03.31.23

GNU/Linux

• Audiocasts/Shows

  • CubicleNate ☛ Linux Saloon | 25 Mar 2023 | Archcraft Linux

    I am not what one would call a huge fan of Arch Linux or its derivatives. My past experiences have all been pretty poor so really, the bar is set quite low. I don’t expect much from an Arch based distro.

  • Bryan Lunduke ☛ What makes a “Linux Game” a “LINUX Game”?

    Listen now (20 min) | If a game uses Wine, Javascript, or various engines or interpreters… is it a “Linux” game?

• Instructionals/Technical

  • Make Tech Easier ☛ How to Restore Grub Bootloader in Linux

    The GNU Grand Unified Bootloader (GRUB) is a powerful and flexible utility that links your motherboard’s BIOS to your operating system’s kernel. It works by loading a small program in your motherboard’s memory, which it uses to bootstrap a larger multiboot binary.

    However, there are instances where GNU GRUB fails to load your operating system’s kernel. For example, a dual-boot setup with Linux and Windows often results in the latter wiping out the GNU bootloader. This tutorial shows you how you can recover your system by reinstalling GRUB using some of the most popular Linux distributions.

  • FOSSLinux ☛ Getting the most out of Pop!_OS by installing extensions

    Pop!_OS is a versatile operating system that can be customized with extensions to suit your needs. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of installing and using extensions to enhance your Pop!_OS experience.

  • Jonathan McDowell: Buttering up my storage

    (TL;DR: I’ve been trying out btrfs in some places instead of ext4, I’ve hit absolutely zero issues and there are a few features that make me plan to use it more.)

    Despite (or perhaps because of) working on storage products for a reasonable chunk of my career I have tended towards a conservative approach to my filesystems. By the time I came to Linux ext2 was well established, the move to ext3 was a logical one (the joys of added journalling for faster recovery after unclean shutdowns) and for a long time my default stack has been MD raid with LVM2 on top and then ext4 as the filesystem.

  • OSNote ☛ How to Install Apache Maven on Debian

    Apache Maven is a build automation tool for Java, developed by Apache and vigorously supported by a wide community of contributors. The project does not support other programming languages, but the Maven ecosystem is growing quickly to include more and more plug-ins that cover various tasks.

  • LinuxTechLab ☛ How to Restore Corrupt SQL Server Database on Linux?

    Do you want to recover a damaged/corrupted SQL Server database on Linux?

  • Linux Nightly ☛ How to Install Pip on Linux

    Pip is a package manager used to download and install software written in Python code. In this tutorial, we will learn how to install and use pip on all of the main Linux distributions.

  • Linuxiac ☛ How to Install VS Code on openSUSE Leap & Tumbleweed [Ed: Rather awful that "Linux" sites are advising people on installation of proprietary spyware controlled by the company which attacks GNU/Linux by far the most and most viciously]

    This guide walks you through installing Visual Studio Code on openSUSE Leap or Tumbleweed, following the recommended way.

  • Linux Host Support ☛ How To Install ERPNext on AlmaLinux

    In this tutorial, we are going to explain in step-by-step detail how to install ERPNext on AlmaLinux OS. ERPNext or Enterprise Resource Planning is an open-source integrated software solution that collects and organizes business information. ERPNext is built on the Frappe Framework in Python and Javascript that stores the data in the MySQL database server.

  • ID Root ☛ How To Install Kdenlive on Debian 11

    In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Kdenlive on Debian 11.

  • ID Root ☛ Mastering the Curl Command: A Guide for Linux Users

    Welcome to the world of Curl, a versatile command-line tool that allows you to transfer data to and from servers with ease.

  • ID Root ☛ Systemd: Your Ultimate Guide to Linux System Management

    Hey there, have you heard of Systemd? It’s a powerful and popular system and service manager for Linux operating systems that have replaced the traditional SysVinit system.

  • ID Root ☛ How To Install Tasksel on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

    In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Tasksel on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. For those of you who didn’t know, Tasksel is a powerful utility that simplifies package management for Ubuntu system administrators.

  • Nikhil Marathe ☛ Remote Dbus Notifications over SSH

    I often tack on notify-send at the end of a long running command to get a desktop notification when the command is done.

    ./long-running-build-command; notify-send “Build done” notify-send uses the Desktop Notification spec that relies on DBus to propagate a request to show a notification. This is a widely supported standard in the Linux ecosystem powering all notifications, regardless of which desktop environment you use.

Distributions and Operating Systems

• It’s FOSS ☛ 8 Immutable Linux Distributions for Those Looking to Embrace the Future

  Every distro is tailored for a range of purposes. Some are configured to work on old computers, some aim to great user experience and some focus on security.

  Immutable distributions were not what users wanted a couple of years back. But, recently, more projects are focusing on the immutability aspect as a core feature of the Linux distribution.

  Why is that? And, what are all the options available? Before you get to the list, let me briefly tell you more about immutability…

• New Releases

  • 9to5Linux ☛ Linux Lite 6.4 Officially Released, Based on Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS

    Based on Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish) and powered by Linux kernel 5.15 LTS, Linux Lite 6.4 is here to introduce Zstd (Zstandard) compression for the in-house applications, which will boost decompression speeds leading to faster updates and slower computers and lightning fast updates on modern PCs.

    Another interesting change in the Linux Lite 6.4 release is the addition of systemd reporting through the implementation of systemd-analyze in the Lite System Report app, which will help those of you who want to diagnose the performance of the boot process and other general system issues.

• PCLinuxOS/Mageia/Mandriva/OpenMandriva Family

  • PCLOS Official ☛ Thunderbird Email Client

    The Mozilla Thunderbird Email Client has been updated to 102.9.1.

  • PCLOS Official ☛ Slimjet Browser

    Slimjet Browser has been updated to 38.0.7.0 and now available in the PCLinuxOS software repository.

  • PCLOS Official ☛ Brave Browser

    Brave Browser has been updated to 1.49.132 and shipped to the software repository.

• SUSE/OpenSUSE

  • OpenSUSE ☛ GNOME, curl, LLVM Update in Tumbleweed

    This week in openSUSE Tumbleweed had both enormous and single-package snapshots.

    A new GNOME, compiler tools and music player updates arrived this week along with a ton of other packages.

    Snapshot 20230329 provided an update of Mesa 23.0.1, which fixed some bugs from its major release. Sandboxing tool for Flatpak and similar projects had an update; bubblewrap 0.8.0 added a –disable-userns option to prevent the sandbox from creating its own nested user namespace. Fixes for recent GLibs warnings were made in the libostree 2023.2 update. A 1.3 release of fwupd-efi had a few fixes for arm devices and fixed a regression.

• Fedora Family / IBM

  • Enterprisers Project ☛ Employee engagement: Why it matters

    While heading off to school recently, my seven-year-old grandson turned to his mother and said, “Mommy, I am tired of learning.”

    He’s not alone. Data suggests 18 million K-12 students in America are also “disengaged” – aka bored – with their education. Imagine if that trend of disengagement continued into the workforce.

  • Enterprisers Project ☛ Remote work: 5 tips to maximize productivity

    After you’ve set up your remote team members with the necessary project management tools, video conferencing tools, and standard operating procedures, you need to tackle another hurdle: Motivating them.

    In a virtual work setting, leaders have little control over their team’s work routines beyond checking off tasks in a list – and remote workers often face challenges like distractions, loneliness, and maintaining a work-life balance when they extend shift hours or fail to take breaks.

    Here are five ways to maximize productivity for remote workers.

• Canonical/Ubuntu Family

  • Neowin ☛ Canonical releases Ubuntu 23.04 “Lunar Lobster” Beta

    Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, has released Ubuntu 23.04 “Lunar Lobster” Beta for people to download, according to a post on the mailing list. As a beta release, the software you download should look how it’ll look on April 20 when it’s made available as a stable release but there could be bugs right now. Make sure you have a decent internet connection to download the ISO as it comes in at a monstrous 4.5 GB.

    It’s not only the main Ubuntu flavour receiving a beta release today either, also included are Ubuntu Server, Cloud, Edubuntu, Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Kylin, Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu Studio, Ubuntu Unity, Xubuntu, and the recently graduated Ubuntu Cinnamon which Neowin covered earlier in the week.

  • 9to5Linux ☛ Ubuntu Touch OTA-25 Released for Linux Phones with Minor Improvements

    Ubuntu Touch OTA-25 is now rolling out to supported devices as the last software update with an Ubuntu 16.04 base bringing some minor improvements like on-screen keyboard vibration optimization on Volla Phone devices, emblem counters (unread messages) for the Dialer and Messaging apps, as well as Waydroid install/setup improvements.

    OTA-25 also brings persistent notifications when the urgency status is set to critical and other improvements to notifications like support for more than two lines for the notification text, improves Date/Time pickers visibility when using the Suru Dark theme, and re-enables support for pinning favorites in the Dialer app.

• Devices/Embedded

  • CNX Software ☛ SOPHON BM1684/BM1684X Edge AI computer delivers up to 32 TOPS, decodes up to 32 Full HD videos simultaneously

    The BM1684(X) SoCs are equipped with eight Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 2.3 GHz to run Linux, and the systems come with up to 16GB RAM, 128GB flash, two Gigabit Ethernet ports to receive the video streams, one HDMI output up to 1080p30 for monitoring, as well as RS232 and RS485 DB9 connectors, and a few USB ports.

    Firefly’s latest Edge AI computers run Linux, but the Wiki has not been updated yet. However, the Wiki for the earlier EC-A1684JD4 model is up and we can see the Sophon3 SDK relies on Debian 9, and an Ubuntu 20.04 image is said to be coming soon.

  • Linux Gizmos ☛ New Red Pitaya dev kit features Zynq 7020 SoC and 4 RF inputs

    Red Pitaya recently unveiled a new platform featuring the Xilinx Zynq 7020 System-on-Chip to deliver high processing power and greater number of digital I/Os. The STEMlab 125-14 4-Input Starter Kit also provides a GbE LAN port and supports Wi-Fi over USB.

• Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

  • Android Auto bugs, issues – problems tracker: Here’s the current status

  • Android Auto coolwalk not displaying weather on main screen

  • Geeky Gadgets ☛ How to improve your Android Phone’s battery life – Geeky Gadgets

  • Android Police ☛ How to use a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller with an Android phone or tablet

  • Computer World ☛ 2 advanced tools that’ll change how you interact with Android apps | Computerworld

  • It’s FOSS ☛ SD Maid v2: Android System Cleaning App Goes Open-Source

  • Top 13 Ways to Fix Android Phone Keeps Losing Network Connection – Guiding Tech

  • Hindustan Times ☛ Top 7 Sony Android TVs to buy in 2023: Buying guide

  • Phone Arena ☛ Six Motorola phones and 15 other Android handsets gain support for ARCore – PhoneArena

Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

• Medevel ☛ 16 Best OS PDF Tools for Windows, Linux, and macOS

  Although we have already discussed the availability of various open source free PDF editing applications and PDF OCR software, it is worth noting that the functionality of these tools is often limited. For many users, additional operations on PDF files are necessary beyond what these tools can provide.

• SaaS/Back End/Databases

  • Silicon Angle ☛ MariaDB adds auto-scaling and serverless analytics to its cloud database-as-a-service

    MariaDB plc today announced the immediate availability of a new release of its SkySQL cloud database-as-a-service with features that help organizations better manage their cloud costs. Most significant is that SkySQL now enables autoscaling, which allocates resources according to demand to scale both up and down as needed and thereby protect customers from overpaying for unneeded capacity.

• Programming/Development

  • Ruben Schade ☛ Teams are just as important as their code

    Team size, structure, ownership responsibilities, and lines of influence are just as critical in building your application as the code itself. In order to handle a service architecture efficiently, you must organize your development teams around your application architect appropriately. Additionally, your teams must be given the responsibility, authority, ownership, and support needed to provide complete management of their owned services.

    This takes on more urgency when you consider Conway’s Law:

    Any organization that designs a system (defined broadly) will produce a design whose structure is a copy of the organization’s communication structure.

  • Python

    • Linux Hint ☛ Python String to List of Characters

      To convert a String to a list of characters in Python, the user can use, indexing bracket, for-in loop, the list() and the extend() method.

  • Ruby

    • Ruby 3.2.2 Released

      Ruby 3.2.2 has been released.

      This release includes security fixes.
      Please check the topics below for details.

      • CVE-2023-28755: ReDoS vulnerability in URI
      • CVE-2023-28756: ReDoS vulnerability in Time

      See the GitHub releases for further details.

      [....]

      This release also includes some bug fixes.
      See the GitHub releases for further details.

      After this release, we end the normal maintenance phase of Ruby 3.0, and Ruby 3.0 enters the security maintenance phase.
      This means that we will no longer backport any bug fixes to Ruby 3.0 except security fixes.

      The term of the security maintenance phase is scheduled for a year.
      Ruby 3.0 reaches EOL and its official support ends by the end of the security maintenance phase.
      Therefore, we recommend that you start to plan upgrade to Ruby 3.1 or 3.2.

    • CVE-2023-28756: ReDoS vulnerability in Time

      We have released the time gem version 0.1.1 and 0.2.2 that has a security fix for a ReDoS vulnerability.
      This vulnerability has been assigned the CVE identifier CVE-2023-28756.

      The Time parser mishandles invalid strings that have specific characters. It causes an increase in execution time for parsing strings to Time objects.

      A ReDoS issue was discovered in the Time gem 0.1.0 and 0.2.1 and Time library of Ruby 2.7.7.

      We recommend to update the time gem to version 0.2.2 or later. In order to ensure compatibility with bundled version in older Ruby series, you may update as follows instead:

      • For Ruby 3.0 users: Update to time 0.1.1
      • For Ruby 3.1/3.2 users: Update to time 0.2.2

Leftovers

• CS Monitor ☛ He listens. He improvises. Meet the ‘music doula.’

  When creativity feels unlimited, accessible to all, it flows more freely. How has one musician found a way to lead artists to that comfortable place?

• Digital Music News ☛ Disney Shuts Down Its Metaverse Division Amid Broader Layoffs

  Disney is exiting the metaverse entirely — and laying off around 50 employees from its metaverse division. The move comes as the Walt Disney Co. announced a round of layoffs impacting around 7,000 people. The fledgling division was tasked with developing new metaverse strategies and was headed by Mike White,

• Science

  • uni Stanford ☛ Like Water for Iron

    This article is to introduce a hypothetical analogous model for understanding the big picture that leads to where we are: massive global poverty, mass species extinction, biospheric damage, and climate destabilization. People think of it as being one issue, such as “carbon,” but there is an entire process that must be halted.

• Education

  • Vice Media Group ☛ Missouri Reps Just Voted to Completely Defund the State’s Public Libraries

    The new budget sets funds for libraries to $0. Library groups say the move is retaliation for suing the state over its recent book ban law.

• Hardware

  • Andrew Hutchings ☛ Intel Inside (but not how you would expect)

    I last left my Acorn RiscPC with a StrongARM CPU card and an IBM/Cyrix based 5×86 CPU card.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Age AU ☛ Plastic screen barriers introduced at McDonald’s store

    Plastic screen barriers have been introduced at a McDonald’s in Adelaide’s CBD in an effort to keep its staff safe.

  • Helsinki Times ☛ Study shows decrease in surgical patient injuries in Finland

    A recent Finnish registry study has reported a declining trend in patient injuries related to surgical procedures over a five-year period. The frequency of patient injuries was measured as the number of compensation claims per 1000 surgeries. The study showed a decline from 2.5 claims per 1000 surgeries in 2011-2015 to 1.9 in 2023. The report evaluated the safety of surgical procedures and was published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal in February 2023.

  • Helsinki Times ☛ Vaccine hesitant people are more positive towards statistical information than communication based on vaccination experiences

    Finnish people are more receptive to health information that is based on statistical data than information that relies on the experiences of others, according to a recent study. However, neither approach reduced vaccine hesitancy. Researchers emphasized the importance of tailoring health communication to be more effective when the target audience disagrees with the information given and does not trust the sources.

  • Michael West Media ☛ Fresh waves of COVID on the way, top doctor warns

    The country’s top doctor has warned more COVID waves are on the way, as the government ramps up efforts to increase booster rates before winter.

  • Off Guardian ☛ Wuhan’s “Mystery Illness” is Covid’s Foundational Lie

    Kit Knightly Recently, while researching our updated edition of 40 Facts, I came across this article from Time magazine, one that I had apparently missed when it was first published and that had somehow escaped my notice in the following three Covid-centric years.

  • NYPost ☛ Adderall usage so high post-lockdown, there’s a shortage: CDC alert

    Women in their early 20s saw the biggest increase in prescriptions during the pandemic, the CDC reported.

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Despite 2022 law, most domestic workers still lack IMSS benefits

    Ninety-five percent of domestic workers in Mexico are without access to healthcare and social security, say labor activist organizations.

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Tensions over narcotics policy flare at Mexico-US summit

    The bilateral conference became a stage for airing differences on what each country should be doing to fight cartels and the flow of drugs.

  • JURIST ☛ US federal judge blocks mandatory insurance coverage of contraceptives, STD screenings and HIV prevention medication

    A US federal judge in Texas Thursday ruled that private health insurance companies are not required to cover contraceptives, STD screenings or HIV prevention treatment (pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP).

• Security

  • Security Week ☛ Microsoft Cloud Vulnerability Led to Bing Search Hijacking, Exposure of Office 365 Data

    An Azure Active Directory (AAD) misconfiguration leading to Bing.com compromise earned Wiz researchers a $40,000 bug bounty reward.

  • Bleeping Computer ☛ Microsoft Defender mistakenly tagging URLs as malicious [Ed: No wonder Microsoft is finally layoff off its "security" divisions (deep cuts). Worthless snake oil.]

    Microsoft Defender is mistakenly flagging legitimate links as malicious, and some customers have already received dozens of alert emails since the issues began over five hours ago.

    As the company confirmed earlier today on Twitter, its engineers are investigating this service incident as a false positive.

  • Spiegel ☛ The “Vulkan Files”: A Look Inside Putin’s Secret Plans for Cyber-Warfare

    Elite hackers from Russia have their sights set on airports and power plants around the world, along with the internet. Confidential data from Moscow, obtained by DER SPIEGEL and its partners, now provide a look inside their arsenal of cyber-weapons and reveal their strategy.

  • Bruce Schneier ☛ Russian Cyberwarfare Documents Leaked

    Now this is interesting:

    Thousands of pages of secret documents reveal how Vulkan’s engineers have worked for Russian military and intelligence agencies to support hacking operations, train operatives before attacks on national infrastructure, spread disinformation and control sections of the internet.

    The company’s work is linked to the federal security service or FSB, the domestic spy agency; the operational and intelligence divisions of the armed forces, known as the GOU and GRU; and the SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence organisation.

  • Vice Media Group ☛ Hackers Claim to Dox Russian ‘War Criminal,’ Convince His Wife to Do ‘Patriotic Photoshoot’

    A group of Ukrainian hacktivists say they’ve hacked the accounts of a Russian colonel.

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Hackers infect popular 3CX communications application with malware

    Hackers have compromised 3CX, a popular videoconferencing and business phone management application used by more than 600,000 companies.

  • Security Week ☛ 3CX Confirms Supply Chain Attack as Researchers Uncover Mac Component

    3CX confirms investigating a security breach as the cybersecurity community is sharing more information on what appears to be a sophisticated supply chain attack.

  • SANS ☛ Bypassing PowerShell Strong Obfuscation, (Thu, Mar 30th)

    Yesterday, I found a malicious PowerShell script that was heavily obfuscated.

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Report finds employees are storing sensitive information on personal devices

    A new report today from phishing protection company SlashNext Inc. finds that a majority of employees have sensitive work information on personal devices as “bring your own device” behavior continues to surge in popularity.

  • Security Week ☛ Chinese Cyberspies Use ‘Melofee’ Linux Malware for Stealthy Attacks [Ed: The problem is the malware, not Linux, and the malware needs to get there somehow. Whereas with Windows the flaws are typically in the OS itself, unpatched for months if not years.]

    The recently identified Melofee Linux implant allowed Chinese cyberespionage group Winnti to conduct stealthy, targeted attacks.

  • Security Week ☛ 500k Impacted by Data Breach at Debt Buyer NCB

    NCB Management Services is informing roughly 500,000 individuals of a data breach impacting their personal information.

  • Security Week ☛ Unpatched Security Flaws Expose Water Pump Controllers to Remote [Cr]acker Attacks

    Water pumping systems made by ProPump and Controls are affected by several vulnerabilities that could allow hackers to cause significant problems.

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • Vice Media Group ☛ Principal Sends $100,000 of School Funds to Fake Elon Musk, Claims She Was ‘Groomed’

      The principal of a charter school in Florida resigned after falling for a scammer posing as Elon Musk.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • New Yorker ☛ The Hypocrisies of the TikTok Hearings

      Why has Congress focussed so much concern about social media and surveillance on one platform when the problems are so much broader?

    • Vice Media Group ☛ CYBER: The DEA Is Skipping Warrants and Buying Data from Rogue Employees

      The Drug Enforcement Agency is bribing employees to help it seize drugs and money, skipping the complicated process of obtaining a warrant.

    • Security Week ☛ UK Introduces Mass Surveillance With Online Safety Bill

      The proposed UK Online Safety Bill is the enactment of two long held government desires: the removal of harmful internet content, and visibility into end-to-end content

    • NYOB ☛ Meta (Facebook, Instagram) switching to “Legitimate Interest” for Ads

      After noyb complaints, Meta (Facebook and Instagram) is switching form an illegal contract to equally illegal “legitimate interests” for advertisement. noyb will take imminent action.

• Defence/Aggression

  • RFERL ☛ Siberian Actor Slits Wrist On Stage To Protest Anti-War Director’s Firing

    An actor in a theater in the Siberian region of Buryatia has slashed his veins while on stage to protest the firing of the company’s artistic director last year over his stance against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

  • New York Times ☛ Sweden’s Bid to Join NATO Remains Blocked by Turkey and Hungary

  • RFERL ☛ No Forced Eviction From Kyiv Monastery But Property Must Be Vacated, Ukrainian Security Official Says

    Force will not be used to evict representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) from the Pechersk Lavra in Kyiv, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, said on March 29 after monks who have been ordered to leave the historic site refused to go.

  • RFERL ☛ Zelenskiy Says Ukraine Is Preparing Next Steps As Battles In Eastern Regions Rage On

    Ukrainian forces continued to hold their ground on the eastern front over the past day, the military said on March 30, repelling dozens of attacks in and around Bakhmut, the city in the Donetsk region that has been the focal point of Russia’s offensive over the past several months.

  • RFERL ☛ Pakistani Taliban Kills Four Police Officers In Bomb Attack

    Four Pakistani policemen, including a senior officer, were killed and several were wounded in a roadside bomb attack as they were rushing to rescue colleagues besieged by militants in a police station in northwestern Pakistan late on March 29, authorities said.

  • RFERL ☛ EU Says China’s Role In Ukraine Conflict Is Vital To EU Relations

    China must play a part in pressing for a “just peace” in Ukraine and its role in the conflict will be vital in shaping relations with the European Union, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

  • RFERL ☛ Captured Russian Soldier Given 12-Year Prison Sentence

    A court in Ukraine has sentenced a Russian soldier to 12 years in prison on a charge of violating of the laws of war, the Ukrainian Prosecutor-General’s Office said on March 30.

  • RFERL ☛ Tajik Opposition Politician’s Son Extradited From Germany Sentenced To Seven Years In Prison

    A son of Tajik opposition politician Shamsiddin Saidov, who was recently extradited to Tajikistan from Germany, has been sentenced to seven years in prison in Dushanbe after a trial Human Rights Watch (HRW) called unfair.

  • RFERL ☛ U.S. Mideast Envoy Hopeful Saudi-Iran Detente Will Help Region

    The Biden administration is hopeful that warming ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia will help de-escalate conflicts and crises across the Middle East, a senior U.S. diplomat said.

  • RFERL ☛ Clerics In Historic Kyiv Monastery Defy Eviction Notice, Deny Officials, Journalists Entry

    Clerics of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) who have been ordered to leave the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra in the Ukrainian capital on March 30 defied the eviction order and refused to allow officials from the Culture Ministry and journalists into the historic Orthodox Christian monastery.

  • LRT ☛ Lithuania tightens punishment for companies violating Russia, Belarus sanctions

    The Lithuanian parliament Seimas on Thursday approved tougher punishment for Lithuanian companies that violate international sanctions against Russia and Belarus.

  • LRT ☛ Lithuania asks EU for additional funds to beef up border protection

    Lithuanian Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė has sent a letter to Ylva Johansson, the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, asking to consider the possibility for the block to co-finance the installation of a patrol trail on Lithuania’s border with Belarus.

  • LRT ☛ Lithuanian Orthodox Church allows Ukrainians to pray without mentioning Moscow patriarch

    The Orthodox Archdiocese of Vilnius and Lithuania, which is subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate, will let Ukrainian refugees pray without mentioning Moscow Patriarch Kirill.

  • LRT ☛ Lithuania’s investigation recognises 90 people as victims of war crimes in Ukraine

    More than 300 witnesses have been interviewed, and more than 90 people have been recognised as victims as part of Lithuania’s investigation into Russian war crimes, Prosecutor General Nida Grunskienė has said.

  • JURIST ☛ US Senate repeals authorizations for use of military force against Iraq

    The US Senate repealed the authorizations for use of military force (AUMFs) against Iraq Wednesday by a vote of 66-30. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) made opening remarks addressing the 1991 and 2002 AUMFs formerly passed by Congress. He said: The United States, Iraq, the entire world has changed dramatically since 2002.

  • France24 ☛ Greece broadens investigation into alleged anti-Semitic attacks plot

    Greece is questioning eight additional suspects from Pakistan over an alleged plot to carry out anti-Semitic attacks in Athens, a police source said Thursday.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Ukraine is ‘determining factor’ in China-EU ties, European Commission chief says

    By Max Delany EU chief Ursula von der Leyen warned China on Thursday its approach to Russia’s war in Ukraine would determine ties, but said Europe was not looking to “decouple” from Beijing.

• Environment

  • CS Monitor ☛ Risk and recovery: Mississippi tornado signals twin challenges

    Some research suggests tornado risks may be shifting modestly eastward, raising questions about preparedness in some of the poorest U.S. states.

  • teleSUR ☛ Elderly Women Sue Switzerland For Inaction On Climate Change

    These women seek an ambitious sentence that could force the Swiss State to reduce carbon dioxide emissions quickly.

  • teleSUR ☛ Britain Unprepared for Climate Change, Committee Warns

    “People, nature and infrastructure face damaging impacts as climate change takes hold. These impacts will only intensify in the coming decades,” Baroness Brown said.

  • JURIST ☛ UN seeks International Court of Justice opinion on climate obligations following Vanuatu advocacy

    The UN General Assembly Wednesday adopted a landmark resolution, led by the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu, which calls on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to provide an advisory opinion on states’ obligations to address climate change.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • MIT Technology Review ☛ Inside the conference where researchers are solving the clean-energy puzzle

      This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. I spent last week in Washington, DC, and when I wasn’t fawning over the cherry blossoms, I was soaking up all the newest and wildest ideas in energy.  The Advanced Research Projects Agency…

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Plastic bag usage down by 60% after Hong Kong doubled bag levy to HK$1

      Plastic bag usage in Hong Kong fell by over 60 per cent since the bag levy was doubled to HK$1 at the end of last year, authorities have said.

    • Michael West Media ☛ Forrest says China can eliminate emissions by 2030s

      Iron ore baron Andrew Forrest has urged China to help the world fight global warming by converting to renewable energy by the 2030s.

    • JURIST ☛ California passes gas price gouging bill

      California Governor Gavin Newsom Tuesday signed Senate Bill No. 2, the first state-level gas price gouging penalty law in the US, into law. Newsom’s office referred to the new law as the “strongest state-level oversight and accountability measures on Big Oil in the nation.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • Vice Media Group ☛ Plants Make Sounds When Hurt, Scientists Confirm, And Now You Can Hear It

      Plants make clicking sounds that animals may hear, travel 16 feet, and have now been tuned down for human ears to hear for the first time.

• Finance

  • Vice Media Group ☛ Harvard Tells Grad Students to Get Food Stamps to Supplement The Unlivable Wages It Pays Them

    The university is hosting an event encouraging graduate students to apply for federal food assistance.

  • Michael West Media ☛ Lenders cut fixed rates as Reserve Bank decision looms

    More than 10 lenders have cut fixed interest rates in the past 10 days, with ING moving to slash its offerings ahead of the Reserve Bank’s next interest rate decision.

  • The Age AU ☛ Home Affairs underfunded, overstretched and ‘set up to fail’, says leaked report

    The leaked confidential review into the mega department revealed 600 employees left in 2021.

  • The Age AU ☛ Tax Office whistleblower to appeal against ‘catastrophic’ court ruling

    Richard Boyle can’t rely on Commonwealth whistleblower protections for 24 charges including covertly recording conversations with ATO colleagues and photographing taxpayer information.

  • Helsinki Times ☛ Finnish house prices continued on downward trajectory in February

    HOUSE PRICES in Finland continued to fall sharply in February, according to preliminary data published by Statistics Finland.

    The data reveal that the prices of old dwellings in housing companies decreased by 5.2 per cent year-on-year, driven particularly by drops in Helsinki, Vantaa and Espoo. The prices fell by 6.1 per cent in the capital region and by 5.5 per cent in the six largest cities, but by 4.4 per cent outside the six largest cities.

  • Helsinki Times ☛ Property services professionals’ strike averted with last-minute deal

    SERVICE UNION UNITED (PAM) and Real Estate Employers reached an agreement late yesterday evening in their dispute over the terms and conditions of employment for cleaning and property maintenance professionals in Finland.

  • Helsinki Times ☛ Average monthly pension in Finland reaches 1,845 euros for the first time

    The average monthly pension for Finns increased for the first time to over €1,800 last year, according to a recent statistics report from the Finnish Centre for Pensions and the Social Insurance Institution (Kela). The average monthly pension rose to €1,845 from €1,784 in the previous year, while the median pension was €1,614 per month. However, nearly 70% of pensioners received less than €2,000 per month, with the majority being women.

  • Helsinki Times ☛ Majority of employers not excited about a four-day workweek, according to entrepreneur poll

    A recent entrepreneur poll shows that 75% of employer companies would not be willing to try a four-day workweek if employee wages remained the same. “Four out of five employers do not believe that a four-day workweek would improve productivity enough to pay the same salary as before,” says Janne Makkula, Director of the Finnish Entrepreneurs. A four-day workweek can be tested locally right now without a government-led operation.

  • teleSUR ☛ China Supports Rousseff as BRICS New Development Bank President

    Dilma Rousseff has been actively committed to the cause of global development for a long time and enjoys an outstanding reputation, Chinese diplomat Mao pointed out.

  • RFERL ☛ Four Bankers Who Helped Putin’s Friend Set Up Swiss Bank Account Convicted

    Four bankers who helped a close friend of Vladimir Putin move millions of francs through Swiss bank accounts have been convicted of lacking diligence in financial transactions.

  • Michael West Media ☛ Peak union wants wage boost for lowest-paid workers

    The peak union body has called for a seven per cent pay boost for Australia’s lowest-paid workers to help them survive soaring living costs.

  • LRT ☛ Despite inflation and uncertainty, Bank of Lithuania gives rosy picture for economy

    While the minimum wage went up this year, income growth for many Lithuanian workers could not keep up with inflation. Still, the country’s central bank forecasts robust economic growth.

  • JURIST ☛ International Court of Justice orders US to compensate Iran for frozen assets

    The International Court of Justice (ICJ) Thursday ruled that the US violated a 1955 treaty with Iran by freezing Iranian assets to fulfill terrorism-related awards from the US.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China’s economy showing ‘strong momentum’, says Premier Li Qiang

    China’s economy is showing “strong momentum” despite a challenging global environment, Premier Li Qiang said Thursday, promising to bolster support for business as the country emerges from strict Covid controls that hammered GDP.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • CS Monitor ☛ Gandhi’s expulsion: Bad for Indian democracy, good for opposition?

    Critics have called the expulsion of opposition leader Rahul Gandhi an assault on the integrity of India’s democracy – but it’s also inspiring rare unity among different parties, which could sway upcoming elections.

  • The Age AU ☛ Donald Trump indicted on criminal charges in New York

    He becomes the first former US president to face criminal charges, even as he makes another run for the White House.

  • New York Times ☛ Trump Is Indicted, as America’s Justice System Holds Him Accountable

    A grand jury’s decision to indict Donald Trump is a necessary part of the American justice system.

  • New York Times ☛ How a President’s Arrest Can Strengthen a Democracy

    There are legitimate concerns about this indictment, but how could we give the boss a pass after convicting his fixer?

  • Mint Press News ☛ The Shady Past of Keir Starmer, with Oliver Eagleton

    Oliver Eagleton, author of “The Starmer Project: a Journey to the Right,” joins Lowkey to discuss the biography of Keir Starmer, one of the most divisive political figures in modern British history.

  • New York Times ☛ A President Faces Prosecution, and a Democracy Is Tested

    For more than two centuries, American presidents were effectively shielded from indictment. But the case against former President Donald J. Trump breaks that taboo and sets a new precedent.

  • New York Times ☛ Kushner Firm Got Hundreds of Millions From 2 Persian Gulf Nations

    The infusion of money from interests in the two Persian Gulf monarchies reflects the close ties to Middle Eastern countries established by Jared Kushner, former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.

  • New York Times ☛ Ryder Ripps Is Calling Out Kanye West and Bored Ape Yacht Club

    Ryder Ripps built a career as a digital art troll, and now he’s calling out his former boss Kanye West and Bored Ape Yacht Club for bigotry. Is his crusade real?

  • teleSUR ☛ Anti-Government Protests Continue in Kenya

    Officers were deployed to all streets, estates and neighborhoods in Nairobi and the lakeside city of Kisumu, where violent protests were likely to erupt.

  • RFERL ☛ Smaiylov Reappointed Kazakh PM

    Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev reappointed Alikhan Smaiylov to the prime minister’s post on March 30 after the newly elected parliament approved his candidacy.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania turns to social media companies over disinformation

      Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė and her counterparts from seven European countries have urged major social media companies to prevent disinformation.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • RFERL ☛ Father Of Russian Sixth-Grader Who Drew Anti-War Picture Detained In Minsk

    A Russian man sentenced to two years in prison after his daughter’s anti-war drawing brought attention to his social media posts against the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has been detained in Belarus after escaping house arrest in Russia just before sentencing.

  • RFERL ☛ Russian Actress, Kremlin Critic Akhedzhakova Leaves Moscow Theater Amid Pressure

    Popular Russian actress Liya Akhedzhakova, known for her open criticism of Kremlin policies including its ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine, has left the prominent Moscow theater Sovremennik (Contemporary) amid pressure from authorities and pro-government activists.

  • Reason ☛ Can Governmental Defendants Use Anti-SLAPP Statutes When They’re Sued Based on Their Speech?

    No, said the Florida Court of Appeal, interpreting the Florida statute; the California Supreme Court, interpreting the California statute, had held otherwise.

  • NYPost ☛ DEJA VU: Twitter locks out The Post over story on removal of 5K tweets

    The company’s Kafkaesque move came after The Post tweeted out a story about Twitter’s deletion of more than 5,000 tweets about a planned “Trans Day of Vengeance” protest in front of the US Supreme Court on Saturday.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • New York Times ☛ In Arrest of US Reporter, Russia Doubles Down on Isolation From West

    The Kremlin, which accused a Wall Street Journal correspondent of being a spy, made a move not seen since the Cold War, further raising the barriers between Russia and the West.

  • JURIST ☛ Russia arrests first US reporter on espionage charges since fall of Soviet Union

    A Russian court Thursday ordered the two-month detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on charges of espionage. Russian security forces arrested Gershkovich in Yekaterinburg, Russia on Thursday morning on suspicions that the Moscow-based reporter was spying on Russia for the US.

  • RFERL ☛ U.S. Condemns Russia’s Arrest Of Wall Street Journal Reporter, Calls Espionage Charge ‘Ridiculous’

    The United States has strongly condemned the detention of a U.S. journalist in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg on espionage charges and demanded his immediate release.

  • France24 ☛ Russia detains US reporter on spy charges, White House says allegations ‘ridiculous’

    Russia on Thursday charged an American correspondent for the Wall Street Journal with spying, in a case certain to worsen Moscow’s diplomatic feud with Washington over the war in Ukraine and likely to further isolate Russia.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Stand News sedition trial: Defence submits ‘more radical’ op-ed published by Beijing-backed media as evidence

    During its reexamination of one of Stand News former top editors, the defence has set about trying to counter the prosecution’s case, presenting a “radical” op-ed published by a Beijing-backed newspaper as evidence that commentaries need not contain both sides.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong court denies bail to woman charged under sedition law over social media posts

    A Hong Kong woman charged under the sedition law over social media posts has been remanded in custody after being denied bail. Law Oi-wa, who was arrested on Tuesday afternoon, appeared at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court on Thursday morning.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • CS Monitor ☛ Vatican disavows ‘Doctrine of Discovery,’ which justified taking of Native lands

    Indigenous peoples have long called upon the pope to reject the doctrine, which was built on 15th-century “papal bulls.” Pope Francis acknowledged that the historical measures do not reflect the equal dignity and rights of Indigenous peoples.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Officials open investigation into ‘tragic fire’ at Mexico migrant center

    Mexico is investigating the cause and handling of a deadly fire that broke out at a migrant detention center in a northern border city.

  • France24 ☛ Mexico investigating migrant fire deaths as possible homicide

    Mexican prosecutors announced a homicide investigation Wednesday into the recent deaths of 39 migrants in a detention center fire, accusing the people in charge of doing nothing to evacuate them.

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Video footage shows deadly negligence at migrant detention center

    The footage shows a security guard and a man in an INM uniform who appear to ignore the fire in the locked area where migrants were held.

  • RFA ☛ UN calls for release of ailing Hong Kong rights lawyer Albert Ho

    Ho was sent back to jail after allegedly breaking bail conditions despite suffering from lung cancer.

  • RFA ☛ Borders blur between Hong Kong and China at ‘Greater Bay Area’ recruitment fair

    As graduates seek work across borders, older people are bussed in on day trips from Guangdong to eat lunch

  • JURIST ☛ Europe trafficking experts express concern over UK’s Illegal Migration Bill

    The Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) Wednesday expressed concern over the UK’s Illegal Migration Bill, saying the legislation didn’t comply with “core elements” of the Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. 

  • New York Times ☛ Five Arrested in Migration Center Fire That Left 39 Dead in Mexico

    The authorities said arrest warrants had been obtained for three government migration officials, two private security workers and a migrant accused of starting the blaze.

  • Vice Media Group ☛ Billionaire Howard Schultz Whines It’s ‘Unfair’ to Be Called a Billionaire

    The Starbucks founder made the comment to Senator Bernie Sanders during a hearing called “The Need to End Illegal Union Busting at Starbucks.”

  • France24 ☛ ‘Sorry Charles!’ French unions mark king’s absence with banner

    French unions on Thursday unfurled a giant banner opposite English shores to goad Britain’s King Charles III after his first foreign state visit to France was cancelled.

  • France24 ☛ Macron unveils water-saving plan, dismisses French pension unrest

    French President Emmanuel Macron sought to rally citizens around a plan to save water on Thursday and stressed that protests will not stop reforms, in a nod to both climate change and an unpopular pension bill.

  • France24 ☛ France launches investigation after man gravely injured at water protest

    French prosecutors said Wednesday they were probing the case of a man seriously wounded at a demonstration over access to water, after his family filed a criminal complaint.

  • JURIST ☛ Vatican rejects ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ following indigenous demands

    The Vatican Thursday announced a formal rejection of a 15th century theory known as the ‘Doctrine of Discovery.’ In a statement, the Church said it “repudiates those concepts that fail to recognize the inherent rights of indigenous peoples.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Internet Freedom Foundation ☛ 6 months on, still no update from municipal corporations on the ongoing surveillance of sanitation workers

    We wrote to the 4 municipal corporations that were directed by the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis to furnish a status report on the ongoing surveillance of sanitation workers.

• Monopolies

  • Copyrights

    • Digital Music News ☛ The British Government May Force Google & Amazon Smart Speakers to Offer UK Radio Stations for Free

      The British government may force Google & Amazon smart speakers to offer UK radio stations for free amid new broadcasting legislation.

Gemini* and Gopher

• Personal

  • Backup Day

    Seems March 31st is World Backup Day[1] so let’s take it as a good excuse to describe briefly my backup strategy. According to the website (and your common sense), “what is a backup?”

  • Opening Day

    Yesterday was the start of the 2023 MLB season, first pitch after a month of spring training games played in the winter warmth of Arizona or Florida. For major-league teams, spring training is an opportunity to get back into playing shape, for players to try new things: minor-leaguers get a chance to impress, pitchers play with new pitchers or mechanics, and position players do drills, take reps, everyone getting used to the new rules.

    There are a lot of those this year: a pitch clock to speed up the game; rules about how often pitchers can try to pick off runners; and a prohibition on the shift, the practice of moving players on the field based on the expectation of where a particular hitter is likely to send the ball.