Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai, 78, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for national security offences, including urging foreign sanctions and publishing “seditious” articles in his now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper. The ruling, the harshest under the Beijing-imposed law, sparked international criticism, with rights groups calling it “effectively a death sentence” and a blow to press freedom. Lai will serve 18 additional years after accounting for overlapping jail time (Pics/AFP)

Hundreds of people gathered at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoological Gardens to say goodbye to panda twins Lei Lei and Xiao Xiao as they were returned to China amid diplomatic tensions, leaving Japan without any pandas for the first time in 50 years. (PICS/AFP)