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Republicans plan crackdown on US TikTok
Home Republicans plan to vote this week on laws that may power TikTok's Chinese language house owners to promote it or ban it within the US, although Donald Trump was strongly in opposition to banning the platform.
Home Majority Chief Consultant Steve Scalise stated, “We should make sure that the Chinese language authorities can’t weaponize TikTok in opposition to American customers and our authorities by knowledge assortment and propaganda.”
Scalise, a Republican from Louisiana, stated the Home would attempt to go the invoice shortly. The method displays the rising momentum behind the invoice throughout an election yr, when members of each events wish to present they’re robust on China. President Biden has stated he’ll signal the laws.
However Trump, who as soon as vowed to ban the platform as president, now vocally opposes the invoice. He gave a ridiculous rationalization for his reversal yesterday, saying he didn’t wish to alienate younger voters or give extra energy to Fb, which he considers a nemesis. The battle will take a look at his potential to proceed sinking bipartisan laws off the marketing campaign path.
Context: The invoice is one in every of a number of efforts up to now yr geared toward curbing TikTok due to considerations that its mum or dad firm's ties to Beijing pose a nationwide safety threat.
combating again: Final week, TikTok requested its customers to not flood Congress' phone traces and requested members to not shut down the platform.
A doctored royal picture
Princess Catherine of Wales apologized yesterday after Kensington Palace tampered with a photograph of her shared together with her three kids. Information shops retracted the picture from their articles hours later, citing modifying.
This was the primary official picture of Katherine earlier than present process belly surgical procedure two months earlier. And it turned out to be a royal mistake, writes our London bureau chief. Even earlier than his apology, the Web was flooded with memes of “unverified” images. One confirmed a bored-looking Katherine smoking with a gaggle of youngsters.
If the picture was meant to quell hypothesis about Catherine's well being – she has not been seen in public since final yr – it had the other impact. It sparked extra rumors and conspiracy theories and created a brand new storm for the royal household, which has been thrown from one self-made disaster to a different.
Some clarifying edits: Katherine was not sporting her wedding ceremony ring. A portion of her daughter's sleeve was lacking or misaligned.
Ukraine might quickly fly some F-16s
Ukraine might deploy F-16 fighter plane by this summer time. However regardless of guarantees to its European allies, delivering the jets and coaching pilots has confirmed troublesome. Ukraine might begin with as few as six of the roughly 45 F-16s pledged.
The jets might assist Ukraine defend itself in opposition to Russia, which has used extra aggressive air help in latest weeks to achieve floor within the east. The F-16s will seemingly be armed with missiles and bombs, which can partially compensate for Ukraine's lack of ground-based weapons.
Breaking Information
Deb Amlen, who writes concerning the sport for The Instances, discovered to play Pokémon together with her kids after they had been younger. Even after her kids are adults, they’re nonetheless enjoying collectively.
“Presents should not video games,” she writes in an essay. “The actual reward is that as my kids transfer towards their very own unbiased lives, they nonetheless need me to fly with them.”
and the Oscar goes to …
“Oppenheimer” received seven Academy Awards, together with Greatest Image, Greatest Director (Christopher Nolan) and Greatest Actor (Cillian Murphy). Emma Stone received the Greatest Actress Oscar for her efficiency in “Poor Issues,” which received 4 awards. Try the checklist of winners from Sunday.
Lately, Hollywood's prime awards have gone nearly completely to unbiased movies. However this yr's “Oppenheimer” victory marks a change. Name it the revenge of the studio film: a blockbuster film from an old-school studio, with practically $1 billion in ticket gross sales.