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The 78-year-old became a leading figure advocating democracy in the former British territory.

Progressing from child labourer to billionaire, Lai used his power and wealth to promote democracy, which ultimately pitted him against authorities in Beijing
On Monday, a Hong Kong court , the end to a landmark trial for the city and its hobbled protest movement.
The verdict was expected. Long a thorn in the side of Beijing, Lai, a 78-year-old media tycoon and activist, was a primary target of the most recent and definitive crackdown on Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. Authorities cast him as a traitor and a criminal.

He attributed his rags-to-riches ascent to the freedoms of Hong Kong, and has paid a hefty price for defending them.

Has east Asia replaced the US as the world’s cultural centre? With Jeff Yang
From matcha and bubble tea to manga and Studio Ghibli, east Asian culture has become mainstream culture for millions of young people around the world.
Jeff Yang, the co-author of Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now, describes to Nosheen Iqbal how after decades of American pop-cultural exceptionalism, the Covid-19 pandemic ushered in a new era of interest in east Asian culture, particularly as western attitudes towards subtitles shifted. The pair discuss the influence of social media on young people, the South Korean government’s deliberate exporting of popular culture, and the impact of Asia’s rise as the biggest consumer market in the world. Finally, the pair discuss why influencing childhood culture matters for world politics

Jimmy Lai, the publisher of a popular tabloid, has spent years fighting the landmark national security case brought over his support of the city’s now vanquished pro-democracy movement.

While acting on your moral convictions can be risky, it can also feel profoundly good
In the eleven months since Donald Trump took office – during which he has unleashed unprecedented assaults on the checks and balances of American democracy – there has been a wave of warnings and advice from activists, writers and scholars who have either fought against authoritarian regimes or studied them closely. A common thread runs through much of their guidance: Americans, especially those in positions of power, must find the to stand up for what is right, even when doing so carries personal risk.
Yet few have addressed the harder questions: how does one become courageous? How much of courage is innate, and how much is learned? And what can we do to help people find the courage to act?
Yaqiu Wang is a Chinese human rights researcher and advocate. She is currently a fellow at University of Chicago’s Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression.

Senior DP members previously allege being told to disband or face severe consequences including possible arrest
Hong Kong’s last major opposition party has disbanded after a vote by its members, the culmination of Chinese pressure on the city’s remaining liberal voices in a years-long security crackdown.
The Democratic party (DP) has been Hong Kong’s main opposition since its founding three years before the financial hub’s return to Chinese rule in 1997. The party used to sweep city-wide legislative elections and push China on democratic reforms and upholding freedoms.

Jimmy Lai, the publisher of a popular tabloid, has spent years fighting the landmark national security case brought over his support of the city’s now vanquished pro-democracy movement.

Videogame executive Xu Bo, said to have more than 100 children, and other elites are building mega-families—testing citizenship laws and drawing on nannies, IVF and legal firms set up to help them.

Firms with ties to Cuba are getting a larger share of Venezuelan oil exports, as the island’s security agents boost President Nicolás Maduro’s defenses.

The watershed summit in 2015 was far from perfect, but its impact so far has been significant and measurable
Ten years on from , which ended with the world’s first and only global agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions, it is easy to dwell on its failures. But the successes go less remarked.
, growing by 15% and accounting for more than 90% of all new power generation capacity. , outstripping that into fossil fuels by two to one.

Since pandemic-fueled anti-Asian hate surged in 2020, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander advocates have mobilized to make AAPI history mandatory learning ...