Whatever deal the US president is eyeing over the app, it is further proof some digital giants wield disproportionate clout

Late on Saturday 18 January, TikTok, the short-video app beloved of millions of users mostly aged between 18 and 24, went dark in the US . This was not because of a power outage, but because its owner switched it off. For an explanation of why it did so, though, we have to spool back a bit. For years, TikTok has been a thorn in the sides of US legislators and national security officials for two reasons. First, it’s owned by a Chinese company, ByteDance, which doubtless does whatever Xi Jinping tells it to do. Second, TikTok hoovers up phenomenally detailed data about its young users. The average session lasts 11 minutes and the video length is about 25 seconds. “That’s 26 ‘episodes’ per session,” says blogger Prof Scott Galloway , “with each episode generating multiple microsignals: whether you scrolled past a video, paused it, rewatched it, liked it, commented on it, shared it, and followed the creator, plus how long you watched before moving on. That’s hundreds of signals. Sweet crude like the world has never seen, ready to be algorithmically refined into rocket fuel.” The thought of personal data with this granularity falling into Chinese hands seemingly drove the American deep state, not to mention Meta, Google and co wild. And Congress got the message.

In April last year, Joe Biden signed into law the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act , a statute that had attracted unprecedented bipartisan support on its path through a divided Congress. The act basically mandated that TikTok’s owner would have to sell it to an American company or be banned in the US. It was scheduled to come into force on Sunday 19 January 2025.

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US president says his predecessor gave ‘everybody pardons’ but says it is a ‘sad thing’ he didn’t give himself one

• Trump defends January 6 pardons

Argentina ’s president, Javier Milei , defended on Thursday what he described as an “innocent” hand salute made by US billionaire Elon Musk this week, as he criticised “woke ideology” in a fiery speech to the World Economic Forum .

Musk ignited controversy with two fascist-style salutes during Donald Trump ’s presidential inauguration, with critics accusing him of giving the Nazi salute.

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Some Israelis see Hamas leader’s death as a way to end the war, but others want to increase military pressure

On Thursday afternoon on the beach in Tel Aviv, a lifeguard made an announcement through the broadcast system. “Attention all bathers,” he said. “It is not yet 100% confirmed … but the chances are very high that the rat from the tunnels known as Yahya Sinwar is dead.”

The beachgoers immediately erupted into clapping and cheers, scenes replicated around Israel throughout the evening as the details of the Hamas leader’s killing in Gaza emerged.

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Republican nominee insults vice-president at New York event where she appeared remotely; Trump campaign reportedly weighs event with former rival

We’ll hear more from Donald Trump at 7pm today, when he holds a rally in Detroit.

That’s the largest city in swing state Michigan, and a Democratic stronghold. Don’t be surprised if he presses his case to the city’s large African American population, a demographic where the Trump campaign is trying to make inroads , that they would be better off voting for him.

Since then, however, Haley and Trump have not appeared together. And she hinted that tensions still linger on her new SiriusXM satellite radio show last month.

“I don’t agree with Trump 100 percent of the time,” Haley said.

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As Benjamin Netanyahu flouts the will of his nation’s essential ally, the death of Hezbollah’s leader in Lebanon has deepened the region’s crisis

When the US and France launched a call for a temporary ceasefire in Lebanon on Thursday, they were confident that Benjamin Netanyahu backed it. A day later, still in New York for the UN general assembly meeting, the Israeli prime minister approved the airstrike on Beirut that killed the leader of Hezbollah , Hassan Nasrallah.

Many in Lebanon – as well as in Israel, Syria and elsewhere – will not mourn a man with so much blood on his hands. But they are terrified. More than 1,000 people in Lebanon have reportedly been killed in the past week. Almost a fifth of the population is said to be displaced; families are sleeping in the streets . With bombs still falling, and the threat of a ground invasion looming, Mr Netanyahu said that Israel’s work was not completed.

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Benjamin’s Netanyahu’s hold on power depends on his nation being at war. The region is paying a high price

In the second world war, guerrilla forces scattered large quantities of booby-trapped objects likely to be attractive to civilians. The idea was to cause widescale and indiscriminate death. The Japanese manufactured a tobacco pipe with a charge detonated by a spring-loaded striker. The Italians produced a headset that blew up when it was plugged in. More than half a century later, a global treaty came into force which “prohibited in all circumstances to use booby-traps or other devices in the form of apparently harmless portable objects that are specifically designed and constructed to contain explosive material”. Has anyone told Israel and its jubilant supporters that, as Brian Finucane of the International Crisis Group points out , it is a signatory to the protocol?

On Tuesday, pagers used by hundreds of members of the militant group Hezbollah exploded almost simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria, killing at least 12 people – including two children and four hospital workers – and wounding thousands more. This situation is directly analogous to the historical practices that current global arms treaties explicitly prohibit. US media say Israel was behind the attack, and the country has the motive and the means to target its Iran-backed enemies. Israel’s leaders have a long history of carrying out sophisticated remote operations, ranging from cyber-attacks, suicide drone attacks and remote-controlled weapons to assassinate Iranian scientists. On Wednesday it was reported that Israel blew up thousands of two-way personal radios used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon, killing nine and wounding hundreds.

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This summer’s events – Biden bowing out, Harris running and Walz as VP pick – show Pelosi’s considerable influence

When you’ve lost Nancy Pelosi , you might as well clear out your desk.

Amid all the chaos and whiplash in US politics over the past few weeks, one law remained constant: Pelosi is uniquely influential and has the power to make or break careers – even those of American presidents.

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When Joe Biden quit the race, no one could have predicted the surge in support for Kamala Harris

In 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, the Democratic nominee for president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, adopted the ditty Happy Days Are Here Again as his official campaign song.

With its upbeat lyrics – “The skies above are clear again, So, let us sing a song of cheer again, Happy days are here again” – the tune spoke to the hope that a brighter future lay ahead with a new occupant of the White House.

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Candidates will face off for first time after Trump had previously cast doubt about debating Harris on the network

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will face off for the first time in a televised debate on 10 September, ABC News has confirmed.

The event is expected to draw a huge viewership, and could be a make-or-break moment for both candidates in what polls indicate is an extremely close race.

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