Ukraine Russian Invsion: As Russia bans Facebook and Instagram, what alternatives will Russian social media users turn to?

As the war in Ukraine enters its second month, hundreds of news outlets and social networks have vanished from the Russian web amid efforts to crack down on domestic dissent over the conflict.

Earlier this week, a Russian court found Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, guilty of “extremist” activity related to the company’s earlier announcement that it would permit messages urging violence against Vladimir Putin and Russian troops in Ukraine.

Meta has since narrowed the scope of the guidance, saying it would prohibit calls for the death of a head of state.

Read more at: As Russia bans Facebook and Instagram, what alternatives will Russian social media users turn to? | Euronews

Australia: Djokovic Arrives in Dubai After Deportation From Australia

he Emirates plane carrying Djokovic touched down after a 13 1/2-hour flight from Melbourne, where he had argued in court he should be allowed to stay in the country and compete in the tournament under a medical exemption due to a coronavirus infection last month.

It wasn't immediately clear where he planned to travel next. The Dubai Duty Free tennis tournament, which Djokovic won in 2020, doesn't start until Feb. 14.

Dubai, the commercial capital of the United Arab Emirates, doesn't require travelers to be vaccinated, though they must show a negative PCR test to board a flight.

Read more at: Djokovic Arrives in Dubai After Deportation From Australia | World News | US News

Saudis and their lobbyists risk losing access to EU Parliament - by Nikolaj Nielsen

Earlier this year, the former defence minister of France, Michele Alliot-Marie, chaired a backroom meeting with a half dozen Saudi ambassadors at the European Parliament.

That meeting was part of a so-called training programme organised by the College of Europe, an academic institution part-funded by the European Union and based out of Bruges in Belgium.

The college received Saudi money for the effort and then attacked the media for reporting the behind closed door meeting between the ambassadors and MEPs as lobbying.

France is also the world's third-largest weapons exporter with Riyadh as one of its biggest clients. The regime late last year murdered critical journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Now pressure is mounting to ban all Saudi diplomats, as well as any organisation that represents them, from entering the European Parliament again.

Read more at: Saudis and their lobbyists risk losing access to EU Parliament

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