SCMP News Digest
Monday, 26 January 2026
Kanye West denies being a Nazi, blames bipolar disorder for antisemitic rants
Rapper Kanye West on Monday denied being a Nazi and expressed regret over his antisemitic rants, blaming such behaviour – which included recording a song that celebrates Hitler – on his bipolar disorder.
The disgraced 48-year-old music star, who has lost fans and business deals in recent years because of his racist or antisemitic outbursts, released his song Heil Hitler last May to mark the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
The song has been banned on major…
Xi to meet Uruguay’s Orsi in first Latin America-China visit since US capture of Maduro
Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi will travel to China next week, in what is expected to be the first visit by a Latin American leader to Beijing since the United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in an early January operation. Beijing says the trip will focus on strengthening political dialogue and expanding economic cooperation.
The state visit will run from February 1 to 7, according to China’s foreign ministry, and comes at a tense moment in the western hemisphere following…
Canada’s Carney charts a ‘third path’ for middle powers
Historians may mark January 20, 2026, as a landmark moment. That day, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, during his speech at Davos, declared the terminal decay of the US-led international order and charted a principled, pragmatic path for middle powers caught in the crossfire of great power rivalry.
The significance lies in the fact that this bold critique came from Canada – a nation deeply intertwined with the United States through an alliance, as well as proximity and economic ties.
US…
At least 6 dead after private plane crashes in Maine as US hit by winter storm
At least six people have died after a private plane crashed while taking off from Bangor International Airport in Maine on Sunday evening, local authorities said.
There were six people on the plane according to the flight manifest, the statement from Bangor police said. “No one from the incident was transported to the hospital, and all on the flight are presumed to be deceased.”
The US Federal Aviation Administration said in an earlier statement that the plane was carrying eight people. In a…
Trump does not want people killed in US but won’t back down on deportations: White House
The White House said on Monday that US President Donald Trump does not want to see people getting hurt or killed on the streets of the United States but will not back down from efforts to deport “violent criminal illegal aliens” from Minnesota.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt briefed journalists after the killing of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti on Saturday by federal officers drew outrage from Americans. It was the second fatal shooting of a US citizen in Minnesota this…
China’s Sinochem says it has proposed a ‘solution’ to end governance dispute over Pirelli
Pirelli’s Chinese shareholder Sinochem said on Monday it had put forward a “structured solution” to end a governance dispute with the tyre maker’s Italian investor Camfin.
The announcement was made as the Italian government assesses options to limit Sinochem’s influence over Pirelli, or even turn it into a passive shareholder, in a bid to ease the tyre maker’s US expansion.
Beijing-controlled Sinochem is Pirelli’s largest shareholder with a 34.1 per cent stake while Camfin, the vehicle of…
EU lawmakers divided over resuming work on US trade deal after Greenland crisis
The European Parliament has put off until next week a decision on whether to resume work on the EU’s trade deal with the United States, which it had suspended in protest against US President Donald Trump’s demands to acquire Greenland and threats of tariffs.
The parliament’s trade committee had been expected to set its position in votes on Monday and Tuesday, and the assembly’s president, Roberta Metsola, said last week discussions could resume soon to get the process back on track.
But German…
Carney links Trump’s new tariff threat to North America trade deal review
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday downplayed US President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threat against Canada, saying the comments should be viewed with an eye towards a coming trade deal review.
Asked about Trump’s threat to impose 100 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports should Ottawa finalise a new trade deal with China, Carney told reporters that the North American free trade deal is up for review this year and “the president is a strong negotiator”.
“I think some of these…
Amid US-Iran tensions, US aircraft carrier enters Middle East region, officials say
A US aircraft carrier and supporting warships have arrived in the Middle East, two US officials told Reuters on Monday, expanding US President Donald Trump’s capabilities to defend US forces, or potentially take military action against Iran.
The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers have crossed into the Middle East region, which comes under the US military’s Central Command, the officials told Reuters.
Trump said on Thursday the United States had an…
Ex-Conservative lawmaker Suella Braverman defects to right-wing Reform UK
British lawmaker Suella Braverman, a former home secretary, became the latest prominent Conservative to join Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK on Monday, and she accused her former party of lying to voters over immigration.
Opinion polls put Reform UK ahead of both Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party and Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives, the two parties that have dominated British politics for more than a century, though a national election is not expected until 2029.
For now, the…
Boy, 11, takes the wheel after dad faints while driving car in Hong Kong
An 11-year-old boy was forced to take the wheel after his father lost consciousness while driving in Hong Kong, with the car only coming to a halt after it collided with another vehicle and a railing.
Police said the boy’s father, 47, fainted while driving westbound along Shing Sai Road and turning into Sands Street in Kennedy Town at about 6.20pm on Monday.
The boy, who was seated next to him, grabbed the wheel in an attempt to stop the car.
But the vehicle collided with another car before…
2 women arrested as hawkers cash in on Blackpink merchandise craze at concerts
Hong Kong authorities have arrested two women for hawking and received four complaints about unauthorised vendors selling merchandise for K-pop group Blackpink near a concert venue over the past few days.
Hours ahead of the final night of the three-concert series of the popular Korean girl band on Monday, a Post reporter spotted about a dozen hawkers near Kai Tak Stadium, selling merchandise without official approval.
Since the concerts began on Saturday, photos shared on Threads have shown…
Universal Design Award Scheme inspires a more inclusive Hong Kong
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Universal design is fast becoming a new measure of good urban living in Hong Kong. As the city’s population grows older and more diverse, the way spaces are planned, built and managed now matters as much as what they contain.
That shift – from compliance to inclusivity – is what the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) hopes to accelerate through its Universal Design Award Scheme (UDAS), which recognises organisations…
China close to opening US$10 billion canal linking heartlands to Southeast Asia
China is expected to finish construction on the landmark Pinglu Canal before the end of this year, taking just four years to complete the 72.7 billion yuan (US$10.4 billion) project to boost trade links with the country’s top export destination: Southeast Asia.
The mega-project will provide China’s landlocked southwestern provinces with direct access to global shipping lanes, making it faster and cheaper to transport goods between the Chinese interior and neighbouring countries.
The 134km (83…
Trump sends border tsar Homan to Minnesota after second fatal ICE shooting
US President Donald Trump announced on Monday he is sending a top official to Minnesota as outrage grew over his administration’s militarised immigration raids and the shooting dead of a second protester in Minneapolis.
Trump said that Tom Homan, his point man for border security, would arrive in the state later and “will report directly to me”.
The high-profile assignment suggested that the 79-year-old Republican president is seeking to regain control over a rapidly deteriorating political and…
Israel recovers remains of final Gaza hostage Ran Gvili, key for phase two of Gaza truce
The remains of the final hostage in Gaza have been recovered, Israel’s military said on Monday, clearing the way for efforts to rebuild Gaza and disarm Hamas in the next phase of the ceasefire that paused the Israel-Gaza war.
The announcement that the remains of police officer Ran Gvili had been found and identified came a day after Israel’s government said the military was conducting a “large-scale operation” in a cemetery in northern Gaza to locate them.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…
AI mental health app helps Hong Kong students accentuate the positive
The Education University of Hong Kong (EdU) has launched an artificial intelligence-powered mental health support app for students, with a secondary school principal praising its potential to help teachers track pupils’ emotional well-being.
Named EmoCare, the app began a trial run last month, serving about 700 primary, secondary and university students.
A key feature turns students’ diary entries into colourful visualisations of their emotions.
The app’s large language model analyses the…
Hong Kong expands fight against hepatitis B. But how many hidden cases are there?
A government-subsidised screening and treatment programme set to launch next month is expected to identify about 23,000 hidden cases of chronic hepatitis B in Hong Kong, as part of a bigger plan to eliminate the public health threat within five years.
Health authorities said on Monday that the “Hepatitis B Co-care Scheme” would cover people born in Hong Kong in or before 1988 along with first-degree family members – parents, siblings and children – or sexual partners who had already contracted…
AI video generation: How China’s Kling challenges Google’s Veo, OpenAI’s Sora
As AI video generation has evolved from a curiosity to a productivity tool embraced by serious creators, the Kling platform developed by China’s Kuaishou has landed firmly in the top tier alongside Google’s Veo and OpenAI’s Sora.
Kling has rapidly grown into a meaningful new business line for the company – long a runner-up to TikTok owner ByteDance in China’s short video arena – since its launch in June 2024, reaching about 12 million monthly active users and annual recurring revenue of roughly…
Can this new tech help China’s stealth bomber break the sound barrier?
The old rules said you had to choose: stealth or speed. The US picked stealth. Russia went fast. China is trying to throw away the rule book.
Chinese researchers unveiled a development in aircraft design last month that could propel the nation’s next-generation stealth bombers into supersonic flight, ending the trade-off between speed and stealth that has troubled the American and Russian air forces for decades.
Since the 1930s, scientists have been studying a type of aircraft called the flying…