International

VP HARRIS ON TIK TOK

Vice President Kamala Harris is now the proud owner of a TikTok account.

The presumptive Democratic nominee for president joined the app on Thursday, where Harris-themed memes about coconut trees and “Brat summer” have been viral for weeks. Within hours, her account amassed 1.3 million followers. “I heard that recently I’ve been on the For You page, so I thought I’d get on here myself,” Harris says in her first post, which has 1.9 million likes, more than 71,000 comments and upwards of 69,000 bookmarks.

Adoring content about Harris has dominated the platform since Sunday, when President Biden announced he would no longer be running for re-election and endorsed his vice president for the Democratic nomination.

Harris’ decision to join in on the fun reflects the importance Democrats place on reaching young voters: most TikTok users in the U.S. are under 30. While the vast majority of TikTok’s 170 million American users say they’re on the platform to be entertained, more than one third use the app to keep up with politics, according to Pew Research, a larger share than those on Facebook or Instagram.

The Biden White House has heavily courted social media influences to advocate for the president’s policies. Gen Z content creators have been invited to tour the White House and Biden campaign headquarters. In 2022, a group of 30 leading TikTok stars attended a news briefing on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And the New York Times has reported extensively on Biden’s efforts to host TikTok creators with State of the Union watch parties and exclusive invitations to Democratic fundraisers, as well as access to party officials and a special room to film videos at the upcoming DNC convention.

Republicans have made similar efforts to increase their presence on social media. Nearly 100 conservative influencers were given credentials at the RNC convention in July to generate buzz about former President Trump’s re-election campaign. The convention’s digital team set up a Creator Hub for them and provided time to go to the convention floor to film videos and interviews, Axios reported.

Trump joined TikTok in June. His first post featured Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dna White at a UFC title fight in New Jersey and garnered more than 2.3 million likes and 38 million views in just one day. Trump’s account now enjoys 9.2 million followers.

But even as both parties embrace TikTok for campaigning, there has been bipartisan agreement that the app from Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance has national security vulnerabilities. Policymakers are concerned about the Chinese government’s ability to access TikTok’s data on American users or leverage the platform to push propaganda and influence elections.

Trump, as president, issued an executive order to ban TikTok, but it was challenged in court. He has since reversed his position, arguing “there are a lot of people on TikTok that love it” and that if the app were banned, Facebook would benefit, which he calls “an enemy of the people.”

Congress renewed the effort with Biden’s support and together the U.S. enacted a law in April that gives ByteDance a 270-day deadline to sell TikTok to a U.S. company or be banned. ByteDance must now find a buyer, remove TikTok from U.S. app stores or challenge the law in court before a January deadline.

Congress renewed the effort with Biden’s support and together the U.S. enacted a law in April that gives ByteDance a 270-day deadline to sell TikTok to a U.S. company or be banned. ByteDance must now find a buyer, remove TikTok from U.S. app stores or challenge the law in court before a January deadline.

Last month, TikTok called for a federal court to strike down the law that requires ByteDance to divest the app. ByteDance argues that divesting TikTok’s U.S. assets is “not possible technologically, commercially, or legally.” (reposted from Fox Business)

International

CHINA ANNOUNCES VISA FREE TRAVEL FOR SOME LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES

China plans to expand its visa-free policy for five Latin American/#Caribbean countries and offer 3,500 scholarships and 10,000 training opportunities, as part of a five-programme plan to advance shared development and revitalisation with LAC countries. source Caribbean News UK

International

President Xi Jinping urges solidarity, deeper cooperation at China-CELAC meeting

Chinese President Xi Jinping said China is willing to strengthen solidarity with Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries and announced five major programs to jointly pursue development and revitalization with LAC countries on Tuesday.

The five programs, solidarity, development, civilization, peace, and people-to-people connectivity, were announced by Xi while delivering a keynote speech during the opening ceremony of the fourth ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC (the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum in Beijing.

On the solidarity program, Xi said China is willing to strengthen solidarity with Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries and continue to support each other on issues concerning their core interests and major concerns to firmly safeguard the international system with the UN at its core and international order underpinned by international law and to speak with one voice in international and regional affairs.

In the next three years, China will invite 300 members from political parties of CELAC member states every year to visit China to facilitate exchanges on national governance best practices, Xi said.

Regarding the development program, Xi said China is willing to work with LAC countries to implement the Global Development Initiative, resolutely uphold the multilateral trading system, ensure stable, unimpeded global industrial and supply chains, and promote an international environment of openness and cooperation.

Noting that the two sides should foster greater synergy between their development strategies and expand high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, Xi said China will import more quality products from LAC countries and encourage Chinese enterprises to expand their investment in the region.

On the civilization program, Xi called for the joint implementation of the Global Civilization Initiative. He said both sides should uphold the vision of equality, mutual learning, dialogue, and inclusiveness between civilizations, champion humanity’s common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom, and enhance China-LAC civilizational exchanges and mutual learning, including through a conference on China-LAC inter-civilizational dialogue.

For the peace program, Xi called for the joint implementation of the Global Security Initiative. He said both sides should cooperate more closely in disaster governance, cybersecurity, counterterrorism, anti-corruption, narcotics control, and combating transnational organized crime to safeguard security and stability in the region.

Regarding people-to-people connectivity, Xi said in the next three years, China will provide CELAC member states with 3,500 government scholarships, 10,000 training opportunities in China, 500 International Chinese Language Teachers Scholarships, 300 training opportunities for poverty reduction professionals, and 1,000 funded placements through the Chinese Bridge program, initiate 300 “small and beautiful” livelihood projects, and support CELAC member states in developing Chinese language education.

China has decided to offer a visa-free policy to five LAC countries and will expand the policy to cover more regional countries in due course, Xi said.

Gustavo Petro, president of Colombia, the CELAC rotating chair, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Chilean President Gabriel Boric, and Dilma Rousseff, president of the New Development Bank and former Brazilian president, respectively, addressed the event.

The special representative for Yamandu Orsi, president of Uruguay and the incoming CELAC rotating chair, read out the president’s congratulatory letter.

Faced with a world full of uncertainties, LAC countries and China should work together to promote continuous new progress in building a community with a shared future, they said.

Both sides should respect each other and firmly support each other in safeguarding sovereignty and choosing their own development path, they said, calling for strengthening the synergy between the development strategies of LAC countries and the Belt and Road Initiative and promoting cooperation in trade, investment, infrastructure, agriculture, science and technology, new energy and education.

The two sides should also promote exchanges and dialogues among civilizations, safeguard the authority of the UN, support multilateralism and free trade, and oppose unilateralism, protectionism, power politics, and bullying to safeguard the common interests of the Global South, they added.

CAPTION: Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a keynote speech during the opening ceremony of the fourth ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC (the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum, Beijing, capital of China, May 13, 2025

International

CARNEY’S LIBERAL PARTY VICTORIOUS

Mark Carney’s Liberal Party is projected to win enough seats to form a government in the Canadian elections which were held yesterday, April 28th

The party is still short of the majority but Carney is set to remain Prime Minister of Canada, a post he held for only two months following Justin Trudeau’s resignation.

Media reports state that the spectacular electoral comeback was fuelled in part by US President Donald Trump’s language, the trade war and economic threats.

Meanwhile the conservative leader and Carney’s main rival Pierre Poilievre has been projected to lose his seat.

Results at this time are:

Liberal – 168

Conservative- 144

Bloc Quebecois – 23