● 06.25.23

Gemini version available ♊︎

● Links 25/06/2023: Darktable 4.4.0 and firewalld 2.0.0

Posted in News Roundup at 12:54 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNU/Linux

Applications

=> ↺ TechRepublic ☛ 6 Best Free Alternatives to Microsoft Word (2023 Update)

• If you’re tired of paying for Microsoft Office features you don’t use, here are free alternatives to Word you can download and start using today.

=> ↺ Ubuntu Handbook ☛ Darktable 4.4.0 Released! PPA Updated for Ubuntu Users

• Darktable got a new major release few days ago! Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 22.10, Ubuntu 23.04 via PPA. Darktable 4.4.0 is a big release with many new features.

=> ↺ Fast download managers for Linux, Alternative to IDM

• Download managers are great. They make the downloading process a lot easier and faster.

=> ↺ firewalld 2.0.0 release | firewalld

• A new release of firewalld, version 2.0.0, is available.

• This is a major release. The major version is being bumped symbolically to reflect significant changes done in commit f4d2b80adc84 (“fix(policy): disallow zone drifting”). It does not contain any deliberate breaking changes.

Instructionals/Technical

=> ↺ TechRepublic ☛ The easiest method of installing Docker on Linux

• In this TechRepublic How to Make Tech Work video, Jack Wallen shows you how to install Docker on Linux machines.

=> ↺ TechRepublic ☛ How to scale Docker Swarm services

• Jack Wallen demonstrates how to attach and remove nodes from clusters in Docker Swarm to scale your services up and down as needed.

=> ↺ TechRepublic ☛ How to scale Docker Swarm services

• In this TechRepublic How to Make Tech Work video, Jack Wallen demonstrates how to attach and remove nodes from clusters in Docker Swarm to scale your services up and down as needed.

=> ↺ TechRepublic ☛ How to reset your Portainer admin password

• Forgot your Portainer admin password? Learn how to use a handy tool to help you reset it with a tutorial from Jack Wallen.

=> ↺ TechRepublic ☛ How to reset your Portainer admin password (+video tutorial)

• Forgot your Portainer admin password? Learn how to use a handy tool to help you reset it with a tutorial from Jack Wallen.

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ How to Install Budgie Desktop on Debian 12/11/10

• Budgie Desktop Environment offers an enticing alternative to the default GNOME desktop for Debian users.

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ How to Install Calibre E-Book Software on Linux Mint 21/20

• In the sprawling ecosystem of e-book management tools, Calibre stands as a behemoth, boasting a wealth of features and functionalities.

=> ↺ How to install Java on Amazon linux 2023

• Here we go through the commands available to install Java 11 or 8 on Amazon Linux 2023 for production or business applications in your cloud infrastructure. Java is available through the Amazon 2023 repositories as Corretto.

=> ↺ Trend Oceans ☛ How to Resolve No Sound from Bluetooth Headset in Linux

• Not getting sound from your Bluetooth headset? Read the following steps to troubleshoot the issue: A similar kind of incident happened to me when I tried to pair my Bluetooth headset with my laptop. After purchasing a new headset, I decided to test the audio quality.

WINE or Emulation

=> ↺ WINE Project (Official) ☛ WineHQ – Wine Announcement – The Wine development release 8.11 is now available.

• The Wine development release 8.11 is now available.

• What’s new in this release: – More mouse cursor clipping improvements. – Support for TLS alerts. – Increased available address space in WoW64 mode. – Various bug fixes.

• The source is available at:

• https://dl.winehq.org/wine/source/8.x/wine-8.11.tar.xz

• Binary packages for various distributions will be available from:

• https://www.winehq.org/download

• You will find documentation on https://www.winehq.org/documentation

• You can also get the current source directly from the git repository. Check https://www.winehq.org/git for details.

• Wine is available thanks to the work of many people. See the file AUTHORS in the distribution for the complete list.

Distributions and Operating Systems

SUSE/OpenSUSE

Dominique Leuenberger ☛ openSUSE Tumbleweed – Review of the week 2023/25Dear Tumbleweed users and hackers,Finally back on the weekly review cycle – are we taking bets on how long I can keep it up (summertime is ‘terrible’ – it motivates too much to take Fridays off). Anyway, even without me there, you are used to Tumbleweed rolling. Lately, all the excellent work on Staging Is being performed by Ana. During this week, we managed to publish again 6 snapshots (the 7th was in QA, but took slightly longer to test than the next one needed to build).The 6 snapshots (0614, 0616, 0617, 0619, 0620, and 0620) brought you those changes:Python 3.11 has been set as the default Python interpreterlibzypp: fix for stricter http/2 RFC 9113 server implementations: trim custom headerspoppler 23.06.0LLVM 16.0.6node.JS 20.3.0Mozilla Firefox 114.0.2KDE Plasma 5.27.6

Fedora Family / IBM

=> ↺ Montana Linux ☛ Red Hat in violation of the GPL? Discuss!

• Red Hat in violation of the GPL? Discuss!

=> ↺ Fedora Infrastructure Status: s390x power outage

• The s390x cluster at the Red Hat Westford location required emergency work on storage which brought down the z15 server which the Fedora and CentOS Stream builders are on. Work is expected to be completed at 19:00 UTC 2023-06-23 but may require further work to bring back builders.

Debian Family

=> ↺ Linuxiac ☛ Proxmox Virtual Environment 8.0 Released Based on Debian 12

• Based on Debian 12, Proxmox VE 8.0 comes with Linux kernel 6.2, a new Ceph Enterprise repository, and improved resource mappings.

Open Hardware/Modding

=> ↺ CNX Software ☛ Portenta C33 is a $64 Arduino Pro board based on Renesas RA6M5 Arm Cortex-M33 MCU

• Arduino Portenta C33 is the latest board from the Arduino Pro family which the company dubs a “high-performance, low-price” solution based on a 200 MHz Renesas RA6M5 Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller and equipped with a ESP32-C3 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy module. The new board provides a cost-effective alternative to the Portenta H7 and X8 boards, but still offers wireless connectivity, a secure element for industrial-grade security, and compatibility with Portenta, MKR, and Nicla components.

Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

Events

=> ↺ Linux Plumbers Conference (LPC) ☛ Linux Plumbers Conference: RISC-V Microconference CFP

• We’re holding another edition of the RISC-V microconference for Plumbers  at 2023. Broadly speaking anything related to both Linux and RISC-V is  on topic, but discussions tend to involve the following categories: [...]

Programming/Development

=> ↺ Rlang ☛ How to generate a hex sticker with {openai} and {cropcircles}

• Every R package needs a hex sticker. Here’s how you can generate one in seconds using generative AI.

=> ↺ Mike Blumenkrantz: Presenting

• Keen-eyed readers of the blog will have noticed over the past couple weeks an obvious omission in my furious benchmark-related handwaving.

• I didn’t mention glmark2.

• [...]

• Yes, that glmark2.

• Except my results were a bit different.

• The thing about glmark2 is it’s just a CPU benchmark of drivers at this point. None of the rendering is in any way intensive, GPUs have gotten far more powerful than they were at the time the thing was written, and CPUs are now pushing tens of thousands of frames per second.

• Yes, tens of thousands.

Python

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ SciPy Stats Pearsonr

• The “scipy.stats.pearsonr()” function in Python is a powerful tool for calculating the Pearson correlation coefficient between variables.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ Numpy Array Append

• The “numpy.append()” method and the “numpy.concatenate()” method of the “Numpy” module are used to append the NumPy array in Python.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ Numpy Loadtxt

• In Python, the “numpy.loadtxt()” function of the “Numpy” module is utilized to load the data from the text file and retrieve it as “ndarray”.

Rust

=> ↺ Rust Blog ☛ The Rust Programming Language Blog: Improved API tokens for crates.io

• If you recently generated a new API token on crates.io, you might have noticed our new API token creation page and some of the new features it now supports.

• Previously, when clicking the “New Token” button on https://crates.io/settings/tokens, you were only provided with the option to choose a token name, without any additional choices. We knew that we wanted to offer our users more flexibility, but in the previous user interface that would have been difficult, so our first step was to build a proper “New API Token” page.

Leftovers

Science

=> ↺ Vice Media Group ☛ Scientists Plan to Measure Distorted Time in Deep Space to Probe Reality

• Pockets of warped time in distant galaxies could shed light on dark energy, dark matter, and the existence of an undiscovered “fifth force.”

=> ↺ Helsinki Times ☛ Study finds new design of computer memory that reduce energy consumption

• Researchers created a new design for computer memory that could improve performance while also lowering the energy demands of internet and communications technologies, which are expected to consume nearly a third of global electricity in the next ten years.

• The study was published in the journal, ‘Science Advances.’

Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

=> ↺ Quartz ☛ 3M’s $10.3 billion “forever chemicals” settlement is also an armor against future lawsuits

• 3M will pay at least $10.3 billion to settle claims over the dumping of so-called forever chemicals in drinking water supplies across the US. The legal bill slapped on the company, infamous for creating the chemical C8 for Scotchgard, will cover not just existing claims but also future ones by municipal water…

=> ↺ Federal News Network ☛ US intelligence report on COVID-19 origins rejects some points raised by lab leak theory proponents

• A new U.S. intelligence report rejects several points raised by those who argue COVID-19 leaked from a Chinese lab. It instead reiterates that American spy agencies remain divided over how the pandemic began. Some think it was caused by a lab accident; others think it naturally transmitted from animals to humans. The report was issued Friday at the behest of Congress, which in March passed a bill giving U.S. intelligence 90 days to declassify intelligence related to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The report says spy agencies can’t draw conclusions from allegations that some Wuhan researchers fell sick in fall 2019 or that the Wuhan lab experimented with genetically engineered viruses.

=> ↺ NYPost ☛ Intelligence Community releases declassified COVID origins report, lawmakers say it ‘lends credence’ to lab leak theory

• The document also explains that some scientists at the Wuhan lab fell ill in the fall of 2019 with symptoms “consistent with but not diagnostic of COVID-19.”

=> ↺ Reason ☛ Right to Privacy Challenge to L.A. City Employee COVID Vaccine Mandate Can Go Forward,

• though the city may yet prevail later in the case, if it can show enough facts justifying the mandate.

=> ↺ Reason ☛ Court Erred in Dismissing Challenge to L.A. City Employee COVID Vaccine Mandate

• So the California Court of Appeal has held, concluding that there is enough of a factual dispute (under California’s plaintiff-friendly pleading standards) for the case to go forward.

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ No evidence Covid created in Chinese lab, says head of US intelligence

• The head of US intelligence said Friday that there was no evidence that the Covid-19 virus was created in the Chinese government’s Wuhan research lab.

=> ↺ The Atlantic ☛ Has COVID’s Patient Zero Finally Been Named?

• A major revelation about researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology emerged this week. We still can’t say we’re any closer to the truth.

=> ↺ Helsinki Times ☛ Kela no longer reimburses travel expenses and expenses for procedures related to COVID-19 tests and vaccinations

• Starting 1 July 2023, it is no longer possible to get reimbursements from Kela for travel expenses related to COVID-19 vaccinations and tests. The payment of reimbursements for expenses related to COVID-19 tests and vaccinations at private healthcare providers will also end.

• On the basis of temporary changes to the Health Insurance Act, Kela has paid reimbursements for travel expenses related to COVID-19 and for expenses related to COVID-19 tests and vaccinations at private healthcare providers.

=> ↺ teleSUR ☛ South Africa: 31 Suspected Illegal Miners Die In Old Mine

• According to officials, South Africa and Lesotho are in talks to recover the bodies and bring them home.

=> ↺ CS Monitor ☛ For children in east Africa, the dignity of hairstyles and better health

• Progress roundup: Rastafarians end hair discrimination in Malawi, and an opponent of female genital mutilation wins the Templeton Prize in Somaliland.

Security

Axios ☛ How supply chain cyberattacks work — and why they’re so difficult to thwartA pair of recent high-profile cyberattacks are putting a spotlight back on a hacking tactic that’s growing in popularity.The big picture: A number of supply chain attacks have already impacted organizations this year — and despite the name, the attacks have nothing to do with better-known trade supply chains. Instead, in the cybersecurity world, a supply chain attack refers to a cyberattack on companies’ software vendors, or their software supply chain.How it works: Supply chain attacks often start with hackers targeting a single entity — typically a software provider — in the hopes of accessing information from that organization’s customers.

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ NSA Issues Guidance on Mitigating BlackLotus Bootkit Infections

• The National Security Agency (NSA) has released mitigation guidance to help organizations stave off BlackLotus UEFI bootkit infections.

=> ↺ Diffoscope ☛ Reproducible Builds (diffoscope): diffoscope 243 released

• The diffoscope maintainers are pleased to announce the release of diffoscope version 243. This version includes the following changes:

• [ Chris Lamb ] * Drop Jenkins build reference in README.rst. [ Ed Maste ] * Update FreeBSD package names [ Mattia Rizzolo ] * Improve the documentation on to produce that binary blob that in the arsc comparator.

=> ↺ Barry Kauler ☛ Goodbye sudo package

• There are scripts in EasyOS that have first two lines like this (for example, /usr/sbin/bootmanager):

• The ‘sudo -A’ means to run an app to ask for a password. The file /etc/sudo.conf has this:

• /usr/sbin/askpass is a shell script that brings up a little GUI asking for the root password, which is then passed via stdin to ‘sudo’, and the script, ‘bootmanager’ for example, will then run as the root user.

• This is a mechanism that I developed in 2015 for Quicky Linux. However, ‘sudo’ no longer works. Easy uses busybox utilities for password management. For example, to set the root password in the ‘init’ script in the initrd:

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ 2.5M Genworth Policyholders and 769K Retired California Workers and Beneficiaries Affected by Hack [Ed: Windows TCO]

• MOVEit hack: Personal information of about 769,000 retired California employees and 2.5 million Genworth Financial policyholders were exposed.

=> ↺ Remotely Exploitable Bind DoS Bugs Fixed

• Several remotely exploitable security issues were found in the Bind Internet Domain Name Server. It was discovered that Bind incorrectly handled the cache size limit (CVE-2023-2828) and the recursive-clients quota (CVE-2023-2911). With a low attack complexity and a high availability impact, these bugs have received a National Vulnerability Database severity rating of ”High”.

=> ↺ Scoop News Group ☛ How to AI-proof the cybersecurity workforce [Ed: Completely nonsensical AI-washing. Better not to write anything at all than to publish such junk.]

• Generative AI can enhance digital security, but it can’t — and shouldn’t — replace humans that are essential to fight malicious hackers.

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ In Other News: Microsoft Win32 App Isolation,Tsunami Hits Linux Servers, ChatGPT Credentials Exposed on Dark Web [Ed: Anti-Linux FUD from Microsoft et al, linking "ssh" and "Linux" to bad passwords]

• Weekly cybersecurity news roundup that provides a summary of noteworthy stories that might have slipped under the radar for the week of June 19, 2023.

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ CISA Tells US Agencies to Patch Exploited Roundcube, VMware Flaws

• The US government’s cybersecurity agency adds VMware and Roundcube server flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ VMware Patches Code Execution Vulnerabilities in vCenter Server

• VMware published software updates to address multiple memory corruption vulnerabilities in vCenter Server that could lead to remote code execution.

=> ↺ Bruce Schneier ☛ UPS Data Harvested for SMS Phishing Attacks

• I get UPS phishing spam on my phone all the time. I never click on it, because it’s so obviously spam. Turns out that hackers have been harvesting actual UPS delivery data from a Canadian tracking tool for its phishing SMSs.

=> ↺ Kifarunix ☛ Install Passbolt on Debian 12

• In this tutorial, you will learn how to install Passbolt on Debian 12.

Privacy/Surveillance

=> ↺ FSF ☛ FSF Blogs: Take action! Protect end-to-end encryption

• How do we counter the dangers resulting from the ongoing, worldwide legislation like Chat control, the EARN IT Act, and the so-called “Online Safety Bill” that threatens end-to-end encryption, and privacy in general? Take action! Write a letter to the appropriate agencies to let them know that you value your privacy and the privacy of the people around you, and remind them of their duty to protect it.

=> ↺ Mint Press News ☛ Israeli Occupation: How Microsoft, IBM, Cisco and Dell Enable Surveillance and Control in Palestine

• Multinational tech giants Microsoft, IBM, Cisco Systems, and Dell Technologies are complicit in Israel’s human rights violations, enabling surveillance, data collection, and control over Palestinians in the occupied territories.

Defence/Aggression

=> ↺ Democracy Now ☛ As Media Spotlights Titanic Sub, Hundreds of Migrants Who Died in Greek Shipwreck Get Scant Coverage

• As many as 700 migrants are feared to have died after an overloaded fishing vessel capsized last week off the coast of Greece. As search and rescue efforts continue with dwindling expectations, the Greek Coast Guard is facing backlash over its failure to help rescue passengers before the boat sank. Most of the migrants were women and children; many were from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Syria and Palestine. They are presumed victims of what may be one the deadliest migrant shipwrecks ever recorded, yet the story has received far less public attention than the search for five passengers aboard a submersible to view the wreck of the Titanic. All five of those passengers were confirmed by the U.S. Coast Guard to have likely died Sunday, days before wall-to-wall media coverage began to speculate about their plight.

=> ↺ Scheerpost ☛ West Bank Dispatch: 14 Palestinians Killed in 3 days; Army Carries Out Drone Strike in Jenin

• At least 14 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank over the last three days, making it one of the deadliest weeks since the start of 2023. Among those killed were two youths, ages 15 and 14.

=> ↺ The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan says Chinese air force approached close to island’s coast

• Eight Chinese warplanes crossed the Taiwan Strait’s median line.

=> ↺ Michael West Media ☛ Former Labor cabinet minister condemns $368b AUKUS deal

• Midnight Oil frontman and former Labor cabinet minister Peter Garrett has again condemned Australia’s security deal with the United States and United Kingdom, calling the $368 billion agreement costly and risky.

• Mr Garrett said the decision to purchase a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines was a huge gamble and should not be allowed to proceed, while speaking at a public forum in Melbourne.

=> ↺ Democracy Now ☛ From Drone Strikes to Settler Attacks, Israel Intensifies Effort to “Completely Take Over Palestine”

• This week, Israel has launched several attacks on Palestinians with weapons used in the conflict for the first time in nearly 20 years, including deploying U.S.-made Apache helicopter gunships inside the West Bank and firing a targeted assassination aerial strike. Jewish settlers have also raided Palestinian villages in the West Bank, attacking residents and setting fire to homes and vehicles. Mariam Barghouti, senior Palestine correspondent for Mondoweiss, calls the attacks “an intensification to completely take over Palestine.” She adds that the growing violence is reflective of the leadership of Israel’s minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who recently called for the renewing of Defensive Shield, a military operation which used similar weaponry in 2002 that has been condemned for “crimes against humanity.” This all comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right

War in Ukraine

=> ↺ Quartz ☛ Russia is apparently conscripting dolphins in its war against Ukraine

• Russia has increased the number of dolphins guarding the Sevastopol naval base on the Black Sea in occupied Ukrainian territory, according to the UK Ministry of Defense.

=> ↺ European Commission ☛ Vice-President Suica delivers a keynote speech for the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2023 Side Event, London

• European Commission Speech Brussels, 23 Jun 2023 A generation of Ukrainian children has experienced more than a year of, fear, loss tragedy and violence.

=> ↺ Federal News Network ☛ Prigozhin, the mercenary chief urging an uprising against Russia’s generals, has long ties to Putin

• Long a low-profile Russian businessman, mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has taken the spotlight in Russia. That’s by posing a direct challenge to Russia’s generals over the war in Ukraine. Prigozhin is owner of the Kremlin-allied Wagner mercenary group, which has played a central role in Russia’s fight in Ukraine. Now, Prigozhin is dramatically escalating months of scathing criticism of the Kremlin’s conduct of the war by calling for an armed uprising to oust Russia’s defense minister. It’s the most dangerous role yet for the 62-year-old Prigozhin, a onetime owner of swanky restaurants who came to be known as “Putin’s Chef.”

=> ↺ Federal News Network ☛ Russian mercenary chief says his forces are rebelling, some left Ukraine and entered Russia city

• The Russian owner of the private military contractor Wagner has made his most direct challenge to the Kremlin yet, calling for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia’s defense minister. The security services reacted immediately by calling for the arrest of Yevgeny Prigozhin. In a sign of how seriously the Kremlin is taking the threat, security has been heightened in Moscow and in Rostov-on-Don, which is home to the Russian military headquarters for the southern region and also oversees the fighting in Ukraine. While the outcome of the confrontation remains unclear, it appears likely to further hinder Moscow’s war effort as Kyiv’s forces were probing Russian defenses in the initial stages of a counteroffensive.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Wagner chief urging uprising against Russia has long ties to Putin

• Once a low-profile businessman who benefited from having President Vladimir Putin as a powerful patron, Yevgeny Prigozhin moved into the global spotlight with Russia’s war in Ukraine

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Russia’s FSB opens criminal probe into Wagner chief Prigozhin for ‘armed mutiny’

• Russia’s FSB security services launched a criminal probe into calls to stage “armed mutiny” after the head of the Wagner mercenary group vowed to resist Moscow’s military leadership, officials said Friday. The announcement follows statements from Yevgeny Prigozhin accusing Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu of ordering a rocket strike on Wagner’s field camps in Ukraine. Read our blog to see how the day’s events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Ukraine: Bodies, rubble and war trophies in one retaken village

• In the recently liberated Ukrainian village of Storozheve, a Ukrainian flag flies above the ruins of a building while the corpses of fallen Russian soldiers line the roadsides. “Z” symbols painted on walls and doors bear testament to more than a year of Russian occupation. The town is just one of several recaptured by Ukraine in recent weeks, with Kyiv saying it has retaken around 90 square kilometres of territory in the eastern Donetsk region.

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ EU approves 11th sanctions package against Russia

• The EU agreed on Wednesday to issue their eleventh sanctions package against Russia for continuing the war in Ukraine. The new package aims to prevent countries and companies from circumventing sanctions already in effect.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ U.S., Britain, France Demand UN Investigate Russia’s Use Of Iranian Drones In Ukraine

• The United States, Britain, and France demanded on June 23 that the United Nations urgently investigate Russia’s reported use of Iranian-provided drones in the war in Ukraine.

=> ↺ The Atlantic ☛ A Crisis Erupts in Russia

• The Kremlin is accusing a Russian mercenary of an attempted coup—a stunning development that could change the course of the war in Ukraine.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Romanian PM Raises Alarm Over Russian Threat To Key Bridge To Moldova

• Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said a statement by the chief of the Russia-controlled part of Ukraine’s Kherson region that Russian armed forces may attack the Giurgiulesti Bridge, which connects Romania and Moldova, shows “how important it is that Romania is part of NATO.”

=> ↺ TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Russian mercenary chief says his forces are rebelling, some left Ukraine and entered city in Russia

• The Russian owner of the private military contractor Wagner has made his most direct challenge to the Kremlin yet, calling for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia’s defense minister. The security services reacted immediately by calling for the arrest of Yevgeny Prigozhin. In a sign of how seriously the Kremlin is taking the threat, security has been heightened in Moscow and in Rostov-on-Don, which is home to the Russian military headquarters for the southern region and also oversees the fighting in Ukraine. While the outcome of the confrontation remains unclear, it appears likely to further hinder Moscow’s war effort as Kyiv’s forces were probing Russian defenses in the initial stages of a counteroffensive.

=> ↺ CS Monitor ☛ Ukraine forces – and Western weapons – face crucial test

• Ukraine counteroffensive will be a big test for the concept that Western weapons and training can help turn back Russian invasion

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Russia Detains Five It Claims Tried To Buy Nuclear Material To Discredit Moscow

• Moscow says it has detained several people it claims are linked to Ukraine who were trying to buy radioactive material and smuggle it out of the country to cause an incident “to discredit Russia.”

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Romania Mulling Measures To Protect Farmers At Constanta Port, Source Says

• In a move that could restrict the flow of Ukrainian grain, Romanian officials are considering measures to give local farmers priority access to the Black Sea port of Constanta during the harvest season.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Zelenskiy Orders Audit Of Heads Of Military Draft Offices In Regions

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has ordered the creation of a special commission to carry out an audit of heads of military draft offices in regions across the country.

=> ↺ Meduza ☛ Wagner’s ‘march of justice’ All of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s posts about his apparent military coup — Meduza

• Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin released a series of announcements on June 23, accusing Russia’s Defense Ministry of intentionally striking Wagner positions. “We’re 25,000 strong, and we’re going to get to the bottom of the lawlessness in this country,” he said, adding Wagner Group had decided to “stop the evil that [Russia’s] military leadership is carrying out.” He said of Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, “This creature will be stopped.” Here’s a timeline of all Prigozhin’s announcements.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Ukraine’s Naftogaz Files Motion In U.S. Court Seeking Payment From Russia For Losses In Crimea

• Ukrainian state-owned energy company Naftogaz said it has taken legal action in the United States to recover $5 billion awarded by an arbitration court in The Hague as compensation for damages and lost property in Crimea.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Russia Launches Criminal Probe After Wagner Chief Blames Moscow’s Forces For Attacks On Mercenaries

• The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has launched a criminal probe after what it said was a “call for an armed mutiny” by Wagner mercenary group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.

=> ↺ Meduza ☛ Prigozhin: ‘This is no military coup, this is a justice march’ — Meduza

• Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin says that Wagner Group actions directed against Russia’s Defense Ministry are not a military coup.

=> ↺ Meduza ☛ Prigozhin: Russian Defense Ministry launched rocket strikes on Wagner Group — Meduza

• Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin says the Russian Defense Ministry launched a rocket strike on a Wagner camp. He posted video footage reportedly showing the aftermath of the attack.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Germany To Supply 45 More Gepard Tanks To Ukraine

• Germany intends to provide Ukraine with 45 more Gepard, or Cheetah, anti-aircraft tanks by the end of the year in its defensive struggle against Russia. The plan was announced by the head of the Ukraine Situation Center of the German Defense Ministry, Brigadier General Christian Freuding, in the June 25 edition of the newspaper Die Welt in comments seen in advance by dpa. A total of 34 Gepards have been delivered, and 15 more would be added in the coming weeks. “In addition, we want to deliver up to another 30 Gepard tanks towards the end of the year in cooperation with the US,” Freuding said.

=> ↺ Defence Web ☛ ISS: African peace mission: one step forward, one step back?

• Africa’s Ukraine-Russia peace mission represents a significant milestone for the continent. It is the first time African states have taken the lead to seek a peaceful resolution for a conflict outside Africa. The delegation comprised leaders and representatives from seven countries – Comoros, Congo-Brazzaville, Egypt, Senegal, Uganda, Zambia, and led by South Africa.

=> ↺ Meduza ☛ Russia’s Defense Ministry calls Prigozhin’s reports of rocket attack ‘a false flag’ — Meduza

• Russia’s Defense Ministry is circulating an announcement stating that “all of the reports and video footage from Yevgeny Prigozhin circulating on social media and allegedly showing ‘a Defense Ministry strike on Wagner Group rear camps’ do not correspond to reality and are an informational false flag.”

=> ↺ Meduza ☛ Prigozhin says he will ‘restore justice’ and calls on Russians to join him — Meduza

• Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin has called on all Russians to join him in his campaign against the Russian Defense Ministry.

=> ↺ Meduza ☛ ‘The president is sorely mistaken’ Yevgeny Prigozhin’s response to Putin’s emergency address condemning Wagner Group’s insurrection — Meduza

• Shortly after noon Moscow time on Saturday, Yevgeny Prigozhin posted an audio message to Telegram responding to Vladimir Putin’s earlier emergency address to the Russian people. (The president, without using Prigozhin’s name, vowed that he and his supporters will “suffer an inevitable punishment” and will “answer before the law and before our people.”) We’ve translated Prigozhin’s response in its entirety.

=> ↺ Meduza ☛ ‘We’re saving Russia’ In a meeting with military leaders, Yevgeny Prigozhin demanded respect. Read the transcript. — Meduza

• On Saturday morning, a video appeared on Telegram that appears to show “negotiations” between Yevgeny Prigozhin, Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, and Deputy Chief of Staff Vladimir Alexeyev at the Southern Military District’s headquarters in Rostov-on-Don. The previous evening, Prigozhin accused the Russian Defense Ministry of carrying out a missile attack on a Wagner Group camp and announced his units were setting out on a “march of justice” against Russia’s military leadership. Overnight, Wagner fighters cordoned off multiple military and administrative buildings in Rostov-on-Don. Meduza is publishing a transcript of the conversation between Prigozhin, Yevkurov, and Alexeyev heard in the video.

=> ↺ Meduza ☛ Russian FSB opens criminal case against Prigozhin for incitement to armed rebellion — Meduza

• Russia’s National Antiterrorism Committee announced that the Federal Security Service (FSB) has opened a criminal case against Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin for calling for an armed rebellion.

Environment

=> ↺ Quartz ☛ Exxon and Chevron are getting sued by a county in Oregon for their role in climate change

• Multnomah County, which includes the city of Portland, is suing major oil and coal companies along with industry groups for more than $51 billion in harms caused by extreme heat.

=> ↺ Quartz ☛ The Church of England has lost faith in oil and gas companies

• The Church of England has come to the conclusion there is no saving fossil fuel companies from the error of their ways when it comes to sustainability and climate change.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Paris summit on climate and finance ends without deal on global shipping tax

• Participants at the Paris summit on finance and climate stopped short of a deal to create a tax on greenhouse gas emissions produced from international shipping.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ US envoy John Kerry: ‘There are trillions of dollars waiting to be invested’ in climate transition

• The United States’ special climate envoy John Kerry assesses efforts to secure funding for climate action and the green transition in an interview with FRANCE 24 on the sidelines of the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris.

=> ↺ teleSUR ☛ Paris Climate Summit Ends with Disappointing Results

• South African President Ramaphosa noted that the aspirations of the countries of the South will not materialize as long as global governance regimes and institutions remain the same.

=> ↺ teleSUR ☛ Climate Change Funding Neglects Over 1 Billion Youngsters

• Only 2.4 percent of key global climate funds can be classified as supporting child-responsive activities despite the fact that children bear the brunt of the climate crisis.

=> ↺ Helsinki Times ☛ Climate change increases the risk of forest fires – “Damage to homes may increase”

• As Finland enjoys the warm temperatures of summer, the midsummer celebrations are in full swing. However, the unusually hot weather and dry soil bring along the risks of forest fires that cannot be easily extinguished even with light rainfall. According to the accident statistics of the rescue authorities, the number of wildfires this year has already exceeded last year’s figures by more than a quarter, and June is not even over yet.

=> ↺ The Straits Times ☛ Tiny Thai school on the climate change front line

• Just four students remain in the school located in a village just 10km away from Bangkok.

=> ↺ RFA ☛ ‘Red’ alert for Beijing as heat wave sweeps northern China

• Temperatures top 41 degrees, prompting concerns about energy shortage

=> ↺ Mexico News Daily ☛ Relief in sight? Meteorologists say Mexico’s 3rd heat wave ending

• According to the nation’s weather service, the “anticyclonic circulation” will weaken on Friday, bringing millions a respite from the heat.

=> ↺ Axios ☛ Dangerous Texas heat wave forecast to expand and worsen

• The heat wave scorching much of Mexico, Texas and parts of New Mexico is forecast to worsen and last into the week of July 4, weather forecast models and National Weather Service (NWS) guidance show.

• Why it matters: Extreme heat is the top weather-related killer in the U.S., and long-duration heat with little overnight relief makes this event particularly hazardous.

• Zoom in: Rio Grande Village, Texas, already has seen its high temperature reach 118°F, 2 degrees away from the all-time state record.

Energy/Transportation

=> ↺ Michael West Media ☛ Battery start-up drives tech to US industrial heartland

• An Australian battery materials start-up is accelerating into production to drive more energy-efficient electric vehicles.

• The United States is bankrolling manufacturing as part of its clean energy push, including commercially ready technology it can lure into its domestic supply chain from close allies.

=> ↺ The Straits Times ☛ Cathay Pacific flight incident injures 11 in Hong Kong

• 11 passengers required treatment at hospital.

Wildlife/Nature

=> ↺ [Old] Democracy Now ☛ Major U.N. Biodiversity Deal Recognizes Indigenous Rights

• More than 190 countries agreed Monday on a plan to preserve 30% of the planet’s lands and waters by 2030 in order to protect biodiversity, which is rapidly declining due to human activity.

Finance

=> ↺ Currency depreciation plagues Turkey’s new ‘record-high’ minimum wage

• Within three days of the new minimum wage announcement, the lira’s depreciation against the US dollar reduced its value from 482 to 452 dollars.

AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Alleged Islamic State-Khorasan Leader From Tajikistan Detained In Turkey

• Police in Istanbul say they detained Tajik citizen Shamil Hukumatov on June 22 on suspicion of being a leader of the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) extremist organization.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Sierra Leoneans head to the polls in high-tension general election

• Sierra Leoneans will vote Saturday in fiercely contested presidential and parliamentary elections, amid international calls for peace and a cost-of-living crisis that helped spark deadly riots last year.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Mali voters overwhelmingly approve constitutional amendments, says election body

• Malian voters overwhelmingly approved changes to the constitution in a referendum, marking a key step in the ruling junta’s declared plans to restore civilian rule, provisional results showed Friday.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Presidential contender Kamara says ready to be Sierra Leone’s ‘CEO’

• Just a day before he was due to release his manifesto, Sierra Leonean presidential contender Samura Kamara was busy writing in depth about the West African country’s justice system.

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ Spain and Morocco fail to investigate 2022 deaths of 37 migrants in Melilla: Amnesty International

• Amnesty International (AI) accused Spain and Morocco on Friday of covering up and failing to investigate the deaths of at least 37 migrants at the border of Melilla, a Spanish enclave city in northwest Africa.

Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

=> ↺ RFK Jr. is hosting a veritable antivax Quackapalooza

• I hadn’t planned on doing “theme weeks,” but somehow the last two weeks have turned into that. Last week ended up being all about the most ridiculous of the “Debate me, bro!” antivaxxers issuing bogus challenges to “debate” vaccines, who then doxxed and bullied a vaccine advocate in order to silence him, all while denying being a doxxing legal thug issuing bogus threats of libel suits. I’m referring, of course, to tech bro turned risibly silly antivaxxer who pivoted from “new school” anti-COVID-19 vaccine misinformation to the hoariest of “old school” antivax conspiracy theories, Steve Kirsch. Speaking of “old school” antivaxxers, this week has been all about longtime antivax conspiracy theorist turned Presidential candidate for the 2024 Democratic nomination, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. When last we left RFK Jr. earlier this week, his antivax misinformation-and conspiracy theory-filled performance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, followed by his bogus “challenge” to debate vaccine scientist Dr. Peter Hotez, had been dominating social media earlier in the week. So why return to him again, so soon? Why go back to the well a third time in one week?

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Unmasking ‘Love Jihad’: The dangerous impact of an Indian conspiracy theory

• In India, a conspiracy theory known as “love jihad” is being perpetuated by Hindu nationalist groups who claim Muslim communities are orchestrating a takeover by seducing and converting Hindu women. Online platforms have become breeding grounds for fear-mongering posts warning of the danger of trusting Muslim men. Drawing on firsthand accounts from victims accused of love jihad, the FRANCE 24 Observers team unravels the web of disinformation and propaganda associated with this divisive narrative.

Censorship/Free Speech

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Supreme Court Rejects Free Speech Challenge to Immigration Law

• In a 7-to-2 decision, the court gave a narrow reading to a statute that made it a crime to encourage unauthorized immigrants to come to or stay in the United States.

=> ↺ German institutions criticize TRT for the series defaming Osman Kavala

• Germany-based media-culture-arts organizations made a joint statement and criticized the Turkish public broadcaster for its role in the financing and broadcasting of the production defaming Osman Kavala for whom there is no final verdict in the trial he stands.

=> ↺ Scheerpost ☛ The Elite War on Free Thought

• Address at Free Speech Event in London, with Russell Brand and Michael Shellenberger

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ Australia regulators demand Twitter reveal strategies to combat online hate

• Australia’s eSafety Commissioner launched legal action against Twitter on Thursday demanding information about the platform’s strategies to combat online hate. The move comes in response to a significant increase in complaints regarding online hate on Twitter, particularly following the acquisition of the company by Elon Musk in October 2022.

=> ↺ The Nation ☛ Elon Musk Has Made Anti-Trans Hatred One of Twitter’s Core Features

• Move over, Webster’s—Elon Musk apparently runs the dictionary now. And wouldn’t you know it: Musk’s dictionary is weird and transphobic.

=> ↺ Axios ☛ House Freedom Caucus weighs kicking out Marjorie Taylor Greene

• Members of the House Freedom Caucus discussed potentially ousting Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from the conservative group during a closed-door meeting on Friday morning, three sources familiar with the conversation confirmed to Axios.

=> ↺ The Nation ☛ It’s Not Just Corporate Pride Boycotts—Right-Wingers Are Escalating Their Anti-LGBTQ Campaign

• We’re nearing the end of Pride month, and even right-wingers are getting confused about what they’re supposed to boycott next. Since just April, conservatives—enraged over ads demonstrating any hint of LGBT-inclusiveness—have launched boycotts against the Los Angeles Dodgers, LEGO, Kellogg’s, Nike, North Face, Kohl’s, PetSmart, Build-A-Bear, J. Crew, Maybelline, Adidas, Citibank, and the video game Call of Duty. Aspiring journalist and podcaster Megyn Kelly seriously fretted aloud that teen boys won’t want to jerk off to a trans woman’s Sports Illustrated cover. The unintentionally hilarious Texas Family Project earnestly sad-tweeted that they “take no pleasure in reporting that Cracker Barrel has fallen” in response to the restaurant chain’s pro-Pride messaging. Fox News, which has a generic Pride month post on its website, was accused of being on the “woke bandwagon” and targeted for protest by several big, dumb conservative Twitter accounts. Every other day, another company vaguely signals its most milquetoast support for LGBTQ folks, and conservatives are finding it impossible to keep up. It’s enough to send right-wingers into fits of delusional paranoia. For real.

Civil Rights/Policing

=> ↺ Turkey finally lifts midnight music ban, which had been in place since pandemic

• The government had refused to lift the controversial ban last year, despite lifting all other Covid-related measures.

=> ↺ Axios ☛ Airbnb’s continued march across the country

• Many communities nationwide are home to Airbnb listings but no hotels, the company says in a new blog post framing that data point as evidence that it helps boost what it calls “dispersed travel.”

• Why it matters: Airbnb’s presence in smaller communities outside traditional tourism zones is controversial.

=> ↺ The Nation ☛ “The Message They’ve Received Is That You Don’t Deserve to Be Cared For”: Life on the Abortion Borderland

• One day each week, the Rev. Erika Ferguson puts on leggings and a sweatshirt, pulls her hair back under a baseball cap, and heads to a North Texas airport to meet a group of people who need abortions. She shepherds the strangers through security and onto a short flight to Albuquerque, N.M. There, the group spends the day at an abortion clinic, and later they watch rom-coms in an office packed with cots, tea, and homemade cookies. The women Ferguson has accompanied represent a cross section of Texans—Black, Latina, Asian, and white. There have been rape victims and teenagers. There have been moms with teenage children at home. “I’ve taken women from all walks of life, from all ages,” Ferguson told me.1

• Ferguson greets the group by explaining why she is there. She has had two abortions, one at 14 and one at 18. More than 30 years later, the warmth she felt from the workers at the clinic who cared for her animates her decision to help these travelers. She calls the airlifts, which are coordinated by the Albuquerque-based New Mexico Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (NM RCRC), the “Tubman Travel Project.” The journeys made by people fleeing abortion bans remind her of those taken by enslaved people fleeing to free states.2

=> ↺ Axios ☛ Republican 2024 field for president is historically diverse

• What we’re watching: Hurd joins two other Black Americans in the GOP race — Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and conservative radio host Larry Elder.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ The Dark Incentives That Led to a Refugee Tragedy

• To those who see refugees as a burden or threat, border security is a zero-sum game that can be “won” by keeping potential asylum seekers out or by forcing them into other countries.

=> ↺ Axios ☛ Safe haven states scramble to accommodate non-resident abortions

• In the year since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling, Planned Parenthood Minnesota’s clinics have performed more abortions on out-of-state patients, along with more second-trimester abortions that are typically outlawed by conservative-led states, officials say.

Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

=> ↺ European Commission ☛ Speech by Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič at the SGI Europe event on ‘The Single Market at 30: What role for Services of General Interest in its future?’

Monopolies

Patents

=> ↺ JUVE ☛ UPC launch: Three weeks on, cases are steadily rising [Ed: JUVE does not disclose anymore that Team UPC is bribing it for such propaganda; the UPC is totally illegal]

• The UPC cases filed so far are comprised of three revocation proceedings, two preliminary injunction applications, two application for preventative measures, and 14 infringement proceedings. It is also clear that Germany currently leads the way as regards parties filing infringement cases at the country’s local and central UPC divisions.

=> ↺ USPTO Should Conduct Expedited Reviews for Discretionarily Denied PTAB Petitions

• The USPTO’s invalidation of both patents involved in the ongoing legal battle between Intel and VLSI is the most recent development in a long and contentious debate among those who watch Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) proceedings closely.

=> ↺ Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Promoting and Respecting Economically Vital American Innovation Leadership (PREVAIL) Act [Ed: Lobbying by patent litigation profiteers, false marketed]

• The second major new Senate patent bill focuses on reconstructing AIA trials — particularly by reducing availability and power of inter partes review and post grant proceedings.  The bipartisan Promoting and Respecting Economically Vital American Innovation Leadership (PREVAIL) Act was introduced by Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.),Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii).

Trademarks

=> ↺ TTAB Blog ☛ TTABlog Test: Are Personal Training Services Related to Clothing For Section 2(d) Purposes?

• The USPTO refused to register the mark SRF & Design, shown here, for (inter alia) physical fitness training services, finding confusion likely with the standard character mark SRF for “shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, hoodies, hats, pants, sweatpants, sweaters, pullovers, headwear.” Not surprisingly, the Board found the marks to be “very similar” in sound, appearance, connotation, and commercial impression. But what about the goods and services? How do you think this came out? In re Surf Ready Fitness, Serial No. 90548268 (June 21, 2023) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Christen M. English).

• Applicant argued that the spacing in its mark would lead consumers to pronounce it as three individual letters, whereas the cited mark would likely be pronounced “surf.” The Board was unimpressed, pointing out that there is no correct pronunciation of a mark and that applicant’s mark might also be pronounced “surf.” The circular design element in applicant’s mark would likely be perceived “merely as an outline or carrier for the literal element of Applicant’s mark.” Moreover, the cited standard character mark could be displayed in the same font as applicant’s mark.

Copyrights

=> ↺ Quartz ☛ The US music industry is waging war upon an AI server on Discord

• The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) thinks the use of AI models to imitate the voices of musicians is an act of copyright infringement. And it’s going to battle with Discord on the back of that view.

=> ↺ Digital Music News ☛ Preserve Rockwood Concert Benefit Series Kicks Off with Sara Bareilles Concert

• The #PreserveRockwood benefit concert series begins with a performance from Sara Bareilles on June 30, with many more to come over the next few months in a continued effort to keep the independent venue alive.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Meta to block news access for Facebook users in Canada after media bill passes

• Facebook and Instagram users in Canada will be blocked from viewing Canadian news, parent-company Meta said Thursday, after Ottawa passed a bill requiring digital giants to pay for such content.

=> ↺ Techdirt ☛ As Canada Passes Corrupt Link Tax, Meta Says No More News Links In Canada

• Two weeks ago, Canada’s Heritage Minister, Pablo Rodriguez, who has been the main Canadian government official pushing for C-18, the bullshit link tax bill, that is just a corrupt wealth transfer from one disliked industry to a favored industry, insisted that it was “unacceptable” that Meta might stop allowing links to news if the bill passed.

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