Epstein Fallout Continues to Ripple Out

SPEAKER_1 (0:03)

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Luke Vargas (0:19)

Japan's Nikkei notches a new record after the country's prime minister secures a powerful mandate in snap elections. Plus, Epstein files revelations bring down the top aid to Britain's prime minister.

Max Colchester (0:32)

What we're seeing in the UK., which is different to the US., is a very real fallout of the Epstein files in terms of people having their professional careers curtailed.

Luke Vargas (0:42)

And SpaceX puts the red planet on hold, setting its sights on the moon. It's Monday, February 9th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. Japan's benchmark Nikkei Stock Index has surged to a record high after Prime Minister Sanae Takeiichi won a powerful mandate to deepen ties with the US and rev up Japan's economy. The landslide victory in yesterday's elections gives Takeiichi's government to more than two-thirds majority in Japan's lower house and the ability to overrule the smaller upper house to push through its agenda. Shares in weight loss drug maker Novo Nordisk are rallying today after American telehealth company Hims and Hers dropped its plan to offer a knockoff version of WeGovy over the weekend. The move came after the Food and Drug Administration threatened to restrict access to the ingredients that compounding pharmacies need to copy popular GLP-1 medicines. In response, Hims and Hers said it's always operated in compliance with the law, while investors sent its shares down more than 15 percent in off-hours trading. Soren Lontoft-Hansen is a senior equity analyst at Denmark's AL. Soedbank and says Hims and Hers decision will give Novo Nordisk and competitor Eli Lilly some breathing room as pricing pressure mounts across the obesity drug market.

Soren Lontoft-Hansen (2:09)

I definitely think this is a tailwind for Novo Nordisk and also Eli Lilly. More than a million Americans are using compounding versions of a GLP-1 product. I think this will actually protect companies that do spend time and significant investments in new innovation. Talking about the WeGovy pill, this is very important for Novo Nordisk in order to get back to growth. So I guess the threat to restrict a Hims and Hers compounding version of the WeGovy pill will be a tailwind for Novo Nordisk.

Luke Vargas (2:51)

Following a record setting end to trading on Friday, US stock futures are pointing to a more muted open today. Investors are in a holding pattern ahead of several key data releases this week, including the delayed January jobs report on Wednesday. It comes amid signs of a weakening job market as the efficiencies gained by AI begin to leave their mark. As we try to suss out exactly what's going on, who better to weigh in than you, our listeners? So whether you're hiring, firing, happily or worriedly employed, looking for a promotion or a new job altogether, we'd love to hear your impressions of the labor market or help to track down an answer to a question on your mind. To weigh in, email us a voice memo to wnpod at wsj.com or leave us a voicemail at 212-416-4328. And however you get in touch, just make sure to include your full name and your location so we can use your comments on the show.

A Hong Kong court has sentenced Jimmy Lai, a former newspaper publisher and an outspoken critic of China's Communist Party, to 20 years in prison.

Austin Ramsey (4:00)

He has received the sternest sentence under the law, so they really, really went after Jimmy Lai. He was kind of public enemy number one from the eyes of Beijing. He was convicted over what were essentially speech crimes for calling for governments to sanction Hong Kong officials. He was also convicted of sedition for many of the critical things that were written in his newspaper and said about the authorities here.

Luke Vargas (4:23)

That's the Journal's Hong Kong reporter Austin Ramsey. He says the ruling adds further friction in U.S.-China relations after President Trump said last year he had asked Chinese leader Xi Jinping to free Lai.

Austin Ramsey (4:35)

Jimmy Lai, he's 78, and so it's clear a 20-year sentence is most likely a life sentence. So his family, his friends, his supporters are working hard to see if there is any way to get him released on some sort of health grounds. I had an opportunity to interview him in 2020, shortly before he was arrested for the last time. He saw it as sort of a calculation that one man's loss of freedom is worth it for the effort to try and achieve the freedom of the 7.5 million people of Hong Kong, and also potentially contribute to greater freedoms in China as a whole. So I think he was fully aware of the possibility or the likelihood even that he would be arrested, that he would spend a long period of time, perhaps the rest of his life, in prison. And while he didn't welcome that, I think he had come to terms with it.