After years of providing free services without any bells attached, WhatsApp is now going to start showing ads on the popular chat app. To be clear, users will only see ads on the Status screen — the app’s take on Instagram’s Stories.

So just like you see an ad after watching a few stories on Instagram, you will see ads on WhatsApp after you’ve scrolled through a few Status updates.

The company said that its ad mechanism uses signals like users’ country or city, language, and the channels they’re following, as well as data from ads that users interact with.

Meta said it is not using personally identifiable data, such as users’ phone numbers, messages, calls, and groups to serve targeted ads. If a user has added their WhatsApp account to Meta’s Account Center, the company will use their Account preferences to show ads.

WhatsApp is adding ads to the Status screen | TechCrunch

After years of not showing any ads, WhatsApp is adding ads to Status updates.

^{Ivan Mehta (TechCrunch)}

https://www.newarab.com/news/malaysian-groups-plan-1000-ship-flotilla-break-gaza-siege

The drama offers a case study in how Elon Musk’s team sought to run a critical government agency through misinformation and social media blasts — and how longtime employees responded.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/us/politics/doge-social-security.html?unlocked_article_code=1.PU8.U02v.PgGBOziHDpcL

Sensitive content Clicca per aprire/chiudere

Hi, I'm looking for a mail client that is well suited for managing multiple identities and can easily handle routing everything over an anonymity network.

I would use Thunderbird, but I think when you take it online, it downloads from all your connected email accounts. I want to "go online" at will toward particular email addresses, in other words I do not want my upstream mail provider to be able to associate my accounts in any way, including access time, assuming there is a large enough other pool of people using the same client/anonymity network.

Are there any that are well made for this purpose? Otherwise I will use the mail frontend over Tor or something, but it would be nice to have a lightweight client-side application too so I can keep my emails downloaded and delete them from the server.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-says-us-has-cancelled-next-round-talks-easing-tensions-2025-06-16/

• How to Protect Yourself From Phone Searches at the US Border
• The Online Tools That Fueled ‘No Kings’ and the Trump Resistance

https://www.wired.com/story/the-wired-guide-to-protecting-yourself-from-government-surveillance/

cross-posted from: lemm.ee/post/66980362

cross-posted from: rss.ponder.cat/post/207749

From US news | The Guardian via this RSS feed

‘Extremely disturbing and unethical’: new rules allow VA doctors to refuse to treat Democrats, unmarried veterans

Trump order allows VA staff to decline providing healthcare to patients based on political affiliation or marital status

^{Aaron Glantz (The Guardian)}

cross-posted from: feddit.org/post/14277007

DeepL:

„Äußerst beunruhigend und unethisch“: Neue Vorschriften erlauben es Ärzten der Veteranenbehörde, Demokraten und unverheiratete Veteranen die Behandlung zu verweigern.

Das Ministerium für Veteranenangelegenheiten erklärt, die Änderungen seien eine Reaktion auf eine Verordnung von Trump zum „Schutz von Frauen“.

‘Extremely disturbing and unethical’: new rules allow VA doctors to refuse to treat Democrats, unmarried veterans

Trump order allows VA staff to decline providing healthcare to patients based on political affiliation or marital status

^{Aaron Glantz (The Guardian)}

A man who was believed to be part of a peacekeeping team for the “No Kings” protest in Salt Lake City shot at a person who was brandishing a rifle at demonstrators, striking both the rifleman and a bystander who later died at the hospital, authorities said Sunday.

Police took the alleged rifleman, Arturo Gamboa, 24, into custody Saturday evening on a murder charge, Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd said at a Sunday news conference. The bystander was Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, 39, a fashion designer from Samoa.

Detectives don’t yet know why Gamboa pulled out a rifle or ran from the peacekeepers, but they accused him of creating the dangerous situation that led to Ah Loo’s death. The Associated Press did not immediately find an attorney listed for Gamboa or contact information for his family in public records.

https://apnews.com/article/utah-no-kings-protest-shot-killed-75c777eeedd59c80c85695c45385c507

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The Kyiv Independent [unofficial]

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Medical Supplies for Ukraine’s Hospitals. Partnering for global health equity.

Russia’s war against Ukraine

At a Father’s Day celebration, children whose fathers died in the war take part in the ‘Native Angel’ art project in Lviv, Ukraine, June 15, 2025. Business representatives, volunteers, military personnel, dog handlers, police officers, partners from the Red Cross, and children’s groups took part in the celebration. (Olena Znak/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Ukrainian agents cause millions in damage during secret sabotage operation in Russia, HUR source says. Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) ignited an electrical substation during a sabotage operation in the Russian city of Kaliningrad, causing $5 million in damage and cutting electricity to a military production site, a source in HUR told the Kyiv Independent.

Russian strike hit Boeing office in Kyiv in deliberate attack on US business, FT reports. “This is not just an attack against Ukraine, but also an attack where American business is being hit,” said Andy Hunder, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine.

Russia reports Ukrainian drone attack on drone factory in Tatarstan. The drones were shot down, but the debris fell on a plant in the town of Yelabuga, where Shahed-type attack drones are manufactured, causing a fire.

Another 1,200 bodies of fallen Ukrainians return home after exchange with Russia. Law enforcement investigations and institutions from Ukraine’s Interior Ministry will examine and identify the bodies in the near future, the Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said.

Russian mass attack hits energy infrastructure in Poltava Oblast. Of the 183 drones Russia launched, Ukrainian air defense neutralized 159, Ukraine’s Air Force said. Ukraine also shot down 2 Kinzhal ballistic missiles and six out of eight cruise missiles.

Your contribution helps keep the Kyiv Independent going. Become a member today.

Trump says he’s ‘open to’ Putin mediating between Israel, Iran. “Yeah, I would be open to it,” U.S. President Donald Trump said. “He is ready. He called me about it. We had a long talk about it. We talked about this more than his situation. This is something I believe is going to get resolved.”

‘Spit in face’ — Zelensky condemns Russia’s mass attack, dismisses idea of Putin as peacemaker. “This is Russia’s spit in the face of everything the international community is trying to do to stop this war … At the same time as Putin tries to portray himself as a mediator for the Middle East. The level of cynicism is staggering.”

North Korean losses exceed 6,000 in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, UK intelligence reports. North Korea has lost over 6,000 troops in Russia’s Kursk Oblast—more than half of its deployed force, according to a June 15 UK defense intelligence report.

Ukraine catches Russian agent secretly filming airfield, Ukrainian Security Service says. If found guilty, the 24-year-old native of Rivne Oblast faces life imprisonment for high treason.

Trump arrives at G7 summit ahead of high-stakes meeting with Zelensky. The anticipated third meeting, scheduled for June 17, will focus on sanctions, peace talks, weapons purchases, and economic relations — and may shed light on the future of U.S. support for Ukraine.

Read our exclusives

Ukraine war latest: Kyiv strikes Russian drone factory, Moscow targets Boeing’s office

Ukraine launched drones at Russia’s Tatarstan region on June 15, targeting a drone factory in Yelabuga that produces Shahed-style attack drones. The site is around 1,500 km from Kyiv.

Photo: Florent Vergnes / AFP via Getty Images

Learn more

With no new US aid packages on the horizon, can Ukraine continue to fight Russia?

“While Ukraine’s dependence on the U.S. has lessened, U.S. aid remains pivotal for maintaining battlefield effectiveness,” Finnish military analyst Emil Kastehelmi said.

Photo: Meduza / Telegram

Learn more

Human cost of Russia’s war

5 Ukrainians dead in Israel after Iranian missile strike. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry told the Kyiv Independent that the five Ukrainian citizens, including three children, came under fire in an attack on a residential building in Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv.

Ukrainian actor Yuriy Felipenko killed on the front line. Felipenko was well known for his role in the 2024 series “A Promise to God” before joining the Achilles Strike Drone Battalion, part of Ukraine’s 92nd Assault Brigade, in April 2024.

General Staff: Russia has lost 1,003,860 troops in Ukraine since Feb 24, 2022. The number includes 1,170 casualties that Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

International response

EU leaders call for tougher sanctions on Russia at G7 summit. “We must put more pressure on Russia to secure a real ceasefire, to bring Russia to the negotiating table, and to end this war. Sanctions are critical to that end,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

Russia hits 1 million losses in Ukraine | Ukraine This Week

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geteilt von: feddit.org/post/14273969

This is a paper for a MIT study. Three groups of participants where tasked to write an essay. One of them was allowed to use a LLM. These where the results:

The participants mental activity was also checked repeatedly via EEG. As per the papers abstract:

EEG revealed significant differences in brain connectivity: Brain-only participants exhibited the strongest, most distributed networks; Search Engine users showed moderate engagement; and LLM users displayed the weakest connectivity. Cognitive activity scaled down in relation to external tool use.

The source is in Dutch,but it's a short form video. Nothing special. Any other sources I could find are in Croatian (which I can't read), like:

kanal-ri.hr/2025/06/vitomir-ma…

Adem inhouden

De Kroatische freediver Vitomir Maričić heeft het wereldrecord adem inhouden in handen.

^nos.nl

https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2308706120

cross-posted from: discuss.tchncs.de/post/3855969…

Keynote by Christine Lemmer-Webber (@cwebber@social.coop, @dustyweb.bsky.social) at FediForum June 2025.

More info: fediforum.org/2025-06

FediForum Keynote: Christine Lemmer-Webber

Keynote by Christine Lemmer-Webber (@cwebber@social.coop, @dustyweb.bsky.social) at FediForum June 2025. More info: https://fediforum.org/2025-06

^PeerTube.wtf

This year, Microsoft is busy charming European policymakers. It is doing so again by insisting that Europeans’ data will remain on the continent, regardless of whether the US government requires access to it.

Microsoft reiterates: European data will remain in Europe - Techzine Global

Microsoft promises that European customer data will remain in Europe under European law. Is this enough to allay sovereignty concerns?

^{Erik van Klinken (Techzine)}

President Donald Trump's administration has released to deportation officials the personal data for millions of Medicaid enrollees, including their immigration status.

https://apnews.com/article/medicaid-deportation-immigrants-trump-4e0f979e4290a4d10a067da0acca8e22

The 15 metres wide battery can store a month's heat demand in summer - how does it work?

‘A very Finnish thing’: Big sand battery starts storing wind and solar energy in crushed soapstone

^{Lottie Limb (Euronews.com)}

Looking forward to a future where laser beams replace power lines, DAPRA's Persistent Optical Wireless Energy Relay (POWER) program has set new records for transmitting more power wirelessly over longer distances.

DARPA sets new records for sending power wirelessly

^{New Atlas}

German giant wants case heard in Germany, not the USA

VMware and Siemens spar over where to stage software licence showdown

: German giant wants case heard in Germany, not the USA

^{Simon Sharwood (The Register)}

I made this post piefed.social/post/931182

But when I browse Lemmy, I can't see it.
aka. it's missing on lemmy.world/c/southafrica@pief…

Is it a ID10T User error? or is something else happening

Its real somehow: xcancel.com/Shedletsky/status/…

::: spoiler Transcript
A tweet by Jon sheletsky (@shedletsky) saying "Silicon Valley built the modern world. Why shouldn't we run it?. The tweet has 658k views, 70 bookmarks, 70 likes, 460 retweets/quotes and 694 replies. It was posted at 6:52 PM, 2/3/25.
:::

Since Gnome 44 there is a new UI to show apps (i.e. messengers, sync clients, ...) that run in the background. It is supposed to take the place of the tray icons. In my experience it's basically not working, though.

The only app I use that uses the UI is the nextcloud client. But that thing's autostart seems to be very unreliable and most of the time I have to start it manually after booting. Could be an issue with the app and not with Gnome, but I don't know.

I also use Telegram and Element, but both still seem to use the old tray icons that you now need to install an extension for to work. Meaning that with vanilla Gnome when you close the Telegram window, the app is stopped and can't receive massages in the background.

Is the new UI broken or are app developers just not implementing it into their apps or what's wrong with the current situaltion?

GNOME 44 Getting New Background Apps UI - OMG! Linux

GNOME devs want to make it easier to monitor and control background apps in GNOME Shell. So to this end, they're exploring a new 'Background Apps' feature

^{Joey Sneddon (OMG! Linux)}