It has been a busy week, Trump escapes a prison sentence, Google, TikTok, Gaza ceasefire and Gilts have governments in a frenzy, all in the World News Briefing.
There are growing signs that a deal to end the fighting in Gaza could soon be agreed – read on for the details. In breaking news, a report from the US justice department says Donald Trump would have been convicted of illegally trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election results if he hadn’t been elected.
Tiktok users are moving to a chinese app as Tik Tok refugees pending the ban on the social media app in the US.
Google is under the cosh and is getting too big to control and world governments take on the search giant to break it up.
Gilts have Governments in a Frenzy
Almost everywhere, government-bond yields (known as gilts) are rising fast. American Treasury bonds are almost 5%. German bonds now offer 2.6%. Japanese bond yields are climbing. In Britain, where gilt yields reached almost 5%. Rising yields are bad news for governments as it increases Government debt. Expect economy tinkering soon.
Some are blaming the Autumn Budget for the rise in yields, but borrowing costs are also rising in the US in response to heightened concerns about inflation.
Tik Tok users are running scared in the US
Is Elon Musk taking over Tiktok in the USA, well that’s the deal that’s been making the rounds between Trump’s team (Elon Musk) and Tiktok. In the meantime Tik Tok users in the US are migrating to a Chinese app called RedNote with the threat of a ban just days away.
The move by users who call themselves “TikTok refugees” has made RedNote the most downloaded app on Apple’s US App Store on Monday.
RedNote is a TikTok competitor popular with young people in China, Taiwan and other Mandarin-speaking populations. TikTok has been criticised ever since the Anti-Israeli protests grew on the app and were not censored as requested by Israeli lobby.
Ceasefire in Gaza close – after killing over 50,000 innocent civilians – But Israel can’t be trusted
Talks are resuming in Doha on a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages, as key mediator Qatar says an agreement is “very close”.
An Israeli spokesperson has said Israel was negotiating the “price” for nine ill and injured hostages, due to be released in that first phase. But this deal was offered twice before in 2024 and 2023, during the peace talks Israel killed the leader of Gazans whilst negotiating with them. Which begs the questions what have Israel been holding out for?
Hamas are raising real concerns about the effectiveness of a peace deal, saying Israel has broken every peace deal it has ever made and we need some guarantees in place.
Israel invaded Gaza in October 2023, An illegal offensive in Gaza which has killed over 50,000 civilians, including aid workers and British and American citizens. It has also blown every medical centre, school and refugee camp to blitz, committing genocide and war crimes. Netanyahu has a pending arrest warrant from the ICJ.
Google faces UK investigation
Google is under the cosh, in a first of its kind investigation after gaining new powers to investigate and enforce changes at firms it determines to have “strategic market status” in digital markets.
It is the latest in a series of investigations Google faces worldwide over its immense power in search and advertising technology.
In the US, the government wants it to sell its browser, Chrome, to address competition concerns. It has been said Musk will be pushing this going forward, unless Google makes a deal with him to increase advertising on X and give him Cloud servers.
