SCMP World·Thursday, January 8, 2026

SCMP World - Thursday, January 8, 2026

10 stories~15 min

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Stories Covered

Rare genius dogs learn vocabulary by eavesdropping, study shows

There are a few special words that will perk the ears of many a dog – “hungry”, “park” and of course, “T-R-E-A-T”. But a choice group of gifted canines appear to have a remarkable capacity for learning human vocabulary, to the point that they acquire language by eavesdropping the way young toddlers do. That’s according to a new study published on Thursday in the journal Science, which shows that some “gifted word learner” dogs already known to be capable of learning toy names through training...

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US will end China’s dominance of rare earths, Trump adviser Navarro predicts

US President Donald Trump’s White House trade adviser predicted American industrial breakthroughs would help boost domestic production and eliminate China’s market dominance of rare earths. “China has been flexing its muscles now in Europe, in India, in the United States saying, basically, we’re gonna do what we want, and if you try to stop us, we’re gonna take away your critical minerals,” Peter Navarro said in an interview on Bloomberg’s The Mishal Husain Show. “Because they have, they think..

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US Senate rejects Trump’s Venezuela threats with war powers vote

The Senate advanced a resolution Thursday that would limit US President Donald Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks against Venezuela, sounding a note of disapproval for his expanding ambitions in the western hemisphere. Democrats and five Republicans voted to advance the war powers resolution on a 52-47 vote and ensure a vote next week on final passage. It has virtually no chance of becoming law because Trump would have to sign it if it were to pass the Republican-controlled House. Still,

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Minnesota investigators barred from probe into ICE officer’s killing of woman

The head of Minnesota’s state investigations agency said on Thursday that the US attorney’s office has barred it from taking part in the investigation into an ICE officer’s fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman. Minnesota authorities had expected to work with the FBI on the shooting probe. But Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said the US attorney’s office had changed the plan on Wednesday. “The investigation would now be led solely by the FBI, and the BCA would

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Brazil’s Lula vetoes law reducing Bolsonaro’s 27-year jail sentence on riot anniversary

Brazil’s left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday vetoed a law dramatically reducing the prison sentence of former far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro, convicted last year of coup plotting. Lula vetoed the law adopted by Congress late last year on the third anniversary of major riots by Bolsonaro supporters in the capital Brasilia over his defeat by Lula in the 2022 elections. In scenes reminiscent of the 2021 US Capitol riots, thousands of demonstrators ransacked government...

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Macron slams US for ‘breaking free’ from global rules after Maduro raid, Greenland threat

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that the United States was “breaking free from international rules”, and “gradually turning away” from some of its allies. Macron delivered his annual speech to French ambassadors at the Elysee Palace as European powers are scrambling to come up with a coordinated response to US assertive foreign policy in the western hemisphere following Washington’s capture of Venezuela’s leader Nicolas Maduro and US President Donald Trump’s designs on...

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China and US can strike ‘balance’ in Venezuela, says US energy chief Chris Wright

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said there was room ‌to balance roles for both the United States ‍and China in Venezuela to allow for commerce but that Washington would not allow Beijing to have major control over the Latin ⁠American country. In an interview on Fox Business Network, Wright also said he expected to see Chevron quickly grow its activities in Venezuela, with ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil also looking to play ‍a constructive role. “I think you will probably see some ‍long-term...

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Russia slams Western ‘axis of war’ as Kyiv claims US guarantees ‘essentially ready’

Russia on Thursday slammed a plan for European peacekeepers to be deployed to Ukraine as “dangerous” and dubbed Kyiv and its allies an “axis of war”, dousing hopes the plan could be a step towards ending the almost four-year war. US President Donald Trump has been pushing the warring sides to strike a deal to halt the conflict, running shuttle diplomacy between Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia’s Vladimir Putin in a bid to get an agreement across the line. An initial 28-point plan which...

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Why US move against Maduro unlikely to drive China from Latin America

The US decision to raid Venezuela, detain its President Nicolas Maduro and bring him to the United States, ostensibly on drug trafficking charges, will have serious downstream effects, but of what variety? US President Donald Trump has already sent ominous warnings to other Latin American countries whose leaders oppose all or parts of his agenda – from Colombia to Cuba to Mexico – and threatened Maduro’s successor with similar, or worse, treatment if she does not cooperate. Does this suggest...

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Israeli gunfire kills 11-year-old girl in Gaza ‘safe zone’ despite ceasefire

A relative said Israeli gunfire on Thursday killed an 11-year-old girl whose family had returned to a designated safe zone, adding to more than 400 deaths reported since a ceasefire was reached to halt fighting in Gaza nearly three months ago. After shells and shrapnel hit her home in northern Gaza’s Jabalia area, Hamsa Housou was taken to Shifa Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Outside the hospital mortuary, her uncle Khamis Housou said that the family had returned home on October 11, a.

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