● 05.03.23

Gemini version available ♊︎

● Links 03/05/2023: KDE ISO Image Writer 1.0.0 and Flatseal 2.0 Released

Posted in News Roundup at 12:15 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNU/Linux

• Get hacking with Kali Linux, grab the latest Linux Format and arm yourself with the tools and the hacking knowledge to defend your systems and train yourself as a white-hat hacker! Discover Kali Purple, Metasploit and the best way to run Kali Linux.

Audiocasts/Shows

• In this fifth video on creating brush presets in Krita, Ramon goes in depth with the masked brush feature!

• Why open source might be the real AI winner long-term, and Mike gets the ultimate “I told you so.”

Applications

• Essential System Utilities is a series of articles highlighting essential system tools. These are small utilities, useful for system administrators as well as regular users of Linux based systems.

• The series examines both graphical and text based open source utilities. For details of all tools in this series, please check the Summary page of this article.

• System Monitoring Center is a multi-featured system monitor. It’s free and open source software written in the Python programming language.

• There are separate versions using the GTK3 and GTK4 widget toolkit. Note that it’s only the GTK4 version which will include new features going forwards, the GTK3 version will receive only bug fixes in the future.

Instructionals/Technical

• In this post, you will learn how to install PostgreSQL on Debian 11. PostgreSQL is one of the oldest and most powerful relational database managers available today. And although MariaDB is emerging as one of the most popular along with SQLite, PostgreSQL is also the best known.

• In this post, we will know a little about Arianna, the Qt and Kirigami based EPUB reader for KDE. Although many people don’t like to read EPUB from the computer, it’s always good to know these tools that help to diversify the use of Linux. Specifically created for KDE, we have Arianna.

• Follow through this guide to learn how to install MariaDB 11 on Debian 11/Debian 10.

• Version 4 of syslog-ng was released last December. Quite a few people use it already in production. How can you install it for a test drive? It might be already available in your Linux distribution. There are also several unofficial repositories with the latest syslog-ng.

• The Flashplayer was a (unfortunately closed source, why not release the source NOW? Adobe?

• If you love to collect movies, TV shows, and music, and enjoy consuming media, then you’ll definitely want to use a dependable media server that can help you manage and stream your content. One such popular media server is Plex, which can organize your media and stream it on any device.

• ExifTool is a nifty tool for those who deal in media files because using it a user can easily manipulate or add the metadata. I

• OpenConnect VPN aka ocserv is an open-source free VPN solution with enterprise-grade performance and features. It is based on the Cisco AnyConnect VPN protocol which is widely used in the corporate industry. In this tutorial, you will learn how to install the OpenConnect VPN server on a Ubuntu 22.04 machine.

• In this tutorial, we will show you how to install WineHQ on Fedora 38. Are you a fan of Windows software, but prefer to use Linux as your operating system? Well, with WineHQ, you can have the best of both worlds.

• Tutorial on how to create an index concurrently to avoid locking when working with PostgreSQL and how locking works when working with tables in Postgres.

• In this tutorial you will learn how to fix the error fs.rmSync is not a function. This error happens when node version it’s too old and it doesn’t support the fs.rmsyc function, to fix this issue simply follow the steps in this tutorial.

• To access the internet safely and visit websites that are not allowed by your webmaster, VPN software comes in handy. It works by encrypting internet traffic and routing it through remote servers.

• Are you an Ubuntu user looking for a powerful, lightweight, and feature-rich text editor that stands out? Look no further than SciTE (short for Scintilla Text Editor), a versatile and customizable text editor that could quickly become your go-to tool for all your coding needs.

• Welcome to the world of IntelliJ IDEA, a feature-rich and powerful Integrated Development Environment (IDE) designed for developers who aspire to create top-quality applications with ease and efficiency.

• In the world of Linux, the split command is a powerful tool used to split or break large files into smaller pieces. This command comes in handy when dealing with large log and archive files that are difficult to handle as a whole. With the split command, you can split files based on the number of lines or the file size, customize the output file names, and more. In this article, we will explore the various options and examples of using the split command in Linux, blending information from multiple sources​.

• Splitting Files Based on Number of Lines

• The split command allows you to split a file into smaller files based on the number of lines. By default, each split file contains 1000 lines. However, you can customize the number of lines per file using the -l option. For example, to split a file named index.txt into files with 4 lines each, you can use the following command: [...]

• Malware assaults continue to pose a severe threat to our personal and professional life as the globe grows more and more reliant on technology. Windows has traditionally been the focus of malware assaults, but Linux-based spyware is growing more prevalent.

• cURL, which stands for Client URL, is an essential command-line tool and library designed for transferring data using various network protocols. This powerful utility has become a favorite among developers and system administrators due to its flexibility, reliability, and ease of use.

Desktop Environments/WMs

K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

• KDE ISO Image Writer 1.0.0 is out for users.

GNOME Desktop/GTK

• Twice a year a new version of the GNOME desktop environment arrives – and the date for the next one has now been set.

• When it comes to managing Flatpak app permissions there’s no better tool for the task than Flatseal — and this nifty utility just received a big update.

Distributions and Operating Systems

• Easy 5.2.4 will be the last using fscrypt v1. I have posted about the migration v1 to v2:

• I have modified two scripts, /usr/local/easy_version/easy-update and ‘init’ in the initrd, to handle updating from v1 folder encryption to v2.

• Basically, ‘easy-update’ copies the contents of of the encrypted folders into a temporary folder, then the ‘init’ script at next bootup (after the update) recreates the encrypted folders with the new v2 then restores from the temporary folder.

BSD

• In this post, we give an update on the work that has gone on over the past few months towards meeting the objectives set out in the FreeBSD Foundation Technology Roadmap.  While FreeBSD developers have accomplished a lot in the past few years to improve the desktop experience, much work remains.

• The Foundation is pleased to welcome two new members to the FreeBSD Foundation team. Greg Wallace joins the Foundation as the new Director of Partnerships and Research. He brings 20+ years experience in the technology industry to the FreeBSD Foundation. welcomes-new-team-members/”>FreeBSD Foundation Welcomes New Team Members.

SUSE/OpenSUSE

• You hopefully have seen our new openAPI Documentation. You might have, since it’s now linked from the old documentation. Besides that change, we spent some of our development time on new documentation on Comments, Status Messages and Staging Workflows.

• In just a little more than a week, the open source communities will be gathered in beautiful Vancouver, Canada for the Linux Foundation’s Open Source Summit.  And as the world’s largest independent open source company, SUSE is thrilled to be a Gold sponsor.

• SUSE has updated its Rancher management platform for Kubernetes to make it simpler to extend the user interface to manage other elements of a cloud-native application environment./blockquote>

Fedora Family / IBM

• PatternFly team has been working with “all hands on deck” on the version 5. That new major release is still scheduled for June. They have conducted two rounds of alpha testing so far and they’ve gone pretty well. Meanwhile PatternFly 4 has been in development freeze for a while as the team is focusing on the new version.

• **Cockpit has decided to go ahead with an early adoption of PatternFly 5. **The motivation for adopting PatternFly 5 can be summarized in several key points. Firstly, the early adoption of PatternFly 5 is advantageous for the PatternFly team. Secondly, as PatternFly 5 is still in its alpha phase, it is more receptive to significant changes. Thirdly, the high code coverage of Cockpit, with its integration and image comparison testing, provides confidence in being one of the early adopters without compromising product quality. Finally, PatternFly 4 is in development freeze, which hinders the ability to utilize the latest features and fixes found in PatternFly 5.

• It’s important to note that PatternFly 5 is not introducing drastic UI changes that the user would be able to notice, like the PatternFly 3 to PatternFly 4 upgrade did. It’s quite accurate to perceive this major release as an evolution of PatternFly 4, with enhancements and bug fixes.

• Some of the Cockpit team’s most awaited changes that have user impact from PatternFly 5 include improved dark theme support and using gap instead of margins for spacing, something that brings us one step closer to better RTL (Right to left) language support.

Canonical/Ubuntu Family

• If you are a system administrator in charge of maintaining critical systems in enterprise environments, we are sure you know two important things: [...]

• This summer, get ready to savor the best of Linux Mint with the release of Linux Mint 21.2, LMDE 6, and the EDGE ISO.

• We recently covered that Linux Mint 21.2 would feature color variants and styles, which was a nice thing to expect with the upgrade.

• But, as it turns out, more things are in store for the upcoming release of Linux Mint, which is expected later this month.

• Let’s look at the new visual changes set to be implemented in Linux Mint 21.2.

Devices/Embedded

• HealthyPi 5 is an open-source sensor platform for biosignal acquisition based on Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller and ESP32-C3 WiFi & BLE module used to capture vitals such as electrocardiogram (ECG), respiration, photoplethysmography (PPG), oxygen saturation (SpO₂), and body-temperature data. It is a complete redesign of the HealthyPi v4 Raspberry Pi HAT with many of the same features. While the HealthyPi 5 also follows the Raspberry Pi HAT form factor and can be connected to a Raspberry Pi SBC to analyze the data, it can also be used as a standalone device with the processing handled by the RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller and connectivity through an ESP32-C3 wireless module, and data visualized on a 3.5-inch SPI display or a smartphone over WiFi or Bluetooth.

• The biggest change in the Raspberry Pi OS 2023-05-03 release is the kernel bump from the long-term supported Linux 5.15 LTS to the long-term supported Linux 6.1 LTS. Of course, this should translate to better performance for your Raspberry Pi computer.

• In fact, existing Raspberry Pi OS users like me were already running Linux kernel 6.1 LTS if they would execute the rpi-update command in a terminal emulator. But now, Linux 6.1 LTS is the default kernel on new Raspberry Pi OS images that you can download from the official website if plan on installing on your Raspberry Pi computer.

Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

Productivity Software/LibreOffice/Calligra

Leftovers

• Noted Russian fashion designer Valentin Yudashkin has died at the age of 59, his wife said on May 2.

Education

• University staff across Australia are striking from Monday as academics protest for improved job security, manageable workloads and wages in line with the increased cost of living.

• Test scores in history and civics have declined slightly for eighth grade students in the U.S., according to results that show an increasing number of children lack a basic understanding of either subject

• Russia on May 2 summoned Poland’s charge d’affaires to protest what it called the “seizure” of its embassy school building in Warsaw last week.

• The latest test results continue a nearly decade-long decline. Try a sample quiz to test your knowledge.

Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

• The U.S. overdose death rate involving fentanyl nearly quadrupled between 2016 and 2021, according to a report published Wednesday.

• But a growing share of women over 35 say their pregnancies are coming later than they want, a new analysis found.

• Half a year with the street counselors who dispense free sneakers, monthly injections and gentle encouragement to some of the city’s most vulnerable and volatile residents.

• Malaysia is facing a fresh wave of Covid-19 cases that has seen test kits being snapped up, more people being hospitalised, and experts advising the public to avoid crowded places.

Proprietary

• The agency that runs the New York City subway will no longer post service updates to Twitter. Fortunately, there’s a better way.

• Apple has released its first Rapid Security Response patch, but iPhone users are complaining that they are having problems installing it.

• Microsoft issued a Windows update that broke a Chrome feature, making it harder to change your default browser and annoying Chrome users with popups, Gizmodo has learned.

• Unity Software announced plans to cut about 600 jobs, or 8% of its workforce, according to a company filing.

• Dauntless developer Phoenix Labs has confirmed that 9% of the studio has been laid off. This comes after the studio’s management purchased Phoenix Labs from Garena, a Singaporean game company that originally acquired the studio back in 2020.

• Dauntless recently reached 30 million players. Phoenix Labs previously said that they had 10 titles in different stages of development. LinkedIn lists Phoenix Labs’ employee count at 308 which suggests that roughly 30 people were impacted by the layoff.

• Phoenix Labs said the reason for the layoffs is to focus on fewer development projects. “We recently evaluated all ongoing development projects within Phoenix Labs to determine our strongest path in terms of success and sustainability,” a representative said. “As a result of that evaluation, we felt the best way forward for the company was to focus on fewer development projects. This renewed focus offers the best opportunity for the success of Fae Farm and Dauntless, as well as the remaining unannounced titles in our portfolio.”

Security

• German IT services giant Bitmarck has taken customer and internal systems offline following a cyberattack.

• Wireless carrier T-Mobile says the personal information of a small number of individuals was exposed in a recent data breach.

• CISA warns of attacks exploiting an Oracle WebLogic vulnerability tracked as CVE-2023-21839, which was patched with the January 2023 CPU.

• Fortinet warns of a massive spike in malicious attacks targeting a five-year-old authentication bypass vulnerability in TBK DVR devices.

• Ransomware group leaked files showing the extent of their access to Western Digital systems and how they monitored the company’s initial response to the breach.

• Researchers with the Technical University of Berlin reveal that AMD’s firmware-based Trusted Platform Module (fTPM / TPM) can be fully compromised via a voltage fault injection attack, thus allowing full access to the cryptographic data held inside the fTPM.

Privacy/Surveillance

• The German association Digitalcourage awards the annual Negative Prize – Zoom, the Ministry of Finance and Microsoft are honoured. The „data sin“ is an offence that often goes unpunished.

• On a recent Internet of Things Podcast, we took a voicemail from Shane on our podcast hotline. Shane has to replace the electrical panel in his home and thinking about going with a smart electrical panel.

Defence/Aggression

• As with Ukraine’s exodus of war refugees, the Sudanese fleeing a civil conflict find a welcome in neighboring states, a compassion that has earned global gratitude.

• Despite the sixth 72-hour truce, intermittent clashes continued between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces in various areas in Khartoum and Omdurman.

• Dr. Ramzy Baroud reveals how the conflict in Sudan betrays the reality of a changing world order amid the decline of American geopolitical power.

• European Commission Press release Brussels, 02 May 2023 The Commission announced today new funding of €22 million in humanitarian aid in Ethiopia as well as €3 million in Kenya to support those suffering from the impact of conflict, displacement, drought and health issues.

• Taiwan is seeking U.S. cooperation to make the island’s next domestically developed fighter jet, the head of Taiwanese defence…

• The jury in the Proud Boys sedition trial asked a question yesterday that might make or break the sedition count against the defendants.

• Graphic footage of the murder was published online by state media.

• Pressure is mounting on the authorities in Burkina Faso after more than 150 civilians were massacred by uniformed men in northern villages. At a press conference on Saturday, FRANCE 24 spoke to a representative for the victims, who reiterated accusations against members of the defence and security forces.

• ADF STAFF With the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF) fully deployed and M23 rebels gradually withdrawing from occupied territory, there is some reason for hope in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Still, experts warn of a larger security threat to the region based on a tragic history.

• Scenarios examined include Australian involvement in a U.S.-China war over Taiwan.

• Defending against an unpredictable Russia in years to come will mean bumping up against a strained social safety net and ambitious climate transition plans.

• Wary of Ukrainian partisans and anticipating a counteroffensive, Russian authorities have “reinforced” counterintelligence units in occupied territory, Ukraine says.

• George Orwell would have called it objectively pro-Putin.

• The situation will likely reduce border crossings even further, according to a travel sector researcher.

• A court in Russia’s western city of Tula has sentenced two men to 3 1/2 years in prison each for their alleged involvement in a car bombing in August that killed Darya Dugina, the daughter of Kremlin-linked far-right ideologue Aleksandr Dugin.

• Almost half of the length of the canal running from the Saimaa lake system to the Baltic Sea is located in an area leased from Russia, and neither shipowners nor insurers are keen to use it.

• (Reuters) -A fuel depot was on fire early on Wednesday near a crucial bridge linking Russia’s mainland with Crimea, a Russian official said, days…

• For years, Germany seemed to tolerate even flagrant Russian operations on its soil. But a new Cold War-like chill has now made the snooping difficult to ignore.

• Many of the 24 cyber-enabled Iranian influence operations Microsoft detected in 2022 were intended to further Iran’s Mideast political agenda.

• ADF STAFF More than 5,000 kilometers separate the battlefields of Ukraine from the gold mines of the Central African Republic (CAR), but the two countries have become linked through Russia’s Wagner Group. Since arriving in the CAR in 2018, Wagner has spread to become involved in multiple aspects of the country’s economy and security sector.

• Russia launched a new series of overnight drone strikes on Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv, but most of them were downed by Ukraine’s air defenses, the military said on May 3, as Ukrainian forces in the eastern city of Bakhmut repelled more Russian attacks.

• A series of Russian officials have made comments this year indicating that the demands of war are outpacing the capacity of the country’s arms industry.

• An explosion on Tuesday in Bryansk, along Ukraine’s northern border, sent a locomotive and about 20 train cars off the rails, local authorities said.

• European Commission Press release Brussels, 02 May 2023 The European Commission has today adopted exceptional and temporary preventive measures on imports of a limited number of products from Ukraine under the exceptional safeguard of the Autonomous Trade Measures Regulation.

• American government and media statements have led the public to believe that the Russian military has been shockingly ineffective and that there is confident optimism for a Ukrainian victory. Ukrainians have fought courageously and performed above expectation. But there has been a vast gulf between private and public assessments.

• What constitutes a progressive position on the war in Ukraine? What factors might bring about peace? Should the United States continue to send military aid, and other support, to Ukraine? What should be done about the parts of Ukraine currently occupied by Russian forces? What should be done about NATO?

• Hosted by the Green Socialist Organizing Project, this discussion, on the year anniversary of the war in Ukraine, looks at differing Green Socialist perspectives on the war in Ukraine. Panelists will discuss key foundational ideas, the lead up and the current conflict, and the potential futures of Ukraine.

• The Kremlin has worked hard to create the impression of overwhelming public support for the invasion of Ukraine but it remains difficult to gauge true levels of pro-war sentiment in today’s Russia, writes Sviatoslav Hnizdovskyi.

• /blockquote>

• Washington did not warn Kyiv about the top-secret documents leaked to internet chat rooms – containing sensitive information about Ukraine’s war effort – before the news broke in the media last month, President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Washington Post.

• An explosive device derailed a Russian freight train in a region bordering Ukraine for a second straight day Tuesday ahead of an expected counteroffensive by Kyiv. Follow our blog to see how the day’s events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).

• Former editor Christian Broughton said there was “debate in the office” at including the footage.

• Tinder owner Match Group has said it will quit Russia by June 30, citing the need to protect human rights, one of many Western firms to leave since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine last year.

• It took a more than a year, but Match Group is finally ready to dump Russia.

• Another humanitarian convoy is escorted from Rīga to Kyiv on Wednesday. Outside the Congress Hall in Rīga, the Confederation of Ukrainian Associations in Latvia “Viche” organized a humanitarian convoy in which among other things, for the first time, impact boats were included, Latvian Radio reported on May 3.As of 12:00 in the square outside the Congress Hall, representatives of Viche, entrepreneurs, and other organizations gathered.

• The European Union has announced fresh plans to ramp up the large-scale production of ammunition. The EU is seeking to both benefit Ukraine while the country is at war with Russia and to improve the bloc’s geopolitical credentials. Ukraine is poised to launch a planned spring counteroffensive to recover Russian-occupied territory, but the country has burned through ammunition at a furious rate. The EU’s internal market commissioner said Wednesday that he wants to use at least 1 billion euros to fund an Act in Support of Ammunition Production, or ASAP. EU nations, lulled into complacency by decades of peace and military protection from the United States through NATO, have under-invested in ammunition production.

• On May 3, President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Lauri Hussar is on an official visit to Latvia to discuss the cooperation between the two countries, the security of the region and helping Ukraine.

• Russian authorities accused Ukraine on Wednesday of attempting to attack the Kremlin with two drones overnight. The Kremlin decried the alleged attack attempt as a “terrorist act” and said Russian military and security forces disabled the drones before they could strike. It said no damage or casualties took place, and didn’t provide any other details. The Kremlin added that President Vladimir Putin was safe and continued to work with his schedule unchanged.

• Berlin police say that they are getting ready for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to visit Germany’s capital this month. A police department spokesperson said Wednesday that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz invited Zelenskyy to come, and authorities were preparing for the visit to take place May 13-14. It would be Zelenskyy’s first visit to Germany since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The chancellor’s office did not immediately respond to requests for confirmation. Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine are set to receive the International Charlemagne Prize on May 14. The prize is awarded annually by the western German city of Aachen for contributions to European unity.

• A U.S. citizen, Cooper Andrews, 26, and two Canadians, Kyle Porter, 27, and Cole Zelenco, 21, have been killed in action around the fiercely contested Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, CBC News and CNN reported on May 1.

• An actor from a theater in Russia’s Siberian region of Buryatia, who in March slit his wrists while on stage to protest the firing of the company’s artistic director over his stance against Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, has left the country.

• A municipal lawmaker representing the ruling Amanat (Heritage) party in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, has resigned following a public outcry caused by a post she made in the comments section of a Deutsche Welle post on the war in Ukraine.

• Meanwhile, Denmark announced a new millionaire aid package to support the Ukrainian offensive in the war against Russia.

• (Reuters) – Russia launched a third nightly round of attacks on Kyiv in six days, city authorities said early on Wednesday, but air defence systems…

• U.S. officials say the Biden administration is sending Ukraine about $300 million in additional military aid, including an enormous amount of artillery rounds, howitzers, air-to-ground rockets and ammunition as the launch of the spring offensive against Russian forces approaches

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Finland on an unannounced visit Wednesday for talks with Nordic leaders on his country’s war with Russia and its relations with Europe, governments of the region said. Finland’s accession to NATO in April was a symbolic moment for the Western alliance, as the country abandoned its historic Cold War neutrality in response to the Russian threat.

• A retired US general on Wednesday urged Taiwan to heed lessons from Russia’s war in Ukraine and bolster its unmanned drone defences, with the island facing increasing military threats from China.

• The Lithuanian government on Wednesday decided to join a register being set up by the Council of Europe members on the damages caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

• A court in Kazakhstan has rejected a request for political asylum filed by a man from the Russian region of Kalmykia who left a military unit in Russia’s Volgograd to avoid taking part in the war in Ukraine.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has arrived in Finland on a previously unannounced visit to attend a Nordic summit, the Finnish presidency said on May 3.

• The deputy defense ministers of Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey will meet in Istanbul on May 5 to discuss a deal that allows the exports of Ukrainian grains on the Black Sea, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar was quoted as saying.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Helsinki for talks with the prime ministers of four Nordic countries as part of his effort to secure greater firepower for his country’s armed forces as they figure out how to dislodge Russian troops from occupied areas of Ukraine

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, for a one-day Nordic summit

• Volodymyr Zelensky has made only a handful of trips abroad since Russia’s invasion of his country in February 2022.

• Russia accused Ukraine of launching drones at the Kremlin aimed at assassinating President Vladimir V. Putin. Ukraine has not responded to the claim.

• The Ukrainian president has made few overseas trips since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

• Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi is set to travel to Damascus Wednesday in the first visit by an Iranian president since Syria’s civil war broke out and as regional engagement with the two allies expands.

• The operation went down in a village 10 kilometers from the Hatay border, according to open-source research.

• Lebanese officials have launched a crackdown on the country’s Syrian refugees against the backdrop of a worsening economic crisis and political stalemate. In recent weeks, the army has raided refugee camps and set up checkpoints to check the documentation of non-Lebanese citizens, arresting and in many cases deporting Syrians found not to have legal residency, according to refugees and humanitarian organizations. The new anti-refugee campaign comes against the backdrop of stalled negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, a six-month deadlock over selection of the country’s next president, and a regional rapprochement with the government of Bashar Assad in Syria.

• The Atlantic Council’s Arwa Damon shares insights from a recent visit to Idlib province in northwestern Syria, where the humanitarian situation remains dire.

• Visiting Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi congratulated Syria’s Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday for overcoming sanctions and achieving “victory” in the country’s 12-year-long civil war, in which Tehran has been a major ally.

• Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi landed in Damascus on May 3, Syrian state media reported, for talks with his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, in the first such visit by an Iranian head of state since war broke out in Syria in 2011.

• Latvian airline airBaltic and Turkey’s flag carrier Turkish Airlines have announced a codeshare partnership, effective as of May 1, 2023. The agreement enables both carriers to provide more flexibility to their passengers on direct flights between Turkey and Latvia.

Environment

• Henrik Stiesdal helped design the first modern wind turbines. A thousand patents later, he’s a green tech entrepreneur rolling out new innovations.

• It’s driving us out of the Goldilocks Zone.

Energy/Transportation

• Authorities in the US and Ukraine have worked together to shut down nine websites offering cryptocurrency exchange services to cybercriminals.

• India, for the first time in April, imported more oil from Russia than from its two other largest suppliers, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

• Russian Navy ships were repeatedly in the vicinity of the Nord Stream pipelines off the coasts of Denmark and Sweden, days before a mysterious explosion, according to a new report.

• The federal budget will unlock at least $10 billion of new investment in renewable power projects, with states already lining up for the funding.

• Powerhouse Energy Group has assumed full ownership and control of the Protos plastics to hydrogen project at the Protos site near Chester in the UK.

• The head of Snowy Hydro 2.0 has admitted the energy project will be delayed by up to two years.

• Mumbai’s iconic Taj Mahal Palace hotel today (May 3) announced it will now operate on 100% renewable energy.

• Experts explore the cybersecurity implications of cryptocurrencies, and how the United States and its allies should approach this challenge.

• On the day of the restoration of Latvia’s independence, May 4, public transport will be free in the capital city, said municipal transport company Rīgas Satiksme.

Wildlife/Nature

• Kübra Ünsal and her friends have treated 4,500 cats and dogs in the field clinic.

• Containerization, which has been embraced by global cities like Barcelona and Buenos Aires, could force New York to eliminate 150,000 parking spots.

Finance

• U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said on May 1 that a Russian citizen, Feliks Medvedev, has been indicted on one count of operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business and 39 counts of money laundering.

• When it comes to deposit insurance rules, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) only wants the US Congress to change what it absolutely must.

• The outcome of the debt ceiling conflict is genuinely uncertain.

• Doctors say the Bill allows nurses to provide treatment without a medical licence; nurses insist it protects them from abuses.

• Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) hiked the overnight policy rate to 3 per cent, when most economists had expected the central bank to stay pat for a third straight meeting.

• Annual inflation in Lithuania in April declined to 13.3 percent, according to an estimate published by Eurostat. And while the European Central Bank is expected to further raise interest rates to fight inflation, many people in Lithuania painfully feel the effect the policy is causing.

• Labour organisations and unions in Hong Kong are calling for a yearly assessment of the minimum hourly wage, which was raised from HK$37.5 to HK$40 on Monday after a four-year freeze.

• Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson visited Emory University’s Psychology and Interdisciplinary Sciences Building on April 26 to speak with around 200 students at a Young Democrats of Emory event. Willamson previously ran for the 2020 Democratic nomination but withdrew from the race in January 2020, before the Democratic primary election.

• The head of the Reserve Bank is still confident he can deliver a soft landing for the economy after the board pulled the trigger on another interest rate hike.

• Fortum says that its senior management team is giving up its 2024 stock awards voluntarily.

• Federal Reserve officials will release a rate decision at 2 p.m. The key question is what will come next.

• Median pay for top U.S. CEOs rose 7.7% last year to a record $22.3 million, a new study found…

• Food, alcohol and tobacco prices were 13.6 percent higher in April than in the same month of 2022.

• Economies across the Middle East and Central Asia will likely slow this year as persistently high inflation and rising interest rates bite into their post-pandemic gains

• The annual rate of inflation reached 7 percent, but the underlying “core” rate eased for the first time in 10 months.

• Even after the sale of First Republic, investors are worried about challenges that regional banks still face, imperiling the economy.

• Asian stocks have fallen for a second session in a row as global investors contend with signs of a softening US economy and are in full flight from US regional lenders ahead of an expected US interest rate hike.

• The former top executives of two failed banks will testify before Congress this month

• Compared to January-March of last year OP’s earnings nearly tripled, with its banks pulling in the biggest profits.

• A ‘shock pause’ by the central bank would spook an already jittery market, one analyst said, even as shares in regional lenders fall.

• (Reuters) – Shares of mid-sized U.S. lenders dropped in premarket trading on Wednesday…

• Lending is likely to tighten further amid the banking crisis, creating a new headwind for an otherwise decent economy.

• Why it matters: Consumption-driven economies depend on access to credit for investment, a big driver of growth. When the flow of credit is curtailed by a financial panic, the economy suffers.

• Monetary financial institutions of Latvia (MFIs), mainly banks, worked on profits of EUR 141.4 million during the first three months of this year, which is 76.7% more than during the same period of 2022, according to information published by the Latvian Central Bank (Bank of Latvia) on May 2.

AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

• The number of District Council seats democratically chosen by the public are to be slashed to around 20 per cent, Chief Executive John Lee announced on Tuesday.

• Three officers sanctioned by the US have been promoted within the Hong Kong police’s National Security Department, with two becoming leading figures. Chief Executive John Lee said the promoted officers were “fearless” in face of Washington’s “bullying act”.

• The senator’s absence is at the center of a growing political crisis.

• In an about-face, Twitter says it has restored free access to a key tool for verified government and “publicly owned” services so they can tweet weather, transit and other alerts

• By Thursday afternoon, senior executives agreed to cease publishing service alerts to the platform altogether.

Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

• The TikTok executive in charge of the company’s recently formed US Trust and Safety team is leaving the company.

Censorship/Free Speech

• A court in Russia has cut the 16 1/2-prison term of the ex-mayor of the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok, Oleg Gumenyuk, to 12 years. The

• Siberian journalist Maria Ponomarenko, who was sentenced to six years in prison in February on a charge of discrediting Russia’s military, says she will be transferred to a remote location from her native Altai region, which is a violation of her two children’s right to regularly visit their mother.

• Blocking pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s overseas counsel from representing him in his national security trial is “persecution not prosecution,” his lawyer has said in an application to halt the trial on Tuesday.

• Brexit donor Arron Banks is entitled to damages over Carole Cadwalladr’s Ted Talk, appeal judges have ruled.

• Unidentified gunman came to shop where activist was and fired two shots at him

• The idea that Hong Kong’s leaders will join in celebrations marking World Press Freedom Day on Wednesday is akin to Jackie Chan finally admitting that his acting is embarrassing. Yet Hong Kong’s Basic Law clearly states that ‘residents shall have freedom of speech, of the press and of publication’. So where’s the problem?

• In 2019, police in Castle Hills, Texas arrested Sylvia Gonzalez, a 72-year-old first-time city council member, because they didn’t like that she was advocating for the removal of the city manager, a police ally. Since police can’t constitutionally arrest someone simply because they find what they’re saying offensive, Castle Hills officers used a section of the Texas Penal Code related to the handling of government documents to arrest Gonzalez. Her purported crime was accidentally placing a citizen petition she had introduced at her first city council meeting into her personal binder.

• The Radio and Television Supreme Council and the Courts have been mobilized, the former imposing monetary fines, and the latter online censorship while Turkey is heading toward May 14 presidential and parliamentary elections.

• A Turkish court has given pop singer Gulsen a 10-month suspended sentence after convicting her of “inciting hatred and enmity” over a joke about Turkey’s religious schools. The singer-song writer was briefly jailed last year and later spent 15 days under house arrest for the joke she made during a concert. The court on Wednesday initially sentenced her to one year in prison but later reduced it, citing her “respectful stance” during the trial. Gulsen had denied accusations that her comments amounted to incitement to hatred. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and many members of his Islam-based ruling party are graduates of religious schools called Imam Hatip, which were originally established to train imams.

• A Turkish court has given pop singer Gulsen a 10-month suspended sentence after convicting her of “inciting hatred and enmity” over a joke about Turkey’s religious schools

Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

• RSF’s secretary-general said this year’s index was characterised by “major falls and unprecedented changes”.

• The feminist site Jezebel presaged major changes in the way America talks about race and gender and pioneered the fusion of audience, writers, politics and identity.

• As Chief Executive John Lee assures Hongkongers that press freedom is “in our pocket,” HKFP rounds up media industry incidents since the onset of the national security law.

• The international non-profit organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) recently published the 2022 World Press Freedom Index, which ranks 180 countries based on the level of freedom enjoyed by journalists. Although Finland retained its fifth-place ranking overall, its score on the safety of journalists indicator plummeted 13 places to 23rd.

• A court case involving two HS journalists impacted the result.

• When it comes to that high-octane, stressful, ever-crumbling field known broadly as digital media, pretty much every week can qualify as a bleak one. The news itself is constantly, famously bad; its pace is relentless and overwhelming. Readers are exhausted; web traffic—that all-important metric for bringing in ad dollars—is erratic. Job prospects are scarce, and solid freelance gigs (never mind sustainable ones) are hard to find.

• Even so, last month may go down as one of the most crushing and ominous periods for digital journalism in living memory. Many seemed to agree that the events in April marked the “end of an era”—though far fewer can agree on what the next era might look like. Onetime standard-bearers of industrywide innovation have met tragic fates, and the future of the survivors in the field has hardly ever seemed more uncertain.

Civil Rights/Policing

• Authorities believe the victims were lured to Finland from Estonia, Latvia and Ukraine with promises of steady work in the construction sector, but were subjected to conditions of forced labour and threatened with violence.

• As part of its strategy to pivot away from its disastrous deal with Kanye West, Adidas says its refocusing on sports.  “We want to double down on all of the things that are U.S.-centric, particularly around sport,” Rupert Campbell, Adidas’ North American President, told the Wall Street Journal about the sportswear company’s strategy shift.

• Many of the young protesters have not given up their calls for change.

• Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our lives. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use, understand, adapt, and share software. These rights help support other fundamental rights like freedom of speech, freedom of press, and privacy.

Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

• The rollout will continue under state agency Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB).

• Guest Post: How can we make make widespread SAV deployment attractive?

Monopolies

Patents

• On May 1, 2023, less than one month after Unified filed an ex parte reexamination, the Central Reexamination Unit granted Unified’s request, finding substantial new questions of patentability on the challenged claims of U.S. Patent 9,438,614, owned by CTD Networks, LLC.

• Serving users with a supplementary edition of the OJ

• International firm Bird & Bird is the latest to undergo a restructuring of its patent and IP team in the Netherlands. As of 1 May, stalwart Armand Killan has left the firm, while Carlos van Staveren joins as counsel from De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek.

• On April 27, 2023, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 6,744,818, owned by DigiMedia Tech, LLC, an NPE and an IP Investments Group entity.

Software Patents

• On April 28, 2023, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 7,685,436, owned by Lionra Technologies Ltd, an Atlantic IP entity.

Trademarks

• The USPTO refused to register the mark RAO’S for “Wine produced from grapes grown in a single designated vineyard in the Atlas Peak American Viticultural Area, labeled and advertised in compliance with U.S. laws for the Atlas Peak American Viticultural Area appellation of origin; all of the foregoing sold at the vineyard, wine specialty stores, and direct to consumers; none of the foregoing sold in restaurants,” finding confusion likely with the identical mark registered for “bar services; restaurant services.” The marks are identical, but are the goods and services related? And what about consumer sophistication? In re 1729 Investments LLC, Serial No. 90694523 (April 24, 2023) [not precedential] (Opinion by Cheryl S. Goodman).

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