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If you haven't already posted your response to the latest Megan Thee Stallion dance challenge, you better get cracking: the House of Representatives on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to pass a bill that could ban TikTok in the US.

The bill gives ByteDance, TikTok's China-based owner, about six months to divest its US assets in the hugely popular video app or face an outright ban.

Many in Congress are concerned over China gaining access to the personal data of millions of users, as well as Beijing using the app to exert its influence.

While people in the US worry about the future of their social media presence, Haitians are worried about the future of – well, everything.

As powerful gangs continue to wage war against the central government, Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced on Tuesday that he would step down after the formation of a transitional government.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Jamaica this week for meetings with Caribbean leaders, during which he announced the US would allocate $300 million for a "multinational support mission" aimed at stabilising Haiti and getting aid to its citizens in need.

Speaking of funding, the White House is looking for about $900 billion in defence and security spending, as major bills focused on support for Israel and Ukraine remain stalled in Congress.

Intelligence chiefs seem to think the defence allocation was warranted, this week telling Congress that terror threats against the US have surged since October 7.

They also called failing to fund Ukraine a "massive and historic mistake", as otherwise Kyiv would lose “significant ground” against Russia this year.

President Joe Biden has asked for $7.3 trillion for this year's budget, with the US economy projected to cool.

The budget predicts the US economy will grow by 1.7 per cent this year, well below the International Monetary Fund's projection of 2.1 per cent.

Despite this somewhat gloomy outlook, Mr Biden promoted his economic achievements during his State of the Union last week, calling them "the greatest story never told".

Sara Ruthven
Deputy US Bureau Chief

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EYE ON 2024

Nominations for Biden and Trump set stage for US presidential election rematch

US President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump clinched their parties' nominations on Tuesday night, setting the stage for the first US presidential election rematch in almost 70 years.

Mr Biden won the Democratic presidential nomination by gaining delegates from the swing state of Georgia, overcoming concerns about his leadership from his own party.

He has gained a total of 2,107 delegates, having needed only 1,968 to win the nomination.

Soon after, Mr Trump clinched the 1,215 delegates required to secure the Republican presidential nomination as four states held contests, including Georgia, the battleground state where he faces criminal charges for his alleged efforts to overturn the state's 2020 results.

There is little doubt that the autumn general election will feature a rematch between Mr Biden and Mr Trump – and that is something few appear to want.

Voters have expressed little enthusiasm for a repeat of the bitter 2020 election, with Reuters/Ipsos public polls showing Mr Biden and Mr Trump are unpopular with most voters.

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What's Washington talking about?

Robert Hur The special counsel appointed by the Justice Department to investigate Joe Biden's handling of classified documents appeared before Congress this week, where politicians grilled him over a report he released last month in which he did not recommend charges against the President, given the difficulty to prove intent to break the law, but did cast doubt on his memory. Democrats sought to paint Mr Hur as a Republican looking to smear Mr Biden in an election year, while Republicans tore into him for his decision not to recommend charges in the case. "What my report reflects is my judgment that based on the evidence, I would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury that that intent element had been met," he told Congress.

Ken Buck The Colorado Republican said he would step down next week, having already announced he would not run for re-election after becoming increasingly critical of his party's handling of former president Donald Trump. “A lot of this is personal. That's the problem," Mr Buck told CNN. "Instead of having decorum – instead of acting in a professional manner – this place has really devolved into this bickering and nonsense." He said this was the worst of his nine years in Congress. His departure will cut down the Republicans' House majority to only a five-seat margin. It will also lead to a special election to serve the rest of his term.

Ukraine aid The White House has ordered $300 million in urgent military aid for Ukraine to help it push back against the Russian invasion. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the measure would allow Ukraine's army to continue fighting for a short time, as a much larger aid package remains blocked in Congress. “We cannot provide ongoing assistance to Ukraine without significantly impacting our military readiness without congressional action. Congress must act," Mr Sullivan said. The weapons will arrive in Ukraine quickly and will give the Ukrainians much-needed capabilities that will probably last for a “few weeks”, according to the Pentagon.

 

QUOTED

“By 2030, over 340 million women and girls will still be living in extreme poverty – some 18 million more than men and boys. That is an insult to women and girls"

– UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks on International Women's Day about how a "backlash” against women's rights is threatening progress around the world.

 
 

Spotlight: ‘Every day you are worried’ - spectre of war looms large for Ukrainians in Ohio

It has been more than a year and a half since Tetiana last saw her husband, a member of Ukraine’s special forces who is fighting on the front line against Russia.

The former Kyiv resident, who asked that her last name be withheld out of concern for her husband's safety, fled Ukraine’s capital for the US city of Cleveland with her son, 5, after Russian bombs started landing on residential areas.

“Every day you are worried, waiting for one text with two words: ‘I’m good.’ That’s very hard,” she says.

Tetiana says her husband has fought in Bakhmut, Kherson and Soledar, some of the most intense battles of the two-year war. These days, she says, he speaks of a desperate situation.

“When I speak with him, he says things are very bad – there is not enough petrol and Russia attacks every day,” she says.

Even though Tetiana and her son are thousands of kilometres from the front line, the sense of loss still hangs heavy.

“When we go to a festival, my son sees other kids and their dads,” she says. “He asks me why his dad can’t come here. I explain but he can’t understand.”

Tetiana is one of nearly half a million Ukrainians who have sought safety in the US over the past two years.

As they watch the war drag on at home, ever-changing immigration requirements leave their futures in limbo.

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ONLY IN AMERICA

The truth is not out there: Pentagon finds no evidence of UFOs in review of sightings

A Pentagon study released on Friday said that it had found no evidence of aliens or extraterrestrial intelligence in its examination of reported sightings of UFOs over the past 80 years.

It was a conclusion consistent with past US government efforts to assess the accuracy of claims that have captivated public attention for decades.

The study from the Defence Department’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office analysed US government investigations since 1945 of reported sightings of unidentified anomalous phenomena, more popularly known as UFOs.

It found no evidence that any of them were signs of alien life, or that the US government and private companies had reverse-engineered extraterrestrial technology and were hiding it.

“All investigative efforts, at all levels of classification, concluded that most sightings were ordinary objects and phenomena and the result of misidentification,” said the report, which was mandated by Congress.

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Updated: March 14, 2024, 11:40 AM