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The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 16th that the sale of the Chinese video platform TikTok’s US unit is imminent, and the new entity will be structured so that US investors will own about 80% of the stake and Chinese shareholders will own the remainder. Sources said that TikTok’s US operations are expected to be controlled by a consortium of investors including US software and cloud infrastructure companies Oracle, Silver Lake, and Andreessen Horowitz.

Silver Lake is a private equity firm, and Andreessen Horowitz is a venture capital firm with a long history of investing in the technology industry. Existing ByteDance investors, including US investment firms Susquehanna International, KKR, and General Atlantic, will own an 80% stake in the new TikTok entity. Chinese shareholders’ stakes will be reduced to less than 20% under a law passed in the US last year. The agreement was reached during US-China negotiations held in Madrid, Spain this week.

The previous day, US President Donald Trump announced on the social media platform TruthSocial that an agreement had been reached regarding the TikTok sale, and Treasury Secretary Scott Besant also said that after completing negotiations with China, they had agreed on a framework for TikTok, saying, “The framework will transform TikTok into a US-controlled ownership structure.” The new entity will also have a US-centric board of directors, including one director appointed by the US government.

Existing US users will be asked to switch to a new app that TikTok is developing and testing, and engineers will build a new recommendation algorithm licensed from TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance. According to CNBC, Oracle will retain its cloud contract even if TikTok’s US operations are sold. Sources said the agreement currently under discussion includes a provision for TikTok to retain its cloud contract, and the deal could close within 30 to 45 days.

The source added that TikTok’s new ownership structure will include new investors as well as those from parent company ByteDance.

Oracle has been TikTok’s primary cloud infrastructure provider in the US for years, and TikTok was an early major customer of Oracle Cloud. The two companies also collaborated on Project Texas, which aims to securely manage TikTok’s US user data by separating it from ByteDance’s operations.

TikTok needed to expand its US infrastructure after facing congressional investigations into its ties to China, and chose Oracle, founded by Republican Larry Ellison, to do so. TikTok announced that it would process all of its US user traffic through Oracle servers by 2022.Ellison is known as a longtime Republican supporter, and President Trump has expressed support for Ellison’s acquisition of TikTok’s US operations.”

Removing the risk of losing revenue from TikTok will be beneficial for Oracle,” Evercore ISI analyst Kirk Materne wrote in a report. “A potential resolution of the TikTok ownership issue could be another catalyst for the stock price to rise.”

Oracle’s stock closed 1.49% on the New York Stock Exchange on the news that it would maintain its contract with TikTok. The stock also rose more than 5% during the day.

Oracle’s stock price surged 36% the following day, its biggest jump in 33 years, after the company announced in its quarterly earnings report on the 9th that its cloud backlog reached $455 billion, 2.5 times the market’s expectations.

The thinnest iPhone ever released was unveiled on the 9th.Apple held its annual product launch event at the Steve Jobs Theatre in Apple Park, Cupertino, California, and unveiled new products, including the latest smartphone series, the iPhone 17 lineup. The iPhone series has traditionally consisted of four models: the basic model, the Plus, and the higher-end Pro and Pro Max. This year, a new model, the iPhone Air, was unveiled in place of the Plus model.

The iPhone Air is the thinnest iPhone ever, measuring just 5.6mm thick. It’s more than 2mm thinner than the 7.8mm of its predecessor, the iPhone 16 Series Plus. It’s also thinner than the Galaxy S25 Edge (5.8mm thick, 163g), released by Samsung Electronics in May.

Apple hasn’t officially revealed the weight of the iPhone Air, but a representative said it weighs 165g.Apple stated, “We wanted to create an iPhone that feels like it’s from the future,” adding, “We wanted to make it so powerful, thin, and light that you can’t even feel it in your hand.”

Apple explained that the iPhone Air is the slimmest iPhone ever, but it boasts greater durability than previous models. The frame is made of Grade 5 titanium, the same material used in spacecraft, and the front cover is finished with a new Apple-designed coating. Apple emphasized that this provides three times more scratch resistance and four times more shatter resistance than previous models.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said, “The iPhone Air is unlike any other product out there,” adding, “It’s a game changer.” Apple CEO Tim Cook holds an iPhone 17 pro and an iPhone air, as Apple holds an event at the Steve Jobs Theatre on its campus in Cupertino, California, US September 9, 2025. REUTERS[Reuters]The camera has been reduced from the previous two (wide-angle and ultra-wide angle) to a single camera, but a new “Centre Stage” front camera automatically widens the frame for an improved photo and video experience.

This eliminates the need to rotate the iPhone from portrait to landscape when taking selfies to capture landscapes or photos of multiple people.

The base iPhone 17 model has a larger display, up from 6.1 inches to 6.3 inches, the same as the Pro. The front-facing camera has doubled its resolution to 18 million pixels, and the rear camera has increased to 48 million pixels. The higher-end iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max feature a functionally redesigned rear camera. The upper left corner of the rear, where the camera was located, has become larger and rectangular.

Apple explained that this design “secures additional space for internal components, allowing for a larger battery and improved heat dissipation and performance.” Apple also added that the front and rear feature high-resolution sensors, making it “like carrying eight pro lenses in your pocket.”

Prices remain the same as last year in US dollars.

Apple also eliminated the 128GB option on each model, effectively raising prices. The base iPhone 17 starts at $799 (256GB), and the iPhone Air starts at $999 (256GB). The Pro starts at $1,999 (256GB), and the Pro Max starts at $1,199 (256GB). The new iPhone series will be available for pre-order in more than 63 countries and regions, including South Korea and the United States, starting on the 12th, and will be available for purchase through online and offline stores starting on the 19th.Apple also unveiled the third model of its wireless earphones, the AirPods Pro series. The AirPods Pro 3 offer noise cancellation that is up to twice as powerful as its predecessor and four times stronger than the original model. It features an ultra-small heart rate sensor designed by Apple to measure heart rate and calorie consumption in real time during exercise, and a real-time translation function. It will initially be available in five languages, including English and French, and will expand to Korean, Japanese, and Chinese within the year.

The Apple Watch 11 series also unveiled enhanced health features, including “Sleep Score,” which analyses vascular response data to alert users to signs of high blood pressure and analyses heart rate and oxygen saturation to quantify the quality of their sleep.

Parts of the “Epstein Files,” which rocked the US political world, were released on the 2nd, but it is currently understood that most of the information was already known through media reports. The House Oversight Committee released 33,000 pages of files and videos submitted by the Justice Department in response to a congressional subpoena. These include the flight logs of the private plane of the late Jeffrey Epstein, a key figure in the allegations, documents submitted to the court, a video recorded when he died in prison ahead of his trial in 2019, and transcripts of victim testimony. However, it has been determined that this massive amount of data is information that anyone interested in the case would already know, and no new information has been confirmed that would resolve the questions about Epstein.

The Associated Press pointed out that “most of it contains information that is already publicly known,” and CNN also reported an announcement by Representative Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), a member of the House Oversight Committee, that “97% of the documents received from the Justice Department have already been made public.”

It has not been clearly confirmed whether influential politicians, including President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton, as well as figures in politics and business, were involved in Epstein’s sexual exploitation of minors at the time, including the core of the suspicion, Epstein’s “list of sexual service clients.”

Accordingly, both Democratic and Republican members of the House of Representatives are preparing to push for a bill to force the Justice Department to fully disclose the Epstein file. However, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, told reporters that such efforts were “pointless” and that “we want to see justice for everyone involved in Epstein’s misdeeds and the cover-up, but we also want to make sure the innocent victims are protected.”

Ghylaine Maxwell, Epstein’s accomplice and girlfriend, testified during a July 24-25 meeting with Deputy Attorney General Todd Branch at the prison where she is serving her sentence that she never saw President Donald Trump in an “inappropriate situation” during Epstein’s crimes.

According to a transcript released on the 22nd of last month, Maxwell stated that she “never witnessed the President in an inappropriate situation in any way” and that she had no knowledge of Epstein’s “client list.”

A federal court has temporarily blocked the sharing of personal information about Medicaid enrolees with immigration authorities. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria of the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction on the 12th, blocking the use of Medicaid enrolee information from 20 states, including New York and New Jersey, for immigration enforcement purposes.

According to the Associated Press, after the Trump administration took office, the Department of Health and Human Services provided the personal information of millions of Medicaid enrolees in four states, including California, to the Department of Homeland Security in June. In July, the Department of Homeland Security and the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) signed an agreement that gives Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) access to personal information, including the addresses of 79 million Medicaid enrolees.

In response, 20 Democratic-leaning states sued the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security, claiming that this could “cause tremendous confusion and fear,” and the court issued a preliminary injunction temporarily prohibiting the sharing of Medicaid enrolee personal information with immigration authorities.

Judge Chhabria wrote in the order, “The Department of Health and Human Services has long maintained a policy of using Medicaid enrolee personal information only for the operation of its health care programs and has made this fact public on its website and elsewhere. The administration has a duty to conduct a reasonable decision-making process before changing its policy, but it appears that such a process has not been followed at all.”

The court’s preliminary injunction will remain in effect until 14 days after the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services have completed a reasonable decision-making process in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, or until the lawsuit is resolved.

A class action lawsuit has been filed against major prestigious universities for violating antitrust laws regarding their early decision admissions programs. On the 8th, three undergraduate students and one graduate filed an antitrust lawsuit against 32 universities across the United States, including Columbia, Cornell, the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), and Duke, in the Massachusetts District Court for the Federal District of Massachusetts.

Early decision, a form of early decision admissions that the plaintiffs are challenging, requires students to enrol at their chosen university and prohibits them from applying to other universities. However, the plaintiffs allege that universities collude to enforce the early decision policy, despite it being legally non-binding. They argue that students who apply through early decision are disadvantaged by having to make their decision before even knowing how much financial aid the school will provide.

This, the plaintiffs argue, allows universities to reduce the amount of financial aid they receive and charge students more in tuition fees, eliminating the need to compete for students.

The plaintiffs are filing a class action lawsuit demanding compensation for the losses suffered by students who would have paid less in tuition without early decision. They are also demanding an end to the binding nature of early decision.

Another earthquake struck northern New Jersey three days later.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a magnitude 2.7 earthquake struck at approximately 12:11 p.m. on the 5th near Hillsdale, Bergen County, New Jersey, about 25 miles from New York City. The epicenter was measured at a depth of 7.7 miles.

This quake occurred just three days after a magnitude 3.0 earthquake struck Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, on the evening of the 2nd.Hillsdale is adjacent to a densely populated Korean community in northern Bergen County. While no casualties or property damage were reported from the earthquake, the series of earthquakes has spread anxiety among residents.

Bergenfield Mayor Arvin Amatorio stated, “Many residents have reported hearing sudden thumping sounds. We understand the residents’ anxiety and are closely monitoring the situation.” Bergen County Executive James Tedesco stated, “The Bergen County Emergency Management Agency is assessing the situation, but there have been no reports of damage.”

The Trump administration’s ambiguous stance on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has left DACA recipients, known as “Dreamers,” feeling uneasy. While maintaining existing protections for DACA recipients, the Trump administration is also revoking their rights and intensifying crackdowns, further adding to the confusion.

DACA, introduced by the Obama administration in 2012, protects immigrants who entered the country illegally with their parents as children from deportation and allows them to work in the United States. However, under President Trump’s second term, these protections have been gradually weakened.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced in June that it would remove DACA recipients from Obamacare, and the Department of Education is investigating five colleges and universities that provided scholarships to DACA students. There have also been reports of DACA recipients being arrested and detained nationwide.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has stated in an official statement that “illegal immigrants are not automatically exempt from deportation, even if they are DACA recipients. DACA does not confer legal status, and those with criminal records or other grounds may be subject to deportation.” It also urged DACA recipients to “consider opportunities to return legally” through voluntary removal.

Currently, there are approximately 500,000 DACA recipients, more than a quarter of whom live in California. Most are from Mexico, El Salvador, and Guatemala, and most are under 35. Immigrant rights groups are concerned that this administration’s move is effectively withdrawing legal protections for DACA recipients.

The youth immigrant group United We Dream has pointed out that the status of DACA recipients is increasingly weakened. Mexican American advocacy groups have also pointed out that “the arrests of DACA recipients are causing great anxiety among DACA recipients as a whole.”

In California, DACA recipients have been detained in raids on businesses and traffic accidents, and in Florida, some of the first detainees at a newly opened immigrant detention center are reportedly DACA recipients.

As the Trump administration continues its large-scale federal workforce reduction, it has been revealed that 3,500 federal workers with addresses in Maryland lost their jobs in June alone.

According to local media outlet WTOP on the 20th, in Maryland, 3,500 federal workers and 600 local government workers lost their jobs in June, while 1,200 people were employed by the state government. According to the outlet, the number of federal workers who lost their jobs in Maryland in June is the highest in 30 years monthly.

Meanwhile, Maryland has about 230,000 federal workers, making it the state with the second highest percentage of federal workers in the United States after Washington, D.C.

Although school shootings are a major social issue in the United States, most Washington area parents feel their children are safe at school. According to a poll conducted by The Washington Post and Post-Schar School this spring, about three-quarters of Washington area public and charter school parents said their children are “very safe” or “somewhat safe” from gun violence and other attacks at school. When asked about safety from gun violence, 73% of Northern Virginia, 76% of Maryland, and 70% of D.C. answered positively, for a combined average of 74%.

This evaluation is related to the educational environment of Fairfax and Montgomery County, which are considered the best public-school districts in the country. In this survey, 9 out of 10 parents in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia rated their children’s schools as “excellent” or “good.”

School system reports show that student violence and misconduct have increased nationwide since in-person classes resumed after the pandemic.

A 2024 Gallup poll found that 44% of parents nationwide expressed concern about their children’s safety, one of the highest levels in recent years. The previous high was 55% following the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado in April 1999. Recent data from Montgomery County, Maryland’s most populous county, show that while fights and assaults in schools have decreased since the pandemic, false alarms and bomb threats have increased. The Montgomery school district has recently taken steps to address student misbehaviour by increasing penalties.

The poll surveyed 305 public and charter school parents, including 103 in D.C., 102 in Northern Virginia, and 100 in Maryland, from April 22 to May 4. Although local authorities report that such incidents have decreased in recent years, some parents still worry about safety in schools.

Perceptions of school safety can also vary depending on the demographics of the school. Studies have shown that schools with a high percentage of students of colour are perceived as less safe by white parents than schools with a high percentage of white students.

The New Jersey state government has warned that 350,000 New Jerseyans could lose their insurance benefits due to Medicaid cuts under President Donald Trump’s massive tax cut law.

On the 3rd, the state Department of Human Services issued a statement saying, “With the passage of the massive tax cut bill in the federal Congress today, massive cuts to Medicaid have become a reality.  As a result, it is estimated that about 350,000 people, or about 20% of New Jersey’s Medicaid subscribers, will lose their health insurance benefits.”

The state Department of Human Services expressed concern that “the federal government’s Medicaid budget cuts will result in a loss of $3.6 billion for New Jersey’s $24 billion Medicaid program budget,” and “New Jersey taxpayers’ burden will increase, and it will be more difficult to receive medical services.”

In May, New York Governor Kathy Hokule warned that if large-scale Medicaid cuts become a reality, about 1.5 million people in New York could become uninsured, and the New Jersey government also expressed concern that hundreds of thousands of people could lose their health insurance benefits.

The so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” signed by President Trump on the 4th includes a provision to cut the federal government’s Medicaid-related spending by about $1 trillion over the next 10 years.

With changes such as adding work requirements to Medicaid eligibility and banning illegal immigrants from enrolling, Medicaid beneficiaries in New York and New Jersey will also be affected. Specifically, a new work requirement will be added to Medicaid enrolment conditions starting in 2027.

Adults between the ages of 19 and 64 will need to prove that they have worked or volunteered at least 80 hours per month or enrolled in an education program to maintain their Medicaid enrolment. In addition, the eligibility verification for Medicaid enrolees will be strengthened from once a year to twice a year. Also, starting in October 2028, those earning more than 100% of the federal poverty line will have to pay up to $35 out-of-pocket for some medical services.

President Trump and the Republican Party, who led the large-scale tax cut bill, say that this measure is inevitable, saying, “It will reduce waste related to the Medicaid program and prevent healthy adults from abusing the system.” However, the Democratic Party is fiercely criticizing it, saying, “Millions of Americans will lose health insurance and have difficulty receiving medical services.”