Trump Weighs Capital Gains Tax Cuts Ahead of Midterms 
Iran Eyes New Development Bank Membership as BRICS Pushes Local Currency Trade 
Putin Visits Japan-Claimed Iturup Island, Drawing Strong Protest From Tokyo 
Taiwan Slams ‘Dangerous’ China-Indonesia Naval Drill Near Island 
FCC Steps Up China Tech Crackdown as Beijing Pushes Back 
Bashar al-Assad Sentenced to Death by Syrian Court 
Colombia Earthquake Death Toll Hits 265 as President Announces Emergency Fund 
Judge Blocks Trump Mail Voting Order Ahead of 2026 Midterms 
Meloni Loses Ground Among Young Italian Voters Ahead of 2027 Election 
Nigel Farage Faces Count Binface in Clacton Election Test 
Darline Graham Advances to South Carolina Senate Runoff 
US, Colombia Weigh Joint Strikes on Armed Groups in Expanded Anti-Drug Campaign 
Bashar al-Assad Sentenced to Death After Syria Regime Collapse 
Canada, US Hold Fresh Trade Talks as August 19 Tariff Deadline Nears 
Ukraine Accuses Russia of Systematic Torture of POWs and Civilian Detainees 
Trump Reveals Secret Plane Switch Amid Iran Assassination Threat 
Houthi Attack on Yemen’s Mocha Port Kills 7, Injures 30 
Add as a preferred source on Google
The European Union’s executive branch and the EU Council have announced a ban on the video-sharing app TikTok from staff phones. This comes as the Chinese-owned app is under scrutiny from governments due to concerns that Beijing may use the app to harvest data or advance its interests.
EU industry chief Thierry Breton announced the ban by the EU Commission but did not say whether the bloc’s executive wing was subject to incidents involving the app. An official also said that the EU Council, which brings together representatives of EU countries to lay out policy priorities, also had to uninstall the app from staff phones that have access to EU Council services.
TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company Bytedance, expressed disappointment and surprise that the EU Commission did not inform them before making such a ban. The EU Commission said the ban would apply to both work and personal phones and devices. TikTok is already banned in India, and the US Senate passed a bill back in December barring the app from the phones of federal employees.
“To increase its cybersecurity, the Commission’s Corporate Management Board has decided to suspend the use of the TikTok application on its corporate devices and on personal devices enrolled in the Commission mobile service,” said the EU Commission in a statement.
“This measure aims to protect the Commission against cybersecurity threats and actions which may be exploited in cyber-attacks against the corporate environment of the Commission.”
The European Parliament said it was aware of the EU Commission’s decision. The EU executive also said security developments in other social media platforms would also be under constant review.
EU countries failed to reach an agreement on a new set of sanctions against Russia, missing a deadline that coincides with the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Diplomatic sources told Reuters that the 27 EU countries unanimously voted to introduce new sanctions and that Poland blocked the package over the proposed exemptions to a ban on EU imports of Russian synthetic rubber.
Polish diplomats said the exemptions were so big that the sanctions would end up becoming ineffective. Other sources said the exemptions were proposed to accommodate Italy and were supported by Germany.
