President Donald Trump insists he has found a solution to keep TikTok alive in the United States through a group of investors who will buy the short-video app from its Chinese owners in accordance with US law.But questions remain unresolved about how this will play out and what it means for American users.- Is there actually a deal? -Any sale of TikTok’s US operations would require Chinese owner ByteDance to divest. That would need approval from China’s government, which is reluctant to see a national champion forced out of its largest market as a trade war rages with an increasingly protectionist Trump.While the Trump administration has insisted that China has accepted a deal for the sale, there has been no confirmation from Beijing. Queries to TikTok and ByteDance have gone unanswered.”This deal is still very confusing in terms of what is exactly going on,” University of Florida media professor Andrew Selepak told AFP.- Is Trump taking over TikTok? -In an executive order signed on Thursday, the White House outlined a deal centered on key investors with close ties to the president.Trump has specifically named Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, a longtime ally and the world’s second-richest man, as a major player in the arrangement. For decades, Ellison has been one of Silicon Valley’s few high-profile Republicans in a tech sector dominated by liberal politics.Ellison is returning to the spotlight through his dealings with Trump, who has brought his old friend into major AI partnerships with OpenAI, for example. The 81-year-old has also backed his son David’s acquisition of Hollywood studio Paramount and is reportedly eyeing Warner Brothers.The investor group also includes 94-year-old media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan, who control Fox News.Whether this signals a conservative rebranding of TikTok — a platform Trump credits with helping him reach young voters — remains unclear. Trump denied this possibility on Thursday.The prospect of a right-wing shift, or increased government intervention in media, has raised concerns that key platforms are falling under conservative control, potentially limiting diverse viewpoints in a bitterly divided America.The fate of TikTok will be decided amid major shifts across social media platforms. Elon Musk has transformed X (formerly Twitter) into a vehicle for far-right politics, driving away many establishment media outlets and liberal users.Meanwhile, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg has aligned with Trump and overhauled content moderation on Facebook and Instagram to address Republican claims of anti-conservative bias.- Why so cheap? – At Thursday’s White House ceremony, Vice President JD Vance pegged the deal at $14 billion. That’s a surprisingly low figure given Twitter’s $44 billion valuation when it sold and TikTok’s unique reach among young consumers in the world’s largest economy.Bloomberg reporting helped shed light on the modest price tag: unnamed sources indicated that ByteDance would retain significant value through an expensive licensing arrangement, potentially receiving about half of the new company’s profits even if the company would hold just a 20 percent stake, according to Trump’s plan.Such terms could trigger alarm in Washington, where some lawmakers could scrutinize whether any sale meets the requirements of the divest-or-ban law that should have taken effect in January but has been repeatedly delayed since Trump took office.And confusingly, the executive order announced Thursday extended the deadline to ban TikTok until mid-January to finalize a deal that the Trump administration simultaneously claimed was already complete.John Moolenaar, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, reiterated this point on Friday and warned that he would be “conducting full oversight over this agreement.””ByteDance has shown time and again that it is a bad actor,” he said.The Trump plan “offers vague assurances about protecting US national security but provides virtually no specifics,” said Carl Tobias of the University of Richmond School of Law.Adding to skepticism: Ellison’s Oracle already manages TikTok’s data servers from an earlier attempt to address US security concerns. Critics question whether this deal changes anything substantive.

Sweeping UN sanctions look likely to return on Iran after the failure of a last-ditch effort on Friday by China and Russia to secure a delay to allow further talks to salvage a landmark nuclear deal.European powers have urged Iran to reverse a series of steps it took after Israel and the United States bombed its nuclear sites in June.China and Russia’s effort to buy time for diplomacy was rejected by nine countries against four in favor.”UN sanctions, targeting Iranian proliferation, will be reimposed this weekend,” said Britain’s ambassador to the UN Barbara Woodward.”We stand ready to continue discussions with Iran on a diplomatic solution to address international concerns about its nuclear program. In turn, this could allow for the lifting of sanctions in the future.”Complaining that Iran has not complied with a landmark but moribund deal, the Europeans have triggered a return of sweeping UN sanctions — notably on its banking and oil sectors — that are set to take effect at the end of Saturday.China and Russia at the Security Council session on Friday pushed a resolution that would have given another half year for talks, or until April 18, 2026.”We had hoped that us, that European colleagues in the US, would think twice, and that they would opt for the path of diplomacy and dialog, instead of their clumsy blackmail,” the Russian deputy ambassador to the UN told the council prior to the vote.”Did Washington, London, Paris, Berlin make any compromises? No, they did not.”One diplomat, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said late Thursday that the Europeans believed they had “done everything to try to move things,” but that Iran did not offer the desired flexibility.France’s ambassador to the UN Jerome Bonnafort told the council all sides had been “trying to find, until the very last moment, a solution.”France — speaking for itself, Germany and Britain — has told Iran it must allow full access to UN nuclear inspectors, immediately resume nuclear negotiations and offer transparency on highly enriched uranium, the whereabouts of which has been the subject of speculation.- ‘Illegal and irresponsible’ -The 2015 deal, negotiated during Barack Obama’s presidency, lifted sanctions in return for Iran drastically scaling back its controversial nuclear work.President Donald Trump in his first term withdrew from the deal and imposed sweeping unilateral US sanctions, while pushing the Europeans to do likewise.The Chinese and Russian draft resolution, in a reference to the United States, would call on all initial parties to the deal to “immediately resume negotiations.”On Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met his British counterpart, Yvette Cooper, to discuss the row.Araghchi “strongly criticized the position of the three European countries as unjustified, illegal and irresponsible,” the Iranian foreign ministry said.Steve Witkoff, Trump’s real estate friend and roving envoy who had been negotiating with Iran until Israel attacked, said Wednesday that Iran was in a “tough position” but also held out hope for a solution.”I think that we have no desire to hurt them. We have a desire, however, to either realize a permanent solution and negotiate around snapbacks,” Witkoff told the Concordia summit on the sidelines of the General Assembly.”If we can’t, then snapbacks will be what they are. They’re the right medicine,” Witkoff said.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a speech to the United Nations on Friday demanded the reimposition of the sanctions, calling on the world to “remain vigilant” on Tehran’s nuclear program. Iran has long contended that it is not seeking nuclear weapons, pointing to an edict by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and US intelligence has not concluded that the country has decided to build a nuclear weapon.dt-abd-gw-sct/sms

Venezuelan fishermen in the south Caribbean keep a nervous eye on the horizon as they ply their trade in the same waters where US forces have recently blown up small, alleged drug boats, occupants and all.Feeling exposed, they have started heading out in groups, limiting their range and traveling with emergency beacons issued by the government.”It’s very upsetting because our country is peaceful, our fishermen are peaceful,” Joan Diaz, a 46-year-old angler told AFP in the northern town of Caraballeda.”Fishermen go out to work, and they have taken these measures to come to our… workplace to intimidate us, to attack us,” he said.US President Donald Trump has deployed eight warships and a nuclear-powered submarine off Venezuela’s coast as part of a stated plan to combat drug trafficking. President Nicolas Maduro, whom Trump accuses of leading a narco cartel, suspects Washington of pursuing regime change.US forces have blown up at least three suspected drug boats in the Caribbean in recent weeks, killing over a dozen people in a move that UN experts called “extrajudicial execution.”No evidence was publicly presented that the occupants were drug traffickers and they were killed without arrest, let alone trial.Caracas said US forces also detained a fishing boat and crew for eight hours earlier this month within the country’s exclusive economic zone.”They (the military) bomb without knowing if they really had drugs… and without knowing who these people were,” said Diaz.”Since all this is happening, it’s better to stay together and not go too far” from the coast, he added.- ‘The madness, my God!’ – Fearing a US invasion, Venezuela is on high alert and thousands of citizens have signed up to join a civilian militia force and undergo weapons training.But at sea, not much stands between small-boat artisanal fishermen and a naval colossus.The US actions constitute “a real threat,” said 51-year-old Luis Garcia, who leads a grouping of some 4,000 fishermen and women in the La Guaira region, which includes Caraballeda.”We have nine-, 10-, 12-meter fishing boats against vessels that have missiles. Imagine the madness. The madness, my God!” he exclaimed.Garcia’s wife and other workers keep an eye on the returning boats as they process fish with a mix of aromatic herbs and colorful peppers for a special dish that is then vacuum-packed for sale.The boats are covered with tarps to shield their occupants from the sun. Most are equipped with a gas cylinder for cooking as they often head out for at least four days at a time.Accompanied by seabirds, the boats tend to venture no further than 40 nautical miles from the shore. But “to fish for tuna, you have to go very far, and that’s where they (the Americans) are,” said Diaz.Sporting a T-shirt with the phrase: “Fishing is winning,” Garcia said the anglers have started taking precautions that were never needed in the past.”We keep contact with everyone… especially those who are going a little further,” he said.”We report to the authorities where we are going, where we are, and how long our fishing operations will last, and we also report to our fishermen’s councils,” added Garcia.The fishing crews are fearful, but defiant.”We say to him: ‘Mr Donald Trump, we the fishermen of Venezuela… will continue to carry out our fishing activities. We will continue to go out to the Caribbean Sea that belongs to us’,” vowed Garcia. 

One of the companies that began boycotting comedian Jimmy Kimmel after US government pressure said Friday it would start broadcasting his show again.Disney-owned ABC took the late-night host off the air when Sinclair and another firm said they would no longer show his program on the dozens of stations they own, purportedly over remarks the comedian made in the wake of the murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.But after a public outcry over freedom of speech, ABC reversed course, with Kimmel’s return proving a huge ratings hit, even as the blackout meant a quarter of the country could not watch.Sinclair — which had previously demanded Kimmel make a personal donation to Kirk’s activist group — said Friday it would carry the show again with immediate effect.”Our objective throughout this process has been to ensure that programming remains accurate and engaging for the widest possible audience,” the company said.”We take seriously our responsibility as local broadcasters to provide programming that serves the interests of our communities, while also honoring our obligations to air national network programming.”There was no immediate word from Nexstar, the other firm that acted after Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr appeared to threaten the licenses of stations broadcasting the show unless they demanded Kimmel’s removal.In a lengthy statement Sinclair said it had proposed a network-wide ombudsman who could referee complaints about content, but “ABC and Disney have not yet adopted these measures.””Our decision to pre-empt this program was independent of any government interaction or influence,” the company said.”Free speech provides broadcasters with the right to exercise judgment as to the content on their local stations. While we understand that not everyone will agree with our decisions about programming, it is simply inconsistent to champion free speech while demanding that broadcasters air specific content.”President Donald Trump, who has long chafed at the mockery he receives from Kimmel and his fellow late night talk show hosts, has repeatedly demanded they be taken off air, and has called other criticism of him “illegal.”On his Tuesday night return, Kimmel took aim at the “anti-American” attempt to silence a comedian.”The president of the United States made it very clear he wants to see me and the hundreds of people who work here fired from our jobs,” he said.”Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke.”

Moored off a Manhattan pier for New York’s annual Climate Week is one of the world’s first ammonia-powered vessels — a green flagship for an Australian tycoon’s drive to decarbonize his mining empire.Even as President Donald Trump’s second term has triggered environmental backtracking among many corporations, iron ore giant Fortescue — founded by Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest — is investing billions to clean up its dirty operations.”We’re a huge polluter right now,” he told AFP in an interview aboard the Green Pioneer, a 75-meter former oil-rig supply ship given a swish makeover. “But we’re changing so fast, and within five years, we’ll stop burning fossil fuels.”The Green Pioneer is meant to be the first in a fleet of ammonia-powered ships. Ammonia contains what Forrest calls the “miracle molecule” — hydrogen. Ammonia burns to produce harmless nitrogen and water, though incomplete combustion of can still generate greenhouse gases.- ‘Real Zero,’ not offsets -The 63-year-old Forrest has become a fixture at global summits, rubbing shoulders with leaders such as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as he evangelizes his climate vision.Where other companies tout green credentials by buying carbon credits — generated through nature protection or carbon-removal projects for example — to claim “net zero,” Forrest dismisses the practice as a scam.”Carbon credits have already been proved by science to be next to worthless,” said Forrest, whose net worth Forbes pegs at more than $16 billion. “That’s why we go ‘Real Zero.'”Achieving genuine decarbonization by 2030 is no small feat, particularly in one of the world’s dirtiest industries. Fortescue’s plan involves replacing diesel-powered mining equipment with electric excavators and drills; building vast wind, solar and battery farms to power operations; and running battery-powered haul trucks.Further along the value chain, the company wants to process its own iron ore — the stage responsible for the lion’s share of emissions — using “green hydrogen” produced by splitting water molecules with renewable electricity, instead of coke or thermal coal.”Fortescue’s climate commitments are certainly different to most other corporations, including its peers in the iron ore mining sector” such as Rio Tinto and BHP, Simon Nicholas, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis’ lead analyst for global steel told AFP. “It has a ‘green iron’ pilot plant under construction in Australia which will use green hydrogen. The company is aiming to eventually process all of its iron ore into iron for export — about 100 million tonnes a year” — and even getting close to those targets would be transformative, said Nicholas.- Technical challenges -But he cautioned that the technological hurdles remain immense: green hydrogen is still expensive, and the pilot plant must prove it can handle lower-grade ore.Then there’s the inherent ecological cost of mining. “If you destroy parts of a forest, including its soils, for your mining operation, even if you don’t use fossil fuels for your operations, you will not be ‘true zero,'” Oscar Soria, co-director of The Common Initiative think tank told AFP.Forrest’s outlook is grounded in his personal journey.Raised in the Australian Outback, where he earned the nickname “Twiggy” for his skinny childhood frame, he got his start in finance before taking over a company and renaming it Fortescue Metals Group in 2003.Forrest said his environmental commitment deepened after a hiking accident in 2014 left him temporarily wheelchair-bound. Encouraged by his children, he returned to university and completed a PhD in marine ecology.”That convinced me I’ve got to put every fiber of my being into arresting this threat so much bigger than any geostrategic issues, so much bigger than politics, so much bigger than anything,” he said.Climate now sits at the heart of his philanthropic Minderoo Foundation.And while the Trump administration derides the “green scam” as economically catastrophic, Forrest insists the opposite is true, pointing to Fortescue’s financial record.”Don’t accuse us of being unbusiness-like. We’re the most business-like in the world.”