#Information Broadcasting Minister

[marwahstudios]

Suraj Parkash Marwah Shooting Floor Inaugurated by Dr. L. Murugan, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting

Noida: : In a historic visit to Marwah Studios at Noida Film City, Dr. L. Murugan, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, inaugurated the new Suraj Parkash Marwah Shooting Floor, named in honor of Dr. Sandeep Marwah’s father. This momentous occasion added a new chapter to the legacy of Marwah Studios, an integral part of India’s media landscape.

The Minister’s visit was marked by an in-depth tour of the Marwah Studios campus, where he personally examined the wide array of facilities and departments, including production studios, post-production units, the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics (AVGC) division, Artificial Intelligence (AI) units, the expansive library, amphitheater, screening theaters, fine arts departments and education & training facilities. His keen interest in the infrastructure and its contribution to the Indian media industry was evident throughout the visit.

Dr. Sandeep Marwah, President of Marwah Studios, took the opportunity to present Dr. Murugan with a comprehensive briefing on the achievements of the studios, including a collection of books documenting their numerous accomplishments.

Impressed by the cutting-edge facilities and Marwah Studios’ contribution to the industry, Dr. Murugan expressed his admiration for Dr. Marwah’s visionary role in establishing not only Noida Film City but also in shaping the film, television, and media business in the region.

Dr. L. Murugan said “Marwah Studios stands as a beacon of excellence in the film and media industry, and Dr. Sandeep Marwah’s contributions have significantly advanced this sector. The facilities here are world-class, and the dedication to nurturing creativity and innovation is truly commendable.“

Dr. Sandeep Marwah extended his heartfelt thanks to Dr. Murugan for his encouraging words and for inaugurating the Suraj Parkash Marwah Shooting Floor, which he said will serve as a new hub for creativity and production excellence.

[calabria-mediterranea]

Italy: Public service RAI becomes a “megaphone” of the government

Public service broadcaster RAI has decided to grant ministers and undersecretaries unrestricted airtime on its programs when referring to institutional matters. On 11 April, journalists and news hosts on the main channels of RAI interrupted news programs to read a statement from the Rai Union of Journalists (USIGRai) statement explaining RAI’s new policy, and condemning it, comparing RAI to the government’s “megaphone”. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) together with their affiliate the Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana (FNSI) condemn this further attempt to politicise public information services for propaganda purposes and demand that RAI respects fundamental journalistic principles.

“The government majority has decided to transform RAI into its own megaphone,” so began the speech of USIGrai journalists in the aftermath of the policies announced by RAI’s Supervisory Commission. This approved a rule allowing government representatives to “speak in talks without time constraints and cross-examination”.

The statement continued: “This is not our idea of public service broadcasting. Journalists’ work should be central, where they ask questions, even uncomfortable ones, verify what has been said, and point out inconsistencies. For this reason, dear viewers, we inform you that we are ready to mobilise to guarantee you independent, balanced and plural information."

Another rule will allow Rai News to broadcast political rallies at any time, and in full, announced only by a short introduction and without journalistic mediation

RAI’s decision illustrates once again Italy’s government's attempts to make use of public service for personal and propagandistic purposes, and in contravention of the main pillars of journalists' work.

President of FNSI, Vittorio di Trapanisaid: “RAI News risks becoming a deluge of electoral rallies, trampling on the editorial autonomy of its journalists and its editorial team.”

The IFJ/EFJ stated: “We stand in full solidarity with RAI journalists, whose press freedom and ethical principles are being undermined by the Italian government. We remind RAI of its need to respect fundamental journalistic principles as they are stated in the IFJ Global Charter of Ethics for journalists. We ask the Supervisory Commission to review its decision and to allow transparent and pluralistic information in compliance with the principles of cross-examination and the public interest.”l

Source: IFJ

[workersolidarity]

[ 📹 Scenes from the Israeli occupation army's bombardment, which began today in the eastern residential neighborhoods of the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, killing 22 Palestinians who were targeted in their homes. 📸 Photos of flyers dropped by the occupation army ordering of over 1.4 million displaced Palestinians, jam packed into Rafah, to migrate to the Khan Yunis and Al-Mawasi areas, which have already been obliterated in the Israeli army's genocide in Gaza.]

🇮🇱⚔️🇵🇸 🚀🏘️💥🚑 🚨

213 DAYS OF GENOCIDE: AIRSTRIKES INTENSIFY KILLING MORE PALESTINIANS; AL-JAZEERA'S OFFICES CLOSED, EQUIPMENT SEIZED; RAFAH OPERATION BEGINS, PALESTINIANS FORCED OUT

On the 213th day of "Israel's" ongoing special genocide operation in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation forces committed a total of 5 new massacres of Palestinian families, resulting in the deaths of no less than 52 Palestinians, mostly women and children, while another 90 others were wounded over the previous 24-hours.

It should be noted that as a result of the constant Israeli bombardment of Gaza's healthcare system, infrastructure, residential and commercial buildings, local paramedic and civil defense crews are unable to reach countless hundreds, even thousands of victims who remain trapped under the rubble, or who's bodies remain strewn across the streets of Gaza.

This leaves the official death toll vastly undercounted, as Gaza's healthcare officials are unable to accurately tally those killed and maimed in this genocide, which must be kept in mind when considering the scale of the mass murder.

Due to the Israeli occupation's attempts to pressure Qatar to put it's own pressure on the Hamas resistance movement to accept a bad deal, in bad faith negotiations, Al-Jazeera's satellite news network in Palestine was closed on Sunday, its offices raided and equipment seized.

The Israeli occupation's warrant included the confiscation of its broadcasting equipment, the prevention of the broadcasting of Al-Jazeera's reporting, and blocked its websites inside the occupied Palestinian territories.

In a post on the social media platform X, the Israeli occupation's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, wrote "the government headed by me unanimously decided: the incitement channel Al-Jazeera will be closed in Israel."

In statement issued by Al-Jazeera, the news network condemned the closing of its offices in Palestine, describing the actions of the Israeli occupation as a "criminal act", warning that the entity's suppression of a free press "stands in direct contravention of International and humanitarian law."

"Al Jazeera Media Network strongly condemns and denounces this criminal act that violates human rights and the basic right to access of information. Al Jazeera affirms its right to continue to provide news and information to its global audiences," Al-Jazeera's statement reads.

"Israel’s ongoing suppression of the free press, seen as an effort to conceal its actions in the Gaza Strip, stands in contravention of international and humanitarian law. Israel’s direct targeting and killing of journalists, arrests, intimidation and threats will not deter Al Jazeera from its commitment to cover, whilst more than 140 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the beginning of the war on Gaza."

"The Network vehemently rejects the allegations presented by Israeli authorities suggesting professional media standards have been violated. It reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the values embodied by its Code of Ethics,” the Qatari news network added.

In the meantime, a fourth Israeli occupation soldier has died as a result of wounds sustained during a Hamas rocket attack launched from the Rafah area on Sunday, targeting an Israeli occupation military site in Kerem Shalom, in the south of the occupied Palestinian territories.

According to a report published by the Israeli public broadcaster, Channel 12, "Sergeant Michael Rozel, 18 years old from Rishon Lezion, a fighter in the 931st Battalion of the Nahal Brigade, fell yesterday (Sunday) in a barrage to Kerem Shalom."

The other three soldiers who were killed in the strike include:

Sergeant Reuven Mark Mordechai Assolin, 19 years old from Ra'anana, served as a soldier in the Shaked Battalion in the Givati Brigade. Sergeant Ido Testa, 19 years old from Jerusalem, served as a soldier in the Shaked Battalion in the Givati Brigade. Sergeant Tal Shavit, 21 years old from Kfar Giladi, served as a soldier in Battalion 931 in the Nahal Brigade.

In other news, Israeli army radio announced yesterday that the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have begun the evacuation of Palestinian civilians from the Rafah area, in the southern Gaza Strip, forcing families living in tent cities to pack up their belongings and leave once again, this time in preparation for the occupation army's invasion of the city of Rafah.

The Israeli army radio said that the occupation forces began evacuating Palestinians from Rafah towards previously erected displacement concentration camps in the Khan Yunis and Al-Mawasi areas.

Both cities have been completely destroyed by previous occupation army operations in the south of Gaza, and little of either city's infrastructure remains. Only Rafah has not been completely obliterated.

According to analysis of satellite imagery, the Israeli occupation army deployed approximately 300 military vehicles near the Rafah border with the occupied Palestinian territories.

Rafah is currently the only home left for more than 1.4 million Palestinians, most of whom have been displaced from other areas in Gaza, where Israeli military operations have turned entire cities into rubble.

Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation forces greatly intensified its attacks on Palestinians over the last day, slaughtering entire families and destroying the few homes and buildings that remain standing following 7 months of Israeli bombardment.

On Sunday evening, Israeli occupation warplanes bombed a Palestinian house belonging to the Al-Attar family in the Yabna Refugee Camp, located south of the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of 5 civilians, including a woman and a child, while several others were wounded in the attack.

At the same time, IOF artillery detatchments shelled the southern areas of the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City, while civil defense personnel in the Gaza Governate recovered the decomposing bodies of five civilians belonging to the Al-Jaabari family, who were killed following the targeting of their home by the Israeli occupation army near the Palestinian stadium in the city.

Additionally, several Palestinians were killed on Sunday evening following the occupation's bombing of the Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in the central Gaza Strip.

According to local reports, occupation warplanes bombed a room housing displaced civilians in the Al-Jaouni School, belonging to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA), located in the Nuseirat Camp, killing 6 civilians and maiming several others.

The horrors continued into dawn on Monday, with at least 22 Palestinians killed, including 8 children, as a result of the Israeli occupation's targeting of 11 residential homes in Rafah over the last day.

In one example, occupation aircraft bombed a residential house belonging to the Abu Lebda family, in the Al-Geneina neighborhood, east of Rafah City, resulting in the deaths of 4 civilians, including at least two children.

Similarly, occupation forces bombed another home belonging to the Qishta family in the Al-Salam neighborhood, opposite the Haroun Al-Rashid Mosque, east of the city of Rafah, slaughtering 9 civilians, including 4 children, one of whom, Hani Qishta, was born and died during the duration of the war.

The IOF raids went on to bomb a civilian house belonging to the Al-Hashash family in the Oreibo neighborhood, north of Rafah City, while another bombing targeted the home of the Shteiwi family, east of Rafah.

The fighter jets of the Zionist occupation forces continued with their bombing by targeting a residential home belonging to the Ermilat family, in the vicinity of the Al-Tawhid Mosque, in the Al-Salam neighborhood east of Rafah, and also bombed the residential home of the Al-Kawaja family, in the Al-Bilbisi area, also east of Rafah.

Yet another attack occured with the targeting of the Abu Hashem family in the Al-Zuhur neighborhood, north of Rafah, wounding a number of civilians.

A house in the Al-Fokhari neighborhood of Khan Yunis was also bombed and destroyed by the IOF.

Further airstrikes were recorded targeting areas of Khirbet al-Adas, northeast of Rafah, while occupation artillery forces also shelled the eastern neighborhoods of the city of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, inflicting incredible damage, while also killing and wounding several civilians.

Israeli air forces went on to bombard residential homes in the towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, in the northern axis of the Palestinian enclave.

Israeli aircraft also launched several firebelts targeting the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City.

The carnage went on with several bombardments in central Gaza as well, including a bombing which targeted near the Istiqama Mosque, south of the Maghazi Refugee Camp, martyring one civilian and wounding several others, while occupation fighter jets additionally bombed several homes in the village of Al-Mughraqa, also in central Gaza.

As a result of the Israeli occupation's ongoing special genocide operation in the Gaza Strip, the death toll among the local population has risen to exceed 34'735, including over 14'560 children and 9'582 women, while another 78'108 others have been wounded since the start of the current round of Zionist aggression, beginning with the events of October 7th, 2023.

May 6th, 2024.

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#videosource

#photosource

@WorkerSolidarityNews

[mariacallous]

In less than a day, prosecutors, police and the government in Serbia reacted to an AI deepfake video of Prime Minister Milos Vucevic allegedly posted on Facebook.

The rapid reaction contrasted with other cases of deepfake content posted in Telegram groups or broadcast on national TV stations about Serbian citizens and opposition politicians.

The Special Prosecution Office for High Tech Crime told the police to collect all “necessary notifications” on the matter, said a prosecutor’s statement on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the government said a Facebook account named Corvus01 had posted the AI-generated video statement in which the PM talked about “non-existent government projects”.

“A criminal complaint has been filed against an NN [anonymous] person and work is being done to establish the identity of the person,” the statement said, adding that police had asked Meta company to send them all data on the account and to remove the fake video.

As the video is not publicly available, it was probably removed after the government’s request.

However, BIRN’s Digital Rights Violations Annual Report 2022-2023 noted numerous other cases of AI-generated videos of politicians being published without sanctions.

In August 2023, Zeljko Mitrovic, owner of pro-government TV Pink, published AI-manipulated footage of Marinika Tepic, vice-president of the opposition Freedom and Justice Party, misrepresenting her remarks.

The same month, Mitrovic did the same with Dragan Djilas, president of the Freedom and Justice Party, airing the video on TV Pink as “satire”. Mitrovic posted the deepfake on X and later showed it on TV Pink without the audience being properly informed that it was fabricated.

Mila Tomanovic, a lawyer handling the Djilas case, told BIRN that Djilas sought a temporary measure that would prohibit the broadcast and re-recording of the video but the Higher Court in Belgrade in November 2023 rejected the call. The Court of Appeal then cancelled the decision of the Higher Court, which is currently considering the temporary measure again.

Tomanovic said Mitrovic defended the edited video as artistic expression. “However, the spread of violence, lies, fraud, deception, misuse of other people’s data, provision of false data and fabrication and presenting a person in a false light cannot possibly be art, or of importance to a democratic society,” Tomanovic said.

Other cases in which Serbian institutions didn’t respond concerned tens of thousands of Telegram users in Serbia who were sharing images of women “undressed” by artificial intelligence, as BIRN reported this week.

Ana Toskic Cvetinovic, executive director at Partners for Democratic Change, an NGO from Serbia and a privacy protection expert, told BIRN that the prosecution in the case of the PM likely reacted to a criminal complaint of the unauthorised publication and display of other people’s files, portraits and video.

“In our country, there is no specifically regulated or sanctioned use of artificial intelligence for the generation of audio and video content, so the use of deepfake can be brought under existing criminal offences, such as unauthorised publication,” she said.

She added that what was specific in the latest case was “the speed of reaction of the prosecution, which is mostly absent in other cases”.

“The prosecution and the police generally state that these crimes are difficult to prove, including collecting evidence from companies that manage social networks,” Toskic Cvetinovic noted.

Nina Nicovic, a lawyer, told BIRN that a direct parallel cannot be drawn between the fake recording of PM Vucevic and the deepfake material circulating on social networks and Telegram groups about “ordinary citizens”.

“If something related to the non-existent projects of the government of any country is really published on a video, then every country … has the right to react urgently because it can lead to consequences for the country,” said Nicovic.

However, she added that her impression is that institutions in Serbia only react fast to rights violations in the digital sphere when politicians are involved.

“If they can react so quickly to everything related to the government and politicians, in certain situations such as the Telegram groups they should have reacted just as urgently,” Nicovic said.

She said one big obstacle is that the courts, prosecutor’s offices and the police do not have enough IT experts to help solve these cases.

thinking about @roycohn's post about AI deepfakes and Ted Cruz...

[consanguinitatum]

DT and His Appendicitis Scar: So When Did That Happen, Anyway?

I think I've mentioned in previous posts that I come across quite a few personal tidbits about a young DT while doing research for my sloooowly developing podcast. I think - well, I certainly hope! - I've also mentioned those sorts of tidbits are not going to be in the podcast? Well, if I haven't mentioned it before, I'm mentioning it now.

I see no reason to include these sorts of things because the podcast won't be about David's personal life (either then or now) but about his professional life. But while I tend to consider most of the theatre work he did between the time he entered the RSAMD Junior School at age 11 (and then got his Equity card and went on to drama school) and prior to his move to London in 1994 part of his professional life, technically they're really not -- because up until he took his first job in the 7:84 in 1991 for The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, he hadn't been earning a wage. And he's said in interviews Arturo was his first professional gig.

But I'm choosing to split hairs here. For the purposes of my podcast, I plan to treat his drama school years as if they were part of his professional career. I do this because I want to give them the same consideration and respect as the rest of his career, and feature them as the seminal experiences they were. They helped build the foundation of his professional life. Besides, he himself has said that attending drama school was essential for him to become the actor he wanted to be.

Because I consider them professional experiences (and because I'm acutely aware of his desire for privacy) the podcast will stay as much in the professional arena as I can possibly make it. He's talked quite a bit about this period of his life before, and I don't feel uncomfortable highlighting anything he's mentioned which happens to coincide with information I've discovered. Anything of a more personal nature which gets included in the podcast will have been measured against all of these factors before it gets added in. So all of that said, we come to an interesting bit of information about something David has definitely talked about and shared about it before - but which has no place in my podcast. So let's talk about it!

The lovely mizgnomer did a great little post a few years back which featured a photo set of David chatting about the near-death experience with appendicitis he had when he was a child (see below):

David's mentioned his appendix scar a few other times as well, and each time he speaks about it, the range of his age at the time of the attack varies by a few years - usually from age 8 to about 10. That's not surprising at all, of course, because for most of us, trying to narrow down some of the events in our childhood to specific time ranges can get a bit fuzzy. But I'm pretty sure I know when it happened.

Back in 1980, a society/organizational newspaper column entitled "Church News" appeared regularly in the Paisley Daily Express. This column often featured prominent figures in churches all over the community and were often framed as "One Week in the Working Life Of" these certain figures to debunk the myth that ministers only work on Sundays. One of these columns, published on 1 May 1980, featured a certain Rev. Sandy McDonald, the minister of St. Marks Oldhall.

That week, Sandy was busy recording a series of short services at his church which would later go out on STV. These were likely part of one of two religious television broadcasts he was a part of at the time: Late Call or That's The Spirit (both programs David has mentioned over the years).

The article goes on to document Sandy's busy week, speaking about his duties chairing festivals of praise and being principal speaker at church rallies and charity events. In between these duties, the article mentions, Sandy has to attend to all his pastoral duties, including meetings with his own church groups, and - and here is the important part - "visits to hospital patients (including his own son)."

The time at which this article was written implies one of Sandy's children was in the hospital in late April to early May of 1980. It's probably a safe bet to assume it was David: while it could have been either his elder brother or his elder sister, this does happen to fall pretty splendidly into the age range of "9 or 10" for his appendicitis scare which David has given in the past. David would have just turned 9 years old in mid-April of that year.

So there you have it. David was 9 years old when he suffered the bout of appendicitis - which burst, and brought him near death.

Thank goodness he made it!

[good-old-gossip]

So-called "Only Democracy" in the Middle- East

Al Jazeera calls Israeli closure ‘criminal act that violates human rights’ In a deceptive and slanderous move, the Israeli Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, unanimously voted to shut down Al Jazeera’s offices in Israel.

They also chose to withdraw crew accreditations, as well as banning media service providers from transmitting its broadcasts and blocking Al Jazeera Media Network websites. Al Jazeera Media Network strongly condemns and denounces this criminal act that violates human rights and the basic right to access of information. Al Jazeera affirms its right to continue to provide news and information to its global audiences.

[theophan-o]

Original invitation for the festive premiere of the film "Ogniem i mieczem", which took place in the Polish Grand Theater–National Opera in Warsaw 8.02.1999.

Information about the premiere date, which can be found now in many places, is not entirely precise. 8.02.1999 was organized only a special seance for journalists and then - the official ceremony in the Grand Theater took place. Both were not open to the public. To attend the festive premiere 8.02.1999 the special invitations were required, which were reserved only to the Polish highest state officials (prime minister, etc.) and selected, special guests from the cultural circles. For the rest of the Polish nation was only a broadcasting from the theater foyer in TVP, before and after the seance (from it I remember above all some our politicians, saying, that they would like to be Bohun:-)

So the REAL premiere, so expected by many, took place... 12.02.1999. It was a day, when the film started to be shown in 75 cinemas in Poland (including the biggest two in my family city:-)

As a teenager, I could only dream of such an invitation. I have seen the film much later. For the first time with my parents, for the second - with my school. My real ticket from the second seance I have posted here (the one from the first has not been preserved):

[beardedmrbean]

Senegalese commuters hoping to browse the news on their way to work were left disappointed on Tuesday - most national newspapers refused to publish in protest against what they see as shrinking media freedom under the new government.

The media is experiencing "one of the darkest days of its history," the local Council of Press Distributors and Publishers (CDEPS) said.

It accuses the government - led by former opposition politicians - of freezing the bank accounts of media companies and seizing their equipment over alleged non-payment of taxes.

Officials justify the crackdown by saying they were trying to end practices that lead to financial embezzlement and mismanagement in the media industry.

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye came to power in March after defeating the ruling coalition's candidate in elections.

His rise to power came after the opposition led huge protests to demand elections that then-President Macky Sall postponed in what his critics saw as a ploy to cling to power.

As part of Tuesday's media blackout, newspapers were displayed on newsstands with no content inside. The editions solely consisted a black cover reading "journée sans presse" ( French for "day without press") and an image of three raised fists gripping a pencil.

Not all papers participated in the protest - private outlet Wal Fadjri called the blackout an “ugly scar on the cheek of our beautiful democracy”.

While agreeing that the press was experiencing a "crisis", Wal Fadjri said a blackout should be the last resort as it would deprive readers of their right to information.

Radio stations largely rejected the boycott, but two popular private stations opted to play music instead of airing the news.

Private television channels like TFM (owned by Grammy award-winning singer Youssou N’Dour), ITV, and 7 TV broadcast news while demonstrating their support for the protest by featuring its slogan and image.

Concerns that the Mr Faye's government would try to restrict the media emerged a few months ago.

Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko was criticised by media professionals in June for warning that the government would no longer tolerate "falsehood" by journalists who he said were enjoying "too much impunity".

Mr Sonko used to be the public face of the opposition, and was barred from running for the presidency. He then backed Mr Faye.

Both of them had been imprisoned under the former government, and pledged to tackle corruption and strengthen democracy in Senegal.

From 2021 to 2024, Senegal slipped from 49th to 94th place on media watchdog Reporters Without Borders' world press freedom index.

The rights group recently urged Senegal's new president to take action to promote press freedom after years of "arrests and attacks on journalists, media closures and arbitrary Internet shutdowns" under Mr Sall.

[girlactionfigure]

🔅Mon morning - ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Remembrance Day - in Israel today.

🔻ROCKET BARRAGE - from Hezbollah - at the GOLAN: Kidmat Zvi x2, Neot Mordechai, Kidmat Zvi, Katzrin - Industrial Zone, Katzrin

(What’s a ‘barrage’?  10 or more.)

🟡 NO DEAL..  Senior Hamas official, Musa Abu Marzouk: "The leaders of the occupation have already admitted defeat to Hamas and only Netanyahu is still insisting. The positions of the American government are related to the interests of elections and therefore the government makes contradictory statements.

Our demands are to stop the war, withdraw the occupation, restore the Gaza Strip, lift the blockade and release prisoners.  The other groups insist that there be a permanent ceasefire.  As far as we are concerned, the American guarantees cannot be trusted . We aim to add Russia, Turkey and China as guarantors."

.. Defense Minister Gallant told American Defense Minister Austin last night: “Hamas' refusal of the deal and the killing of the soldiers left no choice and the meaning is the beginning of the Israeli operation in Rafah.”

.. The head of the CIA, Bill Burns, is expected to arrive in Israel today for talks on the hostage deal.

🟢 RAFAH PREP.. The IDF is expanding the humanitarian zone in Mawasi. The expanded humanitarian zone includes field hospitals, tents and increased quantities of food, water, medicine and other supplies.  The IDF is calling on residents in the eastern neighborhoods of Rafah to temporarily evacuate to the expanded humanitarian zone through announcements, SMS messages, phone calls and media broadcasts in Arabic.

.. Targeted airstrikes on Rafah overnight.

.. Israeli security officials informed Egypt early this morning of the beginning of the expected evacuation of civilians from Rafah, a few hours before the evacuation began.

❌ Details of the Kerem Shalom attack.. 14 rockets were fired from Rafih at IDF posts and assembly points in the Kerem Shalom area.  Two hit in Camp Amitai, near Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, on a squad that was guarding equipment.  The IDF is investigating: why no interceptions, they were aware of this possibility as it is within visual range of Gaza (meaning Hamas could see it), so the troops were minimized and defensive positions set up - how was there such a large hit?

♦️TULKARM (Samaria - Arab city on the Green Line).. IDF forces launched a wide operation. Forces raided the city and engineering teams began detonating charges buried under the roads via combat bulldozers.

▪️EU COMMANDER SAYS (Red Sea).. "The danger arising from attacks from Yemen has become more acute than ever. The Yemenis managed to overcome the air defense of the EU ships using swarms of drones, and hit a merchant ship that was under the protection of the mission ships.”

[gothhabiba]

The Golden Arches, internationally recognised symbols of American corporate might and cultural diffusion, became in March 2002 the target of young Egyptians frustrated with what they perceived to be America's complicity in the onslaught of Israel's Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, against the Palestinian Authority. McDonald's was not the only foreign establishment to suffer broken windows; photographs circulated on the web also included images of a similarly vandalised KFC restaurant in Cairo. Still, none can deny the special place held by McDonald's in the global fast-foodscape. In Egypt, the targeting of the Arches is particularly interesting, as it follows on the heels of a controversy that cut to the very heart of intersections between indigenous and imported mass culture, and popular, if somewhat disreputable, music was at the epicentre of the commotion.

A year earlier, the fast-food giant found itself compelled to scrap a remarkable advertising campaign designed to promote a new, indigenous product. [...] [E]fforts to market an Egyptian national dish became enmeshed directly with Middle East diplomacy—and its breakdown—through an ill-fated effort to link an 'authentic Egyptian' product to an 'authentic Egyptian' pop singer. The very attraction of that singer from a marketing standpoint lay in his recent recording of a potent political anthem which had quickly become a smash hit in Egypt's informal popular music sector.

In the spring of 2001, at the height of his career, veteran shbi singer Shaaban Abd al-Rahim suddenly discovered that his television advertisement for the new McFalafel had been cancelled, reportedly following complaints from the New York-based American Jewish Congress over the corporation's use of the singer to promote its product. This cancellation was a response to Shaaban's recent blockbuster hit, 'I hate Israel' (Ana bakrah Isra'il [أنا بكره إسرائيل]), a pulsating rap number that had made him, after some twenty years of steady work at the lower end of the wedding circuit, a figure of national renown, the anointed 'interpreter of the pulse of the Egyptian and Arab street' (Abd al-Hadi 2001, p. 39). Even more incongruously it had made him a figure to be courted, albeit not always with great appetite, by the cultural and artistic intelligentsia that had heretofore scorned him.

The story of Shaaban Abd al-llahim, his smash hit, and the McDonald's fiasco raises a variety of questions about the relationship between popular 'folk' music and official culture in Egypt. It points to the thriving popularity of a quasi-legitimate 'cassette culture' (Manuel 1993) in a broadcast market that is still rigidly controlled by state authorities and, perhaps even more, to potent political expression at the edge of sanctioned propriety (Gordon 2001). In addition, it points to the changing world of corporate sponsorship in an ever more globalised national economy, and the changing relation of art/artist and song/singer to the fast moving world of advertising. The contest over sponsorship of this particular product—McFalafel—points to the persistent power of national symbology, especially culinary and musical tropes, even if the former has, in this case, been constructed by the extra-territorial multi-national fast-food chain, and the latter co-opted to promote the product. Finally, the very deliberate turn to a singer like Shaaban Abd al-Rahim for product sponsorship, especially for a commercial to be broadcast on state-run television, underscores weakening boundaries between what is 'classically' approved and what is still considered to be 'vulgar' or 'low-class' music, however popular it may be among wide sectors of the population.

—Joel Gordan, "Singing the Pulse of the Egyptian-Arab Street: Shaaban Abd Al-Rahim and the Geo-PopPolitics of Fast Food." Popular Music 22.01 (2003), pp. 73-88.

[tomorrowusa]

Until this month, Bibi Netanyahu was a HŪGE fanboy of Hamas. Their relationship goes back decades. This is not some wacko conspiracy theory. Much of the information about this comes from mainstream Israeli media and high ranking Israeli former officials.

Here are excerpts from an in-depth article at the CBC – Canada's public broadcaster.

Israelis don't agree on much, especially lately, but polling shows they mostly agree that Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is to blame for leaving Israel unprepared for Hamas's onslaught on October 7. The accusations aimed at Netanyahu go beyond merely failing to foresee or prevent the Hamas attack of October 7, however. Many accuse him of deliberately empowering the group for decades as part of a strategy to sabotage a two-state solution based on the principle of land for peace. "There's been a lot of criticism of Netanyahu in Israel for instating a policy for many years of strengthening Hamas and keeping Gaza on the brink while weakening the Palestinian Authority," said Mairav Zonszein of the International Crisis Group. "And we've seen that happening very clearly on the ground." "(Hamas and Netanyahu) are mutually reinforcing, in the sense that they provide each other with a way to continue to use force and rejectionism as opposed to making sacrifices and compromises in order to reach some kind of resolution," Zonszein told CBC News from Tel Aviv.

Bibi and Hamas could be called "frenemies".

Yuval Diskin, former head of Israel's Shin Bet security service, told the daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth in 2013 that "if we look at it over the years, one of the main people contributing to Hamas's strengthening has been Bibi Netanyahu, since his first term as prime minister." In August 2019, former prime minister Ehud Barak told Israeli Army Radio that Netanyahu's "strategy is to keep Hamas alive and kicking … even at the price of abandoning the citizens [of the south] … in order to weaken the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah." The logic underlying this strategy, Barak said, is that "it's easier with Hamas to explain to Israelis that there is no one to sit with and no one to talk to."

The Bibi-Hamas relationship goes back almost 30 years. In some ways, Hamas helped put Bibi in power in the first place.

Netanyahu first came to power in the 1996 election that followed the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by an Israeli extremist opposed to the Oslo Accords. Early polls showed Rabin's successor Shimon Peres comfortably ahead. Determined to sabotage Oslo, Hamas embarked on a ruthless suicide bombing campaign that helped Netanyahu pull ahead of Peres and win the election on May 29, 1996. Today, some of the same extremists who called for Rabin's death hold power in Netanyahu's government.

A reminder that the current Israeli government led by Netanyahu is the most far right in Israel's history. Netanyahu filled it with extremists, religious fanatics, and virulent ethno-nationalists in order to stay in power.

Just two weeks before Rabin's assassination, a young settler extremist posed for the cameras with a Cadillac hood ornament he said he had stolen from Rabin's car. "Just like we got to this emblem," he said, "we could get to Rabin." Today, that young man, Itamar Ben Gvir, is 45 years old and has eight Israeli criminal convictions — including convictions for supporting a terrorist organization and incitement to racism. Once he was rejected by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for his extremist views. Now, Israel's police must answer to him as Benjamin Netanyahu's minister of national security.

Imagine how a second Trump administration would be and you get a hint of what Bibi's pre-October 7th cabinet was like.

The Bibi-Hamas connection only gets worse.

Netanyahu's hawkish defence minister Avigdor Liberman was the first to report in 2020 that Bibi had dispatched Mossad chief Yossi Cohen and the IDF's officer in charge of Gaza, Herzi Halevi, to Doha to "beg" the Qataris to continue to send money to Hamas. "Both Egypt and Qatar are angry with Hamas and planned to cut ties with them. Suddenly Netanyahu appears as the defender of Hamas," the right-wing leader complained. A year later, Netanyahu was further embarrassed when photos of suitcases full of cash going to Hamas became public. Liberman finally resigned in protest over Netanyahu's Hamas policy which, he said, marked "the first time Israel is funding terrorism against itself."

Yep, Bibi actually had a bag man deliver cash to Hamas.

The Palestinian Authority's Ahmed Majdalani accused the Qatari envoy of carrying money to Hamas "like a gangster." "The PLO did not agree to the deal facilitating the money to Hamas that way," he said.

Netanyahu fancies himself as a clever Machiavellian playing one side against the other. He has even bragged of this to members of his party.

On March 12, 2019, Netanyahu defended the Hamas payments to his Likud Party caucus on the grounds that they weakened the pro-Oslo Palestinian Authority, according to the Jerusalem Post: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended Israel's regular allowing of Qatari funds to be transferred into Gaza, saying it is part of a broader strategy to keep Hamas and the Palestinian Authority separate, a source in Monday's Likud faction meeting said," the Post reported. "The prime minister also said that 'whoever is against a Palestinian state should be for' transferring the funds to Gaza, because maintaining a separation between the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza helps prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state."

Of course Bibi was ultimately being too clever by half.

Netanyahu insisted that neither the money nor the construction material given to Hamas would be diverted to military purposes. But today, the IDF finds itself showing how Hamas has done exactly that — by diverting and converting civilian funds and materials to warlike purposes. The military tried to warn him at the time, former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot told the Ma'ariv newspaper. He said Netanyahu acted "in total opposition to the national assessment of the National Security Council, which determined that there was a need to disconnect from the Palestinians and establish two states."

A lot of radical chic Hamas fans in Western countries will undoubtedly try to obscure the fact that they are cheering the same group which a far right Israeli politician (until recently) has been lavishing with tons of cash.

And the Bibi-Hamas connection is a reminder that while far right politicians in many countries like to portray themselves as tough on security, they will usually put their craven lust for power above all.

[invisibleicewands]

Michael Sheen says 'it fills my heart' in passionate message about Wales that will give you goosebumps

Michael Sheen has been reflecting on what it is he loves about Wales ahead of his debut as Aneurin Bevan in new stage drama Nye - and his passionate message is enough to give you goosebumps.

Speaking to WalesOnline ahead of the play’s Cardiff run, Sheen opened up about why he keeps coming back to Wales and indeed now lives here again, even though his work takes him all over the world. “It’s my home,” he says. “It's where my family are, where my friends are, where I grew up. It's the country whose history is closest to my heart, whose people I care about the most, the communities that I care about the most. It is what shaped me, informed me, and what continues to shape and form me.

“Aside from anything to do with the natural beauty of the country, the warmth of the people, the history of the communities, how we grew up here, the challenges that we've had in the past and that we still face and that have shaped who we are now and why we are the way we are now and what our aspirations are, all of those things. [Wales is] what fills my head and fills my heart.”

The Newport-born, Port Talbot raised actor is recognised for his ability to transform into his characters, notably real life people like former Prime Minister Tony Blair, broadcaster David Frost, and controversial football manager Brian Clough.

Sheen, 55, who has more recently played Chris Tarrant in ITV drama Quiz and the angel Aziraphale in Good Omens opposite David Tennant, is now looking forward to starring in the title role of Nye, a co-production between the Wales Millennium Centre and the National Theatre, which sees the actor portray the founder of the National Health Service.

Interestingly, Nye will be the first time that Sheen performs on stage in his home country. Despite his groundbreaking performance as Jesus Christ in National Theatre Wales' The Passion which was staged on location across Port Talbot during Easter weekend in 2011, the actor revealed he's never actually fronted a show at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff.

“To be able to do this play and tell this story about this man on that stage is really exciting,” Sheen commented. “When we got there to start doing the tech and just stepped out onto the stage, it was really exciting. You could feel the whole company getting really excited and just looking out into that beautiful auditorium and just thinking about it being full of people coming to watch this play.

“The fact that we're telling this story, which is such a Welsh story about a Welsh legend, has been exciting from the very beginning. When we first started rehearsing, knowing that we'd be coming to Wales at the end of it, everyone was incredibly excited about that. To now actually be here and be just days away from starting the performance is quite thrilling.”

Sheen said that, perhaps for the first time in his career, he knew ‘everything’ about the man he was playing. A new play written by Tim Price, a synopsis for Nye reads: “Confronted with death, Nye's deepest memories lead him on a mind-bending journey back through his life; from childhood to mining underground, parliament and fights with Churchill in an epic Welsh fantasia.”

Sheen said of playing Bevan: “In the last 10 years I've come to really appreciate who [Aneurin Bevan] was and what he did and what he achieved. This was an opportunity to be able to put everything I knew and felt about him into a piece on stage.

“It’s a very particular challenge playing a real person who is very well known by the audience. That brings all kinds of unique challenges that you wouldn't normally get if you're playing a fictional character, obviously, or a real life person that people don't really know that well. And with playing Nye as well, it feels like a huge responsibility. I mean, it's a privilege to play him and to tell his story, but it's also a massive responsibility because there have been very few things out there about him, and it's such an important story.

“I already had such a strong feeling about him, a strong relationship to him and what he achieved. I know people who feel incredibly passionate about him and what he did. That brings an even greater level of responsibility to it. It was a great relief to know that once we started performing the play, people were accepting of me playing the part and were enjoying it and felt that it portrayed Bevan in a way that did him justice.”

Sheen added that the NHS itself has “always” been there for him throughout his life, citing moments in which he has lost family members and friends, as well as caring for his two children with Swedish actress partner Anna Lundberg, Lyra and Mabli. “It's not just one moment, it's a lifetime, lifelong relationship.”

Another relationship that Sheen has developed in recent years is with Doctor Who star David Tennant. The pair have been firm friends since appearing in both Staged and Good Omens with each other – both of which were hugely successful. Of his friendship with Tennant, Sheen jokes: “David and I will keep working together as long as we don't fall out!” While he ruled out more episodes of Staged, Sheen will reunite with Tennant when the third and final series of Good Omens enters production next year. When asked whether he knows what the future holds for his character, the actor said: “I know what's going to happen in the entire story but I'm not going to tell anyone.”

Before then Sheen will take on another real life role, playing Prince Andrew in a new series about the infamous Newsnight interview the royal did with Emily Maitlis. The story was adapted into Netflix film Scoop earlier this year: “I thought Rufus was fantastic,” Sheen said of Rufus Sewell’s performance as Prince Andrew in Scoop. “I thought he was brilliant as Andrew, he was much better than me. He was more a supporting character in that though. Our story is about Prince Andrew and Emily, it's much more they are the lead characters. It's a different focus and requires a different approach to the character. I was having to look at, as I'm sure Rufus did, the interview in particular. When we were working on it I was listening and watching the interview multiple times a day, every day for months.”

Reflecting on playing the divisive member of the Royal Family, Sheen said: “The level of controversy in that story brings an extra layer as well. The fact that for whatever all our personal opinions might be about what did or didn't happen, or what he did or didn't do, we don't know for definite. There's been no actual court case. We don't know exactly what happened.

"That requires a real level of sensitivity in how you deal with the story, apart from anything else because of legalities and that stuff, but when I read the script I thought that was handled really well. I thought it was a very clever way of allowing the audience to have a satisfying dramatic experience, but still keeping a level of ambiguity, which I thought was done very well on the script. Playing that character was challenging in all kinds of ways, as it is with every real-life character, but I also had to make certain choices and decisions about what was going on for him in my version.”

2024 has already been a busy year for Sheen as a few months ago, his directing debut The Way was released on BBC One – to mixed reviews. Reflecting on the project, which was shot in Wales, he said: “It was quite extraordinary to be attacked by Conservative ministers in the press on the day that it came out, and then to have right-wing newspapers having a concerted plan to try and smear it.

"We didn't expect that just before it came out the news would come out from the steelworks. It was a huge shock and obviously affected the way people perceive the story of the drama. It was never intended to be a socio-documentary about what was going on at the steelworks. It was my first time directing something and to be able to tell that story and film it around south Wales with an amazing Welsh cast was such a brilliant experience.”

[sivavakkiyar]

Bangladesh’s minister of state for information and broadcasting has defended the government’s handling of mass protests, as United Nations experts called for an independent investigation into the government’s deadly crackdown on demonstrators.

In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera on Thursday, Mohammad Arafat said the country’s security forces had done everything “to bring back the peace” amid the student protests.

He accused “third-party” actors, including “extremists and terrorists”, of fuelling the unrest.

We’re not referring to the students [as] the terrorists and anarchists. It is the third party, those who intruded into this movement and started doing all this,” Arafat said on Talk to Al Jazeera.

“We tried our best to de-escalate the tension,” he said, adding that “some people are trying to add fuel to the fire, are trying to create a situation where they can take advantage … and topple the government”.

Thousands of Bangladeshi students took to the streets earlier this month to demand reforms to the South Asian country’s quota system, which allocates 30 percent of government jobs to the descendants of veterans who fought for Bangladesh in the 1971 war.

[justforbooks]

In 1941 a secret British radio station called on Germans to rise up against Hitler. Run by German exiles, it was explicitly left wing. The station’s target audience was “the Good German”. Its broadcasts were serious and idealistic: a ray of light amid totalitarian darkness. They were also a complete flop. With Nazi propaganda rampant, and Hitler’s armies seemingly invincible and on the march across Europe, few bothered to listen in.

It was at this point that Britain’s wartime intelligence services tried a more radical approach. That summer, a talented journalist called Sefton Delmer was given the job of beating the Nazis at their own information game. Delmer spent his childhood in Berlin and spoke fluent German. In the early 1930s he chronicled Hitler’s rise to power – flying in the Führer’s plane and attending his mass rallies – as a correspondent for the Daily Express.

Working from an English country house, Delmer launched an experimental radio station. He called it Gustaf Siegfried Eins, or GS1. Instead of invoking lofty precepts, or Marxism, Delmer targeted what he called the “inner pig-dog”. The answer to Goebbels, Delmer concluded, was more Goebbels. His radio show became a grotesque cabaret aimed at the worst and most Schwein-like aspects of human nature.

As Peter Pomerantsev writes in his compelling new study How to Win an Information War, Delmer was a “nearly forgotten genius of propaganda”. GS1 backed Hitler and was staunchly anti-Bolshevik. Its mysterious leader, dubbed der Chef, ridiculed Churchill using foul Berlin slang. At the same time the station lambasted the Nazi elite as a group of decadent crooks. They stole and whored, it said, as British planes bombed and decent Germans suffered.

Delmer’s goal was to undermine nazism from within, by turning ordinary citizens against their aloof party bosses. A cast of Jewish refugees and former cabaret artists played the role of Nazis. Recordings took place in a billiards room, located inside the Woburn Abbey estate in Bedfordshire, a centre of wartime operations. Some of the content was real. Other elements were made up, including titillating accounts of SS orgies at a Bavarian monastery.

The station was a sensation. Large numbers of Germans tuned in. The US embassy in Berlin – America had yet to enter the war – thought it to be the work of German nationalists or disgruntled army officers. The Nazis fretted about its influence. One unimpressed person was Stafford Cripps, the future chancellor of the exchequer, who complained to Anthony Eden, the then minister for foreign affairs, about the station’s use of “filthy pornography”.

By 1943, Delmer’s counter-propaganda operation had grown. He and his now expanded team ran a live news bulletin aimed at German soldiers, the Soldatensender Calais, as well as a series of clandestine radio programmes in a variety of languages. Delmer’s artist wife Isabel joined in. She drew explicit pictures showing a blonde woman having sex with a dark-skinned foreigner. Partisans sent the pamphlets to homesick German troops stationed in Crete.

Others who made a contribution to Delmer’s productions included Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, and the 26-year-old future novelist Muriel Spark. Fleming worked for naval intelligence. He brought titbits of information that made the show feel genuine, including the latest results from U-boat football leagues. Many Germans guessed the station was British. But they listened anyway, feeling it represented “them”.

Pomerantsev is an expert on propaganda and the author of two previous books on the subject, Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible and This Is Not Propaganda. The son of political dissidents in Kyiv, he was born in Ukraine and grew up in London. During the 00s he lived in Moscow and worked there as a TV producer. Since Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion he has been part of a project that documents Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

Like Delmer, Pomeranstev has personal experience of two rival cultures: one authoritarian, the other liberal and democratic. He draws parallels between the fascist 1930s and our own populist age. The same “underlying mindset” can be seen in dictators such as Putin and Xi Jinping, and wannabe strongmen and bullies such as Donald Trump. “Propagandists across the world and across the ages play on the same emotional notes like well-worn scales,” he observes.

In Pomerantsev’s view, propaganda works not because it convinces, or even confuses. Its real power lies in its ability to convey a sense of belonging, he argues. Those left behind feel themselves emboldened and part of a special community. It is a world of grievance, victimhood and enemies, where facts are meaningless. What matters are feelings and the illusion propaganda lends of “individual agency”. Its practitioners bend reality. And – as with Putin’s fictions about Ukraine – make murder possible.

The book offers a few ideas as to how we might fight back. When horrors were uncovered in Bucha, the town near Kyiv where Russian soldiers executed civilians, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, appealed to the Russian people. This didn’t cut through. Most preferred to believe the version shown on state TV: that Moscow was waging a defensive fight against “neo-Nazis”. It was a comforting lie that absolved Russians of personal responsibility.

Ukrainian activists hit a similar wall when they cold-called Russians and told them about the destruction caused by Kremlin bombing. Many called relatives in St Petersburg and other Russian cities to explain they were under attack. Typically, their family members did not believe them. “They really brainwashed you over there,” one said.

The activists had more success when they mentioned taxes or travel restrictions – issues that spoke to the self-interested “pig-dog”. Pomerantsev suggests that Delmer’s approach worked because he allowed people to care about the truth again, nudging them towards independent thought, while avoiding the pitfall of obvious disloyalty. He brought wit and creativity to his anti-propaganda efforts as well, turning his radio shows into bravura transmissions.

Pomerantsev makes an intriguing comparison between der Chef and Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian oligarch who in summer 2023 staged a short-lived rebellion against Putin. Two months later, Prigozhin died in a plane crash. The oligarch was a charismatic figure who roasted Russia’s generals for their incompetent handling of the war. He used earthy prison slang. It was this ability to communicate in plain language that made him popular – and a rival.

The book muses on whether Delmer was ultimately good or bad. Are tricks and subterfuge justified in pursuit of noble goals? It concludes that the journalist’s greatest insight was his understanding of his own ordinariness, and how this might be exploited by unscrupulous governments and rabble-rousing individuals. “He was vulnerable to propaganda for the same reasons we all are – through the need to fit in and conform,” Pomerantsev notes.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[mariacallous]

Czech Radio (Cesky rozhlas) has suspended its ties with its Slovak counterpart STVR for an indefinite period of time over mounting fears of political meddling and interference in the Slovak public service broadcaster’s operations, the Sme daily reported on Monday.

A Czech Radio spokesman described the “forced demise” earlier this year of predecessor RTVS, and the creation, effective since July, of STVR in its stead as the “first step towards the nationalisation of the [Slovak] public broadcaster”, whose independence and impartiality now hang by a thread, the Slovak daily reported.

In July, Czech Radio head Rene Zavoral said he would have to wait to see “if the new [STVR] organisation will defend the principles of an independent, impartial and objective public service media” before deciding on whether or not to continue his organisation’s cooperation with its Slovak counterpart.

Czech Television (Ceska televize) is also closely monitoring developments in Slovakia’s media sphere, according to the investigative outlet Hlidacipes.org.

According to Sme, the Slovak public broadcaster is already facing increased political pressure and interference, with, among other instances of undue meddling, STVR management blocking a live interview with Matej Drlicka, the former head of the Slovak National Theatre recently dismissed by Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova, and instead airing a recording of it.

The move by Czech Radio will take off the Slovak airwaves its reporters who, until now, had helped cover foreign news in countries where RTVS did not have any or enough correspondents, including in geopolitical hotspots like Ukraine or the Middle East. All exchanges of news content will also end.

“Slovak Radio covers its foreign news from several sources, so it will continue to fully inform about events from the mentioned areas,” STVR responded, claiming the move doesn’t change anything in its long-term cooperation with its Czech counterparts.

The turmoil in Slovakia’s media sector is part of wider assault by the government of Robert Fico on the country’s institutions and judicial system since it won back power in last year’s parliamentary election. The three-party coalition, which includes the extreme-right Slovak Nationalist Party (SNS), appears determined to undermine the rule of law in the country, which is expected to bring it into conflict with the EU, in much the same way as the Hungarian government of Viktor Orban has found itself.

The Slovak government’s Act on Public Broadcasting, a controversial reform passed in June which gave the government greater oversight and control over the public broadcaster’s board, had already sparked large protests by the opposition, civil society and cultural sector. These have stepped up since the new culture minister, a divisive, hard-right, Russia-friendly former presenter put forward by the SNS, began driving the Fico government’s cultural and media power-grab.

Thousands of people protested on Monday in Bratislava against Simkovicova’s decision to fire, on dubious managerial grounds, Alexandra Kusa, the director of the Slovak National Gallery, as well as Drlicka of the Slovak National Theatre – both respected cultural figures in the country and abroad.

Another demonstration is planned on Tuesday evening against what is widely perceived as Fico’s increasingly authoritarian crackdown on free speech and his Orban-style attempts to put cultural institutions and public media organisations under political control.

Prominent Czech artists also penned an open letter criticising the ongoing “purge” in Slovakia’s cultural sector, vowing to come together to create a network offering jobs and positions in the Czech Republic for Slovak colleagues affected by the changes or forced out.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Judd Legum at Popular Information:

This month, Sinclair Broadcast Group has flooded a vast network of local news websites with misleading articles suggesting that President Biden is mentally unfit for office. The articles are based on specious social media posts by the Republican National Committee (RNC), which are then repackaged to resemble news reports. The thinly disguised political attacks are then syndicated to dozens of local news websites owned by Sinclair, where they are given the imprimatur of mainstream media brands, including NBC, ABC, and CBS. 

For example, on June 10, Biden attended an event on the White House lawn celebrating Juneteenth. The event included a musical performance, and Biden listened with a broad smile but did not dance. The RNC's "research" team posted a clip of Biden on X with the caption, "Why isn't Biden moving?"  Hours later, the RNC's post was embedded into an article published by Sinclair's National Desk, with the headline, "Biden appears to freeze, slur words during White House Juneteenth event."  The article claims, without evidence, that Biden was "dazed" and only "snapped out of his stupor" when the man next to him put his arm around his shoulder. It also quotes the Trump campaign's social media response to the same RNC video: "Lights are on but no one’s home." The incident was described as one of "multiple senior moments" for Biden during the event. 

The other "senior moment" highlighted in Sinclair's article is based on a clip posted on X by Fox News' Sean Hannity, one of Donald Trump's closest allies. Hannity posted a low-quality clip of Biden's speech at the event with the caption, "Biden sparks concern as he slurs his words during Juneteenth speech." Biden, who has been open about overcoming a stutter that he has had since childhood, slightly swallows the word "history." But the full video of his speech shows that he spoke clearly. 

The article concludes by promoting an absurd rumor, based on a deceptively edited clip, that Biden soiled himself on stage while attending a D-Day celebration in Europe a few days earlier. "Biden’s strange stooping motion caused several terms to trend on X, including 'diaper,' 'pooping' and 'pooped,'" Sinclair's National Desk reported.  On June 6, Sinclair also devoted an entire article to amplifying the right-wing fabrication that Biden soiled himself on stage. The URL for the article even includes the word "pooping." According to Sinclair, the incident "paints a poor picture for President Biden, 81, who is fighting off harsh criticisms of his physical and mental capabilities." Another article referencing "pooping" was published by Sinclair and syndicated to its affiliates on June 7.

[...] There was nothing strange about the incident. The G7 leaders watched a skydiving demonstration, with each parachuter carrying a flag for each nation. Biden briefly walks away from the group to give another parachuter a thumbs up. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that Biden "was being very polite and went over to talk to all of them individually."  Nevertheless, Sinclair framed the G7 incident as another example of Biden's mental infirmity. The article linked Biden's conduct to Sinclair's previous allegation that Biden was "dazed" during the Juneteenth celebration and suggestions that Biden soiled himself at the D-Day event. It was then syndicated to the same large network of local news affiliates. Baseless attacks by the RNC, the Trump campaign, and Sean Hannity were now legitimized under the branding of ABC, CBS, and NBC. 

Sinclair was participating in a disinformation campaign led by Trump supporters and Trump himself. "[Biden] goes over to France and something happened and it’s not good, I don’t know what it is," Trump said in an interview with right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk. This is the level of journalism that is being automatically syndicated to dozens of local news outlets, which most Americans still trust as a source of information.  The tactics Sinclair is using on local news websites are similar to those it is deploying on local television. Last week, Popular Information and Public Notice exposed how Sinclair aggressively promotes specious claims about President Joe Biden's fitness for office through dozens of local newscasts. 

Right-wing propaganda broadcast group Sinclair spread articles falsely asserting that President Biden is “mentally unfit for office” to its stations by pushing doctored propaganda about Biden’s physical and mental capabilities.