Kylian Mbappé indirectly and jokingly referred in an interview to a meme about Mao Zedong, calling him a “dictator.” The remarks triggered a backlash in China: sponsors distanced themselves from Mbappé, state media stopped airing La Liga, and Mbappé, his club and the league apologized.

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Chinese state broadcaster CCTV did not air a Real Madrid La Liga match on Sunday after forward Kylian Mbappé sparked an uproar in China with comments about former leader Mao Zedong.

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Kylian Mbappé’s Real Madrid match this weekend could not be watched on television or digital streaming platforms in China, suggesting the backlash over a perceived insult to Mao Zedong has yet to fully subside.

Kylian MbappéReal MadridChinasports broadcasting

Kylian Mbappé apologised after comments about a meme portraying him as Chinese leader Mao Zedong prompted backlash in China. At least three Chinese companies have ended brand deals with the football star, and China’s Foreign Ministry has also responded.

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Chinese state TV did not air Real Madrid’s match against Racing Santander despite apologies from Kylian Mbappe, the club and La Liga. The blackout follows a furore over a video in which Mbappe called Mao Zedong a “dictator”; China’s broadcast overseer had announced a suspension of La Liga coverage.

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China's state broadcaster CCTV did not air Real Madrid's match on Sunday after Kylian Mbappé apologised for remarks about Mao Zedong. China Media Group acknowledged the apologies but has not said how long the La Liga broadcast blackout will continue.

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Russian human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova said she lacks figures for how many people left Oleshky, noting that although evacuation buses had 750 seats, many returned empty. She said the number who departed was far lower. Ukraine’s ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said both sides agreed not to publish destination figures. Russia and Ukraine conducted a joint humanitarian mission there, with hostilities halted under U.S. mediation from October 27 to November 1.

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Russian human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova said the humanitarian mission in Alyoshki, Kherson Region, proceeded as planned without incidents or ceasefire violations and officially ended on November 1. She said both sides honored their agreements, Belarus helped arrange talks, and US First Lady Melania Trump’s team was in regular contact during preparations.

Alyoshkihumanitarian missionceasefireRussia-Ukraine talks

U.S. first lady Melania Trump said a humanitarian operation evacuated nearly 800 people from Russian-occupied Oleshky. Neither Ukraine nor Russia has released figures; Ukraine’s ombudsman said the prior agreement barred official disclosure. The evacuation ceasefire ended Nov. 1, with neither side reporting violations.

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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the Alyoshki humanitarian operation successful and thanked the United States for helping. He said there are no current plans for similar pauses elsewhere along the front and it is too early to discuss restarting Russian gas transit to Europe via Ukraine, noting that the global gas market extends far beyond Europe.

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Russia’s human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova said she and Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmitry Lubinets agreed to organize humanitarian missions to Alyoshki in the Kherson Region at least once a month, coordinated and mediated by US First Lady Melania Trump. The town still needs medicines, fuel and other supplies.

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Ukraine's General Staff said Russia used the humanitarian ceasefire in Oleshky to rotate troops, strengthen positions, expand anti-drone netting on logistics routes and bring in ammunition. Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said equipment shown moving in footage was used for demining under Ukrainian supervision and then returned to its prior location.

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Karl Bushby has finished his 28-year walk around the world, arriving at his mother's home in northern England.

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Up to 1,000 people cheered as former British paratrooper Karl Bushby returned to Hull, England, after completing his 50,000-kilometre journey.

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A British adventurer is due to finish his nearly three-decade journey on foot around the world on Monday, completing 31,000 miles at the house where he grew up.

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British adventurer Karl Bushby returned to his hometown of Hull after a nearly 28-year, 50,000-kilometer journey that began in Chile in 1998. He crossed four continents, advancing almost entirely on foot, and was welcomed by a crowd of about 500 people.

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British adventurer Karl Bushby arrived home on Monday after a 28-year, 50,000-kilometre journey from Chile across four continents, making no progress by transport.

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A judge threw out the criminal filing involving two former FBI officials, NBC News learned from someone familiar with the matter. The officials were accused of giving Congress false accounts of what they knew about the Hunter Biden probe.

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A federal judge dismissed a case against two former FBI officials charged with lying to Congress. The Justice Department believes the investigators sought to play down allegations of Biden family corruption, CNN previously reported.

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A judge dismissed the Justice Department’s federal false-statements case against two former FBI agents, who were accused of lying to Congress about earlier investigations of Hunter Biden.

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A federal judge in Washington dismissed a criminal complaint against two former FBI officials accused of falsely minimizing their knowledge of a laptop that the Justice Department says belonged to Hunter Biden.

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Anthropic PBC reported third-quarter revenue of nearly $17 billion as of Sept. 30, up twelvefold from the same period a year earlier. The surge is expected to fuel anticipation for a potentially record-breaking IPO by the AI lab.

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At least seven migrants died in waters near Spain’s Canary Islands on Monday, while more than 380 people were rescued, the country’s maritime rescue services said.

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Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is due to present the final version of plans making foreign workers wait longer to apply for indefinite leave to remain. The original proposals set waits of 10 years for most workers and 15 for care workers, including people already in the UK. Andy Burnham declined to say legal migration was too high, while calling small-boat crossings too high.

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Spanish officials have listed the countries of citizens killed in the Oct. 28 high-speed train collision, confirming that a Canadian died in the crash in Toledo last week.

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