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Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai sentenced to 20 years in prison

A court in Hong Kong has sentenced pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai to 20 years in jail following his conviction under a sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing.

A summary document by the court on Monday said 18 years of Lai’s sentence should be served consecutively to the existing five-year jail term in his fraud case.

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The 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily has already spent more than five years behind bars and was found guilty in December on two counts of foreign collusion and one count of seditious publication.

Given his age, the prison term could keep him behind bars for the rest of his life.

Ahead of the sentencing, rights groups and Western governments called for Lai’s release, with some denouncing the case as “nothing but a charade”.

Lai’s family, lawyer, supporters and former colleagues have warned that he could die in prison as he suffers from health conditions, including heart palpitations and high blood pressure.

Before Lai left the courtroom, he looked serious, as some people in the public gallery cried.

In addition to Lai, six former senior Apple Daily staffers, an activist and a paralegal were also sentenced on Monday.

His co-defendants received jail terms of between six years and three months, and 10 years.

The convicted journalists are publisher Cheung Kim-hung, associate publisher Chan Pui-man, editor-in-chief Ryan Law, executive editor-in-chief Lam Man-chung, executive editor-in-chief responsible for English news Fung Wai-kong and editorial writer Yeung Ching-kee.

Ahead of the sentencing, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement that Lai’s trial “has been nothing but a charade from the start and shows total contempt for Hong Kong laws that are supposed to protect press freedom”.

Reporters Without Borders said the sentencing “will resonate far beyond Jimmy Lai himself, sending a decisive signal about the future of press freedom in the territory”.

Beijing has dismissed such criticism as attempts to smear Hong Kong’s judicial system, while Hong Kong authorities maintain that Lai’s case “has nothing to do with freedom of speech and of the press”.

Lai was one of the first prominent figures to be arrested under the security law, imposed in 2020. Within a year, some of Apple Daily’s senior journalists were also arrested. Police raids, prosecutions and a freeze of its assets forced the newspaper’s closure in June 2021.

The final edition sold a million copies.

Lai’s sentencing could heighten Beijing’s diplomatic tensions with foreign governments. His conviction has drawn criticism from the United Kingdom and the United States.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he had raised Lai’s case during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing last month, adding that the discussion was “respectful”.

Lai is a British citizen.

US President Donald Trump said he felt “so badly” after the verdict, noting that he spoke to Xi about Lai and “asked [Xi] to consider his release”.

Lai’s daughter, Claire, told The Associated Press news agency that she hopes authorities see the wisdom in releasing her father, a Roman Catholic. She said their faith rests in God. “We will never stop fighting until he is free,” she said.

Ahead of the sentencing, Hong Kong Free Press reported that police detained a woman outside the West Kowloon court after finding an Apple Daily keychain in her possession.

At least two other activists were also searched, including Tsang Kin-shing, a member of the now-disbanded League of Social Democrats.

The sentencing comes against the backdrop of heightened restrictions on Hong Kong media.

The Hong Kong Journalists Association said in 2024 that dozens of journalists faced “systematic and organised” harassment and intimidation, including leaked personal information and death threats.

Iran arrests prominent reformist politicians, cites links to US, Israel

Iranian authorities have arrested four people on charges of attempting to “disrupt the country’s political and social order” and working “for the benefit” of Israel and the United States during the antigovernment protests of January.

The detainees, who were arrested on Sunday, included three prominent reformist politicians, according to Iranian media.

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They are Azar Mansouri, head of Iran’s Reform Front, Mohsen Aminzadeh, a former diplomat, and Ebhrahim Asgharzadeh, a former parliamentarian.

The fourth remains unnamed.

Iran’s judiciary accused the group of “organising and leading extensive activities aimed at disrupting the political and social situation” at a time when the country faced “military threats” from Israel and the US, according to the official Mizan news agency.

The individuals had done their utmost “to justify the actions of the terrorist foot soldiers on the streets”, it said.

Iran’s Reform Front confirmed the arrests in a statement on X.

It said Mansouri was arrested from the “door of her home under a judicial order” by the intelligence forces of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

It added that the IRGC has also issued summons to other senior members, including its deputy chairman, Mohsen Armin, and its secretary, Badral Sadat Mofidi.

The arrests come amid anger in Iran over the deaths of thousands of Iranians during the January unrest. The protests began in the capital, Tehran, over a worsening economic crisis, but escalated into a nationwide antigovernment movement.

Iranian authorities labelled the protesters as “terrorists” and blamed the “riots” on foreign interference from Israel and the US.

The government later said that 3,117 people were killed during the unrest, and rejected claims by the United Nations and international human rights organisations that state forces were behind the killings, most of which occurred on the nights of January 8 and 9.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it has verified 6,854 deaths and is investigating 11,280 other cases.

Thousands of others were also arrested during the unrest.

Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said the latest politicians arrested on Sunday face “serious allegations”.

He said Aminzadeh was a former deputy foreign minister during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami, who governed from 1997 to 2005, and that Asgharzadeh is a former lawmaker who was a student leader “involved in the takeover of the US embassy” in 1979.

“These figures have a background of political activism and imprisonment,” Asadi said. “So this is not the first time that they are facing such allegations, and they are going through a trajectory which could pave the way for other imprisonment for them,” he said.

The Iranian crackdown in January also ratcheted up tensions with Washington.

US President Donald Trump, who is seeking to curb Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes, threatened Tehran with new attacks if it used force against the protesters. Trump, who ordered the US military strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites last June, went on to order the deployment of a naval “armada” to the Gulf region.

The move prompted Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to warn of a “regional war” if Iran is attacked and as well as diplomatic push by regional powers to try and ease tensions.

The diplomacy resulted in Iran and the US holding indirect talks in Oman on Friday. President Masoud Pezeshkian described the discussions as “a step forward” in a social media post and said his government favoured continued dialogue.

Another round of negotiations is scheduled for next week.

Iran’s top military commander, meanwhile, issued a new warning on Sunday, saying that the entire region will be engulfed in conflict if Iran is attacked.

“While being prepared, we genuinely have no desire to see the outbreak of a regional war,” Major-General Abdolrahim Mousavi told a gathering of air force and air defence commanders and personnel.

“Even though aggressors will be the target of the flames of regional war, this will push back the advancement and development of the region by years, and its repercussions will be borne by the warmongers in the US and the Zionist regime,” he said in reference to Israel.

Celtic to host Rangers in Scottish Cup quarter-finals

Rangers will host Old Firm rivals Celtic and holders Aberdeen face a potential trip to Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals.

The draw, conducted following Falkirk’s extra-time win at Stenhousemuir, means the Pittodrie club take on Neil Lennon’s Scottish Championship side if they can see off Motherwell.

Elsewhere, St Mirren, shooting for a cup double, will host Partick Thistle while Dundee United or Spartans will visit Falkirk.

Dundee United’s meeting on Tayside with Spartans was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, with the tie taking place on Tuesday 17 February (19:45 GMT).

Motherwell’s trip to take on Aberdeen, who beat Celtic in last year’s final, is the following day (19:45).

Celtic needed extra-time to eventually get by Dundee on Saturday, while Partick Thistle beat Elgin City and Dunfermline overcame Kelty.

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Portugal elects Socialist Party’s Seguro as president in landslide

Antonio Jose Seguro of the centre-left Socialist Party has secured a landslide victory and a five-year term as Portugal’s president in a run-off vote, beating his far-right, anti-establishment rival, Andre Ventura, according to partial results.

With 95 percent of votes counted, 63-year-old Seguro has garnered 66 percent. Ventura trailed at 34 percent, still likely to secure a much stronger result than the 22.8 percent his anti-immigration Chega party achieved in last year’s general election. Ballots in large cities such as Lisbon and Porto are counted towards the end.

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Two exit polls have placed Seguro in the 67-73 percent range, and Ventura at 27-33 percent.

A succession of storms in recent days has failed to deter voters, with turnout at about the same level as in the first round on January 18, even though three municipal councils in southern and central Portugal had to postpone voting by a week due to floods. The postponement affected some 37,000 registered voters, or about 0.3 percent of the total, and is unlikely to influence the overall result.

Portugal’s presidency is a largely ceremonial role, but it holds some key powers, including the ability to dissolve parliament under certain circumstances.

Ventura, 43, who had trailed Seguro in opinion polls, had argued that the government’s response to the fierce gales and floods was “useless” and called for the entire election to be postponed.

However, the authorities rejected the demand.

Seguro, during his last campaign rally on Friday, accused Ventura of “doing everything to keep the Portuguese from turning out to vote”.

Despite his loss on Sunday, Ventura, a charismatic former television sports commentator, can now boast increased support, reflecting the growing influence of the far right in Portugal and much of Europe. He is also the first extreme-right candidate to make it through to a run-off vote in Portugal.

Meanwhile, Seguro has cast himself as the candidate of a “modern and moderate” left, who can actively mediate to avert political crises and defend democratic values. He received backing from prominent conservatives after the first round amid concerns over what many see as Ventura’s populist, hardline tendencies.

But Prime Minister Luis Montenegro – whose minority centre-right government has to rely on support from either the Socialists or the far right to get legislation through parliament – declined to endorse either candidate in the second round.

While the role is largely ceremonial, the head of state has the power to dissolve parliament and call early elections.

‘Cold’ coach back at Olympics after Valieva scandal

Sonia OxleyBBC Sport Producer and Emma SmithBBC Sport journalist at Milano Ice Skating Arena

When figure skating coach Eteri Tutberidze’s “tremendous coldness” was described as “chilling to see” at the last Winter Olympics, it may have been hard to imagine her returning to her sport’s biggest stage.

Four years later, the highly successful coach is at Milan-Cortina – and not everyone is happy about it.

Tutberidze and her training methods were under the spotlight at Beijing 2022 amid the Kamila Valieva doping scandal that rocked the Games, and it was the then-IOC president Thomas Bach who gave the stinging assessment of the coach.

Rather than comforting 15-year-old gold medal favourite Valieva when she left the ice in tears after falling several times, Tutberidze had instead asked the youngster “why did you stop fighting?”

Bach said he had been “very, very disturbed” by what he had seen and that it did not give him “much confidence in this closest entourage of Kamila, neither with regard to what happened in the past, nor as far as it concerns the future”.

Well, that future is here and so too is Tutberidze.

Not only is Tutberidze back at the Olympics, but she is apparently coach to another Russian teenage medal hope.

That skater is 18-year-old Adeliia Petrosian, who is here as a neutral athlete (AIN) as Russia’s team are banned from the Games because of the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

However, Tutberidze is not officially listed as the teenager’s coach in the media guide for these Games and it remains to be seen whether she will be at rinkside when Petrosian competes.

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Georgia on her mind

The Georgia team gather together to learn their scores, holding up two Team Georgia flags and showing serious facial expressionsBBC Sport

Tutberidze’s official coaching role is with the Georgia figure skating team and she was at Milano Ice Skating Arena for the team event to watch one of her longest-serving pupils, Nika Egadze.

Egadze stormed to victory at the 2026 European Championships in Sheffield, where Tutberidze shared a warm hug with her skater after a gold medal-winning performance, and other athletes spoke positively about the coach.

It was a different story at Milano Ice Skating Arena as Egadze endured two error-strewn routines, with Georgia missing out on a medal.

In the short programme he made two early errors, failing to land the triple toe loop in his first technical element.

As he continued his performance, the TV cameras caught Tutberidze in passing – standing at rinkside, arms folded.

Egadze did enough to pull the performance around and help earn Georgia fifth place in qualifying, progressing to the final. When he came off the ice, the hug from Tutberidze seemed curt.

She joined the Georgian squad as they waited for the results. Generally, waiting teams will laugh and joke, even if they know elimination is coming.

Instead, the 11 skaters and team members sat stony-faced as the scores were announced.

If this was an indicator of the atmosphere in the team, it is certainly not positive, but it may have just been a moment of nervous focus.

Perhaps Tutberidze was minding her body language on Sunday as Egadze struggled even more in the free skate. Three of his first four elements scored negative points, and he nearly tripped over during his triple axel.

His coach gave him a pat on the hand as the numbers came in. Despite Egadze scoring only 154.79 for the free skate – 27 points lower than his season best – there was no berating.

‘I would not have her anywhere near Milan’

Eteri Tutberidze and Kamila Valieva at Beijing 2022Getty Images

Official views on Tutberidze’s presence in Milan vary.

Given she has not been personally implicated in any doping scandals and has not broken any rules, Tutberidze has every right to be at the Olympics.

She has rejected any suggestions of wrongdoing in her career as a coach and said in 2022 she was baffled by Bach’s remarks.

“There was an investigation at the time and no issues were found that could be actioned against that individual,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams told a media conference on Sunday.

“If you are going to take action against someone, you need evidence, and from what I gather there isn’t any.”

However, World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) president Witold Banka said on Thursday he does not “feel comfortable with her presence here”, while Britain’s 1980 Olympic champion and BBC pundit Robin Cousins was unequivocal in his disdain.

“This comes down to the International Olympic Committee and International Skating Union – coaches are not part of the team,” Cousins told BBC Sport.

“So when they ban a team, the coach of said team is not part of that. That is not correct, as far as I am concerned. I would not have her anywhere near Milan, personally.

“Is that because of behaviour, or Russia being banned? All of the above.

‘The Tutberidze method’

Georgia's Nika Egadze and coach Eteri Tutberidze sitting on a sofaGetty Images

A few weeks ago, a television documentary – The Tutberidze Method – was released in Russia, celebrating her track record in training medal winners.

Two of Tutberidze’s skaters have won women’s gold and silver medals at the past two Olympics, but both were amid drama.

As the Valieva saga played out, Beijing 2022 champion Anna Shcherbakova was left barely celebrating victory – later saying she felt “emptiness” – while silver medallist Alexandra Trusova was so disappointed to miss out on gold that she said before the medal ceremony that she never wanted to skate again.

Four years before that, in 2018, favourite Evgenia Medvedeva was sobbing after being upstaged by 15-year-old training partner Alina Zagitova.

In the run-up to those two Games, Tutberidze’s skaters had been hot favourites, dominating the World Championships and European Championships.

Little has been seen of Petrosian recently on the international stage because of Russia’s ban from competition. The only real sighting of her was at September’s qualifying event in Beijing, where she won gold, but not all the top skaters were there.

Petrosian has also won the past three national championships – making it 11 years in a row for Tutberidze skaters – and she is the first woman to land a quadruple loop in competition, but she was injured last year and has struggled with errors this season.

Following the Valieva episode, the minimum age for competitors was raised from 15 to 17, an age that has not been far off retirement age for some of Tutberidze’s skaters in the past because of a combination of injury and a drop in technical skills.

It has been reported that her training model centres around female skaters peaking before they hit puberty.

What happened to Valieva?

Kamila Valieva competing in Russia's Skate Jumping Championship in January 2026Getty Images

Valieva, a mercurial talent who performances drew worldwide attention, was eventually banned for four years over her failed drugs test, but there were no sanctions for any of her entourage.

Her team have always insisted the failed test – for heart medication trimetazidine – was the result of contaminated cutlery which had been tainted by her grandfather’s medication, while Wada called for those behind the failed test to face justice because “the doping of children is unforgivable”.

“Wada is not behind the decision to accredit the coach [for Milan-Cortina],” Banka said. “The investigation found no evidence this person [Tutberidze] engaged in the topic, so there is no legal basis to exclude her.”

Winter Olympics 2026

6-22 February

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