A three-judge panel handpicked by Beijing today sentenced the 78-year-old Hong Kong publisher and democracy icon Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison on charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and publishing seditious material in his now-defunct Apple Daily, which was abruptly closed by authorities in the 2021 crackdown that ended any hopes for democracy in what had been one of the most open cities in Asia.

Jeffrey Epstein, at the epicentre of a multinational sex scandal involving powerful men and teenage girls, nonetheless managed to maintain an image as a high-flying financier and fixer around the world including Asia, where among other adventures he appeared to pull strings behind an investment firm a decade and a half ago whose initial investors included billionaires Li Ka-shing and the Kuok family.