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Sloppy redactions in Epstein files leave uncensored...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

Nude photos. The names and faces of sexual abuse victims. Bank account and Social Security numbers in full view. All of these things appeared in the mountain of documents released Friday by the US Justice Department as part of its effort to comply with a law requiring it to open its investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein. That law was intended to preserve important privacy protections for Epstein’s victims. Their names were supposed to have been blacked out in documents. Their faces and

Hong Kong fire inquiry finds key clues of systematic...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

An independent committee investigating Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades has found “key clues” pointing to systematic loopholes that it called “unacceptable”. At the committee’s first meeting on Thursday, which lasted 1½ hours, senior counsel Victor Dawes said the body had received a large amount of information from relevant parties. The leading barrister added that this had given the committee a “considerable understanding” of the fire at Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court. “The evidence appears to...

US ‘Today’ show host appeals to mother’s kidnapper...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

NBC Today show host Savannah Guthrie sent a public message to her 84-year-old mother’s kidnapper on Wednesday saying that her family was ready to talk but wants proof that she is alive. Guthrie said in a recorded video posted on social media that her family has heard media reports about a ransom letter for Nancy Guthrie, who authorities believe was taken from her home in Arizona against her will. “We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily

China slams EU probe into wind turbine maker Goldwind...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

China has criticised the European Commission’s anti-subsidy probe into Chinese wind turbine maker Goldwind Science & Technology as “targeted” and “discriminatory”, warning that such measures would undermine Chinese companies’ confidence in the European market and disrupt the bloc’s green transition. “The European side’s related investigations have generalised the concept of ‘foreign subsidies’ and have many problems, such as insufficient evidence for opening cases and a lack of procedural...

Japan’s ‘extremely unreasonable’ election timing...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has come under fire for deciding to hold Sunday’s general election during the peak university entrance exam season, with critics saying it has placed an additional burden on students. Takaichi’s abrupt announcement last month to dissolve the House of Representatives has also been questioned, as it will be the first time since 1990 that a lower house election is taking place in February, when some regions experience heavy snowfall. The prime minister has...

Temperatures to drop to 13 degrees on Sunday as cold...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Temperatures in Hong Kong are expected to drop on Sunday as a cold front sweeps across southern China, ending several days of warm and humid weather. The Hong Kong Observatory said minimum temperatures could fall to around 13 degrees Celsius (55.4 Fahrenheit) on Sunday, with daytime highs of about 19 degrees. The cooler weather will follow a relatively

Baptism of fire: my first criminal trial

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

It was a blisteringly hot afternoon at the tail end of my pupillage in ’00. I was staring into space and imagining my glorious debut in court – when the phone rang. On the other end was a clerk from a small local solicitors’ firm, who asked, with alarming nonchalance, whether I could defend a robbery trial at Sha Tin Magistrates’ Court the following week. I said yes immediately – with a brief hesitation revealing that it would be my first criminal trial in the hope that honesty would not cost

Canada wants a middle-power alliance. Will...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s call for middle powers to band together amid a fragmenting world order is a vision analysts say appeals to many Asian nations, but lacks a blueprint to bring them all together. Speaking in Switzerland last month, Carney urged mid-sized and smaller countries to unite against the economic coercion of great powers, warning that nations failing to act collectively risked being “on the menu” rather than “at the table”, in a thinly veiled rebuke of the United...

Those betting on Hong Kong’s bright future have...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

Former governor Chris Patten once said nobody ever profited from betting against Hong Kong. Anybody wagering against its “one country, two systems” policy will undoubtedly be out of pocket. Since 1997, the policy has been the city’s lodestar. While the post-reunification settlement was repeatedly challenged, most notably during the 2019 social unrest, Hong Kong has emerged stronger. The Basic Law sustained it throughout and Beijing’s support was unwavering. With national security legislation,...

Malaysia plans new insurance scheme for Singapore...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

A new insurance scheme will be created for Malaysians working in Singapore to ensure they remain covered even during their daily cross-border commute, says Human Resources Minister R. Ramanan. The new scheme will ensure that the nearly 400,000 Malaysians who cross the border daily from Johor are not left out of social security protection after working hours. “What happens when you are travelling from your workplace back to your home? Where is the coverage during this period? That coverage is

Nato member Turkey reaffirms Brics ambitions amid...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

Turkey remains committed to becoming a full member of the Brics bloc, positioning itself as a bridge between Asia and Europe despite widening transatlantic rifts, according to the new Turkish ambassador to China. Ankara, meanwhile, would continue to work with Beijing to deepen trade ties, promote high-level visits, expand cultural and academic exchanges and build political trust through dialogue on security, counterterrorism and other sensitive issues, the envoy told the South China Morning...

Story of China woman and adopted wolf son gains...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

More than a decade ago, Chinese wildlife artist Li Weiyi rescued a dying wolf cub in the grasslands of southwestern China. Recently, the 2017 documentary Return to the Wolves, which chronicles her time with her wolf son, regained attention thanks to a commentary video by film influencer @bizhanfenghua. The topic has attracted an astonishing 2.8 billion views on mainland social media. In April 2010, while sketching in the Zoige Prairie in Sichuan province, Li came across a little wolf, only

Senior civil servants to face scrutiny in Hong Kong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

Senior civil servants are among scores of witnesses to be cross-examined by an independent committee set up to probe the cause of Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades in a string of open hearings expected to take around two months, the South China Morning Post has learned. The committee tasked to investigate the fire, which claimed 168 lives in the Wang Fuk Court residential complex in Tai Po, will hold its first meeting on Thursday morning at the City Gallery in Central to discuss

The future of globalisation? Less economic dependency...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

Countries having cautious reliance on China while maintaining constructive engagement is essential to the future of globalisation in a world where trade is increasingly used as a weapon, according to Canada’s former deputy prime minister. “In a world where the weaponisation of trade is real, we need to be thoughtful about where we’re building economic dependencies,” Chrystia Freeland told the Peterson Institute for International Economics during a discussion about the securitisation of trade

Japan-North Korea summit rumours link Takaichi to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/05

As Japan heads into a snap election, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is rumoured to be weighing a trip to North Korea aimed at securing the return of her country’s citizens who were abducted decades ago. The suggestion of a breakthrough came from Tsutomu Nishioka, a visiting professor at Reitaku University and long-time campaigner for the abductees’ families. Nishioka, who chairs the National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea and is also a senior member of the...

California can use new map for midterms despite...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/04

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed California to use a new voter-approved congressional map that is favourable to Democrats in this year’s elections, rejecting a last-ditch plea from state Republicans and the Trump administration. No justices dissented from the brief order denying the appeal without explanation, which is common on the court’s emergency docket. The justices had previously allowed Texas’ Republican-friendly map to be used in 2026, despite a lower-court ruling that it

Morgan Stanley sees another record year for Hong Kong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/04

Cathy Zhang, head of Asia-Pacific equity capital markets at Morgan Stanley, sounded hoarse after a day of back-to-back meetings with companies keen to go public in Hong Kong. “It’s very possible that the value and number may exceed last year’s IPO figures, given the momentum we have seen in January,” Zhang said in an interview on January 30. Nearly 100 companies filed for stock offerings in the city last month, more than triple the same period in 2025, a year which saw Hong Kong crowned as

Chinese semiconductor engineer Xu Zhenpeng says he...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/04

Leading chipmaking engineer Xu Zhenpeng said the United States no longer offered the freedom that researchers once expected – a key reason for his decision to continue his work in China. Xu, who joined Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) as a tenure-track assistant professor in January, left behind a team leadership role at Atomic Semi, a California start-up with high-profile backers that included OpenAI’s venture fund. Before his departure, Xu led a team that was developing a new kind of...

Washington Post cutting hundreds of jobs, as US media...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/04

The Washington Post, owned by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, announced major job cuts Wednesday, saying that “painful” restructuring was needed at the storied newspaper. The newspaper, which gained legendary status when its reporting helped bring down President Richard Nixon in the Watergate scandal, will see “substantial” reductions in its newsroom, Executive Editor Matt Murray said. The shrinking of The Washington Post comes as major traditional media outlets in the United States

As US toughens stance, how exposed is China to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/04

China’s discounted crude purchases are coming under strain as the United States tightens its stance on Iran and Venezuela, with analysts warning that more refineries may have to turn to higher-priced barrels from Canada, Brazil and the Middle East. The world’s second-largest economy is also accelerating its shift to electric vehicles and ramping up domestic fossil fuel production to help narrow its oil supply gap, while maintaining strategic reserves to mitigate any potential

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