China's crackdown leaves Hong Kong's last pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Daily, hanging by a thread

Hong Kong — The people who run Hong Kong's last pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Daily, will know by the end of this week if it will be forced to cease operations after 26 years. Last week the paper's office was raided by about 200 Hong Kong police officers, who left with five executives and boxes full of equipment.

Starved of cash because of a government freeze on its $2.3 million in assets, Apple Daily reported on its own potential demise late on Monday after the board of directors for its parent company, Next Digital, met to strategize about the future. The paper said its board had sent a letter to Hong Kong's Security Bureau requesting its assets be unfrozen in order to pay the salaries of its nearly 1,300 staffers by the end of this month. If denied, Apple Daily said it could stop updating its website as soon as Saturday morning.