eid al-Adha market in Gaza hours after Israel announced the killing of Mohammed Odeh, the newly appointed head of Hamas’ military wing, in an airstrike in Gaza. (Jusoor News)
Hadeel Oueis, editor-in-chief of Jusoor News, told Fox News Digital the assassinations are creating “a clear vacuum” inside Hamas and weakening coordination between leaders in Gaza and abroad.
“With the deaths of its leaders and the collapse of strong centralized command, Hamas is turning into a smaller militia competing with other armed groups operating in Gaza,” Oueis said. “Hamas is now fighting for survival.”
In a joint statement issued Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said Odeh, who had replaced senior commander Izz al-Din al-Haddad only days earlier, was “one of the architects of the October 7 massacre.”
“Sooner or later, Israel will reach all of them,” Netanyahu and Katz said.
Palestinian Hamas terrorists stand guard in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Feb. 22, 2025, during the handover of hostages held since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack as part of a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner swap deal with Israel. (Hatem Khaled/Reuters)
Inside Gaza, several residents interviewed by Jusoor News said they no longer viewed the deaths of Hamas leaders as personal losses.
“Of course we didn’t feel anything when Haddad, Sinwar, or others were killed,” one Gazan activist and former political prisoner told Jusoor News in an on-camera interview, speaking with his face blurred for safety reasons.
The activist was referring to Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the Hamas military commander Israel said it killed earlier in May, and Yahya Sinwar, the former Hamas leader and chief architect of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, who was killed by Israeli forces in southern Gaza in October 2024.
“Ordinary people are the ones who paid the price, not the leaders who made reckless decisions without thinking,” the activist said.
“As a result, Gaza today is almost completely destroyed,” the activist said. “There are families who have lost everything, while the remaining leaders abroad and inside continue to gamble with our lives constantly.”
GRASSROOTS PUSH FOR FREEDOM GROWS IN GAZA AS HAMAS TIGHTENS ITS DEADLY GRIP
Palestinians shop at a crowded Eid al-Adha market in Gaza hours after Israel announced the killing of Mohammed Odeh, the newly appointed head of Hamas’ military wing, in an airstrike in Gaza. (Credit: Jusoor News)
A Gaza-based journalist echoed the frustration.
“When we heard about the killing of Izz al-Din Haddad or others, we were not affected,” the journalist said. “What is even more painful is that the children of the leaders live outside Gaza, in Turkey and Qatar, driving luxury cars and living comfortable lives, while people here have almost gone back to the Stone Age.”
Another Gaza journalist and human rights advocate told Jusoor Hamas had harmed Palestinians as much as Israelis.
“I do not see the deaths of the leaders as losses for the Palestinians, because we ordinary people are the ones who paid the price,” the advocate said. “Honestly, Hamas did not only hurt the Israelis — they hurt us as well.”
At the same time, Israeli analysts caution that the repeated assassinations do not necessarily mean Hamas is close to collapse.
Michael Milshtein, an expert on the Palestinian arena, told Fox News Digital that Hamas unquestionably has suffered severe damage since Oct. 7, 2023, particularly with the deaths of veteran commanders who helped build the organization’s military structure and doctrine.
ISRAEL, HAMAS CEASEFIRE DEAL COULD ENABLE REARMING OF GAZA TERRORISTS
Palestinians shop at a crowded Eid al-Adha market in Gaza. (Jusoor News)
“Almost nobody remains from the core group that planned and led the October 7 attack,” he said.
But he noted that Odeh himself had been viewed largely as a second-tier figure before the war rather than an obvious successor to Hamas’ historic military leadership.
“The people replacing them are far less experienced, less capable and far less charismatic,” Milshtein said.
Still, he argued, Hamas continues to maintain functioning chains of command and ideological cohesion despite the losses.
“People know they are likely going to die, and they still compete for these leadership positions,” he said.
The debate over Hamas’ future comes as international efforts to shape a postwar political framework for Gaza accelerate.
TRUMP-BACKED BOARD OF PEACE, ISRAEL ‘WILL TAKE ACTION’ IF HAMAS REMAINS OUT OF COMPLIANCE: NETANYAHU ADVISOR
Hamas militants carried coffins believed to contain the bodies of four Israeli hostages during a handover to the Red Cross in Khan Yunis, Gaza, on Feb. 20, 2025. (Eyad Baba/AFP)
Nickolay Mladenov, who was appointed High Representative for Gaza under the Board of Peace initiative, published the core elements of a proposed 15-point “Roadmap to Complete the Implementation of President Trump’s Gaza Comprehensive Peace Plan.”
The proposal includes a phased Hamas disarmament process, internationally supervised security reforms and the establishment of “one authority, one law, one weapon” inside Gaza.
“Gaza cannot recover while armed groups simultaneously operate as governing authorities,” Mladenov wrote while outlining the proposal on social media.
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Displaced Palestinians, including families and children, wait in line to receive hot meals distributed by charities ahead of iftar in Khan Yunis, Gaza. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu)
For many Gazans exhausted by years of war, displacement and destruction, the deaths of Hamas leaders now appear to carry less emotional weight than the hope that the conflict itself could finally end.
“Gaza cannot remain hostage to the idea of permanent war while civilians alone pay the entire price,” one activist said.
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