Hong Kong's last pro-democracy newspaper prints 1 million copies of final edition
24 June 2021
The Apply Daily, Hong Kong's last pro-democracy newspaper, printed and sold 1 million copies of its final edition on Thursday, according to AP.
Why it matters: The newspaper said it'sbeing forced to shut down after Hong Kong police froze $2.3 million of its assets and arrested arrested five senior executives under China's national security law.
- The newspaper typically only prints around 80,000 copies, according to AP.
The paper's forced closure is another sign of China tightening its grip on the once semi-autonomous city by cracking down on rights and freedoms previously enjoyed by those living there.
- The security law Beijing passed last year gave the Hong Kong government broad power to limit people's political freedom.
What they're saying: "This is our last day, and last edition, does this reflect the reality that Hong Kong has started to lose its press freedom and freedom of speech?” Dickson Ng, a graphic designer for the Apple Daily, asked the AP.
- “Why does it have to end up like this?”
The big picture: The front page of the Apply Daily's final edition carried an image of an employee for the newspaper waving at supporters surrounding its office with a headline reading, “Hong Kongers bid a painful farewell in the rain, ‘We support Apple Daily,'" according to AP.
- It's unclear if the Apply Daily's shutdown will cause other media outlets, such as the English-language South China Morning Post, to become more reserved in their coverage of Hong Kong and on mainland China issues.
Go deeper: Hong Kong to censor movies under China's national security law
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.