Hong Kong pro-democracy paper Apple Daily to close by Saturday

Hong Kong’s pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper will close by this weekend after police arrested five editors and executives and froze 2.3 million dollars (£1.65 million) in assets linked to the paper.

The board of directors said in a statement on Wednesday that the paper’s print and online editions will cease no later than Saturday due to “the current circumstances prevailing in Hong Kong”.

So far, more than 100 people have been arrested under Hong Kong’s new national security law, including prominent pro-democracy activists and Apple Daily’s publisher Jimmy Lai.