Republicans plan U.S. TikTok crackdown
Home Republicans plan to vote this week on laws that will drive the Chinese language house owners of TikTok to divest or be barred within the U.S., even after Donald Trump got here out strongly in opposition to banning the platform.
“We should make sure the Chinese language authorities can’t weaponize TikTok in opposition to American customers and our authorities via knowledge assortment and propaganda,” stated Consultant Steve Scalise, the Home majority chief.
Scalise, a Republican of Louisiana, stated the Home would attempt to velocity the invoice’s passage. The strategy mirrored the rising momentum behind the invoice throughout an election 12 months, when members of each events need to present they’re powerful on China. President Biden has stated he would signal the laws.
However Trump, who as president as soon as vowed to ban the platform, now vocally opposes the invoice. He gave a rambling clarification for his reversal yesterday, saying that he didn’t need to alienate younger voters or give Fb, which he considers a nemesis, extra energy. The battle will check his potential to proceed sinking bipartisan laws from the marketing campaign path.
Context: The invoice is one in all a number of efforts over the previous 12 months aimed toward curbing TikTok due to issues that its father or mother firm’s relationship with Beijing poses dangers to nationwide safety.
Preventing again: Final week, TikTok requested its customers to flood congressional phone traces and ask members to not shut down the platform.
A manipulated royal photograph
Catherine, Princess of Wales, apologized yesterday for having doctored {a photograph} of herself along with her three kids that Kensington Palace had shared. Information shops retracted the photograph from their articles hours later, citing the edits.
It was the primary official photograph of Catherine since earlier than she underwent stomach surgical procedure two months in the past. And it turned a royal blunder, our London bureau chief writes. Even earlier than her apology, memes of “undoctored” images stuffed the web. One confirmed a bored-looking Catherine smoking with a bunch of youngsters.
If the photograph was meant to douse hypothesis about Catherine’s well being — she has not been seen in public since final 12 months — it had the alternative impact. It set off extra rumors and conspiracy theories and created a contemporary tempest for a royal household that has lurched from one self-created disaster to a different.
Some telltale edits: Catherine didn’t appear to be sporting her wedding ceremony ring. A part of one in all her daughter’s sleeves was lacking or misaligned.
Ukraine may quickly fly a couple of F-16s
Ukraine may deploy F-16 fighter jets by this summer season. However regardless of guarantees from its European allies, delivering the jets and coaching the pilots has proved tough. Ukraine might begin with as few as six F-16s, out of about 45 pledged.
The jets may assist Ukraine defend itself in opposition to Russia, which has used extra aggressive air assist to realize floor within the east in latest weeks. The F-16s would additionally probably come armed with missiles and bombs, which might partially make up for Ukraine’s scarcity of ground-based munitions.
THE LATEST NEWS
Deb Amlen, who writes about video games for The Instances, realized to play Pokémon along with her kids once they had been little. Properly into her kids’s maturity, they’re nonetheless enjoying collectively.
“The reward isn’t the sport,” she writes in an essay. “The true current is that as my kids soar into their very own unbiased lives, they nonetheless need me to fly together with them.”
And the Oscar goes to …
“Oppenheimer” received seven Academy Awards, together with finest image, finest director (Christopher Nolan) and finest actor (Cillian Murphy). Emma Stone received the Oscar for finest actress for her efficiency in “Poor Issues,” which received 4 awards. See the record of winners from Sunday.
In recent times, Hollywood’s high prize has gone nearly completely to unbiased films. However that “Oppenheimer” received this 12 months mirrored a shift. Name it the revenge of the studio film: a blockbuster from an old-line studio with almost $1 billion in ticket gross sales.
