FACEBOOK and its associated Instagram, Messengers and WhatsUp applications are owned by Meta (Shutterstock).

Meta, the company that owns Facebook and other social media giants, has been fined $1.3 billion – 1.2 billion euros – by the European Union for violating privacy rules and was ordered to stop transferring the personal information of users back to the United States.

The data that would have to be stopped would be items such as names, e-mail addresses, messages, etc. which Meta/Facebook uses to create targeted online advertisements, according to the Associated Press.

Meta will appeal and urge courts to suspend the order which is intended to take effect in October.

Russians conquer a city in ruins

RUSSIA VS. UKRAINE (Shutterstock).

It now appears that Russian forces have indeed captured the strategic city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, but drone video footage from The New York Times shows a metropolis almost totally wrecked and scoured of living persons.

Ukrainian troops may hold on to a small area on the outskirts of Bakhmut, and some observers say that it cost Russia many thousands of lives to claim a “pyrrhic victory” of little practical value.

Also in the news … E. Jean Carroll, who won a civil case of defamation against former president Donald Trump over alleged sexual abuse, will now go back to court to sue him over his comments during a CNN broadcast.

Weather: Back to the Sixties, again

You probably won’t get any sunburns for the next week or so in the West Orange County area as clouds and some sunshine pair up and daytime highs dip into the  60s.  Tuesday should have morning clouds and afternoon sun with a daytime high of 68 with an overnight low of 59. Wednesday will be near-identical. Mostly sunny days will arrive on Friday with a high of 67 (56) and Saturday will be partly cloudy with similar temperatures.