TikTok confirmed Wednesday that U.S. officials have recommended the popular video-sharing app part ways with its Chinese parent ByteDance to avoid a national ban.

Western powers, including the European Union and the United States, have been taking an increasingly tough approach to the app, citing fears that user data could be used or abused by Chinese officials.

“If protecting national security is the objective, calls for a ban or divestment are unnecessary, as neither option solves the broader industry issues of data access and transfer,” a TikTok spokesperson told AFP.

“We remain confident that the best path forward to addressing concerns about national security is transparent, U.S.-based protection of U.S. user data and systems, with robust third-party monitoring, vetting, and verification.”

The Wall Street Journal and other U.S. news outlets on Wednesday reported that the White House set an ultimatum: if TikTok remains a part of ByteDance, it will be banned in the United States.

“This is all a game of high stakes poker,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note to investors.

Washington is “clearly… putting more pressure on ByteDance to strategically sell this key asset in a major move that could have significant ripple impacts,” he continued.

The White House last week welcomed a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate that would allow President Joe Biden to ban TikTok.

The bipartisan bill “would empower the United States government to prevent certain foreign governments from exploiting technology services… in a way that poses risks to Americans’ sensitive data and our national security,” Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said in a statement.

The bill’s introduction and its quick White House backing accelerated the political momentum against TikTok, which is also the target of a separate piece of legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Appearing tough on China is one of the rare issues with potential for bipartisan support in both the Republican-run House and the Senate, where Biden’s Democratic Party holds the majority.

Concern ramped up among American officials earlier this year after a Chinese balloon, which Washington alleged was on a spy mission, flew over U.S. airspace.

TikTok use rocketing

TikTok claims it has more than a billion users worldwide including over 100 million in the United States, where it has become a cultural force, especially among young people.

Activists argue a ban would be an attack on free speech and stifle the export of American culture and values to TikTok users around the world.

U.S. government workers in January were banned from installing TikTok on their government-issued devices.

Civil servants in the European Union and Canada are also barred from downloading the app on their work devices.

According to the Journal report, the ultimatum to TikTok came from the U.S. interagency board charged with assessing risks foreign investments represent to national security.

U.S. officials declined to comment on the report.

TikTok has consistently denied sharing data with Chinese officials and says it has been working with the U.S. authorities for more than two years to address national security concerns.

Time spent by users on TikTok has surpassed that spent on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and is closing in on streaming television titan Netflix, according to market tracker Insider Intelligence.
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An exiled Chinese businessman with ties to former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon has been arrested on federal charges of defrauding his online followers out of more than $1 billion, the Justice Department announced  Wednesday.

Ho Wan Kwok, also known as Miles Guo and Guo Wengui, was arrested earlier Wednesday in New York and was to make his first court appearance later in the day. Kwok fled to the United States in 2015.  

 

The charges against Kwok stem from an alleged conspiracy to solicit investments in various entities and programs from thousands of people on social media.

“Kwok is charged with lining his pockets with the money he stole, including buying himself, and his close relatives, a 50,000-square-foot mansion, a $3.5 million Ferrari, and even two $36,000 mattresses, and financing a $37 million luxury yacht,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.

As part of the investigation of Kwok, the Justice Department seized about $634 million from 21 different bank accounts and a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roadster, Williams said.

A 12-count indictment unsealed Wednesday charged Kwok with wire fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud and money laundering.

Kwok’s alleged financier, Kin Ming Je, is also charged with obstruction of justice. Je, a dual citizen of Hong Kong and Britain, remains at large.

The indictment accused Kwok of lying to his online followers and promising outsized profits in return for investing in four ventures known as GTV Media Group, Himalaya Farm Alliance, G|CLUBS and the Himalaya Exchange.

“The indictment today alleges the defendants were behind an elaborate scheme that defrauded thousands of individuals of over $1 billion,” FBI Assistant Director Michael J. Driscoll said in a statement. “Fraudulent investment scams make victims out of innocent people, ultimately harming the public’s confidence in the integrity of financial systems.”

Kwok and Bannon are longtime associates. Bannon was arrested on a yacht owned by Kwok off the coast of Connecticut in 2020. He was charged in connection with stealing money from a fundraising campaign for a project known as “We Build the Wall.”
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Florida is the fastest-growing state in America for the first time since 1957, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The population in the southeastern state, which is known for its warm weather and sandy beaches, now tops 22 million.

“I hate being cold,” says Kathy Bonini, 42, who grew up in Pennsylvania but moved to Florida in 2011. “Everybody loves sunshine and palm trees.”

Nancy Sikes-Kline, mayor of the Florida port city of St. Augustine, agrees.

“You know, we call ourselves ‘the sunshine state’ and I think that that makes a big difference,” Sikes-Kline says when asked why people relocate to her state. “I think, at the very core, it’s just this wonderful weather that we have. The sunshine.”

Florida is known for attracting older, retired Americans. But more than 700,000 people of all ages moved to the state between April 1, 2020, and July 1, 2022. That was during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when many remote workers could live wherever they wanted.

Economist Sean Snaith says there are factors other than the weather that draw people to Florida, including a robust labor market and the fact that, unlike most U.S. states, Florida has no state income tax.

“Depending on where folks are moving from, that might be an extra 8, 9, 10% of your pay that you get to keep that previously went to pay state taxes or other local taxes,” says Snaith, an economics professor at the University of Central Florida and director of UCF’s Institute for Economic Forecasting.

An analysis of Census data shows that people within the United States who move to Florida most frequently come from New York, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and California.

“Time to kind of get out of California with the wildfires and the high cost of living,” says Florida resident Aaron Dan, 36, who moved from the West Coast in May 2021, during the pandemic. Dan, who works in real estate, sees more opportunities for land development and commercial leasing in Florida.

“You can get a lot more for your dollar around here, lower taxes, obviously,” he says. So, I think just the cost of living is very attractive as well as the opportunity for growth.”

Even before the pandemic, nearly two-thirds of the people who lived in Florida came from out of state. One-fifth of those transplants relocated from a foreign country.

“We’ve had a lot of international in-migration to the state, from a variety of locations. You know, it’s not just one or two countries, it’s Central America and South America, the Caribbean,” he says. “People want to move to the United States, in general, and Florida tends to get a larger chunk of those immigrants.”

But population growth can make life in the Sunshine State more expensive. The average price of a home in Florida rose 14% in the past year, compared with the national average of 8.7%, according to Zillow, a real estate marketplace company.

“Florida is kind of a cheap place to buy a house and to live. That’s become less the case,” Snaith says. “So that is making life difficult in terms of affordability. And that’s one of the problems that Florida is going to be grappling with here, I think, for some time to come.”

Realtor Sharon Wooten is a Florida native. Over time, she’s seen orange groves give way to housing developments.

“It’s changed a lot. The farmland is gone. … I think if we take care of our natural resources, and we don’t grow too fast, it’s OK. And, I think, if we are choosy about what comes in. A lot of these developments are very, very nice and they take care of these developments and everything they do is top notch,” she says. “As long as it’s good growth, it’s OK. You know, it’s brought in a lot of opportunities for people in this area that they may not have ever had.”

Wooten says the increased development has had a positive impact on daily life for some.

“My mother and my grandmother have had opportunities to shop and go to plays and restaurants and things that they didn’t have before,” she says. “So, it’s just sort of opened up a new world to them.”

Snaith says that, as far as the economy is concerned, population growth is “nothing but good news.”

“Every new household that moves to Florida needs a place to live, they need food, they need medical care, their children, if they have them, need schooling, and they clothe them. They need all the things that consumers buy,” Snaith says. “So, you know, population growth is one side of the coin. The flip side of that same coin is economic growth…. The more people you have in any regional economy, the more economic activity they will generate.”

Florida is the third-most-populous state in the country. People have been moving there since the 1950s, when air-conditioning first became commonplace, and that influx shows no signs of letting up.

“Unless there’s some sort of a dramatic change to, you know, the environment, politically, economically,” Snaith says, “I just don’t see any kind of factor that would take us off this course that the state’s been on for a long time.”
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Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating says the nation’s agreement to buy and develop a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines in cooperation with Britain and the United States is “the worst deal in all history.” 

Keating attacked the three-nation agreement between Australia, Britain and the United States Wednesday during a speech at the National Press Club in Sydney.   

The multi-decade deal, which could cost Australia as much as $245 billion, was announced Monday by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, British counterpart Rishi Sunak and U.S. President Joe Biden in San Diego under a new trilateral defense partnership known by the acronym AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom and United States). 

The agreement will see American and British nuclear-powered submarines rotating into Australian waters as soon as 2027. By the early 2030s, Australia will buy at least three — and as many as five — U.S.-built nuclear-powered, conventionally armed submarines designed to hunt and attack other subs. And the three nations will work together to develop a new nuclear attack submarine — a project that could take two decades. 

Keating dismissed the idea that China poses a military threat to Australia, and said it was “rubbish” that a small fleet of nuclear-powered submarines could defend the country from a Chinese naval fleet. He said Australia could simply sink the fleet “with planes and missiles.” 

The former prime minister, who served in the post from 1991 to 1996, said the nuclear submarine deal is the worst international decision made by a Labor Party government since World War I, when it failed to impose compulsory military service.   

In addition to the new submarine fleet, the AUKUS partnership  will allow the three countries to share information and expertise more easily in key technological areas such artificial intelligence, cybertechnology, quantum technologies, underwater systems and long-range strike capabilities. 

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press. 
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In his first stop on a two-country visit to Africa, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.

The trip is part of an effort to deepen U.S. engagement with the continent. U.S.-Ethiopia relations have been strained in the past two years due to a brutal civil war that left an estimated 500,000 civilians dead due to violence, starvation and lack of medical attention. Thousands more were displaced.

Blinken is scheduled to meet with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Wednesday. He is also expected to meet with Tigrayan officials.

His trip will focus on the implementation of a peace deal brokered last November that ended hostilities in the country’s northern Tigray region.

Sarah Yager, Washington director at Human Rights Watch, said that Abiy is hoping to secure economic aid and a pledge of “normalized relations” from Blinken, although the country is still not at peace.

“There is a cessation of hostilities agreement, which has, in fact, brought some relief to the suffering of the people of Ethiopia. Particularly in the north, in the Tigray region,” Yager told VOA. “Some aid can get through, communications are flowing, fuel prices are down, food prices are down, all of this is very positive.”

In January, Tigrayan forces said they began handing over tanks and heavy weapons as part of the peace deal.

But despite gains made since the peace deal, human rights advocates say there’s more work ahead.

“It is not all sunshine and roses,” Yager added. “There are still abuses happening throughout, not just the Tigray region, but in other parts of the country.”

Kate Hixon, Africa advocacy director at Amnesty International USA, argued that Blinken should center all his engagements with the government of Ethiopia around human rights.

“There still needs to be improved access throughout the country for humanitarian actors and human rights monitors,” Hixon said. “We also still need to see more commitment on justice and accountability and would really like for Secretary Blinken to push that.”

Earlier this year, France and Germany’s foreign ministers visited Ethiopia, touring a warehouse stocked with humanitarian aid and holding talks with leaders. They called for establishing a transitional justice mechanism to punish human rights abuses committed during the conflict, saying there can be no reconciliation without accountability.

“Ethiopia has been backsliding on democracy and freedoms across the country, and abuses are still continuing in some of those same places where the worst suffering has happened. So, we are seeing detentions, killings, sexual violence,” Yager said. “These things are still ongoing and so that’s why we want to see Secretary Blinken deliver some tough messages about accountability when he is there.”

In February, the government of Ethiopia announced that there is a resolution to terminate the mandate of an International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia, a body tasked to investigate crimes committed during the war.

Although the government of Ethiopia has made efforts domestically to investigate human rights abuses, Hixon said the government should also allow international efforts.

“All parties to the war have committed unspeakable abuses including mass extrajudicial killings, sexual violence against women and girls,” she told VOA. “There has been an accountability deficit that has really permeated the conflict. And the commission is one way to make sure that there is documentation of some of these abuses and potential for accountability down the road.”

The U.S., Hixon added, should support independent civil society efforts to document atrocities.

“We are asking that Blinken make clear that they have support or that the commission has the U.S. support and that they expect the government of Ethiopia to continue to engage with this commission and give unfettered access in the country,” she told VOA.

Blinken will head to Niger on March 16 and become the first U.S. Secretary of State to visit the country. He plans to meet with President Mohamed Bazoum and Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massaoudou in Niamey and focus on counterterrorism efforts in the region.
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