The World Blog by humble servant.

Meta clarifies policy on calls for assassinating heads of state The US tech giant is also scrambling to make it clear that advocating violence against ‘Russians in general’ is off limits Meta clarifies policy on calls for assassinating heads of state. Facebook’s parent company Meta has changed its policy guidance on tolerance to hate speech to prohibit “condoning violence” against “Russians in general” and to ban calls for the death of heads of state, Reuters reported on Monday, citing a memo posted on the company’s internal platform.  The Sunday post, published by Meta’s global affairs president, Nick Clegg, and seen by Reuters, suggests that Facebook is “narrowing the focus” of its content moderation policy to make it “explicitly clear” that a previous decisions made last week should not be interpreted as “condoning violence against Russians in general.” Last Thursday, Reuters was also the first to report that Meta would begin allowing hate speech against Russians on Facebook and...

Beijing wants US to ‘open biolabs’ to international experts If Pentagon-funded research is as benign as Washington claims, why not subject it to scrutiny? – Chinese Foreign Ministry Washington should prove that the global network of biolabs funded by the Pentagon does not conduct nefarious research by subjecting the facilities to international scrutiny, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said during a daily briefing on Monday. “If the US wants to prove their activity is benign, why not open those biolabs to independent examination by international experts?” he asked. There are dozens of biolabs funded by the US through the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) scattered throughout the globe. The US insists they act as early warning outposts collecting data on potentially dangerous infections in various parts of the world. Skeptical nations, including China and Russia, believe the labs may also serve darker purposes by conducting bioweapon studies on behalf of the US. The w...

The Chinese Embassy in the US says it is unaware of any request for military assistance from Russia amid the conflict in Ukraine Chinese Embassy responds to claims Moscow asked for military assistance The Chinese Embassy in the US says it has no information about Russia’s alleged request to China for military assistance, noting that Beijing’s focus is on bringing tensions down in Ukraine. Citing unnamed US officials, the Financial Times reported on Sunday that Moscow asked China “for equipment and other kinds of unspecified military assistance” to support its offensive in Ukraine. The report added that the White House was concerned “Beijing may undermine western efforts to help Ukrainian forces defend their country” if it chooses to grant the alleged request.  The allegations were also picked up by the New York Times, CNN, and other Western publications. CNN reported, for instance, that Russia had requested “drones” from China, while the NYT said that its sources declined to discus...