Real Madrid has issued an apology to China over Kylian Mbappe’s controversial remarks about the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, after the Spanish football club’s initial response failed to quell anger in China. In a statement published on its website on Wednesday, the club apologised to the Chinese people for “any discomfort” caused by the French footballer’s remarks, a day after Mbappe issued his own public apology. The apology came after Chinese state broadcaster CCTV Sports rejected Real...

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday proposed a new US-Asean defence framework to guide cooperation over what he called “critically important years” ahead, but offered few details on what it would entail. The proposal faces questions over whether members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will embrace a bloc-wide initiative, with analysts suggesting they would prefer bilateral arrangements that preserve their flexibility as they navigate ties with Washington and...

Hong Kong International Airport has become one of the first two organisations certified under an international aviation industry group’s digital identity programme, as it seeks to expand its facial recognition system beyond the city. However, the wider adoption of facial recognition technology has been slower than expected, due to government regulations and privacy requirements, according to a senior aviation industry official. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced on...

Traffic police have issued more than 220,000 tickets for parking-related offences in each of the past three years, raking in at least HK$70 million (US$8.92 million) a year for Hong Kong’s coffers, but a lawmaker said inspections could be enhanced to target more offenders. In a written reply to the Legislative Council on Wednesday, Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said police issued 259,589, 242550, and 225,489 fixed penalty tickets in 2023, 2024 and 2025 respectively to...

The number of mega-wealthy people in China reached an all-time high this year, with tech tycoons including the founder of DeepSeek joining a closely watched rich list as the country expands its AI reach. The logo of China’s Deepseek AI application on a smartphone screen and the logo of he logo of China’s Kimi AI application on a laptop screen (top) in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. Photo: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP. The number of people worth more than 5 billion yuan ($750 million) rose to a record 1,529, according to the annual Hurun China Rich List released Tuesday, dwarfing the previous high of 1,460 in 2021. Liang Wenfeng, the founder of AI startup DeepSeek, made his debut at number seven with an estimated fortune of $41.7 billion — one of 263 newcomers largely from sectors including semiconductors, AI and robotics. His wealth was pumped up by DeepSeek’s industry-shaking R1 reasoning model released last year, triggering a sell-off in US tech stocks. This year’s roster reflected China’s “two-speed economy”, which has seen tech fortunes surge as traditional wealth declines, said Rupert Hoogewerf, chief researcher at the Hurun Research Institute, which publishes the list. Of the top 100, 60 percent made their fortunes in sectors targeted by China as part of a plan launched in 2015 to develop technological leadership within 10 years. “This was the year ‘Made in China 2025’ came home,” Hoogewerf said in a news release. ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming, China’s richest man in 2024, reclaimed the top spot with an estimated fortune of $99.7 billion — a record for the list. The TikTok app. Photo: Anton/Pexels. He overtook Nongfu Spring founder Zhong Shanshan, known as the “Bottled Water King”. ByteDance, which includes TikTok and Douyin, has faced growing regulatory pressure worldwide but its AI chatbot Doubao had nearly 420 million monthly active users — far ahead of domestic rivals. CATL founder Robin Zeng, Tencent’s Pony Ma, NetEase’s William Ding and Cambricon’s Chen Tianshi also made the top 10. DeepSeek is reportedly close to completing a new funding round worth 100 billion yuan — a record for China’s AI industry — which would value the company at around 500 billion yuan. Hurun’s list of China’s richest women, which was released on Wednesday, saw Zhou Qunfang, founder of touchscreen maker Lens Technology, retain her top position, with a $18.9 billion fortune.

Hong Kong’s decades-old bookstore Luck Win has announced the shutdown of its Mong Kok branch by the end of the year, becoming the city’s latest independent bookstore to close. Luck Win Bookstore’s Mong Kok branch. Photo: Luck Win. Luck Win announced on Tuesday that its Mong Kok bookshop would close by December 31 at the latest. It did not cite any reasons. “Operating for 48 years has not been easy, and we are reluctant to say goodbye. We thank all our friends, new and old, for their support. We have to bid farewell. Until we meet again,” the Chinese-language post read. See also: How an escalating crackdown on Hong Kong’s independent bookstores put Taiwan publishers in the spotlight Some of Luck Win’s customers commented on the post, saying that many titles on their bookshelves were bought at Luck Win over the years and that it was sad to say goodbye. Luck Win Bookstore’s Mong Kok branch. Photo: Luck Win. Photos posted by the bookshop showed that it is offering a discount of 55 per cent off for all books ahead of its closure. One of Hong Kong’s oldest independent bookshop, Luck Win runs two branches in Mong Kok and Causeway Bay. A staff member at the Causeway Bay branch told HKFP on the phone that the branch is still operating and that no decision has been made to close it. Earlier in July, Luck Win and Elmbook, another independent bookshop that opened in 1997, were banned from participating in the city’s official annual book fair. Soon after the ban, Elmbook said on Facebook that it was shuttering its physical store in Mong Kok. It is yet to announce the exact closure date, although it said the store’s lease would end in April next year. Wave of closures Independent bookshops in Hong Kong have been facing increasing pressure from authorities in recent years, with frequent checks from government departments and tax inspections. The crackdown escalated earlier this year with the arrests of staff by national security police at four bookstores. A woman is escorted away from ‘Have a Nice Stay’ independent bookstore by Hong Kong police on July 15, 2026. Her t-shirt reads: “I am staff of a bookstore.” Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. In March, staff from Book Punch were arrested, and in June, staff from Hunter Bookstore were apprehended. In July, staff from Have a Nice Stay and Greenfield were arrested on the same day. A day before the arrests, Have a Nice Stay announced to close down after four years in operation. Following the arrests, Greenfield also announced that it will shutter after its lease expires.

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The French superstar's comments about Mao Zedong have drawn the ire of China, a lucrative market for sports teams.