AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

A central question to the tug of war between Washington and Beijing has been whether the popular social video platform would keep its algorithm after the potential divestment of Chinese parent company ByteDance.

Congress passed legislation calling for a TikTok ban to go into effect in January, but President Donald Trump has repeatedly signed orders that have allowed TikTok to keep operating in the United States as his administration tries to reach agreement for ByteDance to sell its U.S. operations.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said tech giant Oracle would be responsible for the app’s data and security and that Americans will control six of the seven seats for a planned board. Oracle did not respond to a request for comment.

“We have great American patriots that are buying it — very, very substantial people, people that love our country,” Trump told reporters on Saturday evening, the day after discussing the TikTok deal with China’s Xi Jinping in a lengthy phone call. “And they’re very smart technologically, and they will not let anything bad happen to TikTok.”

White House says $100K H-1B visa fee won't apply to existing holders as Trump move stirs anxiety

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’slatest plan to overhaul the American immigration system has left some immigrant workers confused, forcing the White House on Saturday to scramble to clarify that a new $100,000 fee on visas for skilled tech workers only applies to new applicants and not to current visa holders.

The president on Friday, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick by his side, signed a proclamation that will require the new fee for what are known as H-1B visas — meant for high-skilled jobs that tech companies find hard to fill.

“Those who already hold H-1B visas and are currently outside of the country right now will NOT be charged $100,000 to re-enter," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a posting on X. “This applies only to new visas, not renewals, and not current visa holders.”

The fee takes effect at 12:01 a.m. ET Sunday. It is scheduled to expire after a year. But it could be extended if the government determines that is in the interest of the United States to keep it.

The White House in a social media post also sought to make clear the new rule “does not impact the ability of any current visa holder to travel to/from the U.S.”

Trump nominates White House aide to be top US prosecutor for office probing Letitia James

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Saturday that he would be nominating senior White House aide Lindsey Halligan to serve as the top federal prosecutor for the Virginia office that was thrown into turmoil when its U.S. attorney was pushed out Friday.

In a social media post just after he departed the White House for an event at Mount Vernon, Trump wrote he was nominating Halligan as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, writing that she “will be Fair, Smart, and will provide, desperately needed, JUSTICE FOR ALL!”

The announcement came as Trump pressed Attorney General Pam Bondi to move forward with pursuing cases against some of his political opponents, part of a vow for retribution that has been a theme of his return to the White House.

The nomination would place one of the president’s legal defenders in charge of an office in tumult over political pressure by administration officials to criminally charge New York Attorney General Letitia James, a longtime foe of Trump, in a mortgage fraud investigation.

Erik Siebert, who had been the office’s top prosecutor, resigned amid a push by Trump administration officials to bring charges in the investigation, which stems from allegations of paperwork discrepancies on James’ Brooklyn townhouse and a Virginia home.

Pentagon steps up media restrictions, now requiring approval before reporting even unclassified info

The Pentagon says it will require credentialed journalists at the military headquarters to sign a pledge to refrain from reporting information that has not been authorized for release — including unclassified information.

Journalists who don't abide by the policy risk losing credentials that provide access to the Pentagon, under a 17-page memo distributed Friday that steps up media restrictions imposed by the administration of President Donald Trump.

“Information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified,” the directive states. The signature form includes an array of security requirements for credentialed media at the Pentagon.

Advocates for press freedoms denounced the non-disclosure requirement as an assault on independent journalism. The new Pentagon restrictions arrive as Trump expands threats, lawsuits and government pressure as he remakes the American media landscape.

“If the news about our military must first be approved by the government, then the public is no longer getting independent reporting. It is getting only what officials want them to see,” said National Press Club President Mike Balsamo, also national law enforcement editor at The Associated Press. “That should alarm every American.”

Democratic leaders in Congress demand a meeting with Trump as government shutdown looms

WASHINGTON (AP) — As a possible federal shutdown looms, the Democratic leaders of Congress are demanding a meeting with President Donald Trump to negotiate an end to what they call “your decision” to shutter government offices if no action is taken by the end-of-the month deadline.

Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries said Saturday that Republicans, at Trump's insistence, have refused to enter talks. Democrats are pushing to preserve health care programs as part of any deal to keep government running past the Sept. 30 funding deadline.

"We write to demand a meeting in connection with your decision to shut down the federal government because of the Republican desire to continue to gut the healthcare of the American people," the two New York Democrats wrote.

“Democrats have been clear and consistent in our position,” they said. “We are ready to work toward a bipartisan spending agreement that improves the lives of American families and addresses the Republican healthcare crisis.”

Trump, in an exchange with reporters on Saturday evening, suggested that he remains open to a potential meeting but was dismissive of the Democratic leadership.

160-mile march for democracy arrives in Washington from Philadelphia

WASHINGTON (AP) — Over the span of 14 days, nearly 200 people marched from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., in defense of democracy.

From children to the elderly, members of the We Are America march arrived in the nation’s capital on a warm and sunny Friday afternoon, tired but joyous, where they were greeted with hugs and cheers from supporters and members of Congress.

The mission of their sprawling walk was to unite a movement strong enough to hold America’s leaders accountable in the face of mass firings at government agencies, the federal takeover of the District of Columbia’s law enforcement and myriad disagreements with actions made by the Trump administration and the president himself.

Marchers from across the country gathered in Philadelphia, then trekked through Newark, Delaware; Wilmington, Delaware; Baltimore and beyond. Along the way they were housed in churches, where they slept in pews, or at people’s homes. One night the group camped outdoors.

Founding member Maggie Bohara said the marchers were warmly greeted in every community they entered, given food, water and shelter.

Trump's peace efforts falter as conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza escalate

WASHINGTON (AP) — A month after an Alaskan summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump still seems surprised that his gambit did not pay off with peace in Ukraine.

"He’s let me down,” Trump said this week. “He really let me down.”

There has been no more progress in the Middle East, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is beginning a new offensive in Gaza City and lashing out across the region.

“They have to be very, very careful,” Trump said after Israel targeted Hamas inside Qatar, a U.S. ally that has been hosting diplomatic negotiations.

Trump's disappointment and frustration is much different from the confidence and dominance he tries to project on the international stage, especially as he trumpets his diplomatic efforts and campaigns for the Nobel Peace Prize. Asked about his goals for the upcoming U.N. General Assembly, the president said “world peace." But the most high-profile conflicts appear to be escalating instead of winding down.

Trump's economic promises to Black voters fall short after a modest shift in support for him in 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — At one of his final rallies before the 2024 election, then-candidate Donald Trump warned that Black Americans were losing their jobs in droves and that things would get even worse if he did not return to the White House.

“You should demand that they give you the numbers of how many Black people are going to lose their job,” Trump said. “The African American population, they’re getting fired at numbers that we have never seen before."

But with Trump back in office since January, an already fragile financial situation for Black Americans has worsened. Upset by inflation and affordability issues, Black voters had shifted modestly toward the Republican last year on the promise that he could boost the economy by stopping border crossings and challenging foreign factories with tariffs. Yet a recent spate of economic data instead shows a widening racial wealth gap.

Black unemployment has climbed from 6.2% to 7.5% so far in 2025, the highest level since October 2021. Black homeownership has fallen to the lowest level since 2021, according to an analysis by the real estate brokerage Redfin. Earlier this month, the Census Bureau said the median Black household income fell 3.3% last year to $56,020, which is roughly $36,000 less than what a white household earns and evidence of a bad situation becoming worse.

That creates a major political risk for the president as well as an economic danger for the nation because job losses for Black Americans have historically foreshadowed a wider set of layoffs across other groups.

Israeli strikes kill 14 in Gaza City as some countries prepare to recognize Palestinian state

CAIRO (AP) — Scores of Palestinians, many pushing carts of belongings or carrying their possessions on their backs, fled Gaza City on Saturday as Israel ramped up its offensive, including with strikes that health officials said killed at least 14 people overnight.

Later in Israel, thousands joined the families of hostages still being held by Hamas to demand that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu negotiate an end to the war.

There were protests in Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv, where a large black banner was unfurled imploring U.S. President Donald Trump to help end the war, with “SAVE THEM!” in yellow letters.

The latest military strikes come as some prominent Western countries prepare to recognize Palestinian statehood at the gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly next week. They include the U.K., France, Canada, Australia, Malta, Belgium and Luxembourg.

In a statement Friday, Portugal’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said it will recognize a Palestinian state on Sunday. The Iberian country had previously announced its plans to do so but now set an official date.

Russia launches a large-scale attack on Ukraine, killing 3 and wounding dozens

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack targeting regions across Ukraine early Saturday, killing at least three people and wounding dozens more, Ukrainian officials said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attacks took place across nine regions, including Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Poltava, Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy and Kharkiv.

“The enemy’s target was our infrastructure, residential areas and civilian enterprises,” he said, adding that a missile equipped with cluster munitions struck a multistory building in the city of Dnipro.

“Each such strike is not a military necessity but a deliberate strategy by Russia to intimidate civilians and destroy our infrastructure,” Zelenskyy said in a statement on his official Telegram account.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian drones overnight slammed into an energy facility in Samara, southwestern Russia, according to the local governor and Ukraine’s General Staff.