The Kremlin says US envoy Steve Witkoff and Russia’s Vladimir Putin have held “constructive” talks, as Donald Trump’s deadline for Moscow to agree a ceasefire in Ukraine looms.
Foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said that, during their three-hour meeting, Putin transmitted “signals” to Witkoff on what he called the “Ukrainian question” and “received corresponding signals” from the US side.
More about the negotiations would be shared after Witkoff reported to Trump, Ushakov added.
There was immediate comment from the US or Ukraine following the talks.
Ahead of them, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, warned that Russia would only make serious moves towards peace if it began to run out of money. He welcomed the threat of tougher US sanctions and tariffs on nations buying Russian oil.
In images shared by Russian outlets, the two men – who have met several times before – were seen smiling and shaking hands in a gilded hall.
Expectations are muted for a settlement by Friday, and Russia has continued its large-scale air attacks on Ukraine despite Trump’s threats of sanctions.
Before taking office in January, Trump claimed he would be able to end the war between Russia and Ukraine in a day. He failed and has since grown impatient at a lack of tangible progress, with his rhetoric towards Russia hardening.
“We thought we had [the war] settled numerous times, and then President Putin goes out and starts launching rockets into some city like Kyiv and kills a lot of people in a nursing home or whatever,” he said last month.
Three rounds of talks between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul have failed to bring the war closer to and end, three-and-a-half years after Moscow launched its full-invasion.
Moscow’s military and political preconditions for peace remain unacceptable to Kyiv and to its Western partners. The Kremlin has also repeatedly turned down Kyiv’s requests for a meeting between Zelensky and Putin.
Meanwhile, the US administration approved $200m (£150m) of additional military sales to Ukraine on Tuesday following a phone call between Zelensky and Trump, in which the two leaders also discussed defence cooperation and drone production.
Ukraine has been using drones to hit Russia’s refineries and energy facilities, while Moscow has focused its air attacks on Ukraine’s cities.
The Kyiv City Military Administration said the toll of an attack on the city last week rose to 32 after a man died of his injuries. The strike was the deadliest on Kyiv since the start of the invasion.
Ukrainian authorities on Wednesday reported that a Russian attack on a holiday camp in the central region of Zaporizhzhia left two dead and 12 wounded.
“There’s no military sense in this attack. It’s just cruelty to scare people,” Zelensky said.
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new video loaded: War Shattered His Face. Technology Helped Reconstruct It.
By Marc Santora, Nikolay Nikolov, Daria Mitiuk and Laetitia Vançon•
Volodymyr is a Ukrainian marksman whose face was shattered by a Russian bomb in 2023. After multiple surgeries and titanium implants, he has returned to active duty near the closest point of the front line of the war with Russia. Calling in from there, he describes his recovery to Marc Santora, an international editor for The New York Times.
Taipei, Taiwan – Southeast Asia’s export-driven economies are facing new uncertainty from United States President Donald Trump’s trade war, as his administration cracks down on exports directed through third countries to avoid his tariffs on China.
Under an executive order issued by Trump last week, goods imported into the US face a punitive 40 percent tariff, plus penalties and any applicable country-of-origin duties, if US Customs and Border Protection determines they have been “transshipped”.
The tariff is set to go into effect on Thursday, along with Trump’s latest country-specific tariffs ranging from 10 to 41 percent.
While China is the main target of the new tax on transshipments, which applies to all redirected goods irrespective of country of origin, Southeast Asia could suffer much of the fallout because of the region’s highly integrated supply chains with Chinese manufacturers, trade experts say.
The fallout will depend on exactly how the Trump administration defines transshipments, which is still unclear, said Puan Yatim, an associate professor at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Graduate School of Business.
“If Washington maintains a narrow interpretation – targeting only those goods that are imported from China, minimally processed or relabeled and then re-exported to the US – the economic impact on ASEAN may be limited,” Yatim told Al Jazeera, referring to the Southeast Asian regional bloc.
“However, a broader and more punitive interpretation – where goods with any significant Chinese input are also deemed in violation – could prove economically devastating for countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Malaysia,” she added.
Chinese manufacturers have for years been steadily expanding into Southeast Asia as part of a strategy known as “China Plus One”.
The strategy has helped Chinese firms avoid US tariffs, exploit cheaper labour, and diversify their supply chains – a particular concern during China’s COVID-19 lockdowns.
From 2020 to 2024, Chinese foreign direct investment into the 10 ASEAN nations grew from $7.1bn to $19.3bn, according to ASEAN data.
During the same period, exports from China to Southeast Asia rose from $385bn to $587bn, according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The surge in Chinese exports, including goods illegally mislabeled to conceal their origin, has placed Southeast Asia in the Trump administration’s crosshairs.
“[Companies] need intermediate imports from China to create products which get shipped to the US, but because companies have been embroiled in illegal transshipments in the region, there’s a huge bias in the Trump administration that ASEAN is the predominant channel,” Priyanka Kishore, principal economist at Asia Decoded in Singapore, told Al Jazeera.
A key example of trade that invoked Washington’s ire centred on the solar cell industry.
Following a years-long investigation, the US Department of Commerce in April announced tariffs of up to 3,500 percent on Southeast Asian manufacturers alleged to have illicitly exported Chinese goods.
Southeast Asia is now in a “sticky situation” where it must appease the US – the region’s top export market – while not alienating China, Kishore said.
Beijing has threatened to “resolutely take countermeasures” against countries that agree to trade deals with the US that go against its interests.
In May, Malaysia announced that it would no longer allow nongovernmental organisations such as chambers of commerce to issue certificates of origin, as part of its efforts to ensure the integrity of its exports.
Vietnam similarly agreed to a 40 percent transshipment tariff in a framework deal reached with the US in May, while Indonesia’s Trade Minister Budi Santoso said last month that his country was opposed to transshipping.
Despite Southeast Asian governments’ efforts to mollify the US, the transshipment tariff could create major compliance issues for the private sector, said Steve Okun, founder and CEO of APAC Advisors in Singapore.
A top concern will be how the US treats products made with components from multiple countries.
US tariffs are typically determined by the location where a product underwent “substantive transformation”, but if the Trump administration were to apply duties based on the presence of even small amounts of Chinese components, compliance and enforcement would be extremely difficult, Okun said.
“You’re going to have to be doing due diligence on supply chains that you never had to do before,” Okun told Al Jazeera.
The changes would “potentially redefine trade,” he said.
A truck drives past stacks of containers at Jakarta International Container Terminal at Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Indonesia, on July 9, 2025 [Tatan Syuflana/AP]
A strict interpretation of transshipping could further dim Southeast Asia’s appeal, at a time when the Trump administration is already chipping away at its China Plus One competitive advantage with his tariffs on the region’s economies, said Richard Laub, CEO and cofounder of Dragon Sourcing, a global procurement service provider.
Under Trump’s latest tariffs, Singapore is subject to a 10 percent rate, while Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia are subject to rates of 19 or 20 percent – less than the 30 percent rate proposed for China under the White House’s latest tariff framework.
Trump’s transshipment tariff potentially eats into that advantage.
“A lot of the Chinese supply strategy has been to establish some kind of facility abroad with limited content, limited value, adding those facilities to basically circumvent those transshipments. I suspect that that will come to a standstill,” Laub told Al Jazeera.
A Washington, DC-based consultant who advises businesses on trade and supply chain issues in China, said he had observed a similar phenomenon, but to the detriment of US exporters.
“We are seeing [multinational corporations] from around the globe, particularly those that served the China market from the United States, doing more to localise supply chains for China in China,” the consultant told Al Jazeera, asking not to be named.
Companies in sectors that rely on materials like foreign-sourced steel – which is subject to separate tariffs – have found manufacturing becoming too expensive in the US and started moving manufacturing out of the country, the consultant said.
“This is a terrible outcome and the opposite of what the administration intends,” he said.
Nick Marro, principal economist for Asia at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said despite the uncertainty, the direction of the policy in Washington is ambiguously bad for Southeast Asia.
“Clearly, the US is concerned about transshipments,” Marro told Al Jazeera.
“Clearly, it is moving to crack down on them, and so for those investors, those companies, those governments that have staked their premise on things like China Plus One, we are now seeing a reassessment, and that is something which investors have to be integrating into their strategies.”
Good morning. Summer in the city is a great time to talk trash. The sanitation strikes that cut deep this time of year and the smells emanating from open-air trash cans are a reminder that the U.S. is one of the world’s largest producers of waste, with Americans generating about 951 kilograms (2,100 pounds) of municipal solid waste per person each year.
The company that handles about a third of that trash is WM, the $24 billion-a-year giant otherwise known as Waste Management. It’s the dominant player operating transfer stations, landfill sites, recycling plants and landfill gas projects. In this week’s episode of Fortune’s Leadership Next podcast, CEO Jim Fish talks about aligning the brand around sustainability. “It’s profitable for us,” he says, noting that decomposing trash produces the natural gas that powers WM’s garbage trucks, among other things.
He also talks about the transformative role of technology in creating safer trucks and ergo fewer people are needed in roles that can have 50% turnover rates. “I was back there one time when it was below zero on the back of a truck, climbing over snowdrifts. Your hands are cold; it’s a hard job,” he says. “The most dangerous place around those trucks is when you’re outside them.”
While Fish says his philosophy is to put employees first—“If they feel good, they will make the customer feel good. And if the customer is happy, then ultimately your shareholders are happy”—he feels a particular responsibility to the environment.“I get plenty of calls from customers saying, ‘Hey, what happened to my recycling pickup last week?’ The environment doesn’t call me.”
On that front, he points to progress. Coming to New York as a kid, he says, “I looked at the East River and thought, ‘my gosh look how horrible that is.’” (WM doesn’t handle garbage collection here.) Now? “New York has done a lot. It’s not Tokyo but it’s done a nice job of improving … Are we there? No, but are we better than we were?” You can listen to our full conversation on Spotify or Apple.
Trump threatens more tariffs for Russian oil buyers
“We settled on 25% but I think I’m going to raise that very substantially over the next 24 hours, because they’re buying Russian oil,” Trump said of countries that do business with Moscow. “They’re fueling the war machine. And if they’re going to do that, then I’m not going to be happy.”
He also wants a 250% tariff on pharmaceuticals
Trump previously threatened a 200% tariff on drugs but no tariffs emerged in his deal with the E.U., which is a major pharma producer.
Berkshire Hathaway shares fall after Buffet’s exit
The company class A shares are down 14% since Buffet retired in favor of new chief Greg Abel. In the same period, the S&P is up 11%, the FT reports.
RFK Jr pulls vaccine funding
The health secretary said, “We’re shifting that funding toward safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate.” Among the research projects affected will be Moderna’s research on H5N1 bird flu.
Anthropic will offer its AI to the government for $1
Federal agencies can now access Claude through the General Services Administration (GSA) schedule, the company announced. Prices for access will vary but will start as a low as $1, the company told Axios.
BP beats earnings estimates
BP announced second quarter earnings on Tuesday, beating Wall Street’s expectations as it pivots away from renewable energy and back to fossil fuels. The oil giant posted net profits of $1.65 billion.
UBS warns of “stall speed” in economy
UBS Global Research warned in a weekly note that the U.S. economy has hit “stall speed” as demand and job growth weaken, threatened by new tariffs and higher inflation.
Fortune’s 100 Most Powerful People in Business
This list measures power and influence—and though net worth is a factor, we’re more concerned with a leader’s ability to shape the thoughts and actions of those around them. Billionaires no longer active in business, business unit leaders, politicians and regulators, as well as loud voices who don’t run substantive businesses do not qualify. Here are the 100 people who are running the business world today—and shaping what it looks like tomorrow.
DOGE staffer attacked by mob in DC
The 19-year-old former DOGE staffer nicknamed “Big Balls” was beaten and injured by a group of 10 youths as he foiled an attempted carjacking, the NY Post reports. Edward Coristine is now recovering from a broken nose, concussion, and a black eye. Police made two arrests.
The markets
S&P 500 futures were up 0.36% this morning, premarket, after the index closed down 0.49% yesterday. STOXX Europe 600 was up 0.21% in early trading. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.18% in early trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.6%. China’s CSI 300 was up 0.24%. The South Korea KOSPI was flat. India’s Nifty 50 was down 0.23%. Bitcoin sank to $113.9K.
CEO Daily is compiled and edited by Joey Abrams and Jim Edwards.
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The Sacramento Kings are reportedly exploring the possibility of landing both Russell Westbrook and Jonathan Kuminga this offseason. According to hosts Dave Carmichael and Jason Ross on The Dave Carmichael Show (Sactown Sports 1140 AM), the two players might come as a package.
“We do know this—for the Westbrook thing to happen, the Kuminga thing would almost definitely have to happen,” Carmichael stated. Ross followed up with, “Let’s say Kuminga doesn’t [come]. Then is that off the table? I mean, you’re already crowded in the backcourt…”
Carmichael responded clearly: “I think it is. I do. I think it is.”
“We do know this: For the Westbrook thing to happen, the Kuminga thing would almost definitely have to happen.”@CarmichaelDave & @JasonRoss1140 discuss how the Kings’ pursuits of Jonathan Kuminga & Russell Westbrook are correlated: pic.twitter.com/O8BtMKj7pX
Kuminga, 22, has been rumored to prefer a move to Sacramento over returning to the Warriors. ESPN’s Marc Stein recently reported that Kuminga is “in” on the Kings after Zoom conversations with general manager Scott Perry, assistant GM BJ Armstrong, and head coach Mike Brown.
“He wants to go,” Stein said. “And the Kings are offering a starting spot—power forward, next to Keegan Murray, next to Sabonis.”
Kuminga struggled with inconsistent playing time last season, driven in part by tension between him and head coach Steve Kerr. Despite his desire to leave, the Warriors have reportedly shut down all sign-and-trade discussions regarding the young forward.
Westbrook’s Uncertain Future
Former MVP Russell Westbrook is also on the market after a turbulent stint with the Clippers. Sacramento’s interest in him appears to hinge on the acquisition of Kuminga. With an already crowded backcourt, adding Westbrook without moving another guard would present a roster imbalance.
This makes the potential dual acquisition more complicated. As Ross pointed out, “You wouldn’t have lost a guard and now you’d be adding another one.”
Kings “dream offseason” is to land both Jonathan Kuminga and Russell Westbrook
The Warriors don’t seem satisfied with current offers for Kuminga. Sacramento’s proposal reportedly includes a first-round pick, while Phoenix’s rumored package—Royce O’Neal, Nick Richards, and four second-round picks—hasn’t impressed Golden State.
“But I think that first (round pick), the Warriors don’t like the first,” Stein noted.
For now, Sacramento’s dream scenario of adding both Westbrook and Kuminga hangs in the balance. But one thing is clear—the Kings are actively working to make a splash.
The prickly pear cactus, capable of growing in arid and desolate areas with hardly any water, can be considered one of the most versatile cacti in the world. Both its edible fruits – prickly pears – and its stems, consumed in Mexican cuisine in nopal salads or with jalapeños, and its use for breeding chinchillas, preventing soil erosion, or producing biofuel, confirm this. What was not known until now is that it would inspire a new technique for more efficient production of green hydrogen. To this end, a group of scientists from the University of Texas has resorted to biomimicry, i.e., the development of technological solutions based on nature.
A cactus for green hydrogen production
The production of green hydrogen, one of the most promising renewable energies for use in sustainable mobility in projects such as this one, is based on electrolysis. That is, the application of an electric current through electrodes immersed in water so that the oxygen and hydrogen molecules are separated. Finally, to be considered green, the electricity used in the process must also be of renewable origin. Generally, this process is somewhat less efficient than other solutions, such as photovoltaics or wind power, and requires catalysts such as platinum or iridium.
Right now, research is aimed at improving its efficiency so that it can compete on a level playing field with other renewable energies in the medium term. One of them is the proposal of the University of Texas, which has developed a low-cost material based on nickel. And the key lies in the prickly pear cactus. The team had been investigating the use of nickel in electrolysis for some time, as it is a material a thousand times cheaper than platinum. However, it is also much less efficient, so how to increase its efficiency in producing green hydrogen without increasing the cost of the process?
The eureka moment usually occurs after repeatedly contemplating something until it is observed with new eyes one day. Something like that happened to one of the researchers on the project who saw some nopales daily on his way to the lab. This cactus has some of the largest stems and berries in its genus, allowing it to trap atmospheric water with excellent efficiency. Perhaps, if a catalyst with a shape similar to that of the flat stems of the nopal cactus could be developed, the production of green hydrogen could be multiplied.
The team got to work and soon had the first 3D nanostructure model in the shape of cactus stems using nickel as raw material. And it seems they were right on target: the scientists have confirmed that the strategy has yielded positive results. They hope to develop a commercially viable system in the medium term.
The promoters of the project claim that green hydrogen can transform energy technologies without generating greenhouse gases and with a zero carbon footprint. In that sense, aviation is one of the industries with the most significant potential to benefit from this type of energy.
Nopales as renewable energy plants
Besides the gastronomic or ecological applications of the nopal cactus mentioned earlier on, this plant has opened up unprecedented possibilities for the production of green power in a much more direct way than catalysts for the production of green hydrogen. In this case, the idea is to use the living cactus as an electricity generator.
Every plant generates a weak electrical current in its metabolic processes, but the large surface area of nopal stems makes it an ideal candidate for this approach. A recent study has demonstrated the optimal configuration for obtaining electricity with copper and zinc electrodes inserted into nopal stems.
The experiment results indicate that up to 58.8 mW can be obtained by eighteen pairs of electrodes inserted into six cactus stems, optimized with series and parallel connections. This current is enough to power an LED light or a calculator, or keep basic IoT sensors operational.
If, besides the production of green hydrogen or the use of nopales as power plants, you want to know more about the electricity of small things, you can read this article which explores TENGs, i.e., triboelectric nanogenerators that generate energy through vibrations. And, of course, subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of this page.
Watch: UN official says Netanyahu’s reported Gaza expansion plans risk “catastrophic consequences”
A top UN official has warned there would be “catastrophic consequences” if Israel expands its military operations in Gaza, after reports Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing for total reoccupation.
Assistant Secretary General Miroslav Jenča told the UN Security Council such a move would be “deeply alarming”, and could endanger the lives of more Palestinians, as well as Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Israeli media reported that Netanyahu plans to meet his security cabinet this week.
“The die has been cast. We’re going for the full conquest of the Gaza Strip – and defeating Hamas,” a senior Israeli official was quoted as saying.
The security cabinet, which is due to meet on Thursday, would need to approve such an action.
It has been suggested the plan could be a negotiating tactic to pressure Hamas after a recent breakdown of ceasefire talks, or an attempt to shore up support from Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners.
Asked whether he would support an Israeli plan to reoccupy all of Gaza, US President Donald Trump responded: “That’s pretty much going to be up to Israel.”
Israel has been facing mounting international pressure over the war in Gaza, where experts say famine is unfolding.
In his remarks, Jenča warned against any expansion of Israel’s military operations.
“This would risk catastrophic consequences for millions of Palestinians and could further endanger the lives of the remaining hostages in Gaza,” he said.
He added that under international law, Gaza “is and must remain an integral part of a future Palestinian state”.
Israel’s military said it already had operational control of 75% of Gaza, but the new plan would reportedly propose occupying the entire region – including areas where more than two million Palestinians now live.
The proposals have proved divisive in Israel, with reports the army chief and other military leaders oppose the strategy.
The unnamed Israeli official responded by saying: “If that doesn’t work for the chief of staff, he should resign.”
The families of hostages have expressed their fear that such a decision could endanger their loved ones.
Israel says 49 hostages are still being held in Gaza, of whom 27 are believed to be dead.
Jenča reiterated to the UN Security Council the call for a ceasefire and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.
Citing the “squalid” and “inhumane” conditions faced by Palestinians, he urged Israel to immediately allow the unimpeded passage of sufficient aid.
“Israel continues to severely restrict humanitarian assistance entering Gaza, and the aid that is permitted to enter is grossly inadequate,” Jenča said.
He also condemned the ongoing violence at food distribution sites, saying more than 1,200 Palestinians have been killed since the end of May while trying to access food and supplies.
Last week, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said 154 people including 89 children had died from a lack of food since October 2023.
UN agencies have warned there is man-made, mass starvation in Gaza, and reported at least 63 malnutrition-related deaths this month.
Israel has previously insisted there are no restrictions on aid deliveries and that there is “no starvation” in Gaza.
Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza in response to Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken to Gaza as hostages.
More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israel’s military campaign, according to the territory’s health ministry.
Livestreams of the Tomorrowland electronic music festival on TikTok drew more than 74 million unique viewers across two weekends, setting a new record for livestreaming viewership on the platform.
The latest figure marks a 362.5% jump from the 16 million viewers who watched the same festival on TikTok in 2023, according to TikTok data.
During the festival’s two-week run last month, content tagged with #Tomorrowland accumulated 2.4 billion views, while the festival’s official TikTok account added 1.9 million new followers, taking its total to 9.2 million.
ByteDance-owned TikTok operated a 24-hour livestream from multiple stages at the Belgian festival, including the MainStage, Freedom Stage and OneWorldRadio.
The platform also hosted DJs and producers at a Content Studio at the venue. Artists who participated in TikTok’s Tomorrowland livestream gained a combined 3 million followers and generated 580 million video views, TikTok said.
The surge comes as electronic music is among the most popular genres on TikTok. Content tagged with #electronicmusic has now reached 36 billion views on the platform. TikTok is Tomorrowland’s year-long Official Content Partner.
Michael Kümmerle, Global Head of Music Partnership Development at TikTok, said: “Electronic music is one of the biggest genres on TikTok, and Tomorrowland is a truly unique experience that showcases electronic music in all its glory. Thanks to the resilience and hard work of the entire Tomorrowland team, this year’s festival rose from the ashes to create unforgettable moments that will be remembered forever.
“This holistic global partnership has taken Tomorrowland on TikTok to a new level, making it one of the strongest music accounts on the platform.”
Michael Kümmerle, TikTok
“This holistic global partnership has taken Tomorrowland on TikTok to a new level, making it one of the strongest music accounts on the platform, and creating incredible impact, engagement and value – both on- and off-platform – for the artists participating in and supporting this amazing campaign. We look forward to creating many more incredible experiences with Tomorrowland as their official content partner.”
The most-viewed artists during the livestreams included Charlotte de Witte, who performed twice on the MainStage in a single day, and MartinGarrix, who headlined both weekends’ closing sets. AlanWalker — who created his track, Heartbreak Melody, during a songwriting camp hosted by Tomorrowland and TikTok’s distribution and promotion service SoundOn — was also among the most-watched artists on TikTok livestreams.
As MBW reported in January, Walker tapped TikTok-owned SoundOn to release his highly fifth studio album Walkerworld 2.0, and partnered with TikTok for an exclusive in-app experience and a livestream performance.
Meanwhile, Walker’s Heartbreak Melody accumulated 4 million streams within two weeks of release and became the most-saved track through TikTok’s ‘Add to Music App’ feature among festival performers at Tomorrowland. Another track, Same Thing by Ely Oaks and LAVINIA, reached 1 million streams in its first week.
“It was great to combine some of the very best SoundOn artists, DJs and producers with some amazing, fresh talent that we were working with for the first time.”
Nichal Sethi, SoundOn
The songs were created during SoundOn and Tomorrowland Music’s songwriting camp held in Brussels in July. The camp paired songwriters and producers with “some of the world’s best artists and DJs” to create new and original tracks specifically written for the festival.
TikTok hinted that more songs from the songwriter camp will drop in the coming weeks, including one from Pegassi,which is slated to be released on August 15.
Nichal Sethi, Head of SoundOn EMEA, said: “At SoundOn we love to bring creative ideas to life in partnership with artists and the industry, which is why we were so excited to work with Tomorrowland Music to make the songwriter camp a reality. It was great to combine some of the very best SoundOn artists, DJs and producers with some amazing, fresh talent that we were working with for the first time. Hearing the tracks played from the MainStage for the first time was incredible and they are already breaking records both on and off the platform.”
The livestreaming success comes as TikTok continues to expand its livestreaming offering. Over a week ago, TikTok announced a partnership with iHeartRadio on a live streaming singing competition. The Next up: Live Music competition promises to give unsigned artists a platform to reach more audiences.
Over a month ago, TikTok rolled out a new feature called LIVE Fan Club as the platform disclosed that 130 million creators worldwide now broadcast LIVE content daily on the platform.
These services come amid the booming creator economy. The global live streaming market reached $38.87 billion in 2022 and is expected to hit around $256.56 billion by 2032, according to data from Custom Market Insights.
Beyond regular creators, TikTok has also hosted livestream events for artists. In February 2021, JustinBieberperformed a LIVE concert on TikTok, which marked the first ever single-artist, full-length concert performance to air LIVE on the platform.
