SCMP World·Wednesday, January 14, 2026

SCMP World - Wednesday, January 14, 2026

10 stories~15 min

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Stories Covered

At least 4 migrants have died in US immigration custody since start of 2026

Four migrants died while in custody of US immigration authorities over the first 10 days of ‍2026, according to government press releases, a loss of life that followed record detention deaths last year under US President Donald Trump. The deaths included two migrants from Honduras, one from Cuba and another from Cambodia, and occurred from January 3-9, according to US Immigration and ⁠Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Trump administration was aiming to ramp up deportations and has increased the...

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Trump vs Iran: Gulf allies fear US ‘help’ may unleash chaos

Washington’s Middle East allies are bracing for what they fear could be “catastrophic” consequences if the United States moves militarily against Iran – a possibility US President Donald Trump again dangled this week by promising Iranian protesters that “help is on its way”. Despite Trump’s vow of support, analysts warn that even a sustained US air campaign would be unlikely to unseat Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime. The US president’s rhetoric has followed a now-familiar arc, echoing his...

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Uganda shuts down internet as Museveni seeks to extend 40-year rule

Ugandan authorities shut down internet access nationwide on Tuesday, two days ahead of elections in which President Yoweri Museveni has overseen a crackdown on the opposition as he seeks to extend his 40-year rule. The 81-year-old leader, who once said African rulers should not overstay their time in office, was widely expected to win a seventh term on Thursday due to his total control over state and security bodies. But he was taking no chances against a popular opponent, Bobi Wine, a...

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Trump flips off factory worker after Epstein taunt

US President Donald Trump raised his ‌middle finger and appeared to direct profanity towards a factory worker who expressed ‍criticism of his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein controversy at a Michigan auto plant on Tuesday, video circulating online showed. The entertainment site TMZ first published video capturing the exchange, and the White House did not dispute its authenticity. “A lunatic was ⁠wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage, and the President gave an appropriate and...

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The Chinese century may already be here

Some people wonder whether China could carry out a sophisticated state-sponsored kidnapping like the US capture of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife. And it’s not just that; there is state terrorism like remote assassinations by drones, which also end up killing a lot of civilian bystanders, not to mention breaching the sovereignty of their countries. The United States can apparently do that anywhere around the world. Such Hollywood-style cowboy militarism no doubt makes its...

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US prosecutors resign over handling of Renee Nicole Good’s killing by ICE

Roughly half a dozen federal prosecutors in Minnesota have resigned and several supervisors in the criminal section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division have given notice of their departures amid turmoil over the federal investigation into the killing of a woman by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis, according to people familiar with the matter. The resignations follow growing tensions over a decision by the Trump administration to block the state out of

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The AI boom needs electricity, but Western grids are strained. Is power China’s power?

Near the end of last year, thousands of European travellers saw their holiday plans unravel after a prolonged power outage in the Eurotunnel – the underwater train passage linking Britain and France – caused by a fault in the overhead supply. For many, this brought back memories of chaotic scenes the previous April, when rolling blackouts struck much of Portugal and Spain. The United States also suffered from multiple power outages last year, including major disruptions in California – most...

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Is India fuelling an arms race in Asia or closing a deterrence gap?

In 2025, India approved a number of major defence packages, together worth US$30 billion. Such rapid procurement approvals are relatively rare by Indian standards. However, what they signal to the region will depend less on such announcements and more on actual outcomes. To some observers, especially after India’s four-day clash with Pakistan during what the former called “Operation Sindoor” last May, the surge appears to mark the start of a regional arms race. That interpretation is...

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Greenland says ‘we choose Denmark’, as talks with Trump officials loom

Greenland would choose to remain Danish over a US takeover, its leader said on Tuesday, ahead of crunch White House talks on the future of the Arctic island which President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened. Trump has been talking up the idea of buying or annexing the autonomous territory for years, and further stoked tensions this week by saying the United States would take it “one way or the other”. “We are now facing a geopolitical crisis, and if we have to choose between the United...

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Clintons refuse to testify in Epstein probe, defying Republican threats

Former US president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that they will refuse to comply with a congressional subpoena to testify in a House committee’s investigation of Jeffrey Epstein. The Clintons, in a letter released on social media, slammed the House Oversight probe as “legally invalid” even as Republican lawmakers prepared contempt of Congress proceedings against them. The Clintons wrote that the chair of the House Oversight Committee, Republican...

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