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Trump Gives TikTok Extra 75 Days To Find Buyer TikTok

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US President Donald Trump on Friday extended the deadline for TikTok to find a non-Chinese buyer or face a ban in the United States, allowing 75 more days to find a solution.

My administration has been working very hard on a deal to save TikTok, and we have made tremendous progress,” Trump said on Truth Social, just hours before the deadline was to expire.

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“A transaction requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days.”

The hugely popular video-sharing app, which has more than 170 million American users, is under threat from a US law that passed overwhelmingly last year and orders TikTok to split from its Chinese owner ByteDance or get shut down in the United States.

Trump has insisted his administration is near a deal to find a buyer for TikTok and keep it from shutting down that would involve multiple investors, but has given few details.

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READ ALSO: France, Germany Push For More Aggressive Tariffs Response Against Trump

Motivated by national security fears and belief in Washington that TikTok is controlled by the Chinese government, the ban took effect on January 19, one day before Trump’s inauguration.

In the hours before that deadline, TikTok temporarily shut down in the United States and disappeared from app stores, to the dismay of millions of users.

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But the Republican president quickly announced an initial 75-day delay and TikTok subsequently restored service to users, returning to the Apple and Google app stores in February.

The new 75-day delay pushes the deadline to June 19.

Trump has repeatedly downplayed risks that TikTok is in danger, saying he remains confident of finding a buyer for the app’s US business.

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The president added on Friday that he would “continue working in good faith with China,” whose government will need to sign off on the transaction.

The president suggested TikTok could even be part of a broader deal with China to ease the stinging tariffs he imposed on Beijing as part of a worldwide blitz of levies.

READ ALSO: US Tariffs To Hit All Countries, Says Trump

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We do not want TikTok to ‘go dark.’ We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the deal,” he added.

According to reports, the solution in the works would see existing US investors in ByteDance roll over their stakes into a new independent global TikTok company.

Additional US investors, including Oracle and Blackstone, the private equity firm, would be brought on to reduce ByteDance’s share.

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Much of TikTok’s US activity is already housed on Oracle servers, and the company’s chairman, Larry Ellison, is a longtime Trump ally.

ABC News reported on Friday that Walmart was also in the mix.

The retail behemoth as well as Oracle were previously rumored to be taking shares in TikTok when Trump tried to wrest the company from its Chinese owners during his first administration.

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Trump supported a ban or divestment in his first term, but lately became a TikTok defender, seeing it as a reason more young voters supported him in November’s election.

READ ALSO: Navy Seizes 400,000 Litres Of Stolen Crude In Delta Operation

– What about the algorithm? –

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Uncertainty remains, particularly over what would happen to TikTok’s valuable algorithm.

TikTok without its algorithm is like Harry Potter without his wand — it’s simply not as powerful,” said Forrester Principal Analyst Kelsey Chickering.

The New York Times suggested the new company could license the algorithm from ByteDance.

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But such an arrangement would go against the spirit of the law, which is in part based on the premise that TikTok’s algorithm can be weaponized by the Chinese against US interests.

Amazon has also reportedly made a last-minute bid to buy TikTok.

Other proposals include an initiative called “The People’s Bid for TikTok,” launched by real estate and sports tycoon Frank McCourt’s Project Liberty initiative.

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Artificial intelligence startup Perplexity recently expressed interest in buying TikTok, as did a joint venture involving YouTube mega-celebrity MrBeast and another bid from adult content platform OnlyFans.

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‘They Checked My Instagram’ – Nigerian Lady Breaks Down After Landing In U.S, Denied Entry

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A Nigerian businesswoman has taken to social media to share her frustration and heartbreak after being denied entry into the United States, despite holding a valid visa.

In a video recorded on her return flight to Nigeria, the visibly distraught woman revealed that she was travelling to Texas for a trade fair.

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She said she possessed a B1/B2 visa, which allows travel for both tourism and business meetings.

READ ALSO:‘Netanyahu Must Go’, Israel’s Ex-PM Calls Leadership ‘Catastrophic’

However, upon arrival in the U.S., things took a turn.

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“I was denied entrance into the US and that is because my visa [is] a B1–B2 visa which is [for] tourism/business meetings,” she explained tearfully.

When I landed, I was detained for 24 hours and I was questioned. I told them I was going to exhibit but I did not know any better because the US has your data and your Instagram page.”

READ ALSO:Middle East Crisis Dominates EU Foreign Ministers’ Brussels Meeting

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According to her, immigration officials scrutinised her social media activity and private messages, using them to challenge her stated purpose of visit.

Apparently, my Instagram says different. They even checked all my messages with my customers. The customers I have been telling that we are coming, they can pick up and all of that,” she said through tears.

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Uganda: After 39 Years In Power, 80-year-old Yoweri Museveni To Seek Re-election

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Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, has announced his intention to run in the country’s next presidential election, extending a rule that began nearly four decades ago.

In a post on the X platform late Saturday, Museveni said he had “expressed my interest in running for… the position of presidential flag bearer,” for his ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party.

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The 80-year-old leader has governed Uganda since 1986 after seizing power following a five-year guerrilla war. Under his leadership, the ruling NRM has twice amended the constitution, allowing him to remain in office beyond term and age limits.

READ ALSO:Ugandan President Ignores S’Court Ruling, Approves Law To Try Civilians In Military Courts

According to Reuters, right groups have long accused Museveni of deploying security forces and leveraging patronage to hold onto power, an allegation he denies.

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Explaining his decision to seek reelection, Museveni said he aims to grow Uganda’s economy to a ”$500 billion economy in the next five years.” According to the finance ministry, the country’s GDP currently stands at about $66 billion.

Uganda is set to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in January next year. Museveni’s main challenger is expected to be opposition figure and pop star-turned-politician Bobi Wine, who came second in the 2021 election and has declared his intention to contest again in 2026.

Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, rejected the 2021 results, alleging his victory had been stolen through “ballot stuffing, intimidation by security forces and other irregularities.”

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‘Netanyahu Must Go’, Israel’s Ex-PM Calls Leadership ‘Catastrophic’

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Naftali Bennett, Israel’s former Prime Minister, stated in a televised interview that current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must leave office.

Bennett refrained from saying whether he plans to challenge the longest-serving leader in the country in an upcoming election.

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In an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 that aired on Saturday, Bennett commented, “Netanyahu has been in power for 20 years… that’s too much; it’s not healthy.”

He called attention to Netanyahu’s “heavy responsibility for the divisions in Israeli society,” highlighting the growing rifts that have emerged under Netanyahu’s leadership, especially regarding his handling of the Gaza war since October 2023.

READ ALSO:Israel’s Netanyahu Says Iran Will ‘Pay Heavy Price’ After Hospital Hit

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Bennett, a right-wing leader who joined forces with Netanyahu’s critics to form a coalition that ousted him from office after 12 consecutive years, insisted that “Netanyahu must go.”

However, the fragile coalition government Bennett led, along with current opposition leader Yair Lapid, collapsed after about a year. This led to snap elections, resulting in Netanyahu regaining the premiership with support from far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties.

Although Bennett has taken time away from politics, there are rumors of a potential comeback, with public opinion polls indicating he may have enough support to defeat Netanyahu again. Currently, no elections are scheduled before late 2026, but early elections are common in Israel.

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In his Saturday interview, Bennett claimed credit for laying the groundwork for Israel’s bombardment campaign earlier this month against Iranian nuclear and military sites.

READ ALSO:Netanyahu Vows To Thwart ‘Any Attempt’ By Iran To Rebuild Nuclear Programme

The decision to launch attacks against the Islamic Republic “was very good” and “needed,” said Bennett, claiming that the offensive would not have been possible without the work of his short-lived government.

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In Gaza, where Israel has waged war since Hamas’s October 2023 attack, Bennett said the military has displayed “exceptional” performance, but “the political management of the country” was “a catastrophe, a disaster”.

Criticising the Netanyahu government’s “inability to decide,” the former prime minister called for an immediate “comprehensive” agreement that would see all remaining hostages freed from Gaza.

“Leave the task of eliminating Hamas to a future government,” said Bennett, who also evaded several questions about whether he intends to run for office.

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AFP

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