World Briefing: December 7, 2024

A U.S. federal appeals court panel on Friday unanimously upheld a law that could lead to a ban on TikTok in a few short months, handing a resounding defeat to the popular social media platform as it fights for its survival in the U.S. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied TikTok’s petition to overturn the law — which requires TikTok to break ties with its China-based parent company ByteDance or be banned by mid-January — and rebuffed the company’s challenge of the statute, which it argued had ran afoul of the First Amendment. “The First Amendment exists to protect free speech in the United States,” said the court’s opinion, which was written by Judge Douglas Ginsburg. “Here the Government acted solely to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and to limit that adversary’s ability to gather data on people in the United States.” TikTok and ByteDance — another plaintiff in the lawsuit — are expected to appeal to the Supreme Court, though it’s unclear whether the court will take up the case. “The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting ans’ right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue,” TikTok spokesperson Michael Hughes said in a statement - AP

Romania's top court annulled an ongoing presidential election after accusations of Russian meddling and ruled on Friday the entire process, which had been due to conclude this weekend, would have to be re-run. The second round had been scheduled for Sunday and voting has already begun in polling stations abroad. It would have pitted Calin Georgescu, a far-right, pro-Russian candidate, against pro-European Union centrist leader Elena Lasconi. "The electoral process to elect Romania's president will be fully re-run, and the government will set a new date and ... calendar for the necessary steps," the court said in a statement. Georgescu scored single-digit numbers in opinion polls before the first round vote on Nov. 24 but then surged to a first-place finish that raised questions over the result. Georgescu wants to end Romanian support for Ukraine against Russia's invasion. If he won the presidency, it would upend the pro-Western politics of the EU and NATO member, pushing Romania closer to a belt of states in central and eastern Europe that have powerful populist, Russia-friendly politicians, including Hungary, Slovakia and Austria.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol escaped impeachment on Saturday, as the National Assembly failed to pass the motion to oust him over his short-lived martial law, which has caused grave confusion in Korea. The impeachment motion failed as most ruling People Power Party (PPP) lawmakers boycotted the vote by exiting the Assembly chamber, preventing it from reaching the required 200 votes. With 192 of the 300 parliamentary seats held by the opposition, at least eight PPP lawmakers' votes were needed to impeach Yoon - Korea Times

Russia’s embassy in Damascus has warned its citizens they may need to leave Syria as rebel forces approach the strategic city of Homs, with the regime’s struggle to slow the militants’ rapid offensive spiralling into a deepening crisis for Bashar al-Assad. Russia, which has been supporting Assad’s government by targeting the rebel forces with air strikes, said its citizens could leave the country on commercial airlines via accessible and functioning airports. The embassy and consulate continued to function as normal, it added. Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. The warning from one of the Syrian government’s most crucial backers underscores the severity of the threat posed to Assad by the insurgents, led by Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Their lightning offensive has led to the regime’s most significant territorial losses in years. The advance towards Homs came a day after rebels seized the major city of Hama. A rebel commander said insurgents had taken control of a village 10km north of Homs, while pro-rebel media posted videos that claimed to show the insurgents entering the town of Al-Dar Al-Kabira only 5km away - FT

Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported that while Assad remained in Syria, his children and his wife traveled to Russia and his brothers-in-law traveled to the UAE, Syrian security officials and Arab officials said. Egyptian and Jordanian officials have urged Assad to leave. Arab states including the U.A.E. and Qatar have grown increasingly concerned about a rapid collapse of the Assad regime & destabilization…Assad has…sought weapons and intelligence help from countries including the U.A.E., Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, but has so far been refused.

Beleaguered Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov and the director of the Department of Culture, Ivan Liptuha, publicly ridiculed an outspoken female city councillor, Anastasia Bolshedvorova, who challenged them on unexplained mass deaths of animals at municipal zoo. A squirrel was officially listed as having perished because of “falls.” Other animals died due to bomb blast waves, however they perished before the war began, she said. Nine fish were officially listed as dying on one day due to old age. Trukhanov suggested the squirrel may have died by suicide. Another councilor asked why wolves were dying and why there was no supervisory board at the zoo.

Authorities in the Dominican Republic announced Friday that they confiscated nearly 9.5 tons of cocaine, the largest drug seizure in the country’s history. The $250 million worth of drugs were found nestled inside a banana shipment that arrived at the Caucedo port in the capital of Santo Domingo, the country’s most important seaport. The shipment had been sent from Guatemala and was destined for Belgium, said Carlos Devers, spokesman for the Dominican Republic’s Anti-Drug Agency. Ten suspects have been detained, he said at a press conference. Authorities so far this year have seized nearly 47 tons of drugs. The second biggest seizure on record was reported in 2006, when officials found more than 5,680 pounds (2,580 kilograms) at the Caucedo port. The Dominican Republic has long been considered a major drug transit point - AP

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