CGTN America

TikTok briefly went dark in the U.S. on the evening of Saturday, Jan. 18, as a law banning the app took effect, but it was restored within 24 hours following intervention by President-elect Donald Trump.

Trump announced plans to issue an executive order delaying the ban to provide time for a potential deal, proposing that the U.S. take a 50% ownership stake in TikTok to ensure its value and control.

TikTok, which had faced the looming threat of its Chinese owner ByteDance being forced to sell the app's U.S. subsidiary, credited Trump for providing clarity that allowed the app to resume service for over 170 million Americans.

Despite TikTok's return, questions remain about its long-term future.

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CGTN America

The state of Florida recently filed a lawsuit against a company once run by U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida for allegedly keeping $5 million in a mispayment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Florida says that in 2021, the state's Division of Emergency Management mistakenly paid Trinity Health Care $5 million instead of $50,000 for a contract that assisted in registering residents for COVID-19 vaccinations.

At the time Cheefilus-McCormick was the CEO of Trinity Health, and the state accuses her of using a significant portion of the mispayment to fund her 2021 congressional campaign, which she ultimately won.

The U.S. House of Representatives' Office of Congressional Ethics had referred Cherfilus-McCormick to the House Ethics Committee for further investigation in 2023 saying there was “substantial reason” to believe there were campaign finance violations. The Ethics Committee is still investigating.

Cherfilus-McCormick has previously said in a statement that "the fact that the allegations were referred for further review does not indicate any violation has occurred.”

2 days ago | [YT] | 66

CGTN America

The language learning app Duolingo reported a 216% jump in new Mandarin learners in the U.S. The surge has been attributed to the TikTok users who are moving to China-based apps like RedNote.

The TikTok ban is slated to begin on Sunday, Jan. 19. Many so-called “TikTok refugees” are migrating to RedNote which has gained more than 700,000 users in just 2 days. Many U.S.-based creators new to RedNote have shared how they have been welcomed and are gaining traction on the Chinese app.

Are you curious to learn Mandarin? If so how come? Let us know in the comments below.

2 days ago (edited) | [YT] | 109

CGTN America

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Friday, Jan. 17 in favor of a law that will force the ban of the popular Chinese-owned app TikTok if it is not sold to an American buyer by the deadline of Sunday, Jan. 19.
The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA) received overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress last year and was signed into law in April by President Joe Biden.
The law gives the U.S. government the power to ban foreign apps on devices in the U.S.
Justices weighed the free speech rights of Americans against the national security concerns of government officials.
Tiktok and its owner, ByteDance, as well as some Tiktok users challenged the law in a lower court last year, which backed the measure.
The U.S. Supreme Court heard the appeal 10 days before the deadline, before upholding the lower court’s ruling, saying “We conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights.”
Without intervention from Biden or President-elect Trump, close to 170 million U.S. users will eventually lose access to TikTok starting as early as Sunday.

2 days ago | [YT] | 55

CGTN America

Iconic American film director David Lynch died at the age of 78, his family announced on Thursday. His body of work includes films like “The Elephant Man”, “Eraserhead”, “Mulholland Drive”, “Wild at Heart” and “Blue Velvet”.
Lynch may be best known for the 1990 Emmy-winning TV series “Twin Peaks” that he created with Mark Frost, which inspired generations of filmmakers. The show confounded audiences with its complexity and symbolism, and was rebooted in 2017.
Lynch considered cinema its own language, and filled his productions with bizarre and often disturbing imagery, leading to use of the term “Lynchian” to describe things surreal or inscrutable.
No cause of death was released.
Lynch had previously shared that he was suffering from emphysema.
“There’s a big hole in the world now that he’s no longer with us.” Lynch’s family statement read, “But, as he would say, ‘Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole.’”

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3 days ago | [YT] | 44

CGTN America

The Los Angeles wildfires are continuing to rage as millions of residents face threats to their livelihoods. Swipe to see the latest numbers of the disaster.

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3 days ago | [YT] | 38

CGTN America

The ceasefire deal announced by Qatar and the U.S. on Wednesday, Jan. 15, will not be official until Israel’s security cabinet and government approve it. The vote had been slated in Israel for Thursday, Jan. 16, but has been delayed by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s administration.

More here. www.facebook.com/cgtnamerica/posts/pfbid0gsh72Ahz9…

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3 days ago | [YT] | 50

CGTN America

Khabib Nurmagomedov, the legendary former UFC lightweight champion from Russia was removed from a Frontier Airlines flight traveling from Las Vegas to San Francisco on January 11.

The now-viral video of the incident has left many online users questioning the airline's decision to remove him. The conflict arose over exit-row seating, where FAA regulations require passengers to confirm their ability and willingness to assist during emergencies.

According to the airline, Khabib didn't comply with repeated requests from the crew to confirm, leading to his removal when he declined to switch seats. The airline maintains that the decision was based on regulatory compliance and was not related to Khabib’s ethnicity. They also issued refunds for him and his travel companions.

Khabib, however, has pushed back via Twitter, suggesting that racial or national bias could have played a role. Nevertheless, despite his frustration, the mixed martial arts icon remained calm throughout the incident. He is from the Dagestan region of Russia and is a Muslim.

Khabib managed to reach Los Angeles on a later flight, where he is supporting and coaching his teammates Islam Mackhachev and Umar Nurmagomedov in their upcoming UFC title bouts.

This incident has sparked debate about whether the airline staff acted fairly or if there was bias involved. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.

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4 days ago | [YT] | 75

CGTN America

Special Counsel Jack Smith released a report on Tuesday, Jan. 15, about his investigation into Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

“The throughline of all of Mr. Trump’s criminal efforts was deceit — knowingly false claims of election fraud — and the evidence shows that Mr. Trump used these lies as a weapon to defeat a federal government function foundational to the United States’ democratic process,” the report states.

Trump responded early Tuesday with a post on his Truth Social platform, saying he was “totally innocent” and called Smith “a lamebrain prosecutor who was unable to get his case tried before the Election.” He added, “THE VOTERS HAVE SPOKEN!!!”

Smith said his team defended the rule of law and stood by their decision to bring charges, even though Trump’s 2024 election victory stopped the case from going to trial.

The report accuses Trump of spreading lies about election fraud to stay in power and of trying to disrupt the democratic process. It details his efforts to pressure officials, use fake electors, and incite the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Trump’s conflicts with his vice president, Mike Pence, over certifying the election results are also highlighted.

“Mr. Trump’s resort to intimidation and harassment during the investigation was not new, as demonstrated by his actions during the charged conspiracies,” Smith wrote.

“A fundamental component of Mr. Trump’s conduct underlying the charges in the Election Case was his pattern of using social media — at the time, Twitter — to publicly attack and seek to influence state and federal officials, judges, and election workers who refused to support false claims that the election had been stolen or who otherwise resisted complicity in Mr. Trump’s scheme,” he added.

Although prosecutors believed they had enough evidence to convict Trump, his re-election and Supreme Court rulings made it impossible to continue the case, he said. The report also addresses the challenges of the investigation, including Trump use of executive privilege to block evidence and target witnesses and prosecutors on social media.

Smith emphasized that the team’s actions to uphold justice matter, even though the case could not move forward. A separate section about Trump’s handling of classified documents remains sealed for now.

4 days ago | [YT] | 44

CGTN America

In a major move in the last days of his presidency, Joe Biden announced his intent to lift the U.S. designation of Cuba as a “state sponsor of terrorism” in exchange for the freeing of what Washington considers to be political prisoners on the island nation.

This deal, slated to be facilitated by the Catholic Church, could lead to the release of 533 prisoners gradually, according to Cuba’s Foreign Ministry.

In addition, Washington will also lift a 2017 memorandum issued by the Trump administration that calls for the toughening of U.S. policies towards Cuba.

During Trump’s final days in office during his first administration, the White House also reinstated the designation of Cuba as a “state sponsor of terrorism.”

Six months later, the Biden administration issued new sanctions targeting officials in Cuba.

It’s likely that Biden’s plan to lift the designation could be reversed once President-elect Donald Trump is in office.


In his confirmation hearing on Jan. 15, Trump's Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio said he believed that Cuba should be considered a “state sponsor of terrorism.”

Rubio, whose family left Cuba before the country’s socialist revolution, has long been a proponent of U.S. sanctions against the island nation.

Trump appointee Mauricio Claver-Carone, who is slated to be his special envoy to Latin America, has also been a strong supporter of U.S. sanctions against Cuba.

Cuba’s foreign ministry said that Biden’s decision to lift the designation pointed in “the right direction” but also considered it “limited.”

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