Harris or Trump? Millions vote in tense, tight US election

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (L) speaks during his final campaign rally at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan in the early hours of November 5, 2024, and US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (R) speaks during a campaign rally on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on November 4, 2024. Jeff Kowalsky and Andrew Caballero-Reynolds, AFP  

The volatile, dramatic US presidential race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump headed to an unpredictable finish Tuesday, with millions of Americans casting their votes in one of the tightest elections of modern times.

The result -- which may be known overnight or not for days -- carries major consequences, either making Harris the first woman in arguably the world's most powerful job or handing power back to Trump and his nationalist "America First" agenda.

As voters formed long lines across the country, several bomb threats were reported at polling stations, while police at the US Capitol -- where Trump's supporters rampaged following his 2020 defeat -- arrested a man who smelled like fuel and was carrying a flare gun.

Both the FBI and Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger said the bomb threats, while not credible, appeared to originate from Russia.

Polls show one of the tightest races in modern times between Democratic Vice President Harris, 60, and Republican Trump, 78, who would be the first felon president, the oldest ever to take office and only the second to serve non-consecutive terms.

Harris made a late, dramatic entrance into the race when President Joe Biden dropped out in July, while Trump has ridden out two assassination attempts and a criminal conviction.

Tens of millions of voters were expected to cast their ballots Tuesday, on top of the 83 million who have already voted early, and both candidates put in a final word to try to sway the last undecided voters.

After criss-crossing the country, Harris returned to Washington where she called in to radio stations in swing states and took a few calls personally at a phone bank for voters.

"We've got to get it done. Today is voting day, and people need to get out and be active," Harris told Atlanta station WVEE-FM.

She described her opponent as "full of vengeance. He's full of grievance. It's all about himself."

'IF IT'S A FAIR ELECTION'

Trump voted in Florida near his Mar-a-Lago residence, saying he felt "very confident" and that he wanted to be "very inclusive."

But he aired concerns about the vote count -- heightening fears he will reject the result and cite fraud if he loses.

"If it's a fair election, I would be the first one to acknowledge it," he said.

Trump has repeated baseless claims of election fraud while saying he should "never have left" the White House in 2021.

Casting a ballot in Arizona, Trump backer Camille Kroskey, 62, said she was voting in person due to concerns about voting fraud.

"I want to make sure I drop my ballot where it's going to actually land somewhere," she told AFP.

"Now, will it get counted?" she asked. "I don't know."

US stance on West PH Sea won’t change even with new president — analyst

In perhaps the most crucial battleground state, Pennsylvania, Harris voter Marchelle Beason, 46, said the lines were "way, way, way more" than in the last election.

"We're so divided right now, and she's about peace. And everything that her opponent has to say is really negative," she added.

MAJOR CONSEQUENCES

At the same school, 56-year-old Darlene Taylor, wearing a homemade Trump shirt, said her main issue is to "close the border."

Trump has vowed an unprecedented deportation campaign of millions of undocumented immigrants if elected.

The election is being watched closely around the world including in the war zones of Ukraine and the Middle East.

Harris has vowed to keep up support for Ukraine against Russia's invasion and to put a greater effort in ending the Gaza war, although she has also voiced support for Israel.

Trump has promised a quick end to the Ukraine war, likely by pressing Kyiv into concessions, and has made clear he will give freer rein to Israel, which relies on US support.

"We can fix every single problem our country faces and lead America -- indeed, the world -- to new heights of glory," Trump told his closing rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Harris hammered home her opposition to Trump-backed abortion bans in multiple states -- a vote-winning position with crucial women voters.

Control of Congress is also at stake, with Republicans widely expected to win back control of the Senate.

US election: When will we know who won?

Agence France-Presse

Trump launches new crypto platform with scant detail

NEW YORK, United States - Former US president Donald Trump along with his sons and entrepreneurs late Monday launched a cryptocurrency platform but provided few details.

Little was revealed about the Trump family crypto project during a two-hour online presentation other than an offer to let people buy digital "tokens" giving them a vote in platform decisions. The event went ahead as planned despite an apparent assassination attempt against Trump on Sunday at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

World Liberty Financial intends to offer services based on so-called decentralized finance, a mechanism that eliminates the need for an intermediary such as a bank to carry out transactions with a third party, the politics-laced discussion indicated.

The former president's son Donald Trump Jr. touted this as "the start of a financial revolution," during a session streamed on X, formerly Twitter. Zachary Folkman and Chase Herro, the linchpins of the project and established cryptocurrency entrepreneurs, said the platform would primarily use "stablecoins", which are backed by a traditional currency, most often the dollar.

As a result, they are free from the sometimes brutal fluctuations experienced by digital currencies untethered to real-world money. World Liberty Financial wants to attract the masses to cryptocurrencies, creating a platform easily accessible to people, Folkman said.

Project leaders said they would sell tokens that give owners the right to take part in governance of the platform, with 63 percent of them offered to the public, 20 percent going to the founding team and the rest set aside as rewards for users.

No timetable for the project was disclosed.

During his presidency Trump referred to cryptocurrencies as a scam, but has since radically changed his position, presenting himself as a "pro-bitcoin president" if elected in November. In so doing, he is standing in opposition to the Biden administration, which is seen as a proponent of regulating the sector.

Agence France-Presse

Violence, threats hang over Trump-Harris race after turbulent weekend

WASHINGTON -- Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on Monday head into a newly intense phase of the US presidential campaign, with tensions heightened after a second apparent assassination attempt against the Republican former president.

The Sunday arrest of a gunman on Donald Trump's golf course came the same day as more bomb threats poured into Springfield, Ohio, a small Midwestern city at the center of Republican-led conspiracies against immigrants.

But the dueling campaigns are set to march on with little interruption, a day after the Secret Service confirmed one or more of its agents "opened fire on a gunman" located near the boundary of Trump's Florida golf course, and that an "AK-47 style rifle" with a scope was recovered along with a GoPro video camera.

The FBI said it was "investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump."

US media named the suspect as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, who had expressed support for Ukraine and had a lengthy arrest record.

Authorities said they had not identified a specific motive or political ideology for the shooter behind the previous bid on Trump's life, at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

Trump was wounded in the ear in the July 13 shooting.

Authorities on Sunday said it wasn't clear whether a gunman actually fired a weapon in the direction of the former president before the Secret Service engaged the shooter.

Harris and President Joe Biden both denounced the attack on Trump, with Biden saying "There is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country."

Vice President Harris, the Democratic nominee who will face ex-president Trump at the polls November 5, said in a statement Sunday she was "disturbed by the possible assassination attempt" and "thankful that former president Trump is safe."

The same day, Clark State College, in Springfield, announced it would hold classes virtually this week, after receiving bomb and shooting threats over the weekend.

- Bomb threats -

The move comes on the fourth consecutive day of threats of bombings and other violence that have targeted the local city hall, public schools and nearby college Wittenberg University, following racist rumors about local Haitian immigrants pushed by Republicans including Trump.

What started as municipal growing pains in a rapidly growing city have morphed into allegations of an "invasion" by "illegal" Haitian newcomers, baselessly accused of stealing and eating people's pets and causing a crime wave.

Threats have hit hospitals, schools and municipal buildings since Trump declared the immigrants were stealing and eating resident's pets at Tuesday's presidential debate.

Some Haitians living in the city have told AFP they are scared for their lives.

- 'Hate' for Taylor Swift -

Adding to the country's acrimonious political atmosphere, Trump posted on his Truth Social website that "I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!"

Earlier this week, the superstar singer/songwriter posted a message on Instagram saying she would be voting for Harris, calling her a "steady-handed, gifted leader."

Celebrity endorsements rarely carry enormous weight, but the hugely popular Swift is seen as being in a class of her own, with more than 400 million followers on Instagram, TikTok and other social media platforms -- 10 million of whom "liked" her Instagram post.

It was not clear what Trump hoped to gain by attacking Swift, though he may calculate that any publicity is better than none.

He has been criticized, even by fellow Republicans, for his recent association with conspiracy-minded right-wing influencer Laura Loomer, who has at times joined him on his campaign plane.

The 31-year-old Loomer -- who has called the September 11 terror attacks an "inside job" and said some of the country's recent mass shootings were staged by Democrats -- recently suggested that Swift had entered an "arranged relationship" with football star Travis Kelce "to influence the 2024 election."

There is no evidence to support any of those claims.

The race between Trump and Harris remains tight across the battleground states that will decide the election.

Agence France-Presse

US stocks mostly up as holiday shopping season begins

NEW YORK -- Wall Street stocks mostly climbed to end a shortened trading day on Friday, with investors keeping close watch on consumer spending at the unofficial start of the year-end shopping season.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3 percent to 35,390.15.

The broad-based S&P 500 edged up 0.1 percent to 4,559.34, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index ticked down 0.1 percent to 14,250.85.

Markets closed early on "Black Friday," the Friday after the Thanksgiving holiday when retailers often offer major discounts.

The annual sales day, which is followed by the newer "Cyber Monday," marks the start of the holiday shopping season.

"Today's lack of movement can be ascribed to a general lack of trading interest befitting the day after Thanksgiving," said Briefing.com in a note.

Consumers are expected to be increasingly price-conscious this year, still jaded by stubborn inflation and lingering effects from the upheaval of the pandemic.

But "how that ends up impacting retailers' profits remains to be seen" for now, Briefing.com added.

Among major retailers, Walmart shares advanced 0.7 percent while Target was up 0.5 percent.

Amazon shares were flat after it was hit by strikes in Europe, as workers demand better wages and working conditions.

UNI Global Union warned Amazon would face strikes and protests in more than 30 countries around the world, including the United States.

Agence France-Presse

Amazon empowers Alexa with generative AI

ARLINGTON, United States — Amazon’s popular Alexa digital assistant is about to be supercharged with the powers of generative artificial intelligence, the company said on Wednesday, as the tech giant steps into the AI race dominated by ChatGPT, Google and Microsoft.

Voice assistants like Alexa or Apple's Siri are often designated as perfect candidates to have their sometimes-glitchy and robot-like technology streamlined with capabilities of generative AI.

Generative AI, such as used in the ChatGPT chatbot, delivers content as complex as a poem or scholarly essay in just seconds, and Amazon's goal is that Alexa could do that and even more with verbal commands from a user's living room or kitchen.

At an event at the company's offices near Washington, the company said that an English-language version of Alexa AI would be made available as an opt-in on all its devices in the United States in the coming months.

"It's going to take some time to integrate these technologies into the surface area that is Alexa. But I am super optimistic that we are off to a wonderful an excellent start," said Dave Limp, Amazon’s senior vice president of devices and services.

With the change, Alexa will be able to converse with a more personable style and drop its robotic tone, the company said.

Alexa would also tap into real-time information and create the semblance of a personal rapport with users that would include an awareness of their habits or favorite sports teams.

"For example, you could say 'Alexa every morning at 8 am turn on the coffee machine, open the blinds, dim the lights in the study and play my morning news,' and boom -- it creates the routine," Limp said.

While widely plugged as the next stage of consumer technology, in the past decade Alexa and its connected smart home devices have yet to become big money spinners for Amazon, with Google and Apple also struggling to make traction in the space.

Daniel Rausch, the executive in charge of Alexa, told reporters that the AI would put an extra emphasis on accuracy and that its efforts in AI were not comparable with chatbots that have been shown to output inaccuracies or go off the rails.

"Accuracy in smart home means yes, we did turn on the right light, we did lock the right door, we are sure about the state of the security system," he said.

At the launch event, Amazon also introduced its latest Echo 8 smart home hub as well as a soundbar for televisions and new AI-fueled search capabilities on its FireTV service.

Limp, Amazon's longtime device chief, is retiring after more than a decade in the role amid reports he will be replaced by a senior executive from Microsoft.

Agence France-Presse 

Biden's son Hunter indicted on gun charges

WASHINGTON — US President Joe Biden's son Hunter was indicted Thursday for illegally buying a gun when he was using drugs, casting a new shadow over his father's campaign for reelection next year.

Hunter Biden, 53, was charged with two counts of making false statements when claiming on forms required for the 2018 gun purchase that he was not using drugs illegally at the time.

A third charge said that, based on the false statements, he illegally possessed the gun during an 11-day period in October that year.

If convicted on all three felony charges, Biden could in theory face 25 years in prison, though in practice they are seldom punished by any jail time.

In attesting that he was not an unlawful user of drugs when he bought the Colt Cobra revolver, Biden "knew that statement was false," the Justice Department said.

The indictment came two days after Republicans in Congress opened an impeachment probe against Democrat Joe Biden, alleging that when he was vice president he benefitted financially from his son's foreign business dealings. 

The legal troubles of Hunter Biden present a target for political rivals of his father, who is bidding for a second term in the White House.

Hunter is a Yale-trained lawyer and lobbyist-turned-artist, but his life has been marred by alcoholism and crack cocaine addiction.

Without offering any evidence, Republicans have accused Biden's Justice Department of protecting his son and have accused Weiss, a Republican appointee, of going easy on Hunter.

Representative James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky who will be leading the impeachment inquiry, welcomed the filing of the gun charges, calling it a "very small start."

"Mountains of evidence reveals that Hunter Biden likely committed several felonies and Americans expect the Justice Department to apply the law equally," Comer said.

Twice-impeached former president Donald Trump reacted on his Truth Social platform.

"This, the gun charge, is the only crime that Hunter Biden committed that does not implicate Crooked Joe Biden," he said.

PLEA DEAL COLLAPSED 

But a leading Democrat, Keisha Lance Bottoms, ex-mayor of Atlanta and a former senior adviser to Joe Biden, questioned why Hunter had been charged.

"Can anyone tell me how many people have been federally indicted for purchasing a gun while dealing with substance abuse issues?" Bottoms said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"I don't know the answer, but in my over 29 years as an attorney, I have never heard of it."

The gun charges were filed by Justice Department special counsel David Weiss, who has been investigating Hunter Biden since 2018 over various allegations, mostly related to his overseas business deals.

Two months ago a plea deal between Biden and Weiss, covering the gun charge as well as alleged tax violations, went sour.

Biden agreed to plead guilty in federal court in Delaware to two minor tax charges. In exchange he was offered probation, as he had already paid what he owed the government along with penalties.

Weiss agreed to suspend the felony gun charge if Biden completed "pretrial diversion," which often involves counseling or rehabilitation.

But in a dramatic July 26 hearing, the deal collapsed over whether Biden would have been immune from any other charges also investigated by Weiss, including possible crimes related to his business dealings in Ukraine, China and elsewhere.

The judge mentioned the possibility that Biden could be charged as having acted as a lobbyist for foreign governments without registering with the Justice Department.

Three weeks later, after the deal collapsed, Weiss dropped the tax charges and said an indictment on the gun charge would come by the end of September.

As the 2024 election race swings into gear, Republicans in the House of Representatives on Tuesday formally opened an impeachment inquiry against President Biden.

They alleged, without offering hard evidence, that while vice president in 2015-2016, Biden intervened to protect an allegedly corrupt Ukrainian energy company, Burisma, where Hunter Biden sat on the board.

Republicans allege Joe Biden and his family reaped large sums for helping Burisma.

Agence France-Presse

US stocks mostly fall as tech rally peters out

NEW YORK -- A rally in tech shares ran out of steam Tuesday, as US stocks mostly retreated amid worries over higher Treasury bond yields that offset investor appetite to keep buying equities.

European and Asian stocks pushed higher, following up on Monday's session in New York, which saw the tech-focused Nasdaq surge.

The Nasdaq eked out a 0.1 percent gain on Tuesday, but both the Dow and S&P 500 retreated.

"Today it's a sober mindset," said Interactive Brokers strategist Steve Sosnick.

He added that Monday's rally in tech shares was probably "overenthusiastic" in light of rising bond yields.

Stocks have been under pressure in August, most recently due to a spike in Treasury bond yields to multi-year peaks, on expectations that interest rates will stay higher for longer.

Markets are looking ahead to an address on Friday by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for clues on future monetary policy.

Powell "likely will continue to emphasize the Fed's laser-focus on taming inflation, even with the central bank's benchmark funds rate already at the highest level in 22 years," said a note from Charles Schwab.

There is also still unease among traders about the Chinese economy, with another small cut in interest rates doing little to allay fears of a painful slowdown.

While authorities have pledged a series of measures to get the post-Covid recovery back on track, there has been little detail and they are facing growing calls to unveil more wide-ranging stimulus.

Adding to the problems are fears about the country's property sector. A number of major developers, including Country Garden and Evergrande, are on the ropes with vast debts and struggling to meet interest obligations.

"Policy easing announcements intended to invigorate market confidence have fallen short of their desired impact," said SPI Asset Management's Stephen Innes.

Agence France-Presse

Hawaii fire death toll nears 100, anger grows

LAHAINA - The death toll in Hawaii from the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century was expected to cross the 100-mark Sunday, fueling criticism that an inadequate official response contributed to the heavy loss of life.

Officials updated the toll to 93 late Saturday, but warned the figure was likely to rise as recovery crews with cadaver dogs continued the grim task of searching burned out homes and vehicles in the epicenter of Lahaina.

The historic coastal town on the island of Maui was almost completely destroyed by the fast-moving inferno early Wednesday morning, with survivors saying there had been no warnings.

When asked Sunday why none of the island's sirens had been activated, Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono said she would wait for the results of an investigation announced by the state's attorney general.

"I'm not going to make any excuses for this tragedy," Hirono, a Democrat, told CNN's "State of the Union."

"We are really focused, as far as I'm concerned, on the need for rescue, and, sadly, the location of more bodies."

More than 2,200 structures were damaged or destroyed as the fire tore through Lahaina, according to official estimates, wreaking $5.5 billion in damage and leaving thousands homeless.

"The remains we're finding are from a fire that melted metal," said Maui Police Chief John Pelletier. "When we pick up the remains... they fall apart."

Among the ruins in Lahaina, a town of more than 12,000 and former home of the Hawaiian royal family, an iconic, 150-year-old banyan tree remained standing but severely burned, AFP journalists saw.

President Joe Biden said on Sunday he was "looking at" the possibility of visiting the island.

- Questions over alert system -

The wildfire is the deadliest in the United States since 1918, when 453 people died in Minnesota and Wisconsin, according to the non-profit research group the National Fire Protection Association.

The death toll surpassed 2018's Camp Fire in California, which virtually wiped the small town of Paradise off the map and killed 86 people.

Maui suffered numerous power outages during the crisis, preventing many residents from receiving emergency alerts on their cell phones.

No emergency sirens were sounded, and many Lahaina residents have spoken of learning about the blaze because of neighbors running down the street.

"The mountain behind us caught on fire and nobody told us jack," resident Vilma Reed, 63, told AFP.

"You know when we found that there was a fire? When it was across the street from us."

Reed, whose house was destroyed by the blaze, said she was depending on handouts and the kindness of strangers, while sleeping in a car with her daughter, grandson and two cats.

In its emergency management plan last year, the State of Hawaii described the risk wildfires posed to people as being "low".

Some residents who fled the flames have also expressed anger at a roadblock put up preventing them from returning to their homes.

Maui police said members of the public would not be allowed into Lahaina while safety assessments and searches were ongoing -- even some of those who could prove they lived there.

Some residents waited for hours hoping to be allowed in to comb through the ashes or look for missing pets or loved ones.

When asked about growing anger at the response, Hirono told CNN she understood the frustration because "we are in a period of shock and loss."

Maui's fires follow other extreme weather events in North America this summer, with record-breaking wildfires still burning across Canada and a major heat wave baking the US southwest.

Europe and parts of Asia have also endured soaring temperatures, with major fires and floods wreaking havoc. Scientists say human-caused global warming is exacerbating natural hazards, making them both more likely and more deadly.

Agence France-Presse

WeWork warns it might go out of business

SAN FRANCISCO, United States - Embattled office-sharing firm WeWork on Tuesday warned US regulators that it is worried about its survival.

Citing financial losses, cash needs, and a drop in memberships, WeWork said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that "substantial doubt exists about the company's ability to continue as a going concern."

The fate of the New York-based company depends on the "successful execution of management's plan to improve the company's liquidity and profitability," it said in the filing.

WeWork's plan for the year ahead includes restructuring, negotiating more favorable terms on leases, beefing up membership and possibly even issuing debt or selling off assets, the SEC filing said.

WeWork has lost billions of dollars during the first six months of this year, with macroeconomic conditions weakening demand for its shared office spaces, the company told regulators.

WeWork's share price has been below a dollar for months and fell to 16 cents in after-market trading on Tuesday.

WeWork has been trying to turn the page on Adam Neumann, its co-founder and former leader whose antics tired investors.

The company has been in trouble since Neumann's forced departure in late 2019 following WeWork's failed IPO, in which the company's valuation fell from $47 billion to less than $10 billion.

WeWork had been a celebrated star in the sharing economy that put a mammoth footprint in the commercial real estate of major cities around the globe.

Its collapse led to Neumann's departure and cost the main shareholder, Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son, billions of dollars.

Agence France-Presse

Global stock markets slump after US ratings downgrade

NEW YORK — Global stock markets slumped Wednesday after Fitch stripped the United States of its top credit rating, citing a growing federal debt burden and an "erosion of governance."

Fitch's decision Tuesday night to downgrade the United States from AAA to AA+ sparked a fiery rebuttal from the Biden administration.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen characterized Fitch's move as "entirely unwarranted," calling it "puzzling in light of the economic strength we see in the United States."

Wall Street's main indices moved lower, with the S&P 500 finishing down 1.4 percent.

Europe's main markets closed with losses of more than one percent.

"Market participants were already contending with the nagging notion that the stock market was overbought on a short-term basis and due for a pullback," said market analyst Patrick O'Hare at Briefing.com.

"It didn't necessarily need another excuse to continue with a consolidation trade, yet Fitch Ratings provided one after Tuesday's close when it downgraded its US credit rating to AA+ from AAA."

Ratings downgrades often mean it becomes more expensive for a government to borrow, but the status of US government bonds, or Treasuries, as a highly liquid safe-haven asset actually saw their yield dip immediately after the announcement.

The yield on 10-year bonds later rose in trading on Wednesday, which traders said was more due to expectations of higher volumes of US borrowing than the Fitch downgrade.

DOWNGRADE 'CHANGES LITTLE' 

Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, said the downgrade will be "unlikely" to "cause a significant Treasuries sell-off or prompt a major shift in investor behavior mainly because investors experienced a similar downgrade from S&P in 2011 and came away unscathed."

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, agreed the impact would be minimal.

"The loss of the AAA rating is damaging from a political point of view, but it changes little in the wider scheme of things when it comes to the investability of the US relative to its peers," he said.

"It’s not as if China, or any other country in Europe is any safer when it comes to investability, as well as political stability."

The downgrade follows a long, drawn-out row between Republicans and Democrats earlier this year over raising the US borrowing ceiling, which had fueled fears of a devastating default by the world's top economy.

While a deal was eventually struck, the saga rattled markets and reinforced the sense of long-running deadlock on Capitol Hill that has seen the gears of government jammed up.

In an interview with CNBC, Fitch Ratings senior director Richard Francis pointed to a "pretty steady deterioration in governance over the last couple of decades" in the United States.

Among the elements he highlighted was January 6, referring to the date in 2021 when supporters of Donald Trump stormed Congress in a bid to prevent certification of his rival Joe Biden's election victory.

Other factors, he added, included "constant brinksmanship surrounding the debt ceiling" along with Republicans and Democrats' inability to generate "meaningful, long-term solutions" on fiscal issues surrounding programs like social security and Medicare.

Agence France-Presse

Football: USA survive Portugal scare to reach World Cup last 16

AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Holders the United States survived a huge scare to reach the last 16 of the Women's World Cup on Tuesday after a 0-0 draw against Portugal, who were unlucky not to claim a sensational win at Eden Park that would have taken them through instead.

The USA struggled to impose themselves against opponents ranked 21st in the world and appearing at their first World Cup, and Portugal almost won the game in injury time when substitute Ana Capeta hit the post.

Holding on for the draw means Vlatko Andonovski's side finish in second place in Group E.

The Netherlands go through as group winners after a 7-0 demolition of a Vietnam side who were beaten just 3-0 by the Americans in their first match at the tournament.

That means pre-tournament favorites the USA will move to Australia to play a last-16 tie on Sunday against the winners of Group G, in all likelihood Olympic silver medalists Sweden.

Nothing about their performance here in front of almost 41,000 in Auckland, or in their two previous matches at the tournament, suggests the United States will find it easy going against a side who finished third at the last World Cup.

It is just the second time in Women's World Cup history that the USA have failed to top their group, although on the last occasion, in 2011, they reached the final before losing on penalties to Japan.

They had never before won just one group game, and the regression from four years ago in France is striking.

That time they won all three matches in the first phase, rattling in 18 goals without reply.

Andonovski has insisted a youthful new team will need time to find its feet, but an urgent step-up will be required if they are not to be eliminated early in the knockout phase.

The US have never before failed to reach the semi-finals in the eight prior editions of the World Cup.

- Lavelle handed start -

Andonovski made two changes from the 1-1 draw with the Netherlands, with Rose Lavelle rewarded for her game-changing role off the bench in that game with a first start at the tournament.

Savannah DeMelo made way for her, while Lynn Williams was brought in on the right wing as Trinity Rodman dropped out.

Portugal had to win to go through but played as if there was no pressure on them at all, with Andreia Norton shooting over early on and the lively Jessica Silva dragging a shot wide from a good position soon after.

They had more of the possession, and the much-fancied Americans struggled to match the intensity or aggression of a Portugal team who had beaten Vietnam 2-0 in their last match.

Starting a World Cup match for the first time, Williams found the going tough but did have her team's best chances in the opening half, including a snap-shot in stoppage time that was saved by goalkeeper Ines Pereira.

The US started better in the second half but Andonovski was alarmed enough to call for Megan Rapinoe, the veteran replacing Sophia Smith just after the hour mark.

Yet clear chances remained at a minimum and there were some nervy moments at the other end, like when Naomi Girma was booked for a panicked pull on Silva late on.

There was more panic in the US defence in the first minute of injury time when Capeta, who had just come on, smashed a shot off the upright as the holders grimly held on.

Agence France-Presse

Holders USA yet to fire at Women's World Cup

AUCKLAND -- The United States came into the Women's World Cup as favorites to retain their title but performances so far suggest Vlatko Andonovski's side might not be the dominant force of old.

The US is the long-time superpower of women's international football and in Australia and New Zealand is aiming for an unprecedented third World Cup crown in a row.

It started with a 3-0 win over debutants Vietnam but failed to sparkle against a team it was widely expected to beat convincingly.

In contrast, the US annihilated Thailand, 13-0, four years ago at the same stage.

Then on Thursday the Americans had to come from behind to draw 1-1 with the Netherlands, the stalemate ending a run of 13 consecutive World Cup wins for the US.

A draw against debutants Portugal on Tuesday will be enough to reach the knockouts, and while it would be a massive shock if they did lose, suddenly they do not quite look the team they were.

Andonovski keeps stressing this is a new USA team.

Their starting line-up for their first two matches has featured just four players who also started the 2019 final, when the US defeated the Netherlands, 2-0.

Andonovski, who replaced Jill Ellis shortly after the 2019 triumph, insists the best is still to come.

"This team is not just young, this is a fresh team that hasn't spent a lot of minutes together," he said after the world's top-ranked side fought back from going behind to Jill Roord's first-half opener against the Dutch.

"And what you saw in the second half is what you are going to see going forward as a baseline.

"I think we are just going to get better from game to game and we are going to be a lot more efficient as well."

Time for changes? 

While a draw against Portugal will be enough to reach the last 16, the Americans will want to win and by a sizeable margin to secure first place in Group E.

Failure to finish first could expose the USA to a tougher draw in the next round.

There were signs four years ago that the tide in women's football was changing, with Europe providing seven of the eight quarter-finalists at the 2019 World Cup.

The women's game in Europe is improving all the time and Thursday's match will surely have given encouragement to the main challengers to the holders, notably England, Germany and Spain.

"I wish I could say we are going to come out and dominate every game because that is what we want to do," said Andonovski.

"But we are playing good opponents. The Netherlands are a good team. It is not like they are going to stand there and allow us to do what we want to do."

The question now is whether he makes changes, with Rose Lavelle a contender to start after changing the game off the bench against the Netherlands.

Brought on at half-time for Savannah DeMelo, Lavelle set up Lindsey Horan's equalizer with a wicked corner-kick delivery.

There will now be a clamor for Lavelle, who scored in the 2019 final, to start. Her coach though is wary of asking too much from a player who struggled with injury before the World Cup.

"If we started her in the first half we would probably have to take her out at half-time," said Andonovski.

Andonovski indicated he intends to keep faith in his front three of Alex Morgan and World Cup newcomers Trinity Rodman and Sophia Smith.

"I think that the more time they spend together, the better they are going to get. I am very happy with how they interact together and play off each other on the field," Andonovski said.

The likes of Lynn Williams and veteran Megan Rapinoe are waiting in the wings, and the USA's rivals are watching closely.

Agence France-Presse

Senior Fed official backs July interest rate hike

WASHINGTON -- A senior US Federal Reserve official said Thursday he supported another interest rate hike later this month, and backed a second hike before the end of the year to keep tackling inflation.

After 10 consecutive increases, the Fed in June chose not to hike its benchmark lending rate, saying policymakers would use the time to assess the impact of raised rates on the US economy.

According to meeting notes released later, most members of the Fed's rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) indicated they expect two additional hikes will be needed this year to help keep inflation on a downward trajectory.

On Thursday evening, Fed governor and FOMC member Christopher Waller indicated he was one of them.

"I see two more 25-basis-point hikes in the target range over the four remaining meetings this year as necessary to keep inflation moving toward our target," he told an audience in New York, according to prepared remarks.

Waller said he had backed last month's pause due to "lingering doubts about when or if an abrupt tightening of credit conditions would occur," following banking stresses in March.

"I felt that waiting another six weeks was prudent risk management," he added.

Waller said data published since June has made him more confident that the banking crisis will not lead to "significant" problems for the American economy.

"I see no reason why the first of those two hikes should not occur at our meeting later this month," he added.

Waller's remarks come a day after the Fed published a report indicating that "overall economic activity increased slightly since late May."

Futures traders assign a probability of more than 90 percent that the Fed will raise its benchmark lending rate by another quarter percentage-point on July 25-26.

This would bring its key lending rate to its highest level in more than two decades.

Agence France-Presse

Stock markets jump as US inflation cools

NEW YORK -- Stock markets bounced on Wednesday as data showed US inflation cooled more than expected in June, raising hopes that the Federal Reserve will soon end its cycle of interest rate hikes.

The dollar fell against other major currencies while oil prices jumped, with the international benchmark, Brent North Sea crude, breaching the $80-per-barrel mark.

The Fed and other central banks have been raising borrowing costs in efforts to bring down consumer prices, which jumped as countries emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic and soared further following Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year.

Official data on Wednesday showed the US consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.0 percent from a year ago last month, down from 4.0 percent in May, coming in slightly lower than analysts expected.

While Fed officials have signaled that further rate increases are likely needed to bring inflation back to their two percent target, the June CPI report heightens market doubts about the number of additional increases needed down the line.

The Fed paused its aggressive monetary tightening at its last gathering in June but Chair Jerome Powell has warned that two more hikes were probably needed by the end of the year.

Futures markets still expect a Fed rate hike in July, but not in September.

"The Fed is extremely likely to raise interest rates by another 25 basis points but there's a good chance that it could now be the last," Craig Erlam, analyst at trading platform OANDA, told AFP.

"We're seeing progress across the board at this point, albeit more slowly than many will have hoped, but there's no longer a necessity for the Fed to be so aggressive," Erlam said.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said that the latest data make clear that "further rate hikes beyond July will be a big ask, and probably won't happen, hence today's US dollar weakness."

Nevertheless, Fed officials would likely continue to adopt a hawkish tone, he said, in order to keep market expectations in line.

Dollar sags

Wall Street stocks spent the entire session in positive territory, with the S&P 500 winning 0.7 percent, while European markets extended earlier gains following the US inflation data.

London equities had already climbed after the Bank of England announced that all major UK retail lenders passed stress tests to assess their resilience to economic shocks.

The pound rose above $1.30 for the first time since April 2022 while the euro also advanced to multi-month highs.

Higher interest rates make a currency attractive to investors looking for higher returns.

Asian equities have meanwhile enjoyed a broadly positive week so far after China signaled a long-running crackdown on the tech sector was nearing an end, while officials also pledged help for ailing real estate developers.

That was followed by reports of further growth-boosting measures and data showing new loans in China had picked up in June thanks to a central bank interest rate cut.

Optimism is now building for more announcements aimed at kickstarting the world's number two economy as its post-Covid recovery sputters.

Agence France-Presse

Musk threatens lawsuit as Twitter rival Threads takes off

WASHINGTON — Twitter threatened to sue Meta just hours after the Instagram parent company launched Threads, an app it hopes will beat out the struggling site owned by Elon Musk.

In a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, published by online news outlet Semafor on Thursday, Musk lawyer Alex Spiro accused the company of "unlawful misappropriation of Twitter's trade secrets and other intellectual property."

The letter accused Meta of hiring dozens of former Twitter employees who "had and continue to have access to Twitter's trade secrets and other highly confidential information."

Threads is the biggest challenger yet to Musk-owned Twitter, which has seen a series of potential competitors emerge but not yet replace one of the world's biggest social media platforms, despite its struggles.

Zuckerberg's latest move against Musk further heightened the rivalry between the two multibillionaires who have even agreed to meet for hand to hand combat in a cage match.

Threads went live on Apple and Android app stores in 100 countries at 2300 GMT on Wednesday (7 a.m. Thursday in Manila), and early feedback noted its close, but scaled back, resemblance to Twitter.

Within a few hours, more than 30 million people had downloaded Threads, Zuckerberg said Thursday.

"Feels like the beginning of something special, but we've got a lot of work ahead to build the app," Zuckerberg wrote on his official Threads account.

Accounts were already active for celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Oprah Winfrey and Hugh Jackman, as well as media outlets including The Washington Post and The Economist.

Zuckerberg wrote: "It'll take some time, but I think there should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it."

"Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn't nailed it. Hopefully we will."

Twitter has said it has more than 200 million daily users.

Musk meanwhile retweeted an image that said the Threads logo resembled a tapeworm. "Metaphorically too," he added.

In another post referencing Twitter's potential legal action against Meta, Musk noted that "competition is fine, cheating is not."

Meta spokesman Andy Stone said on Threads: "No one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee -- that's just not a thing."

'BE KIND' 

Threads was introduced as a spin-off of Instagram, giving it a built-in audience of more than two billion users and sparing the new platform the challenge of starting from scratch.

Instagram chief Adam Mosseri told users that Threads was intended to build "an open and friendly platform for conversations."

"The best thing you can do if you want that too is be kind," he said.

Zuckerberg is taking advantage of Musk's chaotic ownership of Twitter to push out the new product, which Meta hopes will become the go-to platform for celebrities, companies and politicians.

Analyst Jasmine Engberg from Insider Intelligence said Threads only needs one out of four Instagram monthly users "to make it as big as Twitter."

"Twitter users are desperate for an alternative, and Musk has given Zuckerberg an opening," she added.

Under Musk, Twitter has seen content moderation reduced to a minimum with glitches and rash decisions scaring away celebrities and major advertisers.

He also fired more than half of Twitter's staff, some of whom presumably went to other tech companies, including Meta.

EU 'MANY MONTHS' AWAY 

Meta has its legion of critics too, especially in the major market of Europe, which could slow the growth of Threads.

The company has been criticized for its handling of personal data, the essential ingredient for targeted ads that help it rake in billions of dollars in profits.

Mosseri said he regretted that the launch was delayed in the European Union, but had Meta waited for regulatory clarity from Brussels, Threads would have been "many, many, many, months away."

According to a source close to the matter, Meta was wary of a new law called the Digital Markets Act (DMA) that sets strict rules for the world's "gatekeeper" internet companies.

One rule restricts platforms from moving user data between products, as would potentially be the case between Threads and Instagram.

Globally, the Threads hashtag on Twitter has garnered three million tweets, with many users jokingly suggesting people will return to Musk's platform.

Others expressed privacy concerns.

"Meta loves to collect private information and I don't trust the way it treats private information," a Japanese user tweeted.

"I also have the impression that this is a company hated by EU, so I'm reluctant."

But some said they would permanently move to Threads.

One Threads user wrote: "Now I truly can say goodbye to Twitter forever."

Agence France-Presse 

Facebook owner Meta to launch Twitter-like 'Threads' app

WASHINGTON -- Facebook owner Meta's new Threads app, meant to compete with Twitter, was available for pre-order on mobile app stores on iPhone and Android operating systems on Monday.

Listed as "Threads, an Instagram app," the new program should be available in the coming days, and is described on Apple's app store as "Instagram's text-based conversation app."

"Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what'll be trending tomorrow," says the app's description on the store.

Thread's launch comes after a period of uncertainty at Twitter since Tesla owner Elon Musk took over in October, with the billionaire restructuring the company, firing thousands and placing many features behind a subscription paywall.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced in mid-March that it was working on a new social network whose description made it a potential competitor to Twitter.

Threads will enable users to "connect directly with your favorite creators and others who love the same things -- or build a loyal following of your own to share your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world," according to its app store description.

"We're thinking about a decentralized, independent social network for sharing written messages in real time," the group said in a statement sent to AFP.

Twitter provoked ire last week when Musk announced that the platform would limit the number of tweets that could be read per day, with people not paying for subscriptions -- by far the majority of users -- limited to 1,000 tweets a day.

The stated aim of the decision was to limit the use of the social network's data by third parties, in particular companies feeding artificial intelligence models.

Agence France-Presse

Typhoon Mawar leaves trail of destruction as it moves from Guam

LOS ANGELES, United States — A typhoon that slammed into Guam, knocking out power and flooding buildings with a powerful storm surge, was moving away Thursday -- leaving residents of the US Pacific Ocean territory to survey the damage.

Governor Lou Leon Guerrero was set to venture out when conditions allow to see what damage has been wrought on the island, a key US military outpost and home to 170,000 people.

The governor and civil defense groups will look for "any major damages or blocked roadways in the wake of Typhoon Mawar," a statement said Thursday.

"As Guam received the full brunt of the typhoon overnight, the assessment will help determine what damages may have occurred."

Mawar brought winds of up to 225 kilometers (140 miles) an hour, the US National Weather Service reported, generating waves nine meters (30 feet) high.

There were no reported deaths or injuries.

At one of the island's many hotels, the 30-floor Dusit Thani Guam Resort housing about 300 guests, desk clerk Casey Hattori said the lobby was inundated with a foot of water, even with the front door barricaded with boards and bags of concrete. Outside, trees snapped in howling wind.

"I can hear the walls shaking. The wind is super strong. I can hear it whistling as it comes through the cracks of the doors," Hattori told AFP.

Fearful tourists were evacuated from flooded rooms to a sixth floor ballroom, she said.

Images on social media showed the impact of winds that had uprooted trees, swept away vehicles and dislodged roofs, throwing debris everywhere.

Tens of thousands of homes were without power Thursday, the Guam Power Authority said, but noted that a total blackout had been avoided.

"We are working hard to maintain the last remaining customers through the storm, which contributes to quicker recovery after the winds die down later tonight or in the early morning hours," the agency said, according to the Pacific Daily News.

The NWS said Mawar was now a Super Typhoon, and forecasting models suggested it was heading towards Taiwan or the Philippines.

"As sunlight is starting to peek, we are waking up to a rather disturbing scene out there across Guam," one forecaster said during a morning update Thursday.

"We are looking out our door and what used to be a jungle looks like toothpicks. It looks like a scene from the movie 'Twister,' with trees just thrashed apart."

The agency said Guam remained under a typhoon warning, with destructive gusts and heavy surf expected.

Ocean conditions are still treacherous, even for large vessels, it said.

"Residents are urged to stay off the roads and remain in safe, hardened shelters" for now, emergency officials warned.

In Washington, the White House said President Joe Biden had been briefed on the situation.

"The White House is in close contact with the government of Guam and has offered as much support as needed," a spokeswoman said.

About 21,700 US military personnel and their families are based on Guam, which routinely hosts nuclear attack submarines and long-range bombers.

The territory is also home to key electronic listening posts, and the US bases have some of the Pacific region's most significant ammunition and fuel storage facilities.

Lieutenant Commander Katie Koenig, spokesperson for Joint Region Marianas said military aircraft and ships departed before the destructive winds began or were sheltered in hangars, "except for one vessel which remains in port due to an inoperable engine."

Koenig added that all military and civilian personnel were instructed to take shelter.

"Our service members throughout the Marianas routinely exercise natural disaster response and are ready and postured to respond... once the 'all clear' order is given," she said.

Agence France-Presse

9 dead in shooting rampage at Texas mall: authorities

WASHINGTON  — A man who went on a rampage at a Texas outlet mall on Saturday shot dead eight people before he was himself killed, authorities said.

"(We) found seven deceased individuals on scene. We transported nine individuals to the hospital... Of those we transported, two have since died," said fire chief Jonathan Boyd of Allen, Texas.

The shooting sparked panic at Allen Premium Outlets, a sprawling shopping complex in Allen, 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Dallas, filled with weekend shoppers.

A police officer was in the mall on an unrelated call when gunfire broke out around 3:30 pm (2030 GMT), said chief Brian Harvey of the Allen police department.

"He heard gunshots, went to the gunshots, engaged the suspect and neutralized the suspect," Harvey said. "He also then called for ambulances."

The identity of the shooter was not released. His body, sprawled on a sidewalk, was one of the seven deaths at the mall when more police arrived.

Among the wounded at area hospitals, "three are in critical surgery, and four are stable," Boyd, the fire chief, said.

Some of the victims were as young as five years old, a hospital official told NBC News.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott called the mass shooting an "unspeakable tragedy."

President Joe Biden "has been briefed on the shooting," a White House official told reporters.

Local officials hailed the actions of the police officer who charged and killed the shooter.

"We owe a debt of gratitude to first responders that ran toward the gunfire and acted swiftly to neutralize the threat," said Keith Self, a Republican congressman whose district includes the city of Allen.

Video footage aired by CNN showed the shooter getting out of a sedan in the parking lot of the mall, and beginning his rampage.

Authorities believed initially that a second shooter might be on the loose. As police combed through stores in the mall, frantic shoppers and store employees rushed into parking lots.

Harvey later said police believe the unidentified shooter, who CNN said was wearing tactical gear, "acted alone."

Janet St. James, a spokesperson for Medical City Healthcare, which operates multiple trauma facilities in North Texas, said it received eight patients from the shooting, ranging in age from five to 61, NBC News reported.

A father who arrived at the mall after his daughter, who was inside, phoned to tell him about the shooting, also told CNN that police had informed him there may have been a second shooter.

"We saw the police outside the door, and they told us we had to go, and that they are still looking for the person," Jaynal Pervez said, according to CNN.

"There's no more safe places. I don't know what to do."

Pervez later told broadcaster CBS that scenes in the mall parking lot were chaotic.

"I saw the shoes around there, people's cell phones on the street," he said.

With more firearms than inhabitants, the United States has the highest rate of gun deaths of any developed country -- 49,000 in 2021, up from 45,000 the year before.

There have been more than 195 mass shootings -- defined as four or more people wounded or killed -- so far this year in the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Agence France-Presse

Shooter kills 6 at Nashville school in targeted attack

WASHINGTON  — A heavily-armed former student killed three young children and three staff in what appeared to be a carefully planned attack at a private elementary school in Nashville on Monday, before being shot dead by police.

Chief of Police John Drake named the suspect as Audrey Hale -- a 28-year-old female, who the officer later said identified as transgender.

Hale had maps of the school, left behind a manifesto, and was "prepared for a confrontation with law enforcement," the police chief told reporters following the latest outburst of gun violence to stun the United States.

Armed with at least two assault rifles and a handgun, Hale entered the Christian Covenant School from a side entrance, allegedly shooting through a door -- firing multiple shots while advancing through the building, according to police.

They said officers were on the scene within about 15 minutes of receiving the first emergency call around 10:00 a.m. (11 p.m. in Manila), engaging the shooter who returned fire before being shot dead.

Police identified the six victims, saying one of the three children was eight years old and two were age nine, while the adults killed were age 60 to 61.

Television images showed young children holding hands as they filed out of the school, and one searing photograph showed a child sobbing through the window of her yellow school bus as it pulled away from the crime scene.

Avery Myrick said her mother, a pre-kindergarten teacher at Covenant, hid as shots rang out through the school.

"She said she was hiding in the closet, and that there was shooting all over and that they had potentially tried to get into her room, and just that she loved us," Myrick told WSMV4 television, an NBC local affiliate.

When she heard her mother was safe it brought "a ton of relief."

"But you know, you're still hurting for the people out there who might not get that call," she said.

School shootings are alarmingly common in the United States, where the proliferation of firearms has soared in recent years.

President Joe Biden described the latest shooting as "sick" and said gun violence was tearing the nation's "soul," as he urged Congress to pass a ban on the assault weapons commonly used in mass shootings.

"It's ripping our communities apart, ripping the soul of this nation, ripping at the very soul of the nation," he said.

A Nashville fire department spokesperson, Kendra Loney, said all unharmed students were escorted out of the building with faculty and staff.

"But we are sure that they heard the chaos that was surrounding this, so we do have mental health specialists and professionals that are at that reunification site for both the students and the families."

AN AMERICAN EPIDEMIC

The Covenant School is a private Presbyterian institution with just over 200 students in preschool to roughly age 12.

Local newspaper The Tennessean quoted a police spokesperson as saying the suspect Hale, a former student at the school, was now an illustrator and graphic designer who used he/him pronouns. Police had initially identified him by his birth gender.

Drake said investigators were working on a possible motive but said it was "not confirmed."

Asked whether Hale's gender identity may have been a factor, Drake said: "There is some theory to that, we're investigating all the leads."

There have been 129 mass shootings -- defined as incidents in which four or more people were shot or killed -- so far this year, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive.

Biden's calls for Congress to reinstate the national ban on assault rifles, which existed from 1994 to 2004, has run up against opposition from Republicans, who are staunch defenders of the constitutional right to bear arms and have had a narrow majority in the House of Representatives since January.

Just hours after the shooting, pro-firearm organization Gun Owners of America assailed Biden as "the man responsible for making schools soft targets," and repeated their call to allow teachers to arm themselves in classrooms.

"When will we start to have conversations about real solutions for hardening schools & protecting kids? Armed teachers are a 100% effective deterrent!" the group tweeted.

The deadlock in Washington has come despite public uproar over high-profile massacres such as the one at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut in 2012, when 26 people, including 20 children, were killed.

Last year a shooter in Uvalde, Texas, killed 19 students and two teachers.

Between those two tragedies, the murder of 14 students and three staff members in Parkland, Florida in 2018 fueled a nationwide movement, led by young people, to demand stricter gun controls -- but failed to spur significant action in Congress.

Agence France-Presse

White House gives federal agencies 30 days to enforce TikTok ban

WASHINGTON — The White House on Monday gave federal agencies 30 days to purge Chinese-owned video-snippet sharing app TikTok from all government-issued devices, setting a deadline to comply with a ban ordered by the US Congress.

Office of Management and Budget director Shalanda Young in a memorandum called on government agencies within 30 days to "remove and disallow installations" of the application on agency-owned or operated IT devices, and to "prohibit internet traffic" from such devices to the app.

The ban does not apply to businesses in the United States not associated with the federal government, or to the millions of private citizens who use the hugely popular app.

However, a recently introduced bill in Congress would "effectively ban TikTok" in this country, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

"Congress must not censor entire platforms and strip Americans of their constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression," ACLU senior policy counsel Jenna Leventoff said in a release.

"We have a right to use TikTok and other platforms to exchange our thoughts, ideas, and opinions with people around the country and around the world."

Owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, TikTok has become a political target due to concerns the app can be circumvented for spying or propaganda by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The company did not immediately respond to the White House guidance.

China's foreign ministry slammed the ban.

"We firmly oppose the wrong practice of the United States to generalize the concept of national security, abuse state power, and unreasonably suppress firms from other countries," spokeswoman Mao Ning said Tuesday.

The law signed by US President Joe Biden last month bans the use of TikTok on government-issued devices. It also bans TikTok use in the US House of Representatives and Senate.

National security concerns over alleged Chinese spying have grown over the past month after a Chinese balloon traversed US airspace and was eventually shot down.

CANADA, EU BANS

The Canadian government on Monday banned TikTok from all of its phones and other devices, citing fears about how much access Beijing has to user data.

Effective Tuesday, "the TikTok application will be removed from government-issued mobile devices. Users of these devices will also be blocked from downloading the application in the future," the government said in a statement.

The European Commission banned the app from its equipment too.

TikTok has repeatedly rejected accusations it shares data or cedes control to the Chinese government. 

TikTok's breakneck rise from a niche video-sharing app to global social media behemoth has brought plenty of scrutiny, particularly over its links to China.

The company was forced to admit ByteDance employees in China had accessed Americans' data but it has always denied turning over personal information to the Chinese authorities.

TikTok has moved to soothe US fears, announcing in June 2022 that it would store all data on American users on US-based servers.

Bans have not halted TikTok's growth.

With more than one billion active users, it is the sixth-most used social platform in the world, according to the We Are Social marketing agency.

Although it lags behind the likes of Meta's long-dominant trio of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, its growth among young people far outstrips its competitors.

Agence France-Presse