In oral arguments before the Supreme Court Friday, lawyers for the Biden administration reiterated their argument that TikTok’s Chinese ownership poses a ‘grave’ national security risk for American users. U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar cited risks that China could weaponize the app, including by manipulating its algorithm to prioritize certain content or by ordering parent company ByteDance to turn over vast amounts of user data compiled by TikTok on U.S. users. ‘We know that the...

President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday that his team is in the works of setting up meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.  ‘He wants to meet. And we’re setting it up,’ he told reporters during a press conference from his Mar-a-Lago club regarding Putin. ‘President Xi – we’ve had a lot of communication. We have a lot of meetings set up with a lot of people.  ‘I’d rather wait until after...

President-elect Donald Trump issued a warning ahead of the inauguration of contested Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who took up the top job for a third term on Friday.  Despite significant opposition both at home and abroad to the July election in which Maduro claimed victory without providing ballot-box proof, the Venezuelan leader, deemed a ‘dictator’ by American lawmakers, is now set to hold office until 2031. On Thursday, opposition leader María Corina Machado emerged from months of...

The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments Friday morning over whether the social media platform TikTok should be required to divest from its Chinese-owned parent company or be banned in the U.S., in a highly watched case that pits concerns over national security against free speech protections. Justices both conservative and liberal appear skeptical of the social media app’s arguments. Unless justices intervene, or TikTok’s owners agree to sell, the app will be barred from operating...

President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced to an unconditional discharge Friday after being found guilty on charges of falsifying business records stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s yearslong investigation.  The president-elect attended his sentencing virtually after fighting to block the process all the way up to the United States Supreme Court this week. Trump sat beside his defense attorney Todd Blanche.  Judge Juan Merchan did not sentence the president-elect to prison, and instead sentenced him...

President-elect Donald Trump’s winter White House is hosting a parade of House Republicans this weekend, all of whom are hoping that getting the incoming commander in chief’s ear will help an ideologically diverse group of lawmakers get on the same page on a massive conservative policy overhaul. It is also likely to be another test of Trump’s power over Congressional Republicans and whether his influence will be enough to overcome longstanding fractures on fiscal policy....

The United States should increase and promote both official and unofficial contacts with Taiwan’s government and the Taiwanese military during President-elect Donald Trump’s second term, regardless of the inevitable Beijing response of ‘anger’ and ‘hurt feelings,’ analysts say.  Exchanges between U.S. officials, scholars, as well as members of think tanks, foundations, and institutes, will be crucial for accurate information to be relayed to both the American and Taiwanese public and their respective governments, say experts. On Thursday,...

President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in November’s election has given hope to Brazil’s former leader Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently barred from running for public office until 2030 due to a ruling by Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court.  Known as the ‘Trump of the Tropics,’ the court decision stemmed from his alleged abuse of power and ‘unfounded attacks on the country’s electronic voting system.’ Despite the prohibition, Bolsonaro and his supporters are actively seeking avenues to overturn...

Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood paid their respects to former President Carter and honored their friendship with the American leader Thursday. Brooks and Yearwood dressed in all black while singing John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ at the end of Carter’s funeral at Washington National Cathedral Jan. 9. The couple maintained a friendship with the former president throughout the years. ‘President Carter, the legacy you and Rosalynn have left us is as beautiful as the life you lived,’...

President-elect Trump is hosting a group of Republican governors for dinner at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, Thursday evening. The gathering comes a week and a half before the former and future president is inaugurated Jan. 20 and takes over the White House. The meeting gives Trump a chance to speak with the GOP governors who will likely play an integral role in carrying out the Trump agenda in his second administration, including...