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Trump’s phone call with Xi Jinping overshadowed by TikTok and tariffs

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Trump’s phone call with Xi Jinping overshadowed by TikTok and tariffs

President Donald Trump, who recently accused Xi Jinping of working to “conspire” against the United States, hopes to finalize the fate of video-sharing app TikTok and make progress on trade talks in a phone call with the Chinese leader on Friday.

“I’m speaking with President Xi, as you know, on Friday, having to do with TikTok, and also trade,” Trump said Thursday in an interview with Fox News.

“And we’re very close to deals on all of it. And my relationship with China is very good.”

The call will be the second between the two men since Trump returned to the White House in January, and the third since the start of the year.

On June 5, the U.S. president said Xi had invited him to visit China, and he issued a similar invitation for the Chinese leader to come to the United States.

So far, no travel plans have been made, but several analysts expect Xi to repeat his offer, especially knowing that Trump is always keen to be received with diplomatic fanfare.

TikTok

“Each leader will aim to signal that he has outmaneuvered the other” in trade talks focused on tariffs, Ali Wyne, an expert on U.S.-China relations at the International Crisis Group, predicted in a note.

The pair could settle the TikTok drama, after Trump repeatedly put off a ban under a law designed to force Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell its US operations for national security reasons.

Trump told reporters on Thursday that he hoped to “finalize something on TikTok.”

Under the deal, TikTok’s US business would be “owned by all American investors, and very rich people and companies,” Trump said.

He said he believes TikTok had boosted his appeal to younger voters and helped him win the 2024 election.

The president on Tuesday again pushed back applying a ban on the app, which had been decided under his predecessor Joe Biden.

The Wall Street Journal raised the possibility of a consortium to control TikTok that would include tech giant Oracle and two California investment funds—Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz.

Tariffs

The telephone talks come as the world’s two biggest economies seek to find a compromise on tariffs.

Both sides dramatically hiked tariffs against each other during a months-long dispute earlier this year, disrupting global supply chains.

Washington and Beijing then reached a deal to reduce levies, which expires in November, with the United States imposing 30 percent duties on imports of Chinese goods and China hitting US products with a 10 percent tariff.

The phone meeting also comes after Xi organized a major summit this month with the leaders of Russia and India—and invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to observe a major military parade in Beijing.

“Please give my warmest regards to (Russian President) Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un as you conspire against the United States of America,” Trump wrote to Xi on his Truth Social platform.

The US leader slammed India with punitive tariffs for its oil purchases from Moscow, and has called on European countries to sanction China for buying Russian oil, though Washington has not itself sanctioned Beijing.

“If they did that on China, I think the war (in Ukraine) would maybe end,” Trump told Fox News.

Caroline Mallard, Summer Juniors Champion and Highly Ranked Recruit, Commits to Purdue for 2026

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Caroline Mallard, Summer Juniors Champion and Highly Ranked Recruit, Commits to Purdue for 2026

By Anya Pelshaw on SwimSwam

Fitter and Faster Swim Camps is the proud sponsor of SwimSwam’s College Recruiting Channel and all commitment news. For many, swimming in college is a lifelong dream that is pursued with dedication and determination. Fitter and Faster is proud to honor these athletes and those who supported them on their journey.

Caroline Mallard from Charlotte, North Carolina has announced her commitment to continue her academic and athletic careers at Purdue beginning in fall 2026. Mallard is a “Best of the Rest” ranked recruit for the girls high school class of 2026.

“I am incredibly excited and honored to announce my verbal commitment to continue my athletic and academic career at Purdue University! I am so thankful to God for His guidance and blessings during this process! I want to thank my parents, coaches, and friends for all of their support. I’d also like to thank Coach John and Coach Nicole for giving me this amazing opportunity! BOILER UP!!”

Mallard swims for SwimMAC out of Charlotte and most recently competed at Summer Juniors. There she swam to a Junior National Title with a 2:10.05 in the 200 fly, a lifetime best. She also was highlighted by a 2nd place finish in the 100 fly with a 59.61 which was just off her lifetime best 59.47 that she swam at Sectionals in Indianapolis back in March.

This past February, Mallard represented Charlotte Country Day at the NCISAA Division I State Championship. She swam to a state title in the 100 fly posting a lifetime best 53.34. She also was 2nd in the 50 free in a 23.30.

Mallard’s Best SCY Times Are:

  • 100 fly: 52.79
  • 200 fly: 1:57.79
  • 50 free: 23.17
  • 100 free: 50.04

The Purdue women finished 8th out of 14 teams at the 2025 Big Ten Championships. The top four scorers for the team were divers while Abby Marcukaitis led in the pool with 23 individual points.

Based on her best times, Mallard is a huge pick up for the Purdue women. Her best time in the 200 fly would have been on the border of the Big Ten ‘A’ and ‘B’ final as it took a 1:57.32 to make the ‘A’ final. Purdue had one ‘A’ finalist in the event as Campbell Scofield finished 7th in a 1:57.25.

In addition to her 200 fly, Mallard’s best time in the 100 fly would also already score at Big Tens as it would have made the ‘B’ final. Purdue scored zero points in the 100 fly at Big Tens so Mallard has the potential to fill a gap there and be a relay boost as well as Keira Kask split a 53.60 fly split on the team’s 400 medley relay that finished 8th.

Mallard will arrive next fall as a member of the class of 2030 along with Alayna Riggins and Alexic Peltcs. Riggins is also a butterflyer with a best time of a 53.99 in the 100.

If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to Recruits@swimswam.com.

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Read the full story on SwimSwam: Summer Juniors Champion, BOTR Ranked Recruit Caroline Mallard Commits To Purdue For 2026

Ig Nobel Prize 2023 Honors Unusual Scientific Research

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Ig Nobel Prize 2023 Honors Unusual Scientific Research

Following on from last year’s 34th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at MIT, the 35th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize night took place at Boston University on September 18, celebrating real research with delightfully sideways investigative questions – and unexpectedly useful answers.

Theme of the night: digestion, and the proceedings even featured a mini-opera called The Plight of the Gastroenterologist, about – not surprisingly – gut specialists and their patients. You can watch the entire Ig Nobel Prize ceremony below, or skip ahead to read the winners for 2025. From pizza-eating lizards to tipsy bats, these winners capture the heart of science: curious minds following wonderfully weird paths to answer questions most of us would never think to ask.

The 35th First Annual Ig Nobel Ceremony (2025) FULL SHOW

Literature Prize – US (1980)

One fingernail, 35 years, a lifetime of data. The late physician William B. Bean measured a single thumbnail’s growth from his early 30s into his late 60s, publishing progress reports in 1953, 1962, 1968, 1974, 1976 and 1980. The numbers showed growth slows with age and his long study documented how disease, temperature and hand use can nudge nail biology. It’s obsessively simple science that aged into a tiny classic.

Psychology Prize – Poland, Australia, Canada (2021)

Tell people they’re smart, watch narcissism rise – briefly. Marcin Zajenkowski and Gilles Gignac gave 364 people flattering IQ-related feedback and tracked changes in narcissism levels. The compliments resulted in a temporary spike in feelings of uniqueness and specialness, demonstrating how praise can inflate ego in the short term – even outside clinical narcissism. The study was published in 2021.

Nutrition Prize – Nigeria, Togo, Italy, France (2023)

Are lizards pizza fiends at heart? At a seaside resort in Togo, Daniele Dendi, Gabriel H. Segniagbeto, Roger Meek and Luca Luiselli studied nine rainbow lizards (Agama agama) given the choice between a four-cheese pizza and a pizza loaded with toppings, then documented the reptiles’ foraging strategies. The point of the study wasn’t to assess whether the animals thought pineapple belonged on pizza or not; it was to investigate how urban and tourist settings – where calorie-dense food scraps abound – impacted wildlife diets and affected animal behavior and health.

Pediatrics Prize – US (1991)

Garlic in, garlic out – and babies can tell. Back in 1991, Julie Mennella and Gary Beauchamp fed nursing mothers garlic, then had infants feed while observers recorded behavior. The breast milk changed aroma, and babies adjusted feeding – some even nursed longer – showing that flavors from a mother’s diet carry into milk and could shape early taste learning. On the plus side, no vampires were detected in the baby cohort.

Biology Prize – Japan (2020)

Paint cows like zebras, get fewer bites. A team led by Tomoki Kojima painted black-and-white stripes on cattle, then counted biting flies and fly-repelling behaviors (tail flicks, skin twitches) versus unpainted controls. Result: Significantly fewer fly landings and less defensive shivering on the striped cows – making this absurd disguise an elegant, low-tech pest hack. (Incidentally, this study was cited in one of my animal signaling behavior classes in 2022.)

Chemistry Prize – USA, Israel (2016)

The “Teflon diet” that is emphatically not a diet. Rotem Naftalovich, Daniel Naftalovich and Frank Greenway proposed ingesting small, nondigestible PTFE (Teflon) pellets to bulk up meal volume and increase satiety without calories, testing the idea in lab models and even patenting the approach two years later. It’s polymer chemistry meets appetite science – and a perfect Ig recipient: Memorable, discussion-sparking and comes with a “don’t try this at home” recommendation.

Peace Prize – Netherlands, UK, Germany (2018)

The benefits of hitting Duolingo while buzzed. Fritz Renner, Inge Kersbergen, Matt Field and Jessica Werthmann conducted a controlled experiment in which 50 German students learning Dutch were given either water or vodka before conversing with native Dutch speakers. The Dutch audience – blinded to who had received which drink – ultimately judged the alcohol group more fluent, most likely because mild alcohol reduces anxiety. You could say it gave the Germans, quite literally, Dutch courage.

Engineering Design Prize – India (2022)

When shoe stink ruins a perfectly good rack. Vikash Kumar and Sarthak Mittal treated smelly shoes as an engineering-experience problem: How does odor undermine the “good experience” of a shoe rack, and could better design nix the stink? Tough gig, but nonetheless some admiral research into how engineering could improve life’s least glamorous storage unit.

Aviation Prize – Colombia, Israel, Argentina, Germany, UK, Italy, USA, Portugal, Spain (2010)

Tipsy bats fly worse and echolocate poorly. Francisco Sánchez, Mariana Melcón, Carmi Korine, and Berry Pinshow found that feeding Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) ethanol – the kind they’d encounter in overripe fruit – impaired flight control and dampened echolocation performance. A neat reminder that animals navigating on the edge of physics can be thrown off course by a boozy session – much like humans stumbling home from the bar.

Physics Prize – Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria (2025)

Why your cacio e pepe clumps. Giacomo Bartolucci, Daniel Maria Busiello, Matteo Ciarchi, Alberto Corticelli, Ivan Di Terlizzi, Fabrizio Olmeda, Davide Revignas and Vincenzo Maria Schimmenti analyzed the phase behavior of pasta sauce, mapping how protein/fat interactions and temperature swings can quickly take your noodles from flawless to failure. They identified, through physics, the surefire way to keep it silky. Now that’s some useful science.

You can catch up on past winners of the Ig Nobel Prize – the contest that celebrates the quirkier side of serious research – here, here, here and here.

Source: Improbable Research

Ukrainian man sentenced to life in Bali court for operating illegal drugs laboratory

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Ukrainian man sentenced to life in Bali court for operating illegal drugs laboratory

Authorities say Russians and Ukrainians are collaborating to form crime rings on Indonesia’s most famous holiday island.

Published On 19 Sep 2025

An Indonesian court has sentenced a Ukrainian man to life in prison for his role in a large-scale Russian-Ukrainian drug ring operating on the tourist island of Bali.

Thai authorities arrested Roman Nazarenko, who was listed as a fugitive by Interpol, at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport in December as he attempted to flee to Dubai, then extradited him to Indonesia.

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Nazarenko had spent seven months on the run after police raided a holiday villa in Bali in May 2024, finding a laboratory in the basement used to grow marijuana and produce a precursor of the synthetic drug ecstasy.

During Nazarenko’s trial at Denpasar District Court on Thursday, prosecutors argued he was one of the masterminds of a drug ring.

The Ukrainian claimed he was tricked into joining the ring and sat silently as the panel of three judges handed down a life sentence.

“There is no reason to forgive or justify the defendant; he deserves to be punished commensurate with what he has done,” presiding Judge Eni Martiningrum said.

“His crime could damage the mental state of the young generation.”

Marthinus Hukom, the head of Indonesia’s National Narcotics Agency, said there is a growing issue of Russians and Ukrainians collaborating in crime rings on Indonesia’s most famous holiday island.

“This is a very unique phenomenon,” Hukom said.

“Two countries that are at war, but here in Bali, their citizens are partners in crime, engaging in illicit drug trafficking.”

Authorities also arrested two Ukrainian brothers, Mykyta Volovod and Ivan Volovod, and a Russian man, Konstantin Krutz, during the earlier raid on the villa. The same court sentenced each of the men to 20 years in prison.

Prosecutors argued that the Volovod brothers were the drug producers, while Krutz sold their product.

Prosecutors have also identified a Russian man, Oleg Tkachuck, who they believe to be the drug ring’s overall mastermind. He remains at large.

According to the Volovod brothers, Tkachuck paid them $30,000 in September 2023 to install equipment at the villa to produce hydroponic marijuana and mephedrone – used in the production of ecstasy pills.

According to prosecutors, Nazarenko recruited the other convicted men for Tkachuck, as well as provided equipment and marijuana seeds, and oversaw operations of the lab.

Nazarenko argued in court that he had been tricked by Tkachuck and expressed remorse for his role in the drug operation.

Indonesia has some of the strictest drug laws in the region, with drug smugglers sometimes executed by firing squad.

Bali, meanwhile, has become a magnet for thousands of people from Russia and Ukraine fleeing the horrors of war since President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion in early 2022.

Russian visitors, in particular, more than tripled between 2022 and 2024 – growing from 57,860 to 180,215 last year.

Jules Parker appointed as Chief Business Officer at MusicInfra following successful second funding round

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Jules Parker appointed as Chief Business Officer at MusicInfra following successful second funding round

Music Infrastructure Company, or MusicInfra, has appointed Jules Parker, former Global Head of Songwriter and Publisher Partnerships at Spotify, as its Chief Business Officer.

Parker joins the New York City-based music rights startup after nearly nine years at Spotify, where he created and led the streaming platform’s global songwriter and publisher partnerships division.

During his tenure at Spotify, Parker oversaw the launch of several songwriter-focused initiatives including Songwriter Pages, Written By playlists, clickable song credits, Noteable and Spotify Songwriting marketing channels, Songwriter Wrapped, and the Spotify for Publishing analytics portal.

MusicInfra made the announcement on Thursday (September 18) as it closed its second funding round led by MiddleGame Ventures, with participation from existing investors Raine, Snö Ventures and UTA Ventures. The company did not disclose the size of the round, though sources indicate it was likely in the high seven figures.

MiddleGame Ventures, which led the financing, specializes in early-stage fintech companies working to digitize global payment systems. The firm invests from seed through Series B in companies.

“This funding round from MiddleGame Ventures, alongside the continuing support from our existing investors Raine, Snö Ventures and UTA Ventures, validates our mission and accelerates our ability to build critical infrastructure for the music industry.”

Björn Lindvall, MusicInfra

The investment comes as MusicInfra, which operates teams across the US, Europe and Latin America, is building what it describes as a “global clearinghouse” for music rights. The platform aims to help digital streaming services, rightsholders and collecting societies navigate licensing agreements.

Commenting on the new funding, Lindvall said: “This funding round from MiddleGame Ventures, alongside the continuing support from our existing investors Raine, Snö Ventures and UTA Ventures, validates our mission and accelerates our ability to build critical infrastructure for the music industry.”

Parker joins MusicInfra’s leadership team that includes Hipgnosis co-founder Björn Lindvall as CEO, former YouTube head of publishing partner engineering Greg Quillard as Chief Technology and Product Officer, YouTube alumni Ryan Seay as VP of Product, Joe DiPalo as VP of Operations, former Meta music GC Aileen Atkins as Head of Partnerships, and engineers from Gracenote and Google.

Lindvall said: “Our team brings together decades of experience building the systems that power today’s music ecosystem, and with this investment and the team’s collective expertise, we’re perfectly positioned to positively impact some of the industry’s most persistent challenges and help improve the music landscape for all participants.

“We are also excited about Jules joining MusicInfra, bringing his deep and far reaching music and tech experience, at a time when our company is accelerating fast and gaining scale.”

The new developments at MusicInfra come amid the wave of deals in the music rights space. Earlier this month, New York-headquartered Reservoir Media acquired Miles Davis’ music publishing catalog. Reservoir will also partner with the late Jazz icon’s estate on name and likeness opportunities.

Last month, fresh from having raised $500 million for music rights acquisitions, GoldState Music acquired the catalog of Grammy-nominated producer and entrepreneur Yung Lan, best-known for hits including Fetty Wap’s RGF Island, Morgan Wallen’s Cowgirls and Girl Gone Missin’, Lil Uzi Vert’s That Way, Roddy Ricch’s Boom Boom Boom and Bacc Seat feat. Ty Dolla $ign, and NBA YoungBoy‘s Renada and Nurse.

Other deals in the music rights space over the past few months are Hopeless Records’ purchase of the catalog of indie label Fat Wreck Chords, home of NOFX and other influential punk bands; Pythagors Music Fund’s acquisition of rock producer Kevin Shirley; Create Music Group’s purchase of the catalog of Pack Records; and Reservoir’s acquisition of the publishing catalog of Lastrada Entertainment.

Music Business Worldwide

The Implications of Jimmy Kimmel’s Removal from Airwaves on Freedom of Speech in the United States

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The Implications of Jimmy Kimmel’s Removal from Airwaves on Freedom of Speech in the United States

TV host Jimmy Kimmel has been pulled off air indefinitely after comments he made about the shooting of Charlie Kirk, ABC has said.

The decision came hours after Brendan Carr, chair of broadcast regulator, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), said Jimmy Kimmel was “appearing to directly mislead the American public”.

Leading Democrats call Kimmel’s suspension an attack on free speech and “an abuse of power”, while US President Donald Trump welcomed it as “great news for America”.

The BBC’s analysis editor Ros Atkins examines the role of the FCC and Trump in the decision to suspend the show.

Video produced by Michael Cox

Challenging Client Situation

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Challenging Client Situation



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Options for Gazans’ Future – The New York Times

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Options for Gazans’ Future – The New York Times

new video loaded: Where Will Gazans Go?

By Josh Holder, Laura Salaberry, Christina Thornell and Nikolay Nikolov•

Josh Holder of The New York Times, who has been using satellite images to track the destruction in Gaza, describes how there are few viable places to flee.

Asian markets set to finish strong week as central banks meet, Nikkei reaches all-time high

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Asian markets set to finish strong week as central banks meet, Nikkei reaches all-time high

Asian shares to end big central bank week with gains, Nikkei hits record

Russia-Ukraine War: A Recap of Major Events on Day 1,303 | Latest Updates on the Conflict

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Russia-Ukraine War: A Recap of Major Events on Day 1,303 | Latest Updates on the Conflict

Here are the key events on day 1,303 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Published On 19 Sep 2025

Here is how things stand on Friday, September 19 :

Fighting

  • Ukrainian drones hit a key oil-processing and petrochemical complex in Russia’s Bashkortostan region, as well as an oil refinery in the Volgograd region, as Ukraine escalates its campaign against Russia’s extensive oil and gas sector.
  • Russian military units claim to have breached Ukraine’s western village of Yampol and secured new positions near five residential areas in the same area, according to Russia’s state TASS news agency.
  • Russia’s Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov has claimed Russia is gaining ground in “almost all directions” along the front lines with Ukraine.
  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insisted that Russian losses have mounted in the eastern city of Pokrovsk amid Ukraine’s “heroic defence” of the area.
  • Latvian authorities identified debris from a Russian drone found on the Baltic coast, near the country’s port city of Ventspils. Latvia’s Defence Minister Andris Spruds wrote on X that the object was the tail end of a “decoy” Gerbera drone and confirmed it was not explosive.

Regional security

  • The United States Department of State has approved the sale of Javelin missile systems to Poland for an estimated $780m. The deal would “support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by improving the security of a NATO ally”, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said.
  • Ukraine has agreed to train Polish soldiers and engineers in drone warfare defence. The announcement came a week after Polish and NATO forces shot down more than 20 drones violating the country’s airspace during a Russian aerial attack on neighbouring Ukraine.
  • The European Commission’s Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said he plans to convene talks with defence ministers next week on creating a “drone wall” along the European Union’s eastern border, a concept that was already under discussion before the most recent incidents of Russian drone incursions in EU airspace.
  • Ukrainian anti-drone technology, battle-tested against Russia, was on display at a Taiwanese defence expo this week.

Peace process

  • US President Donald Trump said in a Fox News interview that he was “very disappointed” with Russian President Vladimir Putin over his failure to secure a peace deal in Ukraine.
  • “The one I thought was going to be easiest [to settle] was going to be Russia-Ukraine, because of my relationship with President Putin. So I’m disappointed,” Trump said.
  • In the same interview, Trump proclaimed the US would play a role in post-war peace-building in Ukraine. “After the war is settled, we would help secure the peace. And I think ultimately that’ll happen,” he said.
  • Trump said in another joint news conference, after meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, that President Putin “has really let me down”.
  • During the meeting, Trump and Starmer discussed ways to increase defence support for Ukraine and “decisively” put pressure on Putin to agree to a peace deal, Starmer said.
  • Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov took a swipe at Trump in response, according to TASS: “When President Trump says he is disappointed, it seems to me – I can’t say that I know him very well, of course, but I have spoken with him several times, and I have formed a certain impression – that this is partly because he wants quick solutions”.

Politics and diplomacy

  • President Zelenskyy said he had spoken with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and thanked him on X for “assistance in returning Ukrainian children abducted by Russia”. In another post, he thanked the United Kingdom’s King Charles for “steadfast support” after the king referenced Ukraine during a dinner with Trump on Wednesday.

Economy and energy

  • Russia’s Ministry of Finance announced a new measure to help protect the state budget from oil price fluctuations and Western sanctions as Russian oil and gas sales for September are expected to see a 23 percent reduction compared with last year, the Reuters news agency reports.
  • Putin suggested he was willing to raise taxes on the wealthy, such as imposing a luxury tax or higher taxes on stock dividends, to boost Russia’s wartime economy.

Sanctions

  • The European Commission is slated to present its 19th package of sanctions against Russia to member states on Friday, which includes a proposal to ban Russian liquefied natural gas, an official said.
  • Australia announced new sanctions against 95 “shadow fleet” Russian vessels, which are oil tankers used to evade Western sanctions. The government also lowered the price cap for Russian oil to $47.60 per barrel, down from $60 a barrel, following a similar move by the EU, the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Japan.

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