TikTok has announced it has established a majority American-owned joint venture to operate its US business, allowing the company to avoid a ban over its Chinese ownership.

The video-sharing app is a global digital entertainment powerhouse but its mass appeal and links to China have raised concerns over privacy and national security.

The TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC will serve more than 200 million users and 7.5 million businesses while implementing strict safeguards for data protection and content moderation, the company said.

AFP reported that the new structure responds to a law passed under US President Donald Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden that forced Chinese-owned ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US operations or face a ban in its biggest market.

Trump welcomed and claimed credit for the deal, but also thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping for approving it.

“I am so happy to have helped in saving TikTok!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social late Thursday.

“It will now be owned by a group of Great American Patriots and Investors, the Biggest in the World, and will be an important Voice.”

“I would also like to thank President Xi, of China, for working with us and, ultimately, approving the Deal,” he added.

FILE – Vice President JD Vance, right, and second lady Usha Vance.

Usha Vance, the wife of United States Vice President JD Vance, has announced that she is pregnant with her fourth child.

In a post on X on Tuesday, the second lady said she is expecting a baby boy in late July.

“Usha and the baby are doing well,” a statement posted on Tuesday to the second lady’s social media account read.

The couple, who married in 2014, already have three children — Ewan, Vivek, and Mirabel.

Usha Vance, née Chilukuri, was born and raised in the working-class suburbs of San Diego, California, to a mechanical engineer father and a molecular biologist mother who moved to the US from Andhra Pradesh, India.

Authorities in South Korea have confirmed a fresh case of African Swine Fever (ASF) at a pig farm in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, marking the country’s first outbreak in nearly two months since November 2025.

The infection was detected after 32 pigs died at the facility on January 16, 2026, with laboratory tests confirming that 29 of them tested positive for the highly contagious and fatal virus.

The outbreak, reported by the Gangwon provincial government and covered by major outlets including Yonhap News Agency and The Korea Herald, prompted immediate quarantine measures.

In response, officials culled approximately 20,000 pigs at the affected farm to halt the spread of the disease.

A 48-hour standstill order was also imposed on pig farms across six neighboring cities and counties, restricting movements to prevent further transmission.

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok directed emergency containment efforts, including restricted site access, intensive disinfection protocols, and investigations into the outbreak’s origin.

The government is prioritizing rapid tracing and biosecurity enhancements to safeguard the nation’s pork industry.

ASF, a viral disease devastating to domestic pigs and wild boars, causes high mortality rates but poses no risk to human health or food safety when pork is properly cooked.

This incident in Gangwon Province — the first ASF case recorded in the region in about 14 months — underscores ongoing challenges in controlling the virus, which has affected South Korea since 2019 through both farm infections and detections in wild boars.

Officials continue monitoring nearby farms and wild populations as part of heightened national vigilance.