SCMP News Digest
Tuesday, 27 January 2026
Spain to buck Trump trend and legalise thousands of migrants
Spain’s government announced on Tuesday it will grant legal status to potentially hundreds of thousands of immigrants living and working in the country without authorisation, the latest example of how the country has bucked a trend towards increasingly harsh immigration policies championed by US President Donald Trump and seen across much of Europe.
Migration Minister Elma Saiz said the beneficiaries would be able to work “in any sector, in any part of the country”, and extolled “the positive…
On the wrong side: Hong Kong politicians trade barbs over lawmaker’s driving
An alleged traffic offence involving a Hong Kong lawmaker has sparked a fiery exchange between a veteran of the city’s biggest party and political heavyweight Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, who defended her protege and was accused of double standards.
New People’s Party chairwoman Ip, convenor of the government’s key decision-making body Executive Council, reportedly snapped at former lawmaker Choy So-yuk, questioning whether her Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB),…
China and Russia to bolster defence ties to counter risks
Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun urged closer strategic coordination between Beijing and Moscow and bolstering joint capacity to respond to risks and challenges in a video call with his Russian counterpart on Tuesday.
Dong told Andrei Belousov that Beijing was willing to “enrich the substance of cooperation, improve communication and exchange mechanisms, jointly enhance the ability to respond to various risks and challenges and work hand in hand to inject positive energy into global security…
Australia swelters as temperatures near 50 degrees in record-breaking heatwave
Parts of Australia sweltered in record temperatures of close to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday as the country sweated through a prolonged heatwave.
The rural towns of Hopetoun and Walpeup in Victoria state registered preliminary highs of 48.9 degrees, which if confirmed overnight would top records set on the day in 2009 when 173 people were killed in the state’s devastating Black Saturday bushfires.
No casualties were reported from Tuesday’s heatwave, but Victoria…
As Malaysian ringgit strengthens, Singapore shoppers in Johor reap less savings
Since losing his job two years ago, Singaporean Gurpal Singh has been making weekly trips by car across the border to the Malaysian city of Johor Bharu to buy cheaper groceries and fuel.
But as Malaysia’s currency continues to strengthen, bargain-hunting visitors from Singapore like him are getting less value for their purchases.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Singapore dollar was trading at 3.11 against the Malaysian ringgit, down from 3.15 in early January and 3.26 in October last year.
Economists…
China’s consumer spending push faces major challenge – debt-averse households
Chinese households have accelerated deleveraging – cutting debt relative to gross domestic product – at the fastest pace in years, a shift that could weigh on the consumer spending that Beijing needs to sustain growth in the world’s second-largest economy.
The household debt-to-GDP ratio fell by 2 percentage points, from 61.4 per cent in 2024 to 59.4 per cent at the end of 2025, according to data released on Monday by the National Institution for Finance and Development (NIFD), a Beijing-based…
Hong Kong police arrest 71 over stooge accounts linked to HK$214 million scams
Hong Kong police have arrested 71 people for operating stooge accounts used by scammers, with the largest case involving a senior director at a multinational company who was defrauded of HK$134 million after transferring the funds to criminals impersonating his chief executive.
Inspector Tsang Kin-wa of the Hong Kong Island regional technology and financial crime unit said the force had conducted a crackdown on scams and money laundering between January 12 and 26, uncovering 69 cases, with total…
After 2.5-year Israel blockade on Gaza, Unicef delivers school kits
The UN children’s agency said on Tuesday it had for the first time in two and a half years been able to deliver school kits with learning materials into Gaza after they were previously blocked by Israeli authorities.
Thousands of kits, including pencils, exercise books and wooden cubes to play with, have now entered the enclave, Unicef said.
“We have now, in the last days, got in thousands of recreational kits, hundreds of school-in-a-carton kits. We’re looking at getting 2,500 more school…
Over 70% of European firms in China review supply chain strategies: survey
Seven out of every 10 European companies operating in China were reviewing their supply chain strategies amid geopolitical tensions and Beijing’s opaque policymaking, which appears to set back the country’s globalisation efforts, according to a new survey.
A survey of 324 corporate respondents conducted by the Shanghai chapter of the European Union Chamber of Commerce found that these firms aimed to strike a balance between cost efficiency and risk diversification, while building resilience in…
As China grows, it is reshaping how global public goods are delivered
At Davos this year, a familiar but sobering warning echoed through the slopes: the global order is fracturing into closed loops. In Western capitals, “de-risking” remains the dominant keyword, framing the global economy as a series of strategic high walls. Yet, beyond these barriers, a more tangible crisis is unfolding across the Global South. The infrastructure deficit continues to widen, estimated at a staggering US$1.7 trillion annually for Asia alone.
This is a crisis of global governance….
China could approve first fully AI-designed drug next year, Merck executive says
Mainland China could become one of the first markets in the world to approve a drug fully designed by artificial intelligence, as advances in AI and human genetics combine to create a “seismic shift” in drug development, according to executives of pharmaceutical giants.
“We will see in 2026 that we move from AI-assisted discovery to fully AI-designed compounds, perhaps entering the pipeline,” said Marc Horn, president of Merck China, at the Asian Financial Forum on Tuesday in Hong Kong. “We…
US ambassador to China says progress on agreements, Boeing deal among signs of better ties
The United States’ top diplomat in China has expressed optimism about US-China ties during a closed-door speech in Hong Kong where he said risks in the relationship have been controlled effectively and a Boeing deal is being negotiated, sources said.
Sources who attended the speech by David Perdue, Washington’s ambassador to China, said his message at Tuesday’s Goldman Sachs Global Macro Conference Asia Pacific 2026 was “comforting and reassuring” to hundreds of global business and finance…
Hong Kong’s exports rose 15.4% in 2025 to ‘historical high’
Hong Kong’s exports in 2025 rose by 15.4 per cent year on year to a “historical high”, with authorities expecting sustained global economic growth, improved ties with new markets and strong demand for artificial intelligence-enabled products to continue supporting the city’s trade.
According to the Census and Statistics Department, the total value of Hong Kong’s export of goods rose by 15.4 per cent in 2025 compared with the previous year, while the value of imports increased by 15.5 per cent…
ICE agents get security role at 2026 Winter Olympics sparking outrage after deadly shootings
A branch of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will help with security for the Winter Olympics in Italy, it confirmed on Tuesday, sparking anger and warnings they were not welcome.
Reports had been circulating for days that the agency embroiled in an often brutal immigration crackdown in the United States could be involved in US security measures for the February 6-22 Games in northern Italy.
In a statement overnight, ICE said: “At the Olympics, ICE’s Homeland Security…
Hong Kong retiree spiked soft drinks with urine in year-long ‘prank’
A former property agent has admitted planting urine-spiked soft drinks among other goods in supermarkets repeatedly for more than a year, telling a Hong Kong court he had developed depression since his divorce and retirement.
Kowloon City Court heard that Franklin Lo Kim-ngai, 63, marked his discontent with supermarket staff by doctoring Coca-Cola Plus and 7-Up drinks with his urine and placing them in Wellcome and ParknShop outlets across the city between July 21, 2024, and August 6, last…
India, EU ‘make history’ as they seal trade pact amid US tariff pressure
India and the European Union on Tuesday announced a long-awaited free trade agreement that Prime Minister Narendra Modi described as the “mother of all deals”, as both sides moved to strengthen economic ties in a global trade order unsettled by rising US protectionism.
The pact, once implemented, is expected to create one of the world’s largest trading blocs and deepen commercial links between the EU’s 27 member states and the world’s most populous country.
The deal would cut or eliminate…
Hong Kong logs US$95 million worth of luxury home deals in a single day
Hong Kong’s property market on Monday logged HK$740 million (US$94.9 million) worth of luxury home deals, one of the city’s largest single-day hauls, as the residential segment shakes off a multi-year slump.
Records from the Land Registry showed that five upscale homes – from areas such as Mid-Levels, Wan Chai and Sai Kung – changed hands in deals valued between HK$93 million and HK$238 million.
The flurry of luxury home deals comes amid a recovery in Hong Kong’s residential property segment, as…
China’s Guangdong province exports record US$140 billion of tech, high-value goods
Exports of chip-manufacturing equipment, electric vehicles (EVs) and other high-value goods from China’s southern Guangdong province rose to a record high last year of over 1 trillion yuan (US$140 billion), highlighting the country’s progress in its quest for technological self-sufficiency in an ongoing tech war with the US.
The country’s leading manufacturing hub exported semiconductor equipment worth more than 800 billion yuan in 2025, an increase of nearly 20 per cent from a year earlier,…
Man arrested as Hong Kong police seize 800kg of illegal fireworks worth HK$1 million
Hong Kong police have charged a man with illegal possession of fireworks and firecrackers after seizing a haul worth HK$1 million (US$128,200) from a shipping container in Tuen Mun, three weeks ahead of the Lunar New Year.
Officers from the New Territories North regional anti-triad unit found 58 boxes containing 800kg (1,764lbs) of pyrotechnics during a raid in Tai Lam Chung at about 4pm on Monday, the force said.
Senior Inspector Kwok Man-wai said police found the goods in a container rented by…
China tightens rail approvals as Xi warns on overbuilding, waste and ‘operational’ trouble
China is tightening approvals for intercity railways and urban metro projects – long-standing pillars of fixed-asset investment – as policymakers pay closer attention to debt risks while shifting the growth model towards consumption.
The move comes as President Xi Jinping has specifically flagged operational strains at some high-speed rail stations and subway lines – a sign that the old growth driver may be further curtailed in the coming years.
According to an online statement on Sunday by the…