Palace says King Charles III will support police assessing former Prince Andrew’s Epstein links

LONDON (AP) — Buckingham Palace says King Charles III will “support” UK police assessing reports that the former Prince Andrew gave confidential information to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The statement came after Thames Valley Police said Monday that they were “assessing” reports that the former prince, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor,sent trade reports to Epstein in 2010. The department, which serves an area west of London that includes Mountbatten-Windsor’s former home, previously said it was evaluating allegations that Epstein flew a young woman to Britain to have sex with Andrew, also in 2010.

China critic and former media tycoon Jimmy Lai is sentenced to 20 years

HONG KONG (AP) — Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy former Hong Kong media tycoon and a fierce critic of Beijing, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in one of the most prominent cases prosecuted under a China-imposed national security law. The maximum penalty of his conviction was life imprisonment. His daughter Claire said that if this sentence is carried out, he will “die a martyr behind bars.” The case has raised concerns about declining press freedom in Hong Kong. His sentence could heighten Beijing’s diplomatic tensions with foreign governments. Six former Apple Daily staffers and two activists received prison terms between 6 years and 3 months, and 10 years.

Israeli forces capture a Hamas ally in south Lebanon as an Israeli drone kills 3

BEIRUT (AP) — Israelis forces have seized a local Sunni Islamist politician and an ally of the Palestinian militant Hamas group and took him to Israel for questioning. The Israeli military and Lebanese state media said the operation in southern Lebanon took place early on Monday. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency also reported that an Israeli drone struck a car in the southern Lebanese village of Yanouh on Monday, killing three people, including a child. The seized official, Atwi Atwi, is a member of the Sunni Islamist group al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, or the Islamic Group in English. The Israeli military said an Islamic Group official was apprehended in a “targeted intelligence-based operation,” without releasing the official’s name.

Venezuela’s top prosecutor orders the arrest of opposition leader’s ally

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s top prosecutor says his office has requested the arrest of Juan Pablo Guanipa, a close ally of opposition leader María Corina Machado. This move comes less than 12 hours after Guanipa was released from detention as part of a government strategy to free detainees who are facing politically motivated accusations. The Attorney General’s office claims Guanipa violated court-imposed conditions, but did not specify which ones. Machado say that shortly after his release Guanipa was taken by armed men in Caracas, the country’s capital. His release, along with others, followed pressure on the government to free political detainees. Guanipa had been in custody since May, accused of participating in an anti-government plot.