Weekly Roundup: A TikTok ‘Deal’ and a Russia-NATO Shift

Phew! Another Friday. Here’s a roundup of what we covered in the newsletter this week.
Nitazenes
Get used to hearing that word. It’s a family of synthetic opioids that, some experts say, can be up to 50 times more potent than fentanyl. Which is incredible, since fentanyl has already been described as 50 times more lethal than heroin.
Nitazenes, which were part of our regional roundup on Monday, are turning up more and more in drug busts reports The Times Union, which covers large parts of New York State.
Nitazenes – like lots of other synthetic opioids – were originally developed as painkillers. But they were never approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
The opioid crisis may be far from over.
Tick-tock, TikTok?
On Tuesday, we pored over the details trickling out about what President Donald Trump has characterized as a “deal” for China’s ByteDance to divest itself from TikTok under a 2024 law that would otherwise ban the social-media giant in the U.S.
We’re still waiting for definitive answers to who will own the algorithm that recommends content to users, who will actually buy the app, who will control Americans’ data and whether the deal will actually happen. It looks on track, but China has not yet formally approved it.
College Rankings: A Guide
U.S. News & World Report on Wednesday released our college and university rankings – one of the most eagerly awaited annual rituals here. I wrote about how to think about them and use them – less as an outcome and more as a tool to help people through the application process.
One key principle: Our rankings put Princeton at No. 1. That doesn’t make Princeton the No. 1 school for you.
“Whether you’re looking to make your list of schools to apply to, or have specific questions about one university, our rankings can help,” I said. “You can whittle down your list a number of different ways: Location, tuition and fees, enrollment, acceptance rate, major offerings, etc.”
I also noted that we recently launched a newsletter focused on helping parents and college applicants navigate the admissions process. “Getting In” is a weekly endeavor. You can sign up here.
Trump Raises NATO-Russia Tensions
On Thursday, I wrote about Trump encouraging NATO to shoot down Russian aircraft that violate members’ airspace – a pretty dramatic escalation in response to repeated incidents of suspected Russian drones and jets doing just that.