![CEO of Cambridge Analytica Alexander Nix was the director of the firm and five companies that had marketed themselves as offering clients 'bribery or honey trap stings' and 'voter disengagement campaigns', a UK agency said [File: Pedro Nunes/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/nix.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
UK state agency blackballs Alexander Nix for letting now-defunct Cambridge Analytica staff offer ‘unethical services’.
Science and Technology
![Chinese-owned short-video app TikTok has about 100 million users in the US, making it an influential social media platform among teens and young adults [File: Mike Blake/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/2020-09-15T215610Z_963244278_RC29ZI9ROYIB_RTRMADP_3_USA-TIKTOK.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Chinese media have denounced pressure by the US on TikTok’s owner to sell the popular app to American firms.
![Tesla aims to halve the cost of its batteries, the most expensive component of electric vehicles [File: Amanda Voisard/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/f90b44a219ed4ce6a7a48e033a47d138_18.jpeg?resize=375%2C223)
Tesla CEO Elon Musk says company is planning on launching a $25,000 car – its cheapest yet – in about...
![Washington has shown little sign that it is willing to back down from its fight with Huawei [File: Dado Ruvic/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/c22de11ea9c74d1180e53dc2f3b5a667_18.jpeg?resize=375%2C223)
Chinese telecoms giant urges US to reconsider restrictions, which Trump imposed, accusing Huawei of...
![TikTok did not name the companies it had reached out to but said it had proposed a meeting between the firms to discuss its proposal [File: Bloomberg]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/49bd6b1bf61d4151936771fb63ea44c7_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Proposal for self-policing body comes as networking apps face mounting criticism over privacy and misinformation.
![Pro-Israel organisations have lobbied Facebook to adopt the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism [File: Reuters/Dado Ruvic]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/26ea669661b847c18347053c8eb79410_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
If Facebook were to adopt the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism, this would be detrimental to freedom of speech.
![The Trump administration wants US companies to take control of TikTok, currently owned by China-based ByteDance which Trump accuses of potentially compromising US national security [File: Dado Ruvic/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/dc9d37ff080a467e88a227ae154d5c15_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
US president gives ‘preliminary ok’ for Oracle, Walmart to buy stakes in new firm controlling popular Chinese-owned app.
![Women wearing protective masks walk past a mural, amid the COVID-19 outbreak in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng [Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/6cb6732f0247468688144816105d5f8b_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
COVID-19 can still be confusing, even months after its first international transmission. So what do we know now?
![Scientists say about one million species are at risk of extinction, and roughly two thirds of the world's mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles have vanished over the last 50 years [September 15, 2020: Natalie Thomas/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/f7506f8d879a4f04820247c6ebb37a07_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Companies such as Walmart, Citigroup, Microsoft and IKEA call for policies to ‘reverse nature loss in this decade’.
![US officials had expressed concern that personal data of as many as 100 million Americans that use the app were being passed on to the Chinese government [File: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/514cacf8e99b43f082674aef156120b5_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Social media app’s Chinese parent ByteDance says it will retain majority stake in TikTok, contradicting Oracle, Walmart.
![A federal judge said there are serious questions about WeChat restrictions infringing on first amendment rights [File: Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/d99e6f6b54b64e8e81303824adae9c27_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
The White House has sought to restrict the use of the Chinese app, citing national security and data privacy concerns.
US President Donald Trump says he backs a deal in principle that would allow video app to continue operating in the US.
![A man adjusts a rope outside a Bank of America Corp. bank branch along Broadway in New York, United States [File: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/674480fc686c48ffb7312da86b16c120_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Investors were given a dose of reality this week from the Fed, US-China tensions, and jobs and consumer spending data.
![US Commerce Department officials said they will not bar additional technical transactions for TikTok until November 12, which gives the company time to see if owner ByteDance can clinch an agreement over the fate of its US operations [File: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/0c7862b752854e129915301a7c97e7d3_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
US officials say current TikTok users will see little change on Sunday and Trump could still recind order before then.