TikTok says US House bill that could ban app would ‘trample’ free speech
TikTok on April 21 repeated its free-speech concerns about a bill passed by the House of Representatives that would ban the popular social media app in the US if Chinese owner ByteDance did not sell its stake within a year.
The House passed the legislation on April 20 by a margin of 360 to 58. It now moves to the Senate where it could be taken up for a vote in the coming days. President Joe Biden has previously said he would sign the legislation on TikTok.
Many US lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic parties and the Biden administration say TikTok poses national security risks because China could compel the company to share the data of its 170 million US users.
Israeli PM Netanyahu says he will fight any sanctions on army battalions
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on April 21 he would fight against sanctions being imposed on any Israeli military units for alleged rights violations, after media reports said Washington was planning such a step.
Axios news site on April 20 reported that Washington was planning to impose sanctions on Israel’s Netzah Yehuda battalion, which has operated in the occupied West Bank, though the Israeli military said it was not aware of any such measures.
On April 19, the United States announced a new series of sanctions linked to Israeli settlers in the West Bank, in the latest sign of growing US frustration with the policies of Netanyahu, whose coalition government relies on settler parties.
Climate protesters wrap Swedish parliament in giant red scarf
Several hundred women surrounded Sweden’s parliament with a giant knitted red scarf on April 21 to protest political inaction over global warming, an AFP journalist observed.
Responding to a call from the Mothers Rebellion movement, the women marched around the Riksdag with the scarf made of 3,000 smaller scarves, urging politicians to honour a commitment to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
“I am here for my child Dinalo and for all the kids. I am angry and sad that politicians in Sweden are acting against the climate,” Katarina Utne, 41, a mother of a four-year-old and human resources coach, told AFP.
Tesla cuts prices in China, Germany, and around globe after US cuts
Tesla has cut prices in a number of its major markets - including in China and Germany - after price cuts in the United States - as it grapples with falling sales and an intensifying price war for electric vehicles (EVs), especially against cheaper Chinese EVs.
The swathe of price cuts comes after Elon Musk’s EV maker reported this month that its global vehicle deliveries in the first quarter fell for the first time in nearly four years.
Tesla cut the starting price of the revamped Model 3 in China by 14,000 yuan (S$2,684) to 231,900 yuan, its official website showed on April 21.
Man Utd win FA Cup thriller against Coventry on penalties
Manchester United survived one of the most astonishing FA Cup semi-final comebacks ever to beat second-tier Coventry City 4-2 on penalties after a spellbinding clash ended 3-3 after extra time at Wembley Stadium on April 21.
United were cruising to a record 22nd FA Cup final thanks to goals by Scott McTominay, Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes with Coventry barely managing to lay a glove on their illustrious opponents for 70 minutes.
But Coventry, playing in their first FA Cup semi-final since they won the Cup in 1987, fought back with goals by Ellis Simms and Callum O’Hare and with United rocking Haji Wright stroked home a stoppage-time penalty after an Aaron Wan-Bissaka handball.
