Supporters of the opposition Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) party have taken to the streets in several cities in Romania due to the actions of the authorities and the cancellation of the presidential elections, Romanian publication reported. | AUR supporters were taking part in protests in major cities against the current political authorities, against the cancellation of the elections and against the continuation of the powers of President Klaus Iohannis. Rallies were organized in front of the prefecture buildings, the publication reported.

Eloise Goldsmith | "Physically dragging out a reporter from the State Department briefing room while preaching press freedom to the rest of the world is the perfect example of the Biden administration's love affair with double standards and duplicity," said one foreign policy observer. | Two journalists were removed from Secretary of State Antony Blinken's final news conference on Thursday after interrupting Blinken's remarks to heckle him about the United States' policy toward Gaza, a day after a cease-fire deal between Hamas and Israel was announced. One of the reporters, independent journalist Sam Husseini, was physically carried out of the briefing room by security. ■ Less than two minutes into Blinken's remarks, as he was thanking the reporters in the attendance for "asking tough questions," Max Blumenthal, the editor in chief of The Grayzone—an independent news—addressed Blinken, saying loudly in reference to the cease-fire deal:"300 reporters in Gaza were on the receiving end of your bombs. Why did you keep the bombs flowing when we had a deal in May?" On Wednesday, President Biden announced the breakthrough, saying that “this is the ceasefire agreement I introduced last spring." ■ "Why did you sacrifice the rules-based order on the mantle of your commitment to Zionism," Blumenthal continued, before being led to the door. "How does it feel to have your legacy be genocide?" he yelled. Blumenthal also called out State Department Spokesman Matt Miller, who is briefly visible in a video filmed by the journalist, who charged that Miller "smirked through a genocide."

■ ‘Why Aren’t You in The Hague?’: Journalist Sam Husseini Gets Dragged Out of Blinken’s Last Press Conference

Yoon Suk Yeol’s lawyers have said he voluntarily surrendered for questioning after multiple failed attempts to arrest him | South Korean authorities have detained President Yoon Suk Yeol for questioning on charges of leading an insurrection over his brief imposition of martial law last month, according to Yonhap. ● A warrant to detain Yoon was executed shortly after 10:30am local time on Wednesday, the news agency reported, citing the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO). 💬 “To prevent an unfortunate and violent incident, I decided to appear before the CIO even though I believe the investigation is illegal,” Yoon said in a video message recorded at his residence in central Seoul. “The rule of law has completely collapsed in this country,” he added. On December 3, Yoon declared martial law, citing threats from “anti-state” forces. The highly controversial move was swiftly overruled and led to his impeachment by the National Assembly on December 14, with a vote of 204-85. The Constitutional Court is currently deliberating on whether to permanently remove him from office, a decision that must be made within 180 days.

■ South Korea's Yoon detained, a first for country (Yonhap/VOA)

Encryption prevents Meta from accessing chats, but it is powerless when someone logs directly into a user’s phone, the company’s CEO has said | Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has acknowledged that US authorities, including the CIA, can access WhatsApp messages by remotely logging into users’ devices, effectively bypassing the platform’s end-to-end encryption. ● Speaking on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast on Friday, Zuckerberg explained that while WhatsApp’s encryption prevents Meta from viewing message content, it does not protect against physical access to a user’s phone. ● His comments came in the context of a question by Rogan about Tucker Carlson’s quest to set up an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In February last year, while speaking about finally succeeding in talking to Putin after three years of failed attempts, Carlson blamed the US authorities, namely the NSA and the CIA, for stalling his efforts. According to Carlson, the agencies spied on him by tapping his messages and emails, and leaked his intentions to the media, which “spooked” Moscow from talking to him. Rogan asked Zuckerberg to explain how this could have happened given encryption safeguards that are supposed to protect messages. [...] “What they do is have access to your phone. So it doesn’t matter if anything’s encrypted, they could just see it in plain sight,” he clarified. Zuckerberg mentioned tools such as Pegasus, a spyware developed by the Israeli company NSO Group, which can be covertly installed on mobile phones to access data.

■ US government wanted Facebook to censor Covid-19 memes – Zuckerberg (RT)

The Chinese Communist Party is “intent on rooting out every pocket of independent religious thought” and persecutes Christians by shutting down house churches, stripping children from Christian families, and monitoring every detail of Christian citizens’ lives, International Christian Concern (ICC) announced on Thursday. | ICC, a global Christian advocacy organization helping the persecuted church, published its annual Global Persecution Index on Thursday, highlighting the most dangerous places in the world to be a Christian. China plays an expansive role in the study, both for being one of the most repressive countries in the world and for helping allied governments repress Christianity across the planet, from North Korea to Nicaragua. ● China is the largest communist country in the study identified as a repressor. ICC noted that Marxism is one of several ideologies fueling the violent repression of Christianity, alongside Hindu nationalism and political Islam, among others. The organization noted that advances in surveillance technology and construction of repressive infrastructure have caused the deterioration in religious freedom around the world.

Rhoda WilsonThe United Nations and World Health Organisation are tightening the noose on free speech. While the UN uses treaties, WHO is deploying a “social listening” technique in Pacific island nations. | The European Union is creating a committee specifically to tackle online “disinformation.” In the UK, Ofcom is tightening the noose through the Online Safety Act and is leading the global push for online censorship as it chairs the Global Online Safety Regulators Network for a second year. ■ Meanwhile, corporate media in France is using the courts to enforce French censorship globally. And Spain is proposing a law to force social media influencers to issue public corrections for “misinformation.” ■ In the US it’s more of a mixed bag with some wins for freedom of speech and some worrying developments, such as the Kids Online Safety Act which some Senators are attempting to rush through before the current Congress expires. ■ UN General Assembly to Adopt Controversial Cybercrime Treaty, Ignoring Privacy and Free Speech Concerns -- The UN General Assembly is set to adopt the UN Cybercrime Treaty, despite concerns from human rights and media organisations, as well as technology companies, that it threatens free speech and privacy.

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) described the PNG orders as tantamount to suspension and “part of a distressing pattern of repression of pro-Palestinian speech on college campuses”. | New York City (Quds News Network)- New York University has declared two professors “personae non gratae” for participating in pro-Palestine protests. The professors have accused the university of intensifying its suppression of pro-Palestinian speech under pressure from pro-Israel groups. ● According to The Guardian, NYU has barred the two tenured faculty members, Andrew Ross and Sonya Posmentier, from entering some buildings after they joined a sit-in at the library and other protests over two days last week to demand the university make public its investments in companies tied to Israel and close its campus in Tel Aviv. ● On the second day, they were arrested and charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct. ● According to The Guardian, the university also imposed PNG orders against students who took part in the protest as well as non-tenured faculty including Chenjerai Kumanyika, an assistant professor of journalism.

■ Gaza Genocide Continues as Death Toll Rises on 444th Day of Israeli Aggression (Al Manar TV)
✅ Israel Palestine Basics (Kathryn Shihadah)(12/17/24)

Community pages face closure as lengthy new rules ‘create disproportionate liability’ | Hundreds of websites will be shut down on the day that Britain’s Online Safety Act comes into effect, in what are believed to be the first casualties of the new internet laws. ● Microcosm, a web forum hosting service that runs 300 sites including cycling forums and local community hubs, said that the sites would go offline on March 16, the day that Ofcom starts enforcing the Act. ● Its owner said they were unable to comply with the lengthy requirements of the Act, which created a “disproportionately high personal liability”. ● The new laws, which were designed to crack down on illegal content and protect children, threaten fines of at least £18m for sites that fail to comply with the laws.

■ UK’s Online Censorship Law Drives Small Websites to Shut Down (Reclaim The Net)
■ EU wants sanctions against “Kremlin propagandists” (FrontNieuws)

Wearing a Palestine shirt gets you arrested in Germany. And we are supposed to believe the Nazis were worse? pic.twitter.com/in4xJ1lIvE

— Syrian Girl 🇸🇾 (@Partisangirl) October 11, 2024

Following a pledge by former US President Donald Trump to penalize universities that failed to address pro-Palestine protests, many institutions have turned to firms with Israeli ties. | A report released on Saturday by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth disclosed that universities in the United States and Canada have partnered with Israeli security firms to suppress pro-Palestinian demonstrations on their campuses. ● According to the report, this trend began following the election of former US President Donald Trump, who vowed to penalize universities failing to control "radicals and Hamas supporters." In response, several academic institutions sought assistance from Israeli security companies or firms with Israeli ties to handle Palestine solidarity protests.

■ Silver Bullet (Dr. Mike Yeadon )(Substack)(VIDEO)
■ Australian Medical Icon Breaks Down in Tears During Debate with Government Officials Over COVID-19 Vaccine Catastrophe: “The Most Uncontrolled Experimentation Ever on Humankind” (The Gateway Pundit)(VIDEO)

Romania annulled the Presidential Election...... COUP underway, two days before the final round of Presidential voting

⚠️ Romania's Constitutional Court has annulled the presidential election, ordering a complete rerun of the process. This decision comes after Călin Georgescu,… pic.twitter.com/87qhn7pzu7

— Culture War (@CultureWar2020) December 6, 2024

Romania's election saga continues. The NATO state's Constitution Court has annulled the first round of the presidential vote that saw a staunch anti-EU, anti-war candidate come out on top. Polls put him as the frontrunner with 57% of the vote in the second round this Sunday. The terrorist advance in Syria forces the country's army to retreat. We receive exclusive footage from Aleppo's empty airport - abandoned by Syrian forces and hear from a local who describes life under terrorist rule. As self branded truth seekers CNN give a platform to the insurgents' leader, we take a closer look at the MSM's whitewashing of the jihadist group as it reconstructs the very concept of terrorism. Iran calls on Ukraine to stop funding and arming the militant groups now attacking across Syria.

■ Romanian presidential frontrunner claims he’s victim of coup d’etat (RT.com)
■ Romania To Host Largest NATO Military Base in Europe (BalkanInsight)(Hat Tip: steigan.no)

■ NATO state annuls presidential election results (RT.com) | The decision comes amid accusations that Russia had allegedly assisted Georgescu’s campaign, claims Moscow has dismissed as “absolutely groundless.” Georgescu, a religious nationalist, is critical of both NATO and the EU, and has criticized Romania’s role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He has also promised to end all military and political assistance to Kiev if elected into office. During the first round of voting in November, Georgescu secured 22.94% of the ballots, beating out the liberal leftist candidate Elena Lasconi, who received 19.18%. The two were scheduled for a runoff on Sunday.

The parliament in Seoul voted to block the decree but the military has backed the president | President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea has announced he will lift the “emergency martial law” mere hours after introducing it, following the parliament’s unanimous vote against the measure. ● Yoon made the surprise announcement on Tuesday, citing the threat of “pro-North Korean forces” and accusing the parliamentary majority of anti-state activity. ● Within hours, 190 lawmakers who were able to access the National Assembly building voted unanimously to lift the decree. The military responded that martial law would remain in place “until the president says otherwise.” Shortly after 4am local time, Yoon announced he would end the state emergency.

■ South Korean opposition initiates president’s impeachment — news agency (TASS)
■ South Korean parliament votes to defy president by lifting his declaration of martial law (12/03/24)

The South Korean parliament has voted to defy the country’s president and immediately lift his martial law declaration.G | President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law late Tuesday, vowing to eliminate “anti-state” forces as he struggles against an opposition that controls the country’s parliament and that he accuses of sympathizing with communist North Korea. ● The surprising move harkened back to an era of authoritarian leaders that the country has not seen since the 1980s, and it was immediately denounced by the opposition and the leader of Yoon’s own conservative party.

■ South Korea martial law: Full text of military decree (ChannelAsia)
■ ‘Can’t believe I’m seeing martial law declaration in my lifetime’: Shock, confusion among S.Koreans (The Straits Times)
■ Protests outside South Korea's parliament after president declares martial law (BBC)
■ South Korea - President Launches Putsch Against Parliament (Moon of Alabama)

According to Ivan Blagoy, his bureau received the corresponding documents, a 10-page report that substantiates the move, citing EU sanctions, from the German authorities on Tuesday | Germany has moved to close the local bureau of Russia’s Channel One television, ordering the bureau employees in Berlin to leave the country, a reporter with the TV channel said. [...] According to him, his bureau received the corresponding documents, a 10-page report that substantiates the move, citing EU sanctions, from the German authorities on Tuesday. "A German lawyer who analyzed the papers at our request shrugged his shoulders and said that it was a non-case. We have not violated German laws while staying in Germany and we meet all necessary criteria. And yet, we were shown the door," Blagoy lamented.

■ Russia retaliates to expulsion of journalists from Germany (RT.com)

New Zealand has enacted new legislation legalizing the use of physical force in order to vaccinate their citizens, according to a report by Dr. Jonathan Engler. 👉 “Section 71A states that a member of the police may do anything reasonably necessary (including the use of force) to help a medical officer of health or any person authorized by the medical officer of health in the exercise or performance of powers or functions under sections 70 or 71,” reads a passage under “Special powers” on page 125 of the New Zealand Pandemic Plan: A Framework for Action. ● If any citizens suffer harm from the vaccine, there is no recourse due to manufacturer immunity from liability.

Such incidents are needed by the West to sow chaos and to advance its interests, Nikolay Patrushev says. Patrushev [said]: 💬 “According to available information, the Americans and the British are viewing the sabotage on the Nord Stream pipelines as one of many methods to advance their economic interests. They could attack other infrastructure facilities, including undersea fiber optic cables that provide communications throughout the world.” [...] “Since the hegemony of the West began to falter, Washington decided to bring chaos to the energy market, including by destabilizing maritime transportation,” the official explained. Destabilization is needed to put pressure on major consumers, including China and India, and to lay a foundation for grabbing more of the global energy market.

■ US-UK to BLOW-UP Undersea Internet Cables (Harold Turner)

Amira Zaiter, a mother and a nursing student from Nice, France, was sentenced to three years in prison for denouncing the ongoing Israeli genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. | A pro-Palestinian activist in France has been sentenced to three years in prison for allegedly "glorifying terrorism" on social media, according to broadcaster France 3. Amira Zaiter, an activist from Nice, was arrested on September 19 for allegedly "promoting terrorism, glorifying crimes against humanity, and spreading hate speech online," as per the channel.

Onlookers shout ‘Shame on you!’ as Prof Haim Bresheeth taken away by Met Police under Terrorism Act after anti-genocide speech | As Skwawkbox has reported, Professor Haim Bresheeth – an Israeli Jew – was arrested on Friday and is still under investigation, after being accused of hate speech under the Terrorism Act 2000 for a speech (video) to an anti-genocide demonstration outside the residence of far-right extremist ambassador Tzipi Hotovely. ■ Now Skwawkbox can exclusively reveal the arrest itself – part of a campaign of repression and intimidation of pro-Palestinian voices by the Starmer government – and the horror of onlookers, who compared it to the martial law imposed by Israel during the 1990s. ■ Professor Bresheeth, who is in his seventies, was released the following morning without charge but remains under investigation, according to the Metropolitan Police. Skwawkbox is trying to obtain footage of the arrest of a second man, which witnesses described as done with violence.

A tribunal ruling has found that the student's remarks match views expressed by human rights organizations, concluding that the UK Home Office's allegations were not adequate. | Palestinian student Dana Abu Qamar has won a human rights appeal, revoking the UK Home Office's decision to strip her of her visa for speaking about Gaza and its resistance. ● The Guardian reported that the Home Office claimed that Dana's presence was "not conducive to public good" but subsequently failed to prove it after her visa was revoked in December 2023. ● Dana first caught the attention of authorities during a protest organized at the University of Manchester, where she also leads the Friends of Palestine Society. While speaking to Sky News, Dana explored Gaza's historical resistance against the Israeli "oppressive regime", as well as the 16-year-long blockade the occupation has imposed, calling the Strip's Resistance "a once in a lifetime experience."

Von der Leyen Promises to 'Vaccinate' EU Population Against 'Wrong Thinking'

According to Ursula, who is currently facing a criminal case over the EU government's strange contracts with pharmaceutical companies , people in society who hold views that contradict the globalist… pic.twitter.com/fK0wKV6tUQ

— “Sudden And Unexpected” (@toobaffled) October 22, 2024

Tyler Durden | Ursula von der Leyen advocates "pre-bunking" in the public forum to "vaccinate" people against "disinformation"... | EU President Ursula von der Leyen just joined the ranks of former Senator John Kerry and other globalist ghouls in declaring war on free speech by perversely proclaiming that the EU citizenry needs to be “vaccinated against disinformation.” ■ Like every censor in history, she characterizes her censorship program as a means of expunging erroneous information and ideas from public discourse. By using the word “disinformation,” she implies that she and her clique are already the sole possessors of the truth about everything and that everyone who has and shares heterodox ideas is necessarily in error.

■ President of the European Commission Ursula von Der Leyen Likens Free Speech to Infectious Disease (GR)

Cities across the United States are installing hidden surviellance cameras that track everyone, everywhere, and nobody, not even Donald Trump, is talking about this. What are the Top 10 most surveilled cities in the U.S.? We’ve got the list! | Multitudes of cities of all sizes across the U.S. are jumping on the technocracy bandwagon and setting up hidden surveillance cameras on every corner. They’re on light poles, bridges and overpasses, stoplights, buildings, you name it. Some are equipped with speakers so they can also listen in on what’s being said. They claim it’s for our “safety.”

Palestinians in Gaza would be forced to live in 'humanitarian bubbles' where entry and access to food would be based on biometric identification | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet is expected to approve a plan to establish concentration camps in Gaza, operated by mercenaries from a private security firm run by former US and Israeli intelligence officials and special forces commanders, Yedioth Ahronoth reported on 22 October. The US security firm, GDC, plans to establish “humanitarian bubbles” [inhumane ghettos] in Gaza. The Israeli army will be tasked with “clearing” any such bubble of Hamas fighters and erecting a separation wall around it within 48 hours. Entry to these compounds will be prohibited except for residents who live in the neighborhood and submit to biometric identification. Regarding the plan, US journalist Dan Cohen reports that “the Biden administration has approved the deployment of 1,000 CIA-trained private mercenaries as part of a joint US-Israeli plan to turn Gaza’s apocalyptic rubble scape into a high-tech dystopia.”

The US president has called for the Republican to be jailed, later clarifying that he meant “politically” | US President Joe Biden has claimed that Republican candidate Donald Trump wants presidential immunity and powers to kill his opposition, and therefore should be locked up, as he spoke to a crowd with the election just half a month away. ● Biden, who stepped aside earlier this year to allow Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democratic nominee, made the statement at a campaign office in New Hampshire on Tuesday.

■ Biden on Trump: ‘Politically lock him up’ (Lauren Egan)

Jonathan Cook | The raid on investigative journalist Asa Winstanley isn’t about terrorism – except the UK government’s. It is about scaring us into staying silent on Britain’s collusion in Israel’s genocide | The UK government and police – the British state – made clear today they are waging a war of intimidation against the country’s independent journalists in a desperate attempt to silence them. ■ Ten Metropolitan police officers made a dawn raid on the home of investigative journalist Asa Winstanley and seized his electronic devices under the UK’s draconian Terrorism Act. A letter from the Met indicates that the associate editor of the Electronic Intifada is being investigated by the force for “encouraging terrorism”. ■ Winstanley is the latest – and most high profile – independent journalist to be targeted by counter-terrorism police in recent weeks. Earlier, Richard Medhurst was arrested at Heathrow airport on returning to the UK from a trip abroad. Then Sarah Wilkinson was arrested and her home ransacked. Winstanley has repeatedly embarrassed the British establishment by exposing its covert and deep ties to Israel and its collusion with the Israeli lobby.

Leo Hohmann | The timing of Federal Directive 5240.01 is interesting in light of the upcoming election and the government's narrative about right wing extremists being the 'biggest threat' to US national security. | A video clip has resurfaced from May of 2019 in which Kamala Harris advocates weaponizing the DOJ against speech the government doesn’t like, and the platforms that allow it. ■ In the meantime, one month before a tense presidential election, the U.S. Department of Defense has authorized U.S. military “defense intelligence components” to use “lethal force” against American citizens if requested by state or local law enforcement in an emergency situation. More on this in a minute, but first let’s get to the May 2019 video showing Kamala Harris unleashing her inner dictator. Speaking at the annual NAACP ‘Fight for Freedom Fund’ dinner in Detroit, Harris threatened: “We will put the Department of Justice of the United States back in the business of justice. We will double the civil rights division, and direct Law Enforcement to counter this extremism.”

David Thunder | Satire on trial: How dare you mock the New Normal? | IN AUGUST 2022, US playwright and satirist C J Hopkins, while a resident of Berlin, tweeted cover art from his book on The Rise of the New Normal Reich, which included a satirical representation of a swastika superimposed on a medical mask. For that, he has been found guilty in a German court of spreading pro-Nazi propaganda, and is facing a hefty fine and potentially a prison sentence. ■ In his tweet, Hopkins wrote (in German) that ‘Masks are symbols of ideological conformity. That’s all that they are, and that’s all they ever were. Stop pretending that they were ever anything else or get used to wearing them.’ In a second tweet, Hopkins quoted Health Minister Karl Lauterbach’s statement that ‘Masks always send a signal.’ ■ For these two tweets, Amazon Germany banned Hopkins’s book, and the Berlin state prosecutor investigated him for violating German criminal statutes against ‘the use of symbols of unconstititional and terrorist organisations‘. In January 2024, Hopkins was tried before the Tiergarten Berlin District Court and acquitted. The public prosecutor appealed the decision before the Berlin Court of Appeals, which overturned his acquittal on September 30 and found him guilty as charged.

The crackdown on narratives countering mainstream and Western media continues, slamming the notion of the freedom of the press. | Meta has disabled the account of Al Mayadeen English on Instagram for allegedly not following

💬 "our Community Guidelines." "All your information will be permanently deleted," the decision stated. "You cannot request another review of this decision," it asserted, meaning that no appeal can be made.

The move follows a similar one last October when the Al Mayadeen English account was shortly suspended on Instagram and later restored following an appeal. At the time, neither a reason nor a prior notice was provided for the suspension.

Poursuivi pour avoir célébré la naissance de sa fille un 7 octobre… Faut-il interdire les anniversaires maintenant ? | L’accusation est grave : apologie du terrorisme. Oui, vous avez bien lu. Dieudonné aurait fait l’éloge du terrorisme simplement parce qu’il a salué la naissance de sa fille un 7 octobre. Ce 7 octobre n’est pas n’importe quel jour, il coïncide avec les attaques du Hamas en Israël. Donc, logiquement, quiconque ose sourire ce jour-là est suspect. Qui sait, peut-être que naître un 7 octobre deviendra un acte antisémite interdit par la loi.

CJ Hopkins | [It] wasn’t to pretend to be carrying out justice. It was a show of force. A demonstration. A public humiliation ritual. And, all things considered, they staged it well. | The first rule of New Normal Germany is, you do not compare New Normal Germany to Nazi Germany. If you do that, New Normal Germany will punish you. It will sic the Federal Criminal Police on you. It will report you to its domestic Intelligence agency. It will ban your books. It will censor your Tweets. It will prosecute you on fabricated “hate-crime” charges. I know this, because that’s what happened to me. I broke the first rule of New Normal Germany. I compared New Normal Germany to Nazi Germany. I did it with the cover artwork of my book.