WAO ART #162

TikTok is adding text-only posts to its platform as competition between social media giants intensifies. The Chinese-owned app aims to provide users with "another way to express themselves" and make text posts as dynamic and interactive as videos or photos.

The release of the new "Barbie" movie has sparked a surge in beauty trends. Salons have seen a significant increase in bookings for pink hair and nails and platinum blonde makeovers. Google Trends data shows a spike in searches for "Barbie," and TikTok has seen millions of posts using the #barbie hashtag.

Spotify is raising the price of its premium subscription plans for the first time since 2011. In the UK, individual plans will increase by £1 to £10.99 per month, while premium duo and family plans will also see price hikes. Similar increases will apply to the US, Canada, Australia and 48 other territories.

Concerns have been raised about the Worldcoin, a token for a privacy-preserving digital identity project co-developed by Sam Altman. Cosine, the co-founder of SlowMist, referred to Worldcoin as an "evil creation" and highlighted potential privacy risks associated with its specialized biometrics hardware.

The global trade in church bells is shifting to Africa, as Christianity thrives on the continent while declining in Western Europe. Italian bell-maker Armando Marinelli says his company has received orders from Tanzania, Nigeria, and Congo, indicating that faith is thriving in Africa.

Paris is set to bring back swimming in the River Seine after a century-long ban due to the polluted water. As part of a €1.4bn regeneration project, three open-air swimming areas will be accessible from the quayside by 2025. The city aims to showcase the revitalized river during the Olympics.

Scientists have made an "incredible discovery" that suggests planets may form in a new way. Observations by the Sphere instruments on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), located on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, showed V960 had increased its brightness by more than 20 times.