Good morning and welcome to Kid News. I'm Kim. Today is Wednesday, the first day of March,

2023, and we begin with the White House officially pulling the plug on TikTok. It's now

given all federal agencies a deadline of 30 days to delete the Chinese-owned app from

their devices. The order follows similar actions by Canada, the European Union, and more

than half of U.S. states. The reason is TikTok's potential for spying. Lawmakers believe

the app's owner, Bite Dance, might share the personal information of government employees

with the Chinese Communist Party. Some American politicians, though, are calling for an even

bigger ban, one that extends beyond federal workers to all 100 million TikTok users in

the U.S. Representative Mike McCall likened the app to a spy balloon in your phone, and

he's trying to give President Biden authority to call for a nationwide ban. If his measure

makes it out of committee, it'll go to the whole House, and then the Senate for a vote.

It's among the last major cities in the world to return to normal. Starting today,

a whopping 959 days after it went into effect, Hong Kong's COVID mask mandate is no more.

That means for the first time in nearly three years, residents can show their smiling faces

in all public settings. Until today, not wearing one was an expensive gamble,

finds for rule-breakers sometimes topped $1,000.

Another BTS singer is in the army now. According to his management team, Jay Hope began the

process of enlisting and will soon join Jin, who began his mandatory military service back in

December. Almost all men in South Korea are required to serve for 18 months, and the members of

BTS are no exception. The band is currently taking a break to allow for each of the singers to

cycle through the service requirement. They're not expected to regroup until 2025, but that doesn't

mean they aren't making a ton of money on hiatus. Jay Hope is releasing a solo single later this week,

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