Singapore — TikTok’s short-lived shutdown in the United States has opened a wider debate in other countries regarding access to popular social media platforms by children. TikTok went dark temporarily Sunday in the U.S. after a new law banning it went into effect. The law required TikTok’s Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance …
your ad hereTikTok’s US survival hinges on President Trump
Millions of U.S. TikTok users are looking to newly sworn-in President Donald Trump, who has given the app’s Chinese parent, ByteDance, 75 days to strike a deal with a U.S. buyer. …
your ad hereTrump highlights partnership investing $500B in AI
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday talked up a joint venture investing up to $500 billion for infrastructure tied to artificial intelligence by a new partnership formed by OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank. The new entity, Stargate, will start building data centers and the electricity generation needed for the further development …
your ad hereNamibia doctors fight cervical cancer
WINDHOEK, NAMIBIA — The cervical cancer rate in Namibia is 37.5 for every 100,000 women, about three times higher than the rate worldwide. Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers and doctors in Namibia are advocating greater access to healthcare and the HPV vaccine to reduce the prevalence of …
your ad hereHistorical novel offers lessons to next generation, says Afghan writer
An Afghan author’s latest book is a generational call to remember the country’s recent violent past, he says. But Taliban rules mean publishers and bookstores are wary of stocking it. From Peshawar, Pakistan, Muska Safi has the story, narrated by Bezhan Hamdard. Roshan Noorzai contributed to this report. …
your ad hereTrump’s 2nd term: Hopes for economic prosperity amid new challenges
Many American voters are hopeful that President Donald Trump’s second term, which began on Jan. 20, will usher in a period of economic prosperity — much like they felt during his first term. However, the economy he is inheriting this time around is markedly different from the one he inherited …
your ad hereBird migrations shifting with warming planet in US Southwest
In the Southwest United States, bird migrations are shifting as global temperatures warm. Gustavo Martіnez Contreras takes us to the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in the state of New Mexico. …
your ad hereStarry Sundance fest moves ahead in wake of LA fires
Los Angeles — The U.S. film industry’s first big gathering since fires devastated Los Angeles will begin Thursday at the Sundance festival, where highlights include a glitzy new Jennifer Lopez musical and a dark Benedict Cumberbatch drama. Hollywood’s annual pilgrimage to the Rocky Mountains to premiere the coming year’s most-anticipated indie …
your ad hereNo day-one tariffs coming from Trump, but trade overhaul planned, official says
President Donald Trump will issue a broad trade memo on Monday that stops short of imposing new tariffs on his first day in office but directs federal agencies to evaluate U.S. trade relationships with China, Canada and Mexico, a Trump administration official said. After weeks of intense global speculation over …
your ad hereTikTok restores US services after Trump promise to delay ban
Washington — TikTok restored services to users in the United States on Sunday after briefly blocking access due to a U.S. law banning the social media platform based on national security concerns. The situation played out amid the change in U.S. administrations as President-elect Donald Trump said he would seek to …
your ad hereIndia’s ‘digital arrest’ scammers stealing savings of citizens
Bengaluru, India — Within five hours, while sitting at home in India, retired professor Kamta Prasad Singh handed over his hard-earned savings to online fraudsters impersonating police. The cybercrime known as “digital arrest” — where fraudsters pose online as law enforcement officials and order people to transfer huge amounts of money …
your ad hereHow TikTok grew from a fun app for teens into a potential national security threat
SAN FRANCISCO — If it feels like TikTok has been around forever, that’s probably because it has, at least if you’re measuring via internet time. What’s now in question is whether it will be around much longer and, if so, in what form? Starting in 2017, when the Chinese social video …
your ad hereKeke Palmer’s ‘One of Them Days,’ ‘Mufasa’ race for No. 1
WASHINGTON — The Keke Palmer buddy comedy “One of Them Days” opened in first place on the North American box office charts on a particularly slow Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. The R-rated Sony release earned $11.6 million from 2,675 theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday, beating Disney’s “Mufasa: The …
your ad hereCalifornia marine sanctuary protects waters from oil drilling
After President Joe Biden announced a ban on oil and gas drilling off most of the U.S. coastline in early January, President-elect Donald Trump quickly vowed to reverse it after he takes office on January 20. But there is one section of the California coast that has gained more permanent …
your ad hereTikTok: it’s restoring service to US users based on Trump’s promised executive order
Washington — TikTok said Sunday it was restoring service to users in the United States after the popular video-sharing platform went dark in response to a federal ban that President-elect Donald Trump said he would try to pause by executive order on his first day in office. Trump said he planned …
your ad hereNew documentary questions who took famous napalm attack photo
It is one of the 20th century’s most memorable images: a naked girl, screaming, running from a napalm bombing during the Vietnam War. More than a half-century later, a new documentary is calling into question who took it — and the retired Associated Press photographer long credited for the photo …
your ad hereChili paste heats up dishes and warms hearts at northeastern Tunisia’s harissa festival
NABEUL, Tunisia — For years, Tunisians have been picking bright red peppers, combining them with garlic, vinegar and spices and turning them into a saucy spread called harissa. The condiment is a national staple, found in homes, restaurants and food stalls throughout the coastal North African nation. Brick-red, spicy and tangy, …
your ad hereTikTok goes dark for US users; company pins hope on Trump
WASHINGTON — TikTok stopped working in the United States late on Saturday and disappeared from Apple and Google app stores ahead of a law that takes effect Sunday requiring the shutdown of the app used by 170 million Americans. President-elect Donald Trump said earlier in the day he would “most likely” …
your ad hereProposed rules would require nutrition info, allergen warnings on US alcohol labels
Labels on wine, distilled spirits and malt beverages in the U.S. would be required to list alcohol content and nutritional information per serving, plus notification of potential allergens, under two new rules proposed Thursday by the Treasury Department. The department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is seeking public …
your ad hereThai resort island Phuket grapples with growing garbage crisis
PHUKET, THAILAND — Plastic bottles and empty beer cans roll on the sea floor in the waters around Phuket in southern Thailand, while ever more garbage piles up on the island itself, a tourist hotspot better known for its pristine beaches and stunning sunsets. In one corner of the island, trucks …
your ad hereSpaceX says fire could have caused Starship to break, spew debris near Caribbean
SpaceX says a fire might have caused its Starship to break during liftoff and send trails of flaming debris near the Caribbean. SpaceX’s Elon Musk said preliminary indications are that leaking fuel built up pressure in the cavity above the engine firewall. The resulting fire would have doomed the spacecraft. …
your ad hereMalawi takes steps to end cholera outbreaks by 2030
BLANTYRE, MALAWI — Malawi’s government launched a plan Thursday to stop cholera outbreaks by 2030. Officials say that if the government and international partners can effectively cooperate, they can greatly reduce the prevalence of cholera in the southern African country, where it has killed at least 1,700 people over the past …
your ad hereSpaceX catches Starship booster again, but upper stage explodes
WASHINGTON — Hours after Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin nailed its first-ever orbital mission, SpaceX seized back the spotlight on Thursday as its latest test of Starship, its gargantuan next-generation mega rocket, ended with the upper stage dramatically disintegrating over the Atlantic. In terms of sheer excitement, Elon Musk’s company didn’t disappoint, …
your ad hereChinese economic growth among slowest in decades
BEIJING — China recorded one of its slowest rates of economic growth in decades last year, data showed Friday, as leaders nervously eye a potential trade standoff with incoming U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Beijing has in recent months announced its most aggressive support measures in years in a bid to reignite …
your ad hereTrump team might step in to save TikTok from pending US ban
With a pending law declaring the social media application TikTok illegal in the United States, set to take effect on Sunday, the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is signaling that it plans to try to find a way to prevent the service from going offline. Under current law, …
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