News

Killnet Carries Out Series of DDoS Attacks on Lithuania
Technology, Lithuania, News, Russia

Killnet Carries Out Series of DDoS Attacks on Lithuania

The pro-Russian group Killnet is claiming a series of cyber attacks that disrupted internet traffic in Lithuania on Monday.   The distributed denial of service attacks is said to be in retaliation for Lithuania's decision to block EU-sanctioned goods sent from the Russian border to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. DDoS The Lithuanian government says malicious internet traffic has disrupted some key components of its national security network. The local security services are said to have identified the main victims during the attacks and helped them counteract DDoS attacks in real-time. “There is a good chance that these and more intense attacks will continue to come in the coming days, especially against our communications services, energy suppliers and financial sector,” said...
Mars Probe on Windows 98 Gets Major Update After 19 Years
Technology, News

Mars Probe on Windows 98 Gets Major Update After 19 Years

As support for Windows 8.1 ends on Earth, a device further out in the solar system will receive a major update to its current system based on Windows 98 for the first time in 19 years.   The Mars Express, a probe that departed for the red planet on June 2, 2003, and is still circulating there, is getting its first major update. Currently, the probe runs on MARSIS software, an operating system based on Windows 98. It is now being modernized with an upgrade. Many details about the hardware the system runs on, and whether much of the original Windows 98 remains, are unknown. The ESA does say that the update gives the Mars Express more options. This makes it possible to use radio waves to look much deeper under the surface of Mars, or the surface of its moon, Phobos. For example, the ...
Spain Also Wants to Talk About Southern Flank at Nato Summit
Spain, Europe, News

Spain Also Wants to Talk About Southern Flank at Nato Summit

During the NATO summit in Madrid next week, host country Spain wants to discuss the threats to the southern flank of the military alliance in addition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.   Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said on Wednesday. Spain faces neighbours in North Africa who are at odds with each other. Defense Secretary Margarita Robles stressed that the war in Ukraine is also impacting countries south of NATO, such as famine-stricken Somalia. In addition, Russia is increasingly present in certain Sahel countries. NATO wants to come out in Madrid with a united message regarding the Russian aggression. The question is whether Turkey will abandon its opposition to Finland and Sweden joining the alliance.
German Competition Watchdog Starts Investigation into Google Maps
Technology, Europe, Germany, News

German Competition Watchdog Starts Investigation into Google Maps

Limits in the terms of use of the service could be a form of monopoly abuse. The German antitrust watchdog has launched an investigation into Google Maps for possible anti-competitive practices.   The organization wants to know whether the limits Maps places on combining its services with those of third parties could have given Maps a competitive advantage. Specifically, the watchdog wants to find out whether the terms of use for the charting platform may be illegal. These are conditions that make it difficult for app developers to combine the Google Maps API with that of alternative map makers. The cartel watchdog would also start an investigation of Google's Automotive Services. "We're going to see if Google extends its dominance in certain mapping services through this practice...
Heroine for US Conservatives: Lynn Fitch, the Woman Who Could Control Abortion in the US
US, News

Heroine for US Conservatives: Lynn Fitch, the Woman Who Could Control Abortion in the US

A heroine for American conservatives? That status is within reach for Lynn Fitch, the state attorney general of Mississippi. Under her impulse, the US Supreme Court is currently reviewing a 1970s ruling that upheld the right to abortion in the US at the time.   If the judges follow Fitch - and that is expected - the right to abortion in several states will be called into question. It could happen any moment now: the US Supreme Court decision on "Roe v Wade," the landmark ruling in 1973 that enshrined the right to abortion for women in the United States. Will the 50-year-old judgment survive? The Supreme Court, which is governed by a majority of conservative judges, is expected to reverse the ruling. That would be a major - political - victory for Mississippi State Attorney General...
EasyJet Reduces Capacity for This Summer Due to Staff Shortage
Business, News, UK

EasyJet Reduces Capacity for This Summer Due to Staff Shortage

British low-cost airline easyJet is slashing its flight capacity this summer due to an acute shortage of staff. With the intervention, the company wants to avoid chaos, as has already been the case at various airports in recent weeks.   At the same time, the group emphasizes that bookings remain “strong”, with those for the fourth quarter at a similar level to the same quarter of the pre-corona year 2019. The staff shortage at EasyJet has already caused many flights to be cancelled in recent months. Other airlines are also moaning about the shortage. For example, there have been discussions between Brussels Airlines and the trade unions for some time and it has been decided to strike the Belgian pilots of Ryanair on 24, 25 and 26 June. Today there is also a strike at Brussels Airp...
Two Dead in US Church Shooting
US, News

Two Dead in US Church Shooting

Two people were killed and another injured in a shooting at a church near Birmingham, Alabama, on Thursday, a police spokesman said.   At St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Vestavia Hills, someone opened fire on those in attendance. The shooter has been arrested. Police said nothing about his identity and a possible motive. The injured person was taken to a hospital. His condition is unknown, according to CBS News.
Labor Costs in Europe are Rising Fast
Business, Europe, News

Labor Costs in Europe are Rising Fast

Labor costs in Europe are rising rapidly. In addition to a higher wage, employers also spend more money on social security contributions and taxes, reports the European statistical office Eurostat.   According to the latest data, wage costs in the eurozone rose by 3.2 percent year on year in the first quarter of this year. Across the EU, costs for employers even rose by 3.7 percent. The Eurostat figures consist of two components. On the one hand, it is about salary. Wages rose on average in the eurozone by 2.7 percent. In addition, it concerns social contributions and taxes, whereby subsidies that are intended to reduce wage costs for employers are also included in that figure. This also concerns, for example, the corona support that employers have received. This part of the costs...
Swiss Airspace Closed for Several Hours Due to Computer Failure
Technology, Europe, News, Switzerland

Swiss Airspace Closed for Several Hours Due to Computer Failure

Switzerland's airspace was closed for about three hours on Wednesday morning for security reasons, due to an IT breakdown at Skyguide.   At Geneva airport, all departing and inbound flights were suspended until 11 a.m. Two flights to Geneva were scheduled from Brussels Airport on Wednesday morning, one of which was cancelled and another was delayed. Many flights to Geneva or Zurich were diverted to airports in neighbouring countries, including Lyon, Milan and Vienna. The spokesman for air traffic controller Skyguide, Vladi Barrosa, informed the German news agency DPA that the company does not assume a cyber attack, but that a hardware problem was the cause of the breakdown.
Parody of Justice – Trump Rages Against Committee of Inquiry
US, News

Parody of Justice – Trump Rages Against Committee of Inquiry

Witnesses in the US investigative committee into the storming of the Capitol in 2020 have heavily incriminated ex-President Trump. Several of Trump's advisers at the time made it clear that they did not agree with his unsubstantiated victory announcement on the night of the presidential election.   "The Democrats are doing everything in their power to stop me -- but we can't be stopped," Donald Trump said of the Capitol Storm Committee of Inquiry. He released a 12-page statement calling the hearings a "parody of justice." Former US President Donald Trump has sharply rejected allegations by the investigative committee to storm the US Capitol. In a written statement on Monday evening (local time), the Republican accused the committee of making a mockery of the American judiciary and ...