Donald Trump: Donald Trump indicated on Sunday that he is not in favor of banning TikTok for a few days in the United States. “I think we have to start thinking because, you know, during the election we went on TikTok and we had a tremendous response with billions of views,” Trump told a crowd of supporters in Phoenix.
However, the US Senate passed a law in April questioning TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance, citing national security concerns. TikTok’s owners have sought to overturn the law and the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case, but if the court does not rule in ByteDance’s favor, the case could be overturned on January 19, a day before Trump’s inauguration. The app could effectively be banned in the US. The US Justice Department argued that Chinese control over TikTok posed a persistent national security threat. TikTok says the Justice Department has misrepresented the social media app’s ties to China.
Will Elon Musk become President?
Can Elon Musk, who holds an important position in the next Trump administration, become President one day? Donald Trump reacted to this on Sunday. “I can tell you he is not going to be president,” Trump said at a Republican convention in Phoenix, Arizona. Do you know why this is not possible? He was not born in this country. Trump said about the Tesla and SpaceX boss, he was born in South Africa. According to the US Constitution, the President is required to be a natural born American citizen.
Syrian rebels will now become soldiers
Two weeks after seizing power in Syria, new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Sunday that all of the country’s weapons (including those held by Kurdish-led forces) would come under government control. Shaara spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan after his first meeting with Lebanese Druze leaders and vowed to end ‘negative interference’ in the neighboring country. Ankara-backed rebels have played a key role in supporting the Sharjah Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). During a press conference with Fidan, Shaara said that Syrian armed groups would now join forces. “We will not allow weapons to flow into the country beyond state control, whether from revolutionary groups or from groups based in the SDF region,” he said, referring to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
Putin broke NATO
Russian President Vladimir Putin talks with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in the Kremlin on Sunday. He warned of serious retaliation against Ukraine over the drone attack, officials said. Fico is one of the few European leaders. With whom is Putin still in friendly relations despite his enmity with Ukraine in 2022? Kremlin insider, Russian TV journalist Pavel Zarubin, posted a short video showing the two leaders smiling and shaking hands. The country of Fico is a member of NATO and the European Union. Fico’s visit was not announced in advance. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Zarubin that arrangements had been made a few days in advance. Peskov said before the debate that it could be anticipated that Russian gas supplies would be discussed. Peskov later said the meeting was over and the two leaders would not comment. Ukraine said it would not renew the contract to allow Russian gas to flow through its territory, which expires on December 31. If elected again as prime minister in October 2023, Fico froze military aid to Ukraine and, like his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban, called for a peace story.
Russia’s strong hold on Ukraine
Russia has captured two more villages in Ukraine. Russian forces have captured two villages in Ukraine, one in the northeastern Kharkiv region and one in the eastern Donetsk region, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday. Moscow claims Donetsk as its territory. Russian troops are continuously advancing in the Donetsk region. A Defense Ministry statement said troops, under Russian pressure in recent weeks, had taken control of Lozovaya near the city of Kupyansk in the north of the Donetsk region. The village of Sontsivka, north of Kurakhov, was also captured. The ministry also announced the seizure of another village, Kostiantinopolske, near Kurakhov on Saturday. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army did not reveal the details of the Russian-occupied village but said that Russia had carried out 26 attacks in Sontsivka in the last 24 hours. The General Staff also reported heavy fighting near Pokrovsk.