Final edition of Hong Kong tabloid newspaper Apple Daily may be days away

Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily could be forced to close as early as June 26, 2021. Authorities have frozen HK$18 million (US$2.32 million) worth of assets that belong to three companies affiliated with the tabloid. If its appeal to the Security Bureau to unfreeze the assets fails, the publication will not be able to pay the employees and its 26-year run would end within days. The paper’s funds were frozen after police on June 17 arrested five of its directors, alleging foreign collusion under the national security law imposed on the city by mainland Chinese authorities. Apple Daily is an anti-Beijing publication that supports Hong Kong's anti-government protest movement.