As the TikTok deal negotiations between the U.S. and China continues, the Asian giant has become "much more aggressive," in tightening its foreign investments and trade law, and pushing its homegrown chips. Soaring confidence in TikTok's valuation has also left investors reluctant to sell the social media company.

Beijing

China has adopted a more assertive approach in its dealings with the United States over potential TikTok deal options, coinciding with tightened foreign investment laws and increased promotion of its domestic technology capabilities. Recent announcements from Chinese companies, such as Alibaba and Huawei, have emphasized the country's advancements in AI chips, signaling confidence in its tech sector.

While the U.S. has been vocal about its expectations for a TikTok deal, China has remained relatively quiet, choosing to maintain control over its decision-making process. Meanwhile, ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, has seen its valuation climb back to around $400 billion, indicating strong market confidence despite earlier uncertainties.

China will not give in to the U.S. over TikTok deal options

Very interesting, if we step back and think about what sort of timeline or what a TikTok deal might look like, the Chinese side has definitely become much more aggressive in the last week. As we had the latest round of U.S.-China trade talks in Madrid, we saw China step up plans to tighten its foreign investment and trade law and also announced extension of probes into NVIDIA. And also, they've been ramping up the media blitz around how China is really capable in terms of its homegrown chips. Most notably on their evening news broadcast on Tuesday evening, they played up how China Unicom is going to become one of the new customers for Alibaba's AI chip solution. And then on Thursday, Huawei made a huge announcement about how its new chip cluster is going to be better than NVIDIA's and even XAI down the road. So huge amounts of confidence boosting here. And we've not heard that much about what this TikTok deal is going to look like. The U.S. side, especially from President Donald Trump, has been very specific about what next steps in terms of meetings with President Xi Jinping is going to look like. But the Chinese side has been quite quiet here. And so, you know, here in China, there's lots of excitement about the military parade, these new chips announcements. You know, it looks like China is definitely not going to give in here and they're going to want to hold the cards and have control over what option they pick. Back to you. Yeah. Sounds like that. Right. Listen, I know you've been talking to a couple of dealmakers, in fact, a number of them out of China. What are they saying about TikTok's parent ByteDance and ByteDance's valuation right now? Right. So it's definitely a signal of the market and how investors are looking at Chinese technology in the middle of all this. The valuation that I've heard for ByteDance is around 400 billion U.S. dollars. That has not changed that much around the U.S.-China talks in Madrid. And it's interesting if we look back to around February when there was all this growing uncertainty about the future of TikTok in the U.S., the dealmakers then were saying that the valuation of ByteDance was dropping significantly down to the 230 billion level. So now that it's surged back so much higher and there's so much more confidence that the sellers don't even want to sell, that indicates a lot of expectation that the valuation for ByteDance could go much higher from here.

Police say a 23-year-old was arrested and charged Sunday night with second-degree murder after one person was killed and several others were injured in a shooting at a New Hampshire country club. Witnesses say the shooter said “free Palestine” and before opening fire.

Nashua

Suspect yelled 'free Palestine' before country club shooting

President Trump is demanding that the Justice Department go after his political rivals following a shakeup in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Eastern Virginia. Willie James Inman reports.

Washington

Trump pressuring Justice Department to pursue his political foes

President Trump, Vice President JD Vance and several others remembered Charlie Kirk at a memorial service in Arizona that was attended by thousands.

Phoenix

Trump, others remember Charlie Kirk at memorial service

The United Kingdom, Canada and Australia officially recognized Palestine as a state Sunday, a move that has long been opposed by the U.S. and Israel. More countries are expected to do the same this week as world leaders gather in New York for the U.N. General Assembly.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Middle East Conflict

Israel continuing assault on Gaza after countries recognize Palestinian statehood

A group of US Republicans has sent a letter to France, Canada, the UK and Australia, urging them to re-consider their decision to recognise a Palestinian state.  It's warning there may be consequences if the countries move ahead with plan at the upcoming UN General Assembly.

US Republicans warn allies over decision to recognise Palestinian state

Britain, Canada and Australia all recognized a Palestinian state on Sunday (September 21) in a move borne out of frustration over the Gaza war and intended to promote a two-state solution, but which is also bound to anger Israel and its main ally, the U.S.

Britain, Canada and Australia all recognize Palestinian state

The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, will address the UN on Monday, after the General Assembly voted to allow him to join remotely. The U.S. has refused to issue him a visa to attend in person.

New York

UN approves video address by Palestine’s Abbas after U.S. visa refusal

Sixty nations have agreed to a new treaty aimed at protecting marine biodiversity in international waters. But the strength of the deal governing the high seas is uncertain as some of the world’s biggest players - including China, the U.S., Russia and Japan - have yet to ratify.

Nations ratify world's first treaty to protect international waters

A cyberattack on a provider of check-in and boarding systems has disrupted operations at several major European airports including London's Heathrow, the continent's busiest, causing flight delays and cancellations on Saturday (September 20).

London

Travelers stranded as cyberattack disrupts major European airports

The high seas will soon have their own Conference of the Parties (COP). This new body will oversee the implementation of the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, which is scheduled to enter into force in early 2026 after the legally required 120-day period.

Manhattan

Optus, Australia's second-largest telecom carrier, promised on Saturday "full cooperation" with official investigators, after an outage disrupted emergency call services for 13 hours. Four people died amid the technical failure, including an eight-week-old boy.

Melbourne

Telco vows to cooperate after deadly outage

Dozens more Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military offensive. Amid mounting international criticism of Israel, there has been a renewed push for a two-state solution, with Portugal being the latest advocate.

Two-state solution gains support as IDF moves on Gaza City

Charlie Kirk will be mourned in a massive public memorial in Phoenix, Ariz., on Sunday. With U.S. President Donald Trump and other top U.S. officials attending, the event is expected to bring significant security concerns.

Thousands set to attend Charlie Kirk's public memorial

Russia has launched more than 600 attacks on multiple cities across Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is renewing calls for more support, and warning allies that defending Europe means defending Ukraine.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

Russia launches mass strikes across Ukraine

A cyberattack has disrupted air traffic at several airports in Europe. Check-in and boarding systems went down in London, Brussels and Berlin. Europe’s aviation safety organisation says airlines were asked to cancel 50% of their flights to reduce pressure on the system.

Heathrow Airport

Flight chaos as UK, European airports hit by cyberattack

Three Russian military jets violated NATO member Estonia's airspace for 12 minutes on Friday in an "unprecedentedly brazen" incursion, its government said, the latest in a series of recent military actions by Russia that have rattled the alliance.

Tallinn

Russian jets enter Estonia's airspace in latest test for NATO

President Trump said Friday that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping "made progress" on a deal over TikTok ownership, and that he would visit China early next year.

Trump says he and Xi Jinping 'made progress' on TikTok deal

The apparent remains of Travis Decker, the man suspected of killing his three daughters in Washington state, have been located and are undergoing DNA testing. A manhunt has been underway for Decker since his daughter's bodies were found in June.

Remains of father suspected of killing 3 daughters found

Three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets lingered in NATO-member Estonia's airspace for several minutes on Friday, according to Estonian authorities. Italian F-35s responded.

Moscow

NATO defences triggered amid Russian airspace violation

Fellow comedians Jon Stewart and Jimmy Fallon mocked U.S. President Donald Trump Thursday after Jimmy Kimmel Live! was pulled off the air on Wednesday by ABC following Federal Communications Commission pressure.

Late-night hosts mock Trump as outrage over Kimmel grows

International sanctions imposed on Iran before the 2015 nuclear deal, could be reinstated within days. The United Nations Security Council has voted against lifting sanctions permanently, because of the country's nuclear programme.

Tehran

Sanctions to hit Iran again after UN vote

Washington has accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of being involved in drug trafficking - a claim he denies. In recent weeks, the US military has been building up its presence in the Caribbean. Venezuela has responded by holding military drills.

Caracas

Venezuela orders three-day drills amid U.S tensions

A Republican measure to keep the government funded until Nov. 21 stumbled in the Senate after clearing the House, leaving lawmakers without a clear path forward to avoid a funding lapse at the end of the month.

Government shutdown looms after GOP funding bill fails in Senate

In suburban Chicago, tensions boiled over as authorities unleashed tear gas and pepper balls to break up a crowd that was trying to block vehicles outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building.

Chicago

Tensions boil over as protesters clash with authorities outside Chicago ICE facility

Gunfire struck the building that houses the ABC 10 TV station in Sacramento on Friday afternoon. No one was injured.

Sacramento

Gunfire strikes Sacramento ABC TV station building

President Trump signed two executive orders at the White House on Friday night. The first established the Trump Gold Card as a path to U.S. citizenship for $1 million. The second adds a $100,000 fee for skilled worker visas called H-1B worker visas.

Trump signs $1M gold card visas, adds fee for skilled workers

With Jimmy Kimmel off the air for a third straight day, the fallout is growing. Film and TV writers protested outside ABC headquarters in New York, even as President Trump warned he may go after other networks next. Nancy Cordes reports.

Fallout grows after Jimmy Kimmel taken off air

President Trump on Thursday suggested that networks should have their licenses pulled for negative coverage of him. His comments come amid ABC's suspension of Jimmy Kimmel over remarks about the Charlie Kirk shooting suspect.

Trump floats revoking TV licenses over negative coverage

State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, can hold more than 63,000 people, but on Sunday, police are anticipating more than 100,000 people will try to attend Charlie Kirk's memorial service.

Orem

Security preparations underway for Charlie Kirk memorial

Three Russian fighter planes flew into Estonian airspace, and NATO scrambled Italian, Swedish and Finnish aircraft to repel them. Russia last week sent drones into Romania and Poland, two other NATO members.

Breakdown