PRESS REVIEW – Monday, February 2: We take a look at the oddest stories following the release of the latest batch of Epstein files. Moving to Serbia, the Chinese workforce is accused of harming nature and the local collective memory. Next: Japan's lack of trash cans continues to surprise tourists. Finally, we take a look at the Grammys fashion.
Papers are discussing the latest release of more Epstein files. British tabloid The Daily Mail quotes "intelligence sources" that say that Jeffrey Epstein was running "the world's largest honey trap operation" on behalf of the KGB. According to these anonymous sources, Epstein was working on behalf of Moscow and possibly Israel. Sources also say that Epstein was introduced to the world of espionage by his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell's father Robert Maxwell, who was an alleged spy for Mossad and Russia.
Serbian media News 18 is talking about the prediction of the country's president, Alexander Vucic. After the release of the documents, Vucic said that he expects a military strike on Iran within the next 48 hours, linking the timing with the release of the files. He said: "When such nonsense appears, like with Monica Lewinsky back in the day, someone usually gets bombed". What Vucic is referring to is August and December 1998, when Bill Clinton's admissions on the Lewinsky affair coincided with strikes on Afghanistan, Sudan and Iraq.
Our next story is also on Serbia, where Chinese investments are disrupting the lives of local mine workers. Politico tells the story of the northeastern Serbian town of Bor, which has one of Europe's "most significant gold and copper deposits". For decades, the mining centres there sustained the lives of workers from all over Yugoslavia, but since 2018, the mining complex has been bought by a Chinese state-owned mining group that invested more than €2 billion. The expansion is transforming the land and the lives of its inhabitants. Forest and rivers are being destroyed, wildlife is under threat, air pollution is alarming and the Chinese workforce does not want to integrate with the locals. Politico paints a battle between "economic profit and the slow erosion of collective memory".
In Japan, tourists are experiencing culture shock after seeing the lack of trash cans, The Wall Street Journal reports. The paper explains that trash cans disappeared in 1995 after a doomsday cult spread toxic gas in the subway in Tokyo. Many public trash cans were removed to prevent similar attacks in the future. But with the surge of tourists, the paper says that the Japanese might need to rethink their trash policy.
Finally, we take a look at Vanity Fair, Variety magazine and Vogue, to discuss some of the most interesting Grammy fashion choices.
You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.
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