Obama Defends Geithner, Focuses On Passing Budget (ap)

Xiaohongshu (RedNote), the Chinese social media app has exploded in popularity as the US government mulls a TikTok ban. According to some reports, this have been as many as 700,000 Western users in two days. As Bytedance’s video-sharing platform hangs on the edge of the chopping block, RedNote is said to be rushing to bring in English-speaking moderators. With any software stemming out of China, there are limits to what can be said.

Sony has canceled two unannounced live service games that were being developed at Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games, both subsidiaries. One of the canceled games was a God of War live service game. There are no plans to close either Bend or Bluepoint, according to a statement made by a Sony spokesperson.

As The Biden administration closes out its single term, its last act will be to leave TikTok’s fate to the incoming Trump administration. The proposed ban was set to come into effect one day before the Trump inauguration. However, neither President appears to want to be the one to slam the hammer down on the social media platform. In recent days, Trump has indicated that he’d work to save TikTok from the ban.

A South Korean lawmaker said on Monday that Seoul's intelligence estimated that some 3,000 North Korean troops have been killed or wounded in Kursk. KIM WON JIN/AFP via Getty ImagesAll of North Korea's troops in Kursk could get wiped out by April, given current losses, a think tank said. Analysts cited casualty reports from Ukraine and South Korea, estimating 92 losses per day for Pyongyang.

China's foreign ministry says it is sending Vice President Han Zheng to attend Trump's inauguration. The Trump transition team initially invited President Xi Jinping to the event. Huang Jingwen/Xinhua via Getty ImagesThe Chinese foreign ministry says Vice President Han Zheng will attend Donald Trump's inauguration. The Trump team said in December that it had invited Chinese leader Xi Jinping, but Xi will not attend.

Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC; Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for The New York TimesElon Musk and Jeff Bezos exchanged friendly tweets after rocket launches on Thursday. The billionaires have had a long-standing rivalry over space ambitions and more. Their recent interactions suggest a possible end to their long public feud. Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos may no longer be enemies.