Morning brief: TikTok CEO testifies before US Congress, violent clashes erupt in France, and more

In his first public testimony before the US Congress, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew sought to allay worries about the Chinese-owned app's links to the Beijing government and its purported incapacity to restrict "harmful" content. In other news,protesters and French security officers engaged in the most violent altercation of the three-month uprising over President Emmanuel Macron's highly contentious pension reforms. Anarchists in black tussled with the police on Thursday. Riot police used tear gas and stun grenades to push back the "Black Bloc" anarchist groups in the ensuing clashes.

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TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s testimony before a US congressional hearing that lastedfor almost five hours was gruelling and relentless.He faced a volley of questions over security concerns and the potential Chinese government’s influence.

This was Chow’s first-ever appearance before the US lawmakers as the TikTok CEO. The hearing witnessed a rare bipartisan call for banning the app on Thursday even as the 40-year-old tried to assuage their concerns saying, “Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country.”

In the most serious violence yet of the three-month revolt against President Emmanuel Macron's hugely controversial pension reforms, protestors clashed with French security forces. On Thursday, violent black-clad anarchists clashed with the Police. In the ensuing clashes, riot police drove back the groups of "Black Bloc" anarchists with tear guns and stun grenades.

As per Reuters, the ninth day of the nationwide protests was mostly peaceful except forskirmishes with anarchists who smashed shop windows, demolished street furniture and even ransacked a McDonald's restaurant.

Any attempt to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for the Kremlin chief would amount to a declaration of war against Russia, his ally Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.

On March 17, the arrest warrant was issued by the Hague-based tribunal, accusing Putin of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. In a statement, the court said it had reasonable grounds to believePutin committed the criminal acts directly, as well as working with others. It also accused him of failing to use his presidential powers to stop children from being deported.

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