Worries mount for health of media mogul and pro-democracy activist, 77, as his trial nears end

The son of the jailed Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai has called for an urgent meeting with the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, saying he was “desperate” as his father’s defence drew to a close in a high-profile trial.

Sebastien Lai said a fresh diplomatic push was now needed to free the 77-year-old pro-democracy activist, who holds British citizenship and has been kept behind bars in Hong Kong since December 2020.

Pontiff nearing three weeks in hospital in Rome after being admitted with respiratory problems

Pope Francis has recorded and released an audio message thanking those who have been praying for his recovery, his voice breathless as he nears three weeks in hospital with pneumonia.

“I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers for my health from the square, I accompany you from here,” Francis said in a message broadcast in St Peter’s Square.

Lejone Mpotjoane says behaviour is unexpected from head of state, after Trump claimed ‘nobody has ever heard of’ the country

Lesotho was taken aback by US President Donald Trump’s mockery of the southern African nation, its foreign minister has said, vowing that the country was “not taking this matter lightly”.

Trump called Lesotho a country “nobody has ever heard of” as he defended his sweeping cuts in aid during an address to Congress on Tuesday. He singled out a past US aid project of “eight million dollars to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho”.