As the weekend deadline for TikTok to find a buyer approaches, bidders for the short-video social media site are piling up.

Amazon and, separately, a consortium led by OnlyFans founder Tim Stokely are the latest to throw their hats into the ring for TikTok. The site faces an Apr 5 deadline to reach a deal to find a non-Chinese buyer under threat of being banned from the United States.

US officials have raised security concerns over the app’s ties to China, which TikTok and owner ByteDance have denied. Trump administration officials are meeting on Wednesday (Apr 2) to discuss the various options for TikTok.

Startup Zoop, which is run by Stokely, founder of adult content social media site OnlyFans, has partnered with a cryptocurrency foundation to submit a late-stage plan to bid for TikTok, the two told Reuters Wednesday.

A US administration official confirmed Amazon had sent a letter to Vice President JD Vance and Department of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Amazon declined to comment, while TikTok and ByteDance did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Shares of Amazon rose about 2 percent following news of the last-minute TikTok bid.

Amazon has long harbored ambitions for an in-house social media network that could help it sell more goods and appeal to a younger audience. It bought live video site Twitch in 2014 for nearly US$1 billion and book review site Goodreads in 2013 as part of its efforts to build a viable social network.

Amazon also developed and tested a TikTok-like short-form video and photo feed called Inspire that it shuttered earlier this year.

SECURITY COOPERATION

In his speech, Mr Lee also touched on the transformation of bilateral ties between Singapore and Japan since World War II, from a painful wartime past to pragmatic post-war economic collaboration.

However, Mr Lee said that the topic of security cooperation between the two countries has been a sensitive one for many years due to this history.

“For the generation who had lived through (World War II) and the occupation, in many countries in East and Southeast Asia, that was a bridge too far,” he added.

This was the reason why in the 1977 Fukuda doctrine, Japan rejected a military power role despite the ability to rearm and produce nuclear weapons, Mr Lee said. 

Even in 1991, when Japan sent minesweepers overseas to support coalition forces in the Gulf War, many Asians “were uneasy”.

But Mr Lee noted that things have changed with time, and the current generations do not “carry the same emotional scars” from the war.

The Japanese people today also hold different social and political values compared to those before the war, and the country’s successive prime ministers have also sought to build trust with the rest of Asia through words and actions over the years, Mr Lee said. 

“Successive Japanese governments have also taken deliberate steps to explain Japan’s security posture, and to show sensitivity to historical concerns,” said Mr Lee.

On the current global situation, Mr Lee noted that there are now three nuclear powers in the Asia Pacific, excluding North Korea.

There is also “intense rivalry” between the United States and China, as well as tensions in the Taiwan Strait, East China Sea and South China Sea, said Mr Lee.

“This has shifted attitudes in Southeast Asia and caused countries to rethink their policies on security cooperation with Japan.”

Amazon.com has put in a last-minute bid to buy TikTok, a US administration official said on Wednesday (Apr 2), just days ahead of an Apr 5 deadline for the short-form video app to find a non-Chinese buyer or face a ban in the country.

US President Donald Trump is expected to discuss TikTok’s fate at an Oval Office meeting on Wednesday and consider a final proposal related to the app, a White House official told Reuters on Tuesday.

Amazon declined to comment, while TikTok and its parent company ByteDance did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. Shares of Amazon rose 1.3 percent in a volume spike after the report.

The US tech and e-commerce giant is the latest name to pop up in a list of reported buyers. Trump said last month that his administration was in touch with four different groups about the sale of the platform, without identifying them.

Private equity firm Blackstone is discussing joining ByteDance’s existing non-Chinese shareholders, led by Susquehanna International Group and General Atlantic, in contributing fresh capital to bid for TikTok’s US business, Reuters reported last week.

US venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is also in talks to add new outside investment that will buyout TikTok’s Chinese investors, as part of a bid led by Oracle and other American investors to carve it out of ByteDance, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

HUMANITARIAN RELIEF FLOW IN

International relief has been pouring into the nation, ever since the ruling military government issued a rare plea for help last week.

Rescue teams, paramedics, and millions of dollars in aid have arrived from far and wide, including China, India, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member. 

Tents, blankets, medicine, hygiene kits and food packets are among emergency supplies that have been sent to the country.

Humanitarian agencies said access to sanitation and hygiene is becoming increasingly challenging, with clean water in short supply. 

Mandalay resident Kathy Oo said: “It is a huge problem. I don’t know where I can shower. Even if I go to a friend’s place, there is no water or electricity.” 

With monsoon rains expected to hit in weeks, the United Nations has warned of a risk of disease outbreaks such as cholera and malaria. 

FRANTIC AID

AFP journalists saw frantic scenes as hundreds of desperate people scrambled for aid distribution in Sagaing, the city closest to the epicentre of the quake, with some running through traffic to join the queues.

Volunteers handed out water, rice, cooking oil and other basic supplies to residents clamouring for assistance.

“I have never queued for food like this before. I can’t express how worried I am. I don’t know what to say,” Cho Cho Mar, 35, carrying her baby and clutching instant coffee packs and mosquito repellent, told AFP.

Destruction in the city is widespread, with the World Health Organization (WHO) reporting that one in three houses have collapsed, and five days after the quake locals complained of a lack of help.

Aye Thi Kar, 63, head of a school for young nuns razed to the ground by the tremors, said food supplies were low but shelter was a bigger priority – along with nets to ward off mosquitos in the stifling tropical heat.

Many people have been sleeping in the streets since the quake hit, unable to return to damaged buildings or fearful of aftershocks.

“Right now we need roofing and walls to have proper shelter for the night,” she told AFP.

“We also need nets and blankets for sleeping, as we don’t want to sleep directly on the ground.”

Healthcare facilities, damaged by the quake and with limited capacity, are “overwhelmed by a large number of patients”, while supplies of food, water and medicine are running low, WHO said in an update.

Hopes of finding more survivors are fading, but there were moments of joy on Wednesday as two men were pulled alive from the ruins of a hotel in the capital Naypyidaw.

ALMATY: Kazakhstan discovered its largest deposit of rare earth metals, containing around one million tonnes of the elements that are seen as vital for the future economy, the Central Asian country said on Wednesday (Apr 2).

Rare earths comprise 17 raw materials that are essential for the green energy transition and highly sought by the likes of China, Russia, the United States and Europe.

“As of today, this is the largest rare earths deposit” in Kazakhstan, a spokesperson for the industry ministry told AFP.

The deposit – in central Kazakhstan’s Karaganda region – contains cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, and yttrium, they said.

The announcement of the find comes on the eve of the first EU-Central Asia summit, kicking off in Uzbekistan.

The EU, Russia, China and Turkey are among those vying for influence in the resource-rich region.

The summit will bring together the leaders of the five Central Asian countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council Antonio Costa.

The prospective amount of resources at the new site – dubbed “New Kazakhstan” – could rise to more than 20 million tonnes, Kazakhstan’s industry ministry forecast, subject to verification and additional research.

“This could put Kazakhstan among the world’s top countries with rare earth deposits in the future,” the ministry added.

The EU, which aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, is interested in rare metals and natural resources in the region.

Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic, does not have the technology required to exploit its rare earth deposits and is also courting foreign investment.

“ABYSS OF MISERY”

Wednesday’s drills in the strait came a day after China sent its army, navy, air and rocket forces to surround Taiwan, prompting Taipei to dispatch its own air and maritime forces.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said there was no live-fire near the island on Wednesday.

By early afternoon, 36 Chinese aircraft, 21 warships and 10 coast guard boats had been detected around Taiwan.

That compares with Tuesday’s count of 21 warships, 71 aircraft and four coast guard vessels.

China’s Eastern Theater Command kept up its propaganda on Wednesday, posting a “Paralysing Strikes” poster on its Weibo account, showing Chinese forces surrounding Taiwan and firing missiles at the island.

“Pursuing Taiwan independence will only endanger Taiwan and plunge Taiwan compatriots into an abyss of misery,” said Chinese Ministry of Defence spokesman Zhang Xiaogang in a statement Wednesday.

Major General Meng Xiangqing, professor at the PLA National Defence University, warned more drills could follow this week’s exercises.

“As long as Taiwan independence separatists dare to cross the line, the PLA will definitely act,” Meng told state broadcaster CCTV.

“ROBUST” DETERRENCE

Beijing has ramped up military pressure on Taiwan in recent years and held multiple large-scale exercises around the island that are often described as rehearsals for a blockade and seizure of the territory.

Tensions have escalated since Lai took office in May 2024 and adopted tougher rhetoric than his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen in defending the island’s sovereignty.

While Taiwan sees itself as sovereign, most nations, including the United States, do not recognise its claim to statehood and instead have formal diplomatic ties with China.

Last month, Lai called China a “foreign hostile force” and proposed 17 measures to combat growing Chinese espionage and infiltration.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed “robust, ready and credible deterrence” in the strait during a visit to the region last week.

Taipei analyst Wen-Ti Sung said China was using “stress test after stress test” to gauge the strength of US support for Taiwan and other allies in the region.

“China is creating occasion after occasion for the Trump administration to publicly show how its support … is weaker or more conditional than in years past,” Sung told AFP.

Beijing was also trying to paint Lai as “the provocateur” to get what it wants on Taiwan from Washington, including reduced US support, Eurasia Group’s Amanda Hsiao said.

The United States is legally bound to provide arms to Taiwan, but Washington has long maintained “strategic ambiguity” when it comes to whether it would deploy its military to defend the island from a Chinese attack.

A senior Taiwanese security official told AFP the drills were also aimed at “keeping troops out of their barracks to prevent unrest and speculation” following recent personnel purges in China’s military.

“COULDN’T CARE LESS”

Major economies including the European Union and Canada have vowed retaliation.

“We are going to be very deliberate in terms of the measures we take, to fight for Canada,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Tuesday.

The European Union, which Trump has accused of trying to “screw” the United States, said Tuesday it still hoped to negotiate a solution – but that “all instruments are on the table” to retaliate.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with Trump on “productive negotiations” towards a trade deal between the US and the United Kingdom. Vietnam said on Tuesday that it would slash duties on a range of goods to appease Trump.

Meanwhile, other top exporters are seeking to build up alliances to counter Washington, with China, Japan and South Korea speeding up talks on a free trade agreement.

Mexico lowered its 2025 growth forecast on Tuesday, citing tensions with its largest trading partner.

Speculation about what Trump has in store has been stoking uncertainty on trading floors.

And HSBC strategists led by Max Kettner warned that Wednesday’s announcement might not end the tariff uncertainty.

“We’d argue the potential is in fact higher for the Apr 2 deadline to introduce even more uncertainty – and hence prolonged broad-based weakness in leading indicators,” they said.

The former property tycoon insists the levies will bring a “rebirth” of America’s hollowed-out manufacturing capacity, and says companies can avoid tariffs by moving to the United States.

Sweeping auto tariffs of 25 per cent are also due to come into effect on Thursday.

A 25 per cent tariff on steel and aluminium from around the world came into effect in mid-March.

China was hit in March with an additional 20 per cent tariff on all goods, triggering retaliatory duties from Beijing. The EU has unveiled its own measures to start mid-April.

SUBANG JAYA, Selangor: On the second day of Hari Raya on Tuesday (Apr 1), Zainab Manap was at her home in Kampung Kuala Sungai Baru, Puchong, when a massive blast shattered the festive calm. 

Initially, she mistook the deafening sound for a plane crash. Little did she know, this terrifying noise was the explosion of a gas pipeline, an event that would soon capture international attention. 

Zainab and her family, including her three grandchildren, managed to escape in their car, driven by one of her sons.

“I don’t know the condition of my house but I can only hope that it is fine. It was supposed to be a time of celebration but this incident occurred instead,” she told CNA.

At the time of writing, she still hasn’t been able to go back to her home as the authorities deem it unsafe to do so.

She was speaking to CNA at the Putra Heights mosque, a temporary sanctuary for victims of the incident, where a palpable mix of despondency, relief, and frustration hung in the air as residents rested in the tents set up for them.

For Zainab, this is not the first time she has faced adversity. She said that in December 2021, her house had been inundated by heavy flooding, with the house rebuilt after that.

“I think this is a bigger test than the floods but one that we have to accept is from God. There were some people who were burned by the flames so I have reason to be thankful,” she added.

Zainab and other residents affected by the huge blaze that erupted in Selangor’s Putra Heights face an anxious wait on when they can return home, not knowing what’s left of their possessions or the extent of the challenging rebuilding effort that lies ahead.

The police had said earlier in the day that 235 premises in total were affected by the fire while 399 vehicles were damaged. 

South Korean police have beefed up security in areas around the court, preparing to deploy all forces from midnight into the ruling day on Friday.

The acting chief for the national police force, Lee Ho-young, said the area around the court would be turned into a “vacuum state” to restrict access and cordon off pro- and anti-Yoon rallies to prevent any potential clashes.

Vowing to act sternly against any violence, Lee said police will arrest those who vandalise facilities, threaten justices or assault police officers.

In January, hundreds of Yoon supporters stormed a court building after his detention was extended, smashing windows and breaking inside.

Han has directed police to step up security for constitutional court justices.

Amid deepening political strife, opposition parties brought a motion to impeach finance minister Choi Sang-mok in parliament on Wednesday.

Cho was the second acting president and had angered opposition parties that have a commanding majority in parliament by repeatedly vetoing bills and not appointing a Constitutional justice approved by the assembly.

The opposition parties are however likely to hold off voting on Choi’s impeachment bill before Yoon’s ruling.

Bracing for big rallies and a heavy police presence on the ruling day, foreign embassies have issued alerts calling for extra caution.

The United States embassy in Seoul said on Wednesday that it would cancel routine consular operations like visa interviews on the afternoon of Apr 3 and all day on Apr 4.

The Chinese embassy has told its nationals to stay away from large political protests and not to participate in those rallies.