The UK's Financial Times' front page stated that Donald Trump said the US security guarantees to Ukraine may be "empty." The US president also warned that if Vladimir Putin refuses a peace agreement, he will face "difficult situations."
Photos show that Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez is feeling like a frog on a hot pan, as the wife of the Spanish prime minister is accused of misusing public funds.
The newspaper focused on the popularity of the RABBIT toy from Pop Mart, a company supported by celebrities, which has helped Chinese toy manufacturers join the big league.
The global craze for the fluffy little RABBIT toy has helped Chinese toy manufacturer Pop Mart more than double its sales in the first half of the year. According to Forbes' report yesterday, the founder of Pop Mart, Wang Ning, is China's tenth richest person. The company's stock price briefly dropped in June.
Analysts have also warned that Pop Mart needs to launch new intellectual property products besides RABBIT to maintain its growth momentum.
The company said yesterday that the "Mengli Family" series, including RABBIT, generated 4.8 billion yuan in revenue in the first six months. Other four toy series - Molly, Skullpanda, Crybaby and Dimoo - all exceeded 1 billion yuan in sales. Pop Mart has become one of the most valuable toy companies in the world, with a market value more than twice the combined total of Hasbro and Mattel.
This craze has been endorsed by celebrities such as Rihanna and David Beckham. Although the price of most blind boxes in China is about 69 yuan, the recent popularity of RABBIT created by Hong Kong designer Long Jia Sheng has given rise to an active secondary market.
In June, at an auction in Beijing, a collector paid 12 million yuan (including handling fees) to bid on a life-sized limited edition RABBIT. The performance exceeding expectations may help alleviate analysts' concerns about the company's sustainable growth.
Pop Mart opened 40 stores within six months, bringing the total number of stores worldwide to 571, and there are nearly 2,600 "robot stores," i.e., automated vending machines.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1840921013594124/
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