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MrBeast not quite in the bidding race for TikTok just yet, rep says
National News
AP

MrBeast not quite in the bidding race for TikTok just yet, rep says

  • By JAMES POLLARD, HALELUYA HADERO and WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS - The Associated Press
  • Updated

Jimmy Donaldson — better known online as MrBeast — isn’t in the TikTok bidding race just yet, according to a representative for the YouTube star. Donaldson stirred interest in a Jan. 13 post on X saying he’d “buy TikTok so it doesn’t get banned.” That seemed all the more certain this week when Donaldson was named in reports related to an investor group looking to buy the TikTok’s U.S. operations in an all-cash offer, led by Recruiter.com Ventures founder and CEO Jesse Tinsley. But, contrary to Tuesday night reports, MrBeast spokesperson Matthew Hiltzik said Donaldson hasn’t officially joined any bids.

US rejects Venezuelan President Maduro's reelection, but keeps financial lifeline for his government
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AP

US rejects Venezuelan President Maduro's reelection, but keeps financial lifeline for his government

  • By REGINA GARCIA CANO - Associated Press
  • Updated

In 2022, the White House granted Venezuela a financial lifeline “to support the restoration of democracy” after President Nicolás Maduro promised to work toward an open presidential election, granting U.S. energy giant Chevron a permit to pump and export Venezuelan oil despite sanctions. Maduro’s promised election was neither fair nor free, and the longtime president was sworn in this month for a third six-year term despite credible evidence that his opponent got far more votes. Yet the sanctions reprieve the U.S. offered is still helping fill state coffers. Venezuela’s opposition says Maduro’s government has earned billions of dollars from exports allowed by the permit, and senior administration officials have struggled to explain why the permit is still in place.

With a US ban on TikTok hours away, Trump says he 'most likely' will grant an extension
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AP

With a US ban on TikTok hours away, Trump says he 'most likely' will grant an extension

  • By HALELUYA HADERO - Associated Press
  • Updated

President-elect Donald Trump says he “most likely” will give TikTok 90 more days to work out a deal that would allow the popular video-sharing platform to avoid a U.S. ban. Trump said in an NBC News interview on Saturday that he hasn't decided what to do but was considering granting TikTok a reprieve after he is sworn into office on Monday. A law that prohibits mobile app stores and internet hosting services from distributing TikTok to U.S. users takes effect on Sunday. The law gave TikTok’s China-based parent company nine months to sell the platform’s U.S. operation, but allows the sitting president to grant an extension if a sale is in progress.

Flying taxis are on the horizon as aviation soars into a new frontier
National News
AP

Flying taxis are on the horizon as aviation soars into a new frontier

  • By MICHAEL LIEDTKE - AP Technology Writer
  • Updated

When he was still a boy making the long, tedious trips between his school and his woodsy home in the mountains during the 1980s, JoeBen Bevirt began fantasizing about flying cars that could whisk him to his destination in a matter of minutes. As CEO of Joby Aviation, Bevirt is getting closer to turning his boyhood flights of fancy into a dream come true as he and latter-day versions of the Wright Brothers building launch a new class of electric-powered aircraft vying to become taxis in the sky. They lift off the ground like a helicopter and then fly like airplanes capable of traveling at speeds of 200 miles per hour.

Biden blocks $14 billion acquisition of US Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel
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AP

Biden blocks $14 billion acquisition of US Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel

  • By FATIMA HUSSEIN, JOSH BOAK and MARC LEVY - Associated Press
  • Updated

President Joe Biden has blocked the nearly $15 billion proposed deal for Nippon Steel of Japan to purchase Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel. This affirms his earlier vow to block the acquisition. In a Friday statement, Biden said, “We need major U.S. companies representing the major share of US steelmaking capacity to keep leading the fight on behalf of America’s national interests.”  His decision comes after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States didn't reach consensus on the possible national security risks of the deal last month. Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel blasted the decision, saying Biden cited no credible evidence of a national security problem and suggested they'll sue.