What's taking a byte...

The EU. Yesterday, the European Union fined Meta a record $1.3 billion for violating its privacy laws. Regulators said Meta breached its data protection rules by transferring user data (names, emails, and messages) from Europe to the US. The fine comes almost a year after European officials hit Amazon with an $887 million penalty for the same thing. Now, officials are giving Meta five months to put all future data transfers on pause and six months to delete the info that's already been sent across the Atlantic. Meta called the decision “unjustified” and said there would be “no immediate disruption to Facebook in Europe.” The tech giant also said it plans to appeal the EU’s decision. Meanwhile, the Biden admin's been working on a data-sharing deal with the EU to help ease privacy concerns over personal data.

What’s getting called out…

La Liga. Today, Spanish police arrested four people for reportedly hanging an effigy of Vinícius Júnior — a Brazilian forward for Real Madrid — off a bridge in January.  Authorities said that three of the people arrested are active members of "a radical group of fans," from Madrid that were deemed "high risk" to prevent violence at soccer matches. The arrests come after Spanish authorities started looking into another incident after Real Madrid filed a hate crime complaint against fans yelling racist chants at Vinícius Júnior over the weekend. The president of the soccer federation said there is a “serious problem” and that racism “stains an entire team, an entire fan base, an entire club, an entire country.” This isn’t the first time players of color have faced racism on the field in Europe.

What researchers are looking into…

Chronic pain. Yesterday, a new study revealed that, for the first time, scientists have recorded brain signals of chronic pain in patients. About one in five Americans live with chronic pain — a consistent or recurrent pain that goes on for more than three months. There is no cure, and the medical condition can lead to a dependency on prescription medication and opioid addiction. For this study, researchers implanted electrodes inside people’s brains to record brain activity for up to six months. They found that chronic pain is located in the same area of the brain where emotion regulation, self-evaluation, and decision-making take place. Now, scientists hope the findings can help update a system that currently relies on self-reported pain measures — like pointing on a scale from one to ten.

While Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) is throwing his hat in the ring...

Lauren Sánchez is rocking a different kind of ring.

Who’s going courtside…

Carmelo Anthony.

What's got thrifters and everyone else talking...

A rescued blue couch.