‘News on Facebook is dead’: memes replace Australian media posts as Meta turns off the tap

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Analysis of Facebook data finds engagement with news is at an all-time low – due at least in part to changes to Meta’s algorithms

Meta has refused to enter into new deals with Australian media publishers for the use of their content on Facebook, leading to fears it may again implement a ban on news content appearing on the platform. But an analysis of Facebook data suggests engagement with posts from news organisations is already at an all-time low, as memes fill the space.

Meta has argued that news makes up just 3% of what people engage with on its services.

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Free Madonna concert draws crowd of 1.6m to Brazil’s Copacabana beach

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Area around Rio de Janeiro beach filled for several blocks as singer closes her Celebration world tour

With the world-famous statue towering over it from Corcovado mountain, Rio de Janeiro is well used to Christ the Redeemer. For one night only this weekend, it also had Madonna.

More than a million people thronged Copacabana beach on Saturday night, turning its vast stretch of sand into a massive dancefloor for a free concert by the pop star as she completed her world tour.

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At least 400 rescued from flooding in Texas as waters continue rising

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A flood watch remains in effect through Sunday afternoon after forecasters predict additional rainfall in Harris county

High waters flooded neighborhoods around Houston on Saturday following heavy rains that resulted in crews rescuing more than 400 people from homes, rooftops and roads engulfed in murky water. Others prepared to evacuate their properties.

A flood watch remained in effect through Sunday afternoon after forecasters predicted additional rainfall Saturday night and the likelihood of major flooding in Harris county, the nation’s third-largest county which includes Houston, and nearby areas.

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Motorist dies after crashing into White House gate

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Authorities characterized the wreck as ‘only … a traffic crash’ rather than an intentional, politically motivated act

For the second time since January, a motorist crashed into the gates of the White House on Saturday.

The driver in Saturday’s case was pronounced dead at the scene after smashing a speeding car into an outer gate of the US president’s home and workplace. Authorities characterized the wreck as “only … a traffic crash” rather than an intentional or politically motivated act.

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‘It’s just not hitting like it used to’: TikTok was in its flop era before it got banned in the US

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I used to be an avid user of TikTok, but the algorithm serves much less delight and serendipity than it used to

TikTok is facing its most credible existential threat yet. Last week, the US Congress passed a bill that bans the short-form video app if it does not sell to an American company by this time next year. But as a former avid user whose time on the app has dropped sharply in recent months, I am left wondering – will I even be using the app a year from now?

Like many Americans of my demographic (aging millennial), I first started using TikTok regularly when the Covid-19 pandemic began and lockdowns gave many of us more time than we knew how to fill.

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‘There are people in tents writing dissertations’: UK reaches for scale of US campus protests

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Pro-Palestine protesters hope encampments at universities will contribute to an ‘international student revolt’

Students across Britain have said they hope pro-Palestine protests will reach the same scale as those seen on US campuses as they call for universities to divest from companies supplying arms to Israel.

Protests have spread across university campuses in Sheffield, Bristol and Leeds, after a crackdown in the US on protests, which led to mass arrests of students and staff.

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Shadow of war hangs over Orthodox Easter as Zelenskiy and Putin mark holiday

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Russian president attends service led by one of his staunchest backers while Zelenskiy asserts God is on Kyiv’s side

Orthodox Easter services in Ukraine and Russia have taken on a political tone, as Volodymyr Zelenskiy asserted that God had a “Ukrainian flag on his shoulder” and Vladimir Putin attended a church service led by a staunch supporter of Moscow’s invasion.

Noting that Ukraine had now been fighting Russia for 802 days, Zelenskiy called on Ukrainians to pray for each other and the soldiers on the frontline. “And we believe: God has a chevron with the Ukrainian flag on his shoulder,” said the president, dressed in a traditional embroidered Ukrainian vyshyvanka shirt and khaki trousers. “So with such an ally, life will definitely win over death.”

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‘I was happy they still stand beside us’: Palestinians in Rafah on US campus protests

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Word of the demonstrations that have spread across the west has cheered some in Gaza’s southernmost city

In the tented camps and crowded streets of Rafah, the pro-Palestinian campus protests in the US have been followed closely.

“We hear a lot of news about students’ demonstrations in American universities … When I saw that, I was very happy that there are still those who stand beside us and in support of us,” said Nevin Abu Shahma, 39, who fled to Rafah from northern Gaza early in the war.

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‘Alarming’ number of lone children held in UK-run facilities in France

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Charities say FoI disclosure that 369 such children were held over 21-month period is ‘hugely concerning’

More than 350 lone children were held in UK-run detention facilities in northern France over a 21-month period, according to documents disclosed under freedom of information laws.

The Home Office has admitted that it failed to keep data on how many properly trained staff looked after the children held in four short-term holding facilities near Calais and Dunkirk in 2022 and 2023.

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