Latest News
US House passes bill that could ban TikTok nationwide
The US House of Representatives has passed a landmark bill that could see TikTok banned in America.
It would give the social media giant’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, six months to sell its controlling stake or the app would be blocked in the US.
While the bill passed overwhelmingly in a bipartisan vote, it still needs to clear the Senate and be signed by the president to become law.
Lawmakers have long held concerns about China’s influence over TikTok.
TikTok is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, founded in 2012.
The Beijing-based firm is registered in the Cayman Islands, and has offices across Europe and the US.
If the bill does manage to secure approval in the Senate, President Joe Biden has promised to sign it as soon as it lands on his desk, which could prompt a diplomatic spat with China.
ByteDance would have to seek approval from Chinese officials to complete a forced divestiture, which Beijing has vowed to oppose. Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the move would “come back to bite the US”.
Mike Gallagher, a Wisconsin Republican who co-authored the bill, said the US could not “take the risk of having a dominant news platform in America controlled or owned by a company that is beholden to the Chinese Communist Party”. Chinese companies are subject to a national security law requiring them to share data with the government on request.
TikTok has tried to reassure regulators that it has taken steps to ensure the data of its 150 million users in the US has been walled off from ByteDance employees in China.
TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew said the company was committed to keeping its data secure and the platform “free from outside manipulation”.
He warned the bill, if passed, would mean a ban on the app in the US, giving “more power to a handful of other social media companies” and putting thousands of American jobs at risk.
However, an investigation by the Wall Street Journal in January found the system was still “porous”, with data being unofficially shared between TikTok in the US and ByteDance in China. High-profile cases, including one incident where ByteDance employees in China accessed a journalist’s data to track down their sources, have stoked concerns.
(BBC)
An Australian woman has given birth to rare, naturally-conceived identical quadruplets after a pregnancy described as “extremely high risk” by the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
The four girls, who were delivered via caesarean section at 28 weeks and four days on 14 July, were monozygotic quadruplets – where a single fertilised egg splits into four embryos.
The hospital said the girls’ mother, 34-year-old Jenitar Na’amoana, and her husband Jortham, already had four children and were taken by “immense surprise” when told to expect quadruplets.
Dr Alexa Bendall, who cared for the mother from the start of her pregnancy, estimated identical quadruplets occur “at one in every 15 million pregnancies” and said “but to share the same placenta – this is unheard of”.
Bendall, who is a maternal foetal medicine specialist and obstetrician, said such a pregnancy was very high-risk, with the hospital admitting Na’amoana as an inpatient at 25 weeks so she could be monitored.
“We always said that if we could get her to 28 weeks, we would be doing well,” Bendall said.
“So the fact that we’ve got four beautiful, healthy babies born at 28 weeks and four days is incredible and we’re very happy to be a part of it,” she added.
“Jenitar has taken everything in her stride from day one… she has somehow dodged every complication and risk for both herself and her babies,” Bendall said.
The newborn girls have been named Emily, Harriet, Catherine, and also Alexa, after Alexa Bendall, who described it as “a beautiful tribute”.
The babies will stay in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit until they grow to full term and are “currently doing extremely well”, Bendall added.
The parents’ other children are between one and 10 years old and the mother has recently launched an online fundraising campaign to help buy a van with at least 10 seats.
In a message alongside the fundraiser, which has already received over A$37,000 (£19,261) in donations, Na’amoana wrote: “Our four precious miracles have arrived safely, and while our hearts are overflowing with gratitude, the reality of caring for four newborns at once has brought challenges we never could have imagined.”
Naturally conceived quadruplets are extremely rare, with doctors estimating the odds at about one in 700,000 births.
(BBC)
Ferran Torres scored in the 106th minute to lift Spain to their second World Cup title with a 1-0 win im extra time over 10-man Argentina in the final.
Torres’s deserved winner on Sunday came 16 years and eight days after Andres Iniesta also scored in extra time to lift the Spaniards to their first World Championship with a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands.
It came on La Roja’s 20th shot in the contest against defending champions Argentina that failed to manage any to that point and struggled to wrest possession away from their superior Iberian opponents.
That was true at even strength and became more difficult when La Albiceleste’s numbers were reduced when Enzo Fernandez’s late challenge on Pau Cubarsi left referee Slavko Vincic no choice but to produce a second caution just before the end of normal time.
Spain remain the only nation ever to win a European Championship and World Cup in successive tournaments, having now done so a second time. They are also the first World Cup champions ever to concede only once across an entire tournament.
Lionel Messi’s Argentina failed to earn a title for the first time in three major tournaments, having also captured the 2021 and 2024 Copa Americas either side of their 2022 World Cup triumph.
The 39-year-old eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi finished the competition with eight goals and four assists, but had little time on the ball in the final until Spain finally took the lead. And he never seriously looked like he would lift his side to another great moment as he has so many times in the last two World Cup cycles.
Emi Martinez made 11 saves for La Albiceleste, who fell short in their bid to be the first consecutive World Cup champions since Brazil won the 1958 and 1962 titles.
What had felt so difficult for the first 105 minutes suddenly looked easy after 37 seconds of play in the second period of extra time.
Pedro Porro curled in an out-swinging cross from the left to the back post, Nico Williams won the header and nodded it back into space, and Torres hammered a half-volley at last past the flailing Martinez.
It was his only goal of the tournament, making him the seventh player to score during a tournament in which his side never trailed.
Asked about his goal, Torres said after the game: “Honestly, I didn’t think too much. I just saw the ball coming to me, and I just shot with the power of all the Spanish people.”
The win made Spain coach Luis de la Fuente, at 65, the oldest coach ever to lead a team to the World Cup title
“We are world champions,” de la Fuente said. “It was together we reached this stage.”
There was some pushing and shoving after the final whistle, which was quickly cleaned up, and Spain commenced their celebration as most Argentina players sat on the turf in disbelief.
Cooler heads prevailed, and Spain’s players lined up minutes later to form an honour guard of sorts for Argentina’s squad to walk through on their way to the stage for the runner-up medals.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni admitted that Spain were the better team.
“They were the better side – that’s the truth – but I’ll cherish the memory of them [his side], of what they achieved, and of the value of making it this far,” Scaloni said.
“We have to place immense value on this, because it takes so much effort.”
(Aljazeera)
Binura Fernando, Hasan Mahmud and James Neesham shared nine wickets between them to restrict Kandy Royals to 179 after which Janith Liyanage (53*) and James Neesham (48*) helped Colombo Kaps to reach the win need with six wickets in hannd in the fifth match of the Lanka Premier League 2026, played under lights at the SSC on Sunday.
Scores:
Kandy Royals 179 in 20 overs (Kusal Perera 11, Lahiru Udara 53, Angelo Mathews 45, Vijay Shankar 15; Binura Fernando 4-45, Hasan Mahmud 3-31, James Neesham 2-42)
Colombo Kaps 182/4 in 19.4 overs (Kamindu Mendis 26 , Ben McDermott 22, Janith Liyanage 53*, James Neesham 48*; Angelo Mathews 1-21, Nuwan Thushara 1-22, Wanudu Hasaranga 2-29)
Rare identical quadruplets born in Australia
Showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Kandy, Nuwara-Eliya, Galle and Matara districts
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