”The Kremlin’s messaging has an extraordinary reach: In the first year of the Ukraine war alone, posts by Kremlin-linked accounts were viewed at least 16 billion times by Westerners. Every one of those views is part of a full-spectrum attack against the West designed not just to undermine support for Ukraine, but to actively damage Western democratic systems.”

Foreign Policy

The West Is Still Oblivious to Russia’s Information War

Paralyzed by free speech concerns, Western governments are loath to act.

”RBI made €1.3bn in profit in Russia last year, where it employed 9,942 people in 490 retail branches. It also took part in a Russian scheme on loan perks for Russian military conscripts… RBI is one of eight leading EU banks still in Russia. The others are: Dutch lender ING, Germany's Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank, Hungary's OTP Bank, Italy's Intesa SanPaolo and Unicerdit, and Sweden's SEB.”

EUobserver

World Bank calls for eastern Europe bail-out

The World Bank called for intervention in central and eastern Europe on Wednesday as the region struggles to deal with the financial crisis and eco...

”F-35As being able to deliver nuclear strikes will add major credibility to NATO's nuclear deterrence posture in Europe. The aircraft's unique ability to pierce enemy air defense networks and defend itself on the way to its target will be a standing capability Russia has never had to deal with. …The situation has even prompted officials in Poland to say they want to join NATO’s nuclear weapons-sharing program. ”

The War Zone

F-35A Is Officially Certified For Nuclear Strike

Confirmation that the F-35A is cleared to carry B61-12 nuclear bombs has come — a revelation that will complicate Russia's defensive planning.

”Russian state-sponsored hackers had been spying on the email accounts of some members of its senior leadership team. Now, Microsoft is disclosing that the attack, from the same group behind the SolarWinds attack, has also led to some source code being stolen in what Microsoft describes as an ongoing attack.”

The Verge

Microsoft says Russian hackers stole source code after spying on its executives

Hackers originally gained access last year.

If you market it yourself why not self-publish, and keep it all? ”Authors Equity will pay between 60% and 70% of each book’s profit to its authors” https://www.wsj.com/business/media/book-startup-pitches-authors-a-novel-deal-0-up-front-bigger-profits-37ccadf0

”The banned phrases…include those related to “human rights,” “climate change China” and “Nobel Peace Prize”… Terms such as “Communist Party corruption,” references to “Tiananmen Square massacre,” “tank man,” the “Dalai Lama,” the late Chinese human-rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo and “democracy” are also on the blacklist… Bing purges Western news websites and Wikipedia. Searches related to alleged abuses of the ethnic minority Uyghur population in China’s Xinjiang region yield results devoid of the specifics of human-rights violations and concentration camps; instead the results are made up of state media news reports that deny abuses and accuse Western governments of waging a “disinformation war against China.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-03-07/microsoft-s-bing-helps-maintain-china-s-great-firewall

Is anybody still using #hashtags?

”Germany is offering communications apps to soldiers and other federal employees on Chinese phone maker Huawei's app store — even though the telecoms giant has been deemed a security risk by the U.S. and European Union… They are repeating the same mistakes over and over again and they are threatening allies by giving access to the Chinese" https://www.newsweek.com/nato-russia-ukraine-china-germany-tapping-espionage-huawei-1876138

”…existing app marketplaces you have downloaded to your device will stop working if you leave the EU for too long… and any apps you previously installed from an alternative app marketplace will no longer be able to update themselves.”

9to5Mac

iOS 17.4 alternative iPhone app stores will stop working if you travel outside the EU - 9to5Mac

iOS 17.4 in the European Union brings Apple’s first operating system release that complies with the regulatory framework of the...

”Russia has identified Germany as the weakest link in the alliance and Scholz as a useful idiot to take Germany out of the equation.” https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/03/04/german-leaks-british-troops-at-risk-tip-of-iceberg/

The best way to keep users out. Disable the next step button.

”The mere act of observing the bead at one moment in time changes where it will be at a later moment when the laser shines the second time. If the rules of quantum mechanics hold, the bead may sometimes be found at B, but sometimes it won’t be.”

Scientific American

Schrödinger’s Pendulum Experiment Will Search for the Quantum Limit

Physicists seek the dividing line between the quantum world and the classical one

”Telling customers to invest 1% of their wealth in generic assets stored in Oracle databases isn't just a category mistake; it's downright reckless. All sorts of wild financial stuff appears on Oracle databases, including sports bets and zero day options.”

It's time to get rid of "crypto"

Call me a pedant, but I'm not a fan of the word "crypto". It may have been a serviceable category back in 2011 when there was only one type ...

”When I was a foreign correspondent in West Berlin during the dying days of the Cold War in 1988, a British spy gave me a vivid insight into the state of Germany’s intelligence services. ‘If you want the Kremlin to take something seriously, give it to the Germans and tell them it’s a secret,’ he said. ‘It’ll be on every desk in the Politburo the next morning.’

EDWARD LUCAS: 'Arrogant, bureaucratic, useless': Why German spies are a bunch of total incompetents | Daily Mail Online

On Friday, the Russians revealed they had eavesdropped on a discussion between the head of the Luftwaffe and top air force colleagues about donatin...

”The German officers believe it would take 10 to 20 Taurus missiles to bypass Russian air defences and destroy the bridge in an aircraft operation. “There’s no real reason to say we can’t do it …We know Germany is pretty penetrated by Russian intelligence so it just demonstrates they are neither secure nor reliable,” Ben Wallace, the former defence secretary, said.”

Fears German military leaks on Ukraine are just ‘tip of the iceberg’

Olaf Scholz insists he will not send troops to help Ukraine with missiles after Luftwaffe chief’s leaked conference call on secret UK operations ...

Threads is the new Facebook. It’s Nostr or Blueskye if you’re looking for decentralised social media.

”Drivers of vehicles with Russian license plates must apply for Lithuanian registration, or leave the country "and the entire territory of the European Union" by March 11. Beyond the deadline, drivers of vehicles with Russian registration are subject to a fine and confiscation of the car.” https://kyivindependent.com/lithuania-announces-deadline-for-russian-registered-cars-to-leave-country/

”Western countries only need to allocate 0.25 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) to Ukraine to allow it to win the war… The reality is that things get worse before they get better. Then they get even worse. And then they suddenly go completely crazy. And only then do they slowly get better. Today we are somewhere between bad and getting worse”

ERR

Salm: Europe must play a 'bigger, stronger' role in supporting Ukraine

Europe needs to take a "bigger, stronger and more aggressive role" in its support for Ukraine, Ministry of Defense Permanent Secretary Kusti Salm s...

“The East Air Command confirms the downing of a Su-34 fighter-bomber. Unfortunately, it was only one,” the Air Force wrote on Telegram. Ukraine now has "tools" to destroy planes "at quite long distances," explaining the recent uptick. Russia's total losses during the all-out war amount to about 670 aircraft — 345 planes and 325 helicopters” https://kyivindependent.com/air-force-ukraine-downs-another-russian-su-34-jet/