#n

  • #blender 4.5 LTS Released with ‘Full #vulkan Support’
    https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/07/blender-4-5-lts-vulkan-support

    The new Blender 4.5 LTS release features major improvements, including full Vulkan support, faster startup, new Geometry Nodes, HDR and more. You’re reading Blender 4.5 LTS Released with ‘Full Vulkan Support’, a blog post from OMG! Ubuntu. Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.

    #News #App_Updates

  • Guerre à Gaza : pourquoi l’UE hésite à jouer ses cartes pour sanctionner Israël
    https://www.nouvelobs.com/monde/20250715.OBS105908/guerre-a-gaza-pourquoi-l-ue-hesite-a-jouer-ses-cartes-pour-sanctionner-is

    Mais, selon plusieurs diplomates européens, il est peu probable que les ministres prennent une décision, et même qu’ils discutent le détail de ces mesures. Et cela d’autant plus depuis l’annonce la semaine dernière par Kaja Kallas d’un accord avec Israël censé permettre la livraison de davantage d’aide humanitaire à Gaza.

    On te dit qu’il n’y aura pas de sanctions, parce qu’il y a la promesse d’une hausse substantielle de l’acheminement de l’aide dans les territoires. Mais on ne te dit pas ce qu’il en est de l’extermination systématique de toutes les têtes qui dépassent de leurs abris.

    Si tu faisais du mauvais esprit, tu conclurais que tant que tu les nourris correctement, tu peux continuer à massacrer les palestiniens.

  • DPE : le coefficient énergie primaire de l’électricité revu à la baisse dès 2026 - Diagactu
    https://www.diagnostiqueur-immobilier.fr/technique/dpe-le-coefficient-energie-primaire-de-lelectricite-revu-a

    Une annonce majeure vient de tomber pour le secteur du diagnostic immobilier et de la rénovation énergétique. Le Premier ministre, François Bayrou, a officialisé ce 9 juillet 2025 la révision à la baisse du coefficient de conversion de l’électricité (CEP) dans le calcul du DPE. Une évolution qui entrera en vigueur dès le 1er janvier 2026, avec des impacts significatifs.

    Un coefficient abaissé à 1,9
    Le coefficient d’énergie primaire de l’électricité, actuellement fixé à 2,3, sera abaissé à 1,9 dès le 1er janvier 2026. C’est ce que viennent d’annoncer les services du Premier ministre, François Bayrou, dans un communiqué de presse diffusé le 9 juillet 2025. « Cette évolution permettra de mieux refléter la réalité du mix énergétique français, largement décarboné grâce au nucléaire, et de corriger une inégalité de traitement pénalisant jusqu’ici les logements chauffés à l’électricité, y compris lorsqu’ils ont fait l’objet de travaux de rénovation ». Une consultation publique sera lancée dans les prochains jours avant la publication d’un arrêté début septembre.

    850 000 logements vont sortir du statut de passoire thermique
    Pour Matignon, l’objectif de cette révision est de mieux cibler les aides à la rénovation sur les logements dont le chauffage dépend encore des énergies fossiles. Selon les estimations, 850 000 logements, principalement ceux chauffés à l’électricité, vont ainsi sortir de la catégorie de passoire énergétique. Selon Matignon, ces habitations étaient « excessivement pénalisées par la méthodologie antérieure ». Une aubaine pour les bailleurs sous la menace de l’indécence énergétique de leurs logements.
    « En réformant ce paramètre clé, le Gouvernement envoie un signal fort en faveur d’un DPE plus juste et plus cohérent avec nos objectifs énergétiques et de logements plus accessibles et durables pour tous », a déclaré François Bayrou.

    Encore de l’instabilité pour le DPE
    Cette évolution du DPE, qui doit permettre de lever les freins à l’électrification des usages, va soulever d’autres problèmes. Cette nouvelle modification des règles de calcul du DPE risque toutefois de brouiller encore plus l’image de ce diagnostic, son acceptation et sa compréhension par le grand public, et d’obliger les diagnostiqueurs à faire encore preuve d’une grande pédagogie auprès de leurs clients.
    On peut également s’interroger sur la validité des DPE qui seront réalisés avant la révision de ce coefficient, sur l’obligation d’effectuer des audits énergétiques sur des biens potentiellement plus concernés dans quelques mois, etc.

  • [Le dibbouk] 15 juillet 2025
    https://ledibbouk.net/15-juillet-2025.html

    Mais pour passer, il faut plier. Il faut d’abord être humilié. Constater que le monde n’est pas à notre mesure. Et c’est sans doute à cela que servaient ces lectures : tester les limites de ce que l’on croyait possible, éprouver le vertige d’autres récits, avant d’accepter que rien ne tient — ou plutôt que tout ne tient que par les récits que nous choisissons d’habiter.

    #carnets #notebook

  • Plasma Bigscreen, #KDE’s TV Interface, is Back on the Air
    https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/07/plasma-bigscreen-revival-kde-tv

    KDE’s Plasma Bigscreen TV UI gets rebooted with slicker visuals, search functionality, and more – thanks to one developer tuning in to its potential. You’re reading Plasma Bigscreen, KDE’s TV Interface, is Back on the Air, a blog post from OMG! Ubuntu. Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.

    #News #big_picture_mode

  • Is Chrome OS Merging with Android? Apparently So
    https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/07/is-chrome-os-merging-with-android

    Consider this post a little apropos of nothing given that nothing has actually been formally announced yet, but it seems the long-rumoured merge of Google’s Chrome OS and Android operating systems is indeed happening. That’s according to Sameer Samat, who works at Google as president of the Android Ecosystem division that oversees Android. He referenced the merger in an interview with Tech Radar, stating without any bombast that “…we’re going to be combining ChromeOS and Android into a single platform, and I am very interested in how people are using their laptops these days and what they’re getting done.” About […] You’re reading Is Chrome OS Merging with Android? Apparently So, a blog post from OMG! Ubuntu. Do not reproduce elsewhere without (...)

    #News

  • On sait déjà que lorsque l’on aura complètement sombré dans le fascisme, la justice et la séparation des pouvoirs ne seront d’aucune utilité. Au contraire.

    Tour de France : deux Nantais condamnés pour avoir brandi une pancarte anti-Retailleau à Naval
    https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/justice/article/tour-de-france-deux-nantais-condamnes-pour-avoir-brandi-une-pancarte-

    Ils étaient alcoolisés, ils ont pensé au ministre de l’Intérieur et à une friteuse. Deux Nantais ont été condamnés par la Justice pour avoir brandi une pancarte « Retailleau au Air Fryer » lors du passage du Tour de France à Naval en Mayenne pour la 8e étape du Tour de France samedi 12 juillet.

    Selon une information de Ouest-France confirmée par Ici Mayenne, le parquet de Laval a annoncé que les deux hommes ont fait l’objet d’une ordonnance pénale délictuelle pour outrage aggravé et vont devoir payer une amende.

    Placés en garde à vue, les deux hommes ont reconnu les faits. « Ils ont expliqué qu’alcoolisés, ils ont voulu plaisanter, admettant que c’était inadapté », a dit la Procureure, Anne-Lyse Jarthon, citée par Ici Mayenne. Il se trouve qu’à cette étape-là, Bruno Retailleau était présent.

  • Après un an de tractations avec Suez, la « demi-victoire » de sans-papiers exploités par un sous-traitant
    https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2025/07/10/exploites-par-un-sous-traitant-la-demi-victoire-de-sans-papiers-apres-un-an-


    Un nouveau groupe de travailleurs sans papiers des centres de tri des déchets d’Ile-de-France devant les prud’hommes

    Ils ont connu les horaires à rallonge, les tapis de tri aux cadences accélérées, les missions de nuit sur un site qui s’enchaînent avec des missions du matin sur un autre, les accidents du travail non déclarés, l’absence de congé maternité. Et cela pour une paye réduite, 60 euros la journée, 80 euros la nuit, dans un climat de racket et de harcèlement. « Il fallait aller toujours plus vite, et sans formation ni équipement de protection. Un jour, je suis rentré dans un four pour le nettoyer, le feu n’était même pas éteint à 100 % ! », se souvient encore Hicham, mercredi.

    Ce sont ces travailleurs eux-mêmes qui ont fini par dénoncer l’entreprise sous-traitante, NTI, à l’inspection du travail. Laquelle a orchestré des contrôles dans quatre centres de tri franciliens, fin 2022. Les dirigeants de NTI ont liquidé leur société quelques semaines plus tard. Mais certains de ses salariés sans papiers ont pu continuer à travailler plusieurs mois dans les mêmes centres de tri, en #intérim cette fois, prouvent les contrats qu’ils ont montrés au Monde.

    En août 2023, 11 travailleurs ont décidé les premiers de mettre ces dérives en lumière, en occupant le centre de tri XVEO de #Veolia, à Paris. Le Monde avait alors révélé les pratiques délétères de cette entreprise sous-traitante.
    « Compte tenu des éléments du dossier NTI portés à [sa] connaissance », Veolia a rapidement proposé une solution à l’ensemble du groupe de sans-papiers lanceurs d’alerte. Elle a rempli les précieux Cerfa, ces documents administratifs de demande d’autorisation de travail qui leur ont permis de déposer des #demandes_de_régularisation en préfecture.

    C’est ce qui a motivé un second groupe de 13 #travailleurs_sans_papiers exploités à sortir de l’ombre. (...) Le 12 juin 2024, ils ont déposé un dossier devant les #prud’hommes pour obtenir réparation des heures sous-payées. En parallèle, la CGT a entamé pour eux une discussion avec Suez, dans l’espoir que l’entreprise imite Veolia, et les embauche, ouvrant la voie à une possible régularisation.

    Mais les discussions n’ont cessé de s’enliser, les travailleurs refusant que le retrait du contentieux aux prud’hommes devienne la condition d’un accord. Or, la nouvelle pression exercée sur les sans-papiers ces dernières semaines, par des opérations de contrôle d’identité policières hors norme, a rendu plus stressante encore leur situation. « Je me sens toujours en danger, dès qu’on me regarde dans le bus je me dis “ils savent, ils vont me dénoncer”, témoigne Bouzid, 33 ans, la voix tendue, les yeux las. On travaille ici ou là dans des conditions pires qu’avant, tu te fais 5 heures-14 heures à porter des trucs lourds sur les marchés, et ça pour 20 ou 30 euros ! Mais quel choix j’ai ? » Il secoue la tête : « Ça fait vraiment mal… On n’en peut plus de vivre ça. C’est ce qui nous a donné le courage de manifester. »

    Le 1er juillet, les 13 sans-papiers se sont alignés devant l’entrée de #Suez par 39 °C. Le lendemain, ils sont entrés à l’intérieur quelques minutes. Le troisième jour, ils se sont scotchés la bouche. Et ainsi de suite, jusqu’à s’allonger sur l’esplanade.

    Lundi 8 juillet, Suez a formulé une offre : six embauches, pas plus. « Suez a arrêté ses activités avec NTI dès qu’elle a eu connaissance de ces pratiques illégales et contraires à l’éthique du Groupe », soutient l’entreprise dans une réponse écrite au Monde, affirmant n’avoir eu recours à ce sous-traitant que « de manière ponctuelle et limitée ». C’est parce qu’elle a été « sensible aux difficultés de ces personnes » que Suez a proposé à certains ces promesses d’embauche, lesquelles « pourront appuyer [leurs] demandes de régularisation. » Sans expliquer pourquoi elle ne proposait que six embauches.

    https://archive.ph/wAcRp

    #nettoyage #sous-traitance

  • Le Dibbouk | Carnets autofictifs, lectures, fictions et photographie
    https://ledibbouk.net/theatre.html
    https://ledibbouk.net/IMG/logo/theatre.webp?1752475936

    — These days it’s not so rare to see castles become shacks, oceans puddles, and the nectar of yesteryear ? Swill.
    (pause)
    Let’s not even talk about the rest. No, especially not the rest. (carp leap, forward flip, backward pirouette)

    #notebook #carnets

  • #Rio is a Fast, WebGPU-Powered Terminal for Ubuntu
    https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/07/rio-terminal-emulator-ubuntu

    Seeking a fast, modern terminal for Ubuntu? Rio is a cross-platform, hardware-accelerated terminal emulator built in #rust with novel features. You’re reading Rio is a Fast, WebGPU-Powered Terminal for Ubuntu, a blog post from OMG! Ubuntu. Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.

    #News #terminal_apps

  • Colonialisme néerlandais - la noix de muscade
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutmeg

    In order to obtain a monopoly on the production and trade of nutmeg, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) waged a bloody battle with the Bandanese in 1621. Historian Willard Hanna estimated that before this struggle the islands were populated by approximately 15,000 people, and only 1,000 were left (the Bandanese were killed, starved while fleeing, exiled, or sold as slaves). The Company constructed a comprehensive nutmeg plantation system on the islands during the 17th century.

    As a result of the Dutch interregnum during the Napoleonic Wars, the British invaded and temporarily took control of the Banda Islands from the Dutch and transplanted nutmeg trees, complete with soil, to Sri Lanka, Penang, Bencoolen, and Singapore From these locations they were transplanted to their other colonial holdings elsewhere, notably Zanzibar and Grenada. The national flag of Grenada, adopted in 1974, shows a stylised split-open nutmeg fruit. The Dutch retained control of the Spice Islands until World War II.

    Îles Banda / Moluques centrales
    https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%8Eles_Banda

    The Tiny Country that Never got Credit for the Hellhole We Live in Today
    https://seenthis.net/messages/1125840

    Genocide in the Spice Islands, The Dutch East India Company and the Destruction of the Banda Archipelago Civilisation in 1621
    https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-world-history-of-genocide/genocide-in-the-spice-islands/FB91452701BB794181164C59D08C659C#

    Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_occupation_of_the_Dutch_East_Indies

    The Japanese occupation of the Banda Sea Islands, 1942
    https://warfarewest.x10host.com/dutcheastindies/banda_sea.html

    The Banda Sea Operations 1941-1942
    Banda Sea Operation
    T-Operation, July 29th, 1942

    Main Force - 24th Special Base Force led by Rear-Admiral Kouichiro Hatakeyama
    • 16th Cruiser Division with light cruiser Izusu
    • 24th Base Force, fleet torpedo boats Tomozuru and Syonan (Singapore) Maru #1
    • 2nd Southern Expeditionary Fleet, seaplane tender Sanyo Maru
    1st Attack Force was destined to Aru Islands. The force sailed from Babo, Dutch New Guinea.
    • 52nd Submarine-chaser Division with submarine-chaser Fukuei Maru #15, carrying one platoon of the 24th Special Base Force
    2nd Attack Force was destined to Kai Islands. The force sailed from Misool Island.
    • Minesweeper Division with minesweeper W8 (21st Special Base Force), carrying one company of the 3rd Yokosuka SNLF and minesweeper W16 (22nd Special Base Force), carrying one platoon of the 24th Special Base Force
    3rd Attack Force was destined to Babar Island and Tanimbar Islands. The force sailed from Ambon Island.
    • 5th Destroyer Division with destroyers Asakaze, Harukaze, Matsukaze of the 1st Southern Expeditionary Fleet
    • Submarine-chaser Division with submarine-chaser Ch5 (22nd Special Base Force), carrying one platoon of 3rd Yokosuka SNLF and submarine-chaser Ch21 (23rd Special Base Force), carrying one company of 24th Special Base Force
    • Transport Unit of the 2nd Southern Expeditionary Fleet consisted of 2nd Gunboat Division with gunboats Manyo Maru (2,904 tons) and Hokuyo Maru (4,216 tons)

    Depart

    Location

    Arrival

    Location

    Arrival

    Location
    departed at 1500,
    July 24th, 1942

    Ambon Island

    arrived at 1625,
    July 25th, 1942

    Misool Island

    arrived at 1030,
    July 26th, 1942

    Babo, Dutch New Guinea
    departed at 1200,
    July 28th, 1942

    Babo, Dutch New Guinea

    arrived at 1620,
    July 30th, 1942
    1st Attack Force



    arrived at 0400/0500

    Aru Islands
    departed at 0800,
    July 28th, 1942

    Misool Island

    arrived at 0430,
    July 31st, 1942
    2nd Attack Force



    arrived at 0400/0500

    Kai Islands
    departed at 1500,
    July 29th, 1942

    Ambon Island

    arrived at 0911,
    July 31st, 1942
    3rd Attack Force



    arrived at 0400/0500

    Tanimbar Islands








    arrived at 0310

    Babar Island

    You will note that in order to carry out this operation, the Japanese had to draw from various Base Forces. Also, their troops were widely dispersed. The Yokosuka 3d was at Ambon, while most of the 24th Base Force troops were either at Babo or Misool Island (north of Ceram Island). The surface units rendezvous at Ambon Island, sailed on the 24th of July 1942 for Misool Island (arrived there at 1625 on 25 July 1942) and at Babo (arrived there at 1030 on 26 July 1942). The X-day for the Japanese was July 30th at 4 locations:
    • 1st Attack Force departed Babo at 1200 on 28 July 1942 and arrived at the Aru Islands at 0400 on the 30th.
    • 2nd Attack Force departed Misool at 0800 on 28 July 1942 and arrived at the Kai Islands at 0400 on the 30th.
    • 3rd Attack Force departed Ambon Island at 1500 on 29 July 1942, split in two sections. Submarine-chaser Ch21 took the platoon of 3rd Yokosuka SNLF to Babar Island, arriving there at 0310 on 30 July 1942, while the main force of the 3rd Attack Force continued to Tanimbar, arriving at 0400 also on the 30th.

    Air operations were carried out by the group’s seaplane tender, Sanyo Maru. The 2nd Attack Force arrived at Ambon Island at 0430 on 31 July 1942, while the 3rd Attack Force didn’t get to Ambon Island until 0911. The 1stAttack Force arrived back at Babo, Dutch New Guinea at 1620 on 30 July 1942.

    In June 1942 a small civil unrest erupted at Dodo in the Aru Islands. This came about for several reasons. The war had upset the normal ship traffic in the region and this led to unemployment and food shortages. These islands had no KNIL military garrisons and therefore the Dutch decided in July 1942 to send several KNIL detachments to Toeal, Dodo and Saumlaki under the name of “Operation Plover”. The sending of these detachments led to the Japanese response in the form of the attacks starting on 30 July 1942.

    The Japanese occupation of Kai Islands, 1942

    The Toeal Detachment consisted of KNIL Lieutenant F. Hieronymus and 27 NCO’s and men. They arrived at Toeal, Kai Islands on 12 July 1942. The importance of Toeal lay in the fact that it was the administative centre for the region. The Japanese troops, one company of 3rd Yokosuka SNLF and one platoon of 24th Special Base Force, landed on the islands on 30 July 1942 and the KNIL Detachment defended itself for a while but it was soon driven into the jungle and managed to fight on there for a few days. Only Corporal Jered Malawau and a few men managed to escape by a sailing boat to Australia, while the rest fell into Japanese captivity. KNIL Lieutenant F. Hieronymus was also captured by the Japanese and taken to Ambon Island. He didn’t survive the war as he died later in the Japanese POW camp.

    The Japanese occupation of Aru Islands, 1942

    The KNIL sent 41 men to the small town of Dodo on the Aru Islands. The Japanese forces, one platoon of 24th Special Base Force, landed on the islands on 30 July 1942 and occupied them without any resistance.

    The Japanese occupation of Tanimbar Islands, 1942

    A KNIL Detachment was sent to Tanimbar Islands in July 1942 and it was stationed in the town of Saumlaki. The detachment consisted of KNIL Sargeant Julius Tahija and 12 men (13 men total) with 2 light machine-guns. The Japanese ships entered the bay at Saumlaki on July 30th at 0400 local time and consisted of 2 destroyers and probably a small transport ship. The Japanese used small boats to get to the jetty, so the boats they used were not landing craft. The Japanese filed in ranks on the jetty and wanted to march in close order into Saumlaki. At close range, Sargeant J. Tahija and his men opened fire with their two light MGs. The Japanese retreated to their boats leaving several dead on the jetty.
    On 31 July 1942 an Australian contingent (Plover Force - 1 officer and 29 men) tried to land in Saumlaki in order to reinforce the Dutch party, but the attempt failed. The Australian party left Darwin in the little vessels Southern Cross and Chinampa on 28th July 1942. Pulling in to the jetty at Saumlaki (Tanimbar Islands) early on the 31st the Chinampa was fired on from the shore and the commander of the Australian detachment on board was killed. Both vessels then returned to Darwin taking the whole of the Australian group with them.

    After the retreat, the Dutch came under naval gunfire which at daybreak became more accurate and caused some casualties. Then came a second attack on a wider front and the small Dutch force retreated before being overrun to a sailing ship and escaped to Australia as they were ordered to do. KNIL Sergeant Tahija arrived in Australia with only 6 men left. For his actions he was promoted and was decorated with the Militaire Willems Orde (MWO). Of the total of 82 men that the KNIL dispatched in operation “Plover” only 50 men returned to Australia.

    The Japanese occupation of Babar Island, 1942

    The Babar Island, located east of Timor Island, was occupied by the Japanese forces at 0310 on 30 July 1942 by a platoon of 3rd Yokosuka SNLF, transported by the submarine-chaser Ch21.

    The Japanese occupation of Banda Island, 1942

    On 23 February 1942, the Dutch authorities evacuated via air (from the island’s capital Bandaneira) two prominent Indonesian nationalist politicians, Dr. Mohammad Hatta (1902-1980) and Sutan Sjahrir (1909-1966), only a few minutes before the Japanese bombers started to bomb the island. Banda Island, located southeast of Ambon Island, was occupied by the Imperial Japanese troops on 8 May 1942.

    The Japanese occupation of Ceram Island, 1942

    At the beginning of war the KNIL Detachment in the town of Boela (Ceram Island) numbered approximately 100 men with 4 light machine-guns. They left Ceram Island after destroying the oil installations at Boela. They arrived on Ambon Island on 29 January 1942 and were employed for the defence of Ambon Island. The Japanese fleet consisting of 14 warships and 3 transport ships arrived on the shore of Boela on 31 March 1942. When they found that everything was destroyed they left, leaving behind a garrison of only 200 men. Despite all Dutch personnel being evacuated before the Japanese invasion, one report mentioned that the Japanese managed to bayonet one Dutch radio-operator, who stayed in the town. This force then dispatched a patrol of 15 men to arrest the Dutch magistrate at Geser, who had only 8 native policemen on his disposal, he evaded capture and escaped to Australia.
    Note In June 1943 Allied Intelligence estimated the Japanese strength at Saumlaki at 1,000 men.

    Note Japanese shipping at this time period was devoted to the Singapore / Rangoon reinforcement, and shipping going to Japan. As a result, the Japanese used two gunboats (Transport Unit) for transporting the company of 24th Special Base Force. They were medium sized, and barely adequate, not to mention that they were well armed for small merchant ships, so they couldn’t carry all the baggage.

    Note The Main Force, consisting of light cruiser Izusu and both torpedo boats had the task to block any attempt by the Australians from coming to assist. No actions occured.

    Note Tomozuru class: 1931 - Classified as fleet torpedo-boats, which were virtually small destroyers; 737 tons Displacement - 269 feet long. They had 2/4.7" Dual purpose guns as secondary armament. Main armament was 2 21" Torpedos and 48 depth-charges. They had a more prominent role as fast escorts until the Kiabokan’s came out. In 1944, the surviving units had their torpedos landed and depth-charges increased. Displacement rose to 1,043 tons.
    Bibliography . Article List . Geographic Names

    #Pays_Bas #histoire #capitalisme #colonialisme #génocide #navigation #guerre #Indonésie #noix_de_muscade

  • Kaja Kallas: the most dangerous woman in Europe?

    via https://diasp.eu/p/17743484

    #geopolitics #EU #NATO #war

    Technically, the High Representative’s role is to reflect the consensus of the member states as an extension of the Council, not to freelance as a supranational policymaker. Yet, Kallas interprets her role otherwise, repeatedly acting as though she speaks on behalf of all Europeans — a top-down, anti-democratic approach that is symptomatic of a broader authoritarian trend supercharged by von der Leyen.

    https://www.thomasfazi.com/p/kaja-kallas-the-most-dangerous-woman

    • https://unherd.com/2025/07/kaja-kallas-is-the-real-threat-to-europe

      July 11, 2025 6 mins

      While Ursula von der Leyen may have survived yesterday’s vote of no confidence, the result has laid bare growing cross-party discontent with her increasingly authoritarian leadership. Support for the European President is eroding.

      The most notable shift was from the right-wing #ECR group, which includes #Meloni’s Brothers of Italy. Previously, these MEPs had supported von der Leyen on several key proposals, but few voted against this motion, with most opting to desert it altogether. Also revealing was the support the motion received beyond its Right-populist sponsors: several MEPs from The Left group as well as non-affiliated Left-populist deputies from #Germany and elsewhere, also backed it.

      A key point of convergence between these otherwise divergent forces is their shared opposition to the Commission’s belligerent stance on the #Russia - #Ukraine conflict. Indeed, the no-confidence motion also referenced the Commission’s proposal of using an emergency clause in the EU treaty to shut MEPs out of approving a €150 billion loan scheme to boost the joint procurement of weapons by EU countries, mainly to increase military support for Ukraine.

      It’s important to note that the motion of #censure wasn’t just directed at von der Leyen but at her entire Commission — in particular, her second-in-command, Kaja Kallas, Commission Vice-President and High Representative for Foreign Affairs, the closest thing the EU has to a foreign minister.

      #Kallas, the former Prime Minister of #Estonia — a country of just 1.4 million people, fewer than reside in Paris — was confirmed as the #EU’s new High Representative for Foreign Affairs in December of last year. Since then, she has come to personify, more vividly than anyone else, the EU’s toxic blend of incompetence, irrelevance and outright stupidity.

      At a time when the war in Ukraine is unquestionably #Europe’s foremost foreign policy challenge, it is difficult to imagine anyone less suited to the role than Kallas, whose deep-seated hostility towards Russia borders on obsession. On her very first day in the job, during a trip to Kyiv, she tweeted: “The European Union wants Ukraine to win this war” — a statement that immediately caused unease in Brussels, where officials viewed it as out of step with settled EU language two years into the war. “She is still acting like a prime minister”, one diplomat commented.

      Just months before her appointment, she proposed breaking Russia into “small states” and, since then, has repeatedly demanded the full restoration of Ukraine’s 1991 borders, including #Crimea — a position that effectively rules out negotiations. While even Donald Trump has acknowledged that Ukrainian #Nato membership is a non-starter, Kallas insists it remain a goal — despite it having been a red line for #Russia for nearly two decades. Kallas has even declared that “if we don’t help Ukraine further, we should all start learning Russian”. Never mind that Russia has no strategic, military or economic reason to attack the EU. Earlier this year, she denounced Trump’s efforts to negotiate an end to the war, dismissing them as a “dirty deal”, which explains why US Secretary of State Marco Rubio abruptly cancelled a scheduled meeting with her in February.

      Kallas’s single-minded fixation on Russia has rendered her virtually silent on every other foreign policy issue. As former UK diplomat Ian Proud, who served at the British Embassy in Moscow from 2014 to 2019, observed, she comes across as a “single-issue High Representative” who is “intent only on sustaining the decade-long European policy on non-engagement with Russia, whatever the economic cost”.

      Her aggressive, unilateral rhetoric — often delivered without prior consultation with member states — has alienated not only openly Euro- and Nato-sceptic governments in Hungary and #Slovakia, but also countries like #Spain and #Italy, which, while broadly aligned with Nato’s Ukraine policy, don’t share Kallas’s assessment of #Moscow as an imminent threat to the EU. “If you listen to her it seems we are at war with Russia, which is not the EU line”, one EU official complained.

      Technically, the High Representative’s role is to reflect the consensus of the member states as an extension of the Council, not to freelance as a supranational policymaker. Yet, Kallas interprets her role otherwise, repeatedly acting as though she speaks on behalf of all Europeans — a top-down, anti-democratic approach that is symptomatic of a broader authoritarian trend supercharged by von der Leyen.

      Despite her proclamations about defending democracy, Kallas herself has no democratic mandate. Not only was she never elected to her current office, but her party — the Estonian Reform Party — received fewer than 70,000 votes in the last European Parliament elections, representing less than 0.02% of the European population. Von der Leyen, though, has packed her Commission with these like-minded Baltic officials — hailing from a region of just over six million people — to fill key defence and foreign policy posts. These appointments reflect a strategic alignment between von der Leyen’s centralising ambitions and the ultra-hawkish worldview of the #Baltic political class. Both share an unwavering commitment to the Nato line and a deep hostility to any diplomacy with Moscow.

      Kallas’s anti-Russian zeal made her a natural choice for the job. But rarely mentioned is the fact that Kallas’s own family, far from being the victim of Soviet oppression, actually lived a relatively comfortable life as part of the Soviet establishment — or what may very well be considered the Soviet middle class.

      In fact, Kaja Kallas was born into one of Estonia’s most powerful political families — a family whose rise was facilitated, in no small part, by the very Soviet system she now demonises. Her father, Siim Kallas, was an influential member of the Soviet nomenklatura and then a key figure in Estonian post-Soviet politics, eventually becoming Prime Minister before serving as a European Commissioner for over a decade. Few will be surprised to learn that immediately after completing her studies, in 2010, Kaja decided to enter politics and joined the Reform Party — her father’s own party — nor that she followed his footsteps in moving to Brussels after serving as Prime Minister from 2021 to 2024. It’s hard to shake the idea that elite continuity and inherited privilege had a helping hand. One is also left wondering, given her upbringing, whether her aggressive anti-Russian posture is a sincerely held conviction, or a cover for personal ambition.

      One story sheds particularly interesting light on her geopolitical attitude. In 2023, when Kallas was still Prime Minister, three major Estonian newspapers called for her resignation after it emerged that her husband’s transport company had continued to do business with Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. However, Kallas dismissed the scandal and refused to resign, claiming no wrongdoing, sparking accusations of hypocrisy: demanding the total economic isolation of Russia on one hand, while turning a blind eye to her own family’s business ties with the country.

      All things considered, Kallas is dramatically ill-suited for the job — stumbling from one blunder to the next. Only recently, she managed to offend nearly every Irish citizen by suggesting that Ireland’s neutrality stems from not having experienced atrocities such as “mass deportations” or “suppression of culture and language” — a bizarre statement, given Ireland’s long history of British colonial rule and the bloodshed of the Troubles.
      “Kallas’s anti-Russian zeal made her a natural choice for the job.”

      Some blunders are far more consequential. In a recent meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Kallas demanded that China condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine and fall in line with the “rules-based international order”. Yi, usually soft-spoken, responded sharply, noting that China had not supported Russia militarily — but also had no intention of seeing Moscow defeated, since that would simply bring the West’s wrath upon China next. He may have been alluding to Kallas’s earlier remark: “If Europe cannot defeat Russia, how can it take on China?”. That a senior EU official would frame global affairs in such stark, confrontational terms reflects an astonishing lack of diplomatic nuance.

      The fact that Kallas felt comfortable lecturing China on international law and the “rules-based order” reveals not only a striking blindness to Europe’s diminished global standing, but also a profound lack of self-awareness about how the EU’s double standards are viewed in Beijing and across the Global South. While loudly condemning Russian attacks on civilians, Kallas has consistently whitewashed — or outright endorsed — Israel’s atrocities in Gaza. A recently leaked EU report confirmed that Brussels acknowledged a long time ago that Israel was committing war crimes in Gaza, including “starvation, torture, indiscriminate attacks and apartheid” — yet Kallas has neither condemned Israel nor questioned EU-Israel ties. Similarly, she said nothing about US threats to annex Greenland and supported the US-Israeli bombing of Iran — a clear violation of international law.

      This selective #moralism has done lasting damage to the EU’s credibility, particularly in the eyes of the Global South. But to lay the blame solely at Kallas’s feet would be a mistake. In the end, it’s not Kallas who should concern us most, but the system that made her possible — a system that rewards the loudest #hawks, holds scant regard for democracy, and replaces statesmanship with social media posturing. If Europe continues on this path, it won’t just lose its place in the world; it will become the most vivid expression of the West’s broader slide into kakistocracy — government by the worst, the least qualified and the most unscrupulous.

  • Le Dibbouk | Carnets autofictifs, lectures, fictions et photographie
    https://ledibbouk.net/le-masque-n-est-plus-etanche-we-have-a-leak.html

    I turned off the machine around 1 a.m. The mask isn’t airtight anymore. There’s this faint hiss of escaping air, maddening. Like a metaphor, probably — something is leaking, deflating, giving up, and of course the irritation it causes looks me dead in the eyes, like some smug therapist saying “so what does that make you feel ?”

    #notebook #carnets

  • US envoy warns Lebanon : ’Disarm Hezbollah or risk Syrian occupation’
    https://thecradle.co/articles-id/31924

    On vit une époque formidable ! #new_middle_east

    En clair, les USA disent aux Libanais :si vous ne vous soumettez pas au dictat israélien, on vous mettra à votre place via nos supplétifs syriens...

    Lebanon risks being invaded and occupied by Syria and Israel unless Beirut acts to disarm Hezbollah, US special envoy Thomas Barrack warned on 12 July.

    Speaking to The National, Barrack, who is the US special envoy for Syria and ambassador to Turkiye, stressed Lebanon faces an existential threat" from the two US allies on its borders, while urging Beirut to act quickly to disarm Hezbollah.

    “You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical name for greater Syria, which included Lebanon and Palestine.

    “Syrians say Lebanon is our beach resort. So we need to move. And I know how frustrated the Lebanese people are. It frustrates me,” he added.

    In December, the former Al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) conquered Damascus, bringing Syria under US, Israeli, and Turkish influence.

    Syria’s new government, led by former ISIS commander Ahmad al-Sharaa, has reportedly demanded it be given the Sunni-majority city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon while relinquishing the Golan Heights as part of a peace deal with Israel.

    Last month, Barrack presented Lebanese officials with a proposal that calls for reconstruction aid and an end to Israel’s attacks if Hezbollah gives up its weapons.

    The war between Israel and Hezbollah ended in November with a US-brokered ceasefire. But Israel continues to carry out air strikes and assassinations throughout Lebanon. Israeli ground forces also occupy five points in the south of the country.

  • Retour à Bure, le 20 septembre, pour la Manif’ du Futur !
    https://ricochets.cc/Retour-a-Bure-le-20-septembre-pour-la-Manif-du-Futur-8528.html

    Le futur s’est donné rendez-vous en 2025 et a bloqué la date du 20 septembre pour empêcher que le monstre vorace Cigéo nous exproprie aujourd’hui et confisque notre avenir. La lutte d’hier à demain vous invite ainsi à une grande manif contre la poubelle #nucléaire ! ☢️ Parce qu’à Bure, c’est aujourd’hui que tout se joue : retrouvons-nous le 20 septembre contre Cigéo, le nucléaire et son monde pour faire bifurquer le futur ! 👉 Plus d’infos : https://manifbure.fr 👉 Pour nous écrire : manifbure chez riseup.net #Les_Articles

    / nucléaire

  • #Calibre 8.6.0 Delivers Dramatic Database Speed Boost
    https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/07/calibre-8-6-0-delivers-dramatic-database-speed-boost

    A sizeable database performance boost is available in the latest release of open source #ebook manager, view and converter Calibre, plus plenty of bug fixes. You’re reading Calibre 8.6.0 Delivers Dramatic Database Speed Boost, a blog post from OMG! Ubuntu. Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.

    #News #App_Updates

  • الحكومة اعتبرته “خطأ تقنيا” بعد جدل عم البلد.. وموجة استنكار فلسطينية وسورية واسعة بعد إدراج صفة “أجنبي” للاجئين الفلسطينيين في السجلات الرسمية.. “لسنا أجانب” | رأي اليوم
    https://www.raialyoum.com/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ad%d9%83%d9%88%d9%85%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d8%b9%d8%aa%d8%a8%d8%b1

    Les réfugiés palestiniens en Syrie et leurs descendants (la famille de Rima Hassanpar exemple) découvrent que dans la nouvelle Syrie "révolutionnaire", ils sont désormais des "étrangersrésidents". Rassurez-vous, ce n’dest qu’une erreur administrative, imputable du reste à l’administration de l’ancien régime... #new_middle_east

    أثار تصنيف اللاجئين الفلسطينيين في سوريا كـ”مقيمين أجانب” في بعض الحالات التي ظهرت في سجلات النفوس المدنية، ردود فعل غاضبة وموجة استنكار واسعة، وسط مطالبات رسمية وشعبية بتوضيح هذه التغييرات الإدارية التي وصفت بأنها تشكل انتهاكاً للهوية القانونية والتاريخية لفلسطينيي سوريا، الذين يعيش معظمهم في البلاد منذ النكبة عام 1948.
    وكان تلفزيون سوريا قد نقل عن مصدر حكومي أن ما جرى من تعديلات في بيانات اللاجئين الفلسطينيين في بعض السجلات، يعود إلى “خطأ تقني غير مقصود”، خصوصاً في محافظة إدلب، حيث جرى خلال عملية دمج السجلات المحلية مع السجل المركزي، إدراج الفلسطينيين ضمن خانة “المهاجرين” أو “المقيمين” عوضا عن “اللاجئين”، نتيجة لكون سجل إدلب المدني كان مفصولاً زمن “النظام البائد”، على حد تعبير المحامي الفلسطيني غياث دبور، الذي أكد أن ما حدث “إشكال فني طبيعي لا يحتمل التأويلات”، وأن الجهود جارية لتصحيحه.

  • Want to Customise GNOME Shell #notifications? Try This Extension
    https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/07/customise-gnome-shell-notifications-with-this-essential-extension

    You can customise GNOME Shell notifications, including position on screen, RegEx filtering, and custom colours using the Notification Configurator extension. You’re reading Want to Customise GNOME Shell Notifications? Try This Extension, a blog post from OMG! Ubuntu. Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.

    #News #customization #GNOME_Extensions

  • HARO, 3 jours de rencontres actives et festives sur les déchets nucléaires et les territoires à la Hague 
    https://ricochets.cc/HARO-3-jours-de-rencontres-actives-et-festives-sur-les-dechets-nucleaires-

    Du vendredi 18/07 au dimanche 20/07 aura lieu à Vauville (La Hague, 50440) l’événement HARO, trois jours de rencontres actives et festives sur les thèmes des déchets nucléaires et des territoires, organisés par le collectif Piscine #nucléaire Stop. Rdv à la Hague pour ces 3 jours de rencontres, et notamment le samedi à 14h pour le départ de la manifestation des Fées Furieuses contre le méga-projet « Aval du Futur » imposé par Orano au territoire de La Hague. #Les_Articles

    / nucléaire

  • Rapture / Entrückung / Enlèvement (ravissement)
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapture

    La politique de Trump et de Netanyahou ne s’explique pas sans l’influence des reborn christians et de leur attente de l’enlèvement proche. On oublie parfois qu’en islam Mahomet a réalisé en partie l’événement qu’attendent encore les juifs et chrétiens. Pourtant l’islam connaît un jugement final qui motive une partie des croyants. L’idée chiite du retour d’Ali se rapproche le plus de l’eschatologie chrétienne.

    Les événements actuels ne suivent pas les textes religieux mais on y trouve des explications qui peuvent motiver les décisions d’acteurs des conflits au proche orient.

    The Rapture is an eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all dead Christian believers will be resurrected and, joined with Christians who are still alive, together will rise “in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.” This view of eschatology is typically part of dispensational premillennialism, a form of futurism that considers various prophecies in the Bible as remaining unfulfilled and occurring in the future.

    Gog and Magog
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gog_and_Magog

    Revelation

    Chapters 19:11–21:8 of the Book of Revelation, dating from the end of the 1st century AD, tell how Satan is to be imprisoned for a thousand years, and how, on his release, he will rally “the nations in the four corners of the Earth, Gog and Magog”, to a final battle with Christ and his saints:

    When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the Earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore.

    La forme la plus agressive de millénarisme motive certains courants états-uniens à préparer l’avènement de Gog et Magog. La reconnaissance de Jérusalem comme capitale d’Israel en est le résultat vraisemblable.

    Chez les juifs et muselmans le millénarisme n’est pas si fort mais il motive quelques branches de ces religions.

    Third Temple
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Temple

    Orthodox Judaism

    Orthodox Judaism believes in the rebuilding of a Third Temple and the resumption of korban (sacrifices), although there is disagreement about how rebuilding should take place. Orthodox scholars and rabbinic authorities generally believe that rebuilding should occur in the era of the Jewish messiah at the hand of divine providence, although a minority position, following the opinion of Maimonides, holds that Jews should endeavour to rebuild the temple themselves, whenever possible.

    Le retour d’Ali dans le chiisme
    https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiisme#Doctrines

    Les duodécimains admettent dorénavant passivement l’ordre politique car le douzième imam reviendra à la fin des temps et retrouvera son règne. En son attente, aucun pouvoir n’est vraiment légitime, mais le croyant doit attendre le retour de l’imam tout en faisant des efforts pour s’améliorer spirituellement.

    #Netanjahu #Gog_et_Magog #apocalypse #chrétiens #juifs

  • Le Dibbouk | Carnets autofictifs, lectures, fictions et photographie
    https://ledibbouk.net/11-juillet-2025.html

    Sans doute que tout ce que j’écris n’inspire qu’une sorte de malaise. Ce n’est pas étonnant étant donné que l’écriture est une sorte de rustine que je tente de placer sur ce malaise pour le colmater. Je pourrais conserver ces écrits dans un tiroir. Faire preuve d’un peu de pudeur, mais ce serait insatisfaisant sur le plan intellectuel. Si je publie ce que j’écris c’est d’une part pour l’évacuer mais ce n’est pas pour me venger de quoi que ce soit, je ne le crois pas ou plutôt je ne le crois plus. Si je publie ce que j’écris c’est pour montrer une sorte de chemin que je n’ai cessé d’emprunter depuis l’âge de trente ans. Ce n’est pas de la littérature à proprement parler. Ce n’est pas non plus de la philosophie, de la psychologie, ce n’est pas non plus de l’art. C’est une sorte d’objet indéfinissable ( en tout cas pour moi ). De mon côté c’est ainsi mais là aussi je sais que je manque de moyens pour en juger et le fait de publier ces textes est une manière aussi de dire c’est à vous à toi collectivité de le dire, tout en prenant bien soin de mon côté de ne pas vraiment vouloir entendre ce que l’on pourra en dire. Ce n’est pas que ça ne m’intéresserait pas, mais le risque que ça fige cet ensemble dans une définition me demanderait encore un surcout d’énergie pour ne pas en tenir compte.

    #carnets #notebook

  • Ubuntu 24.04.3 #hwe Stack Includes a Sizeable Mesa Update
    https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/07/ubuntu-24-04-3-hwe-new-mesa-kernel-update

    Ubuntu 24.04 LTS users are getting a new HWE update with Linux 6.14 and Mesa 25.0, delivering a big gaming boost and support for newer hardware. You’re reading Ubuntu 24.04.3 HWE Stack Includes a Sizeable Mesa Update, a blog post from OMG! Ubuntu. Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.

    #News #Point_Releases #Ubuntu_24.04_LTS

  • The Blogs: Trump and Syria’s New Strongman Share a Billboard in Damascus — and a Message of ‘Peace’ | Mikheil Khachidze | The Times of Israel
    https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/trump-and-syrias-new-strongman-share-a-billboard-in-damascus-an

    A billboard unveiled in central Damascus this week is raising eyebrows across the Middle East and beyond. It features Syria’s newly installed president, Ahmed al-Sharasa [sic !], beside Donald Trump, with an English-language caption that reads:

    Strong Leaders Make Peace. The Syrian People Thank You.

    The poster appears to be part of a broader campaign by the new Syrian regime to legitimize itself internationally, following more than a decade of isolation and civil war. Yet the public pairing of Trump — a controversial figure in the Middle East — with a former jihadist commander raises pressing questions about the direction of Syrian politics and its implications for Israel and the region.

    #new_middle_east

    Si vous êtes maso, https://c4ssa.org