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Trump’s war of words with the mainstream media escalates over errors and allegations of bias. Transgender individuals will be allowed to join the military pending court review, contrary to Trump’s earlier announcement that they would be banned. Wife of Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore accuses news media of painting the couple as anti-Semitic, rebutting the charge by noting that one of their lawyers is Jewish. After press conference by women who accuse Trump of sexual misconduct and assault, Trump dismisses charges as “fake news,” claiming not to know the women, several of whom have documented ties to him. New Yorker fires political reporter Ryan Lizza over unspecified allegations of sexual misconduct that he claims are unfounded. -Suzanne Nossel, Executive Director

The most pressing threats and notable goings-on in free expression today

U.S.

Trump Escalates His Criticism of the News Media, Fueling National Debate
President Trump has escalated his fiery attacks on the news media, seizing on a recent string of mistaken reports to bolster his case that he is being persecuted by a left-leaning establishment out to bring him down and fueling a national debate over truth, accountability and a free press.
NEW YORK TIMES

Transgender People Will Be Allowed to Enlist in the Military as a Court Case Advances
Transgender people will be allowed to enlist in the military beginning January 1, Defense Department officials said in a move that pauses President Trump’s effort to bar transgender troops.
NEW YORK TIMES

Roy Moore’s wife says he can’t be anti-Semitic because “one of our attorneys is a Jew”
Kayla Moore, wife of Republican Senate candidate and accused child molester Roy Moore, made her final appeal to Alabama voters at a rally Monday, arguing that her husband couldn’t possibly be anti-Semitic because “one of our attorneys is a Jew.”
VICE NEWS

Trump dismisses accusations of sexual misconduct as ‘fake news’
President Donald Trump dismissed accusations of sexual misconduct today, alleging the claims against him were an invention by Democrats who are unable to prove his campaign colluded with Russia to meddle in the 2016 election.
CNN

Ryan Lizza Fired by The New Yorker Over Sexual Misconduct Allegation
The New Yorker said it had fired Ryan Lizza, the magazine’s Washington correspondent, after it said he had engaged in what it called “improper sexual conduct,” a charge that Lizza denied.
NEW YORK TIMES

 
Global

The Polish government is cracking down on private media — in the name of combating ‘fake news’
Around the world, dictators and would-be authoritarians have picked up Trump’s attitude and his terminology. Now the Polish government has been emboldened to take a step in the same direction. On Monday, the national media council slapped an extraordinary fine on TVN24, the largest and most important private television channel in the country.
WASHINGTON POST

Detained by US, Mexican journalist fears death if deported
Advocates for a Mexican journalist detained in a remote West Texas facility asked the U.S. government to grant him asylum instead of deporting him to a country where he believes he’ll be killed.
ASSOCIATED PRESS

Saudi Arabia lifts cinema ban, directors and movie chains rejoice
Saudi Arabia lifted a 35-year-old ban on cinemas Monday, prompting celebrations from film fans, directors, and movie chains eyeing the last untapped mass market in the Middle East. The first theaters could start showing films as early as March.
REUTERS

Ultra-Nationalists Crashed Documentary Festival in Russia
This past weekend, a group of Russian ultra-nationalists threatened a documentary filmmaker at a Moscow film festival, disrupting the screening of her film, Flight of a Bullet, about the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine.
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

Bolshoi’s controversial Nureyev ballet opens—to ovations and bans
Nureyev, the most notorious new production in the Bolshoi Ballet’s modern history, premiered last night in Moscow to a 15-minute standing ovation and exclamations of official approval even by Putin’s press secretary—but the ballet’s creator and director languished under house arrest, refused permission to see his own ballet.
THE ARTS DESK

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