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As flu rages, the Trump administration has pulled the plug on a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention flu immunization campaign that targeted high-risk groups, including pregnant women.

During a hearing on Wednesday, Judge Dale Ho questioned federal prosecutors over their decision to suspend criminal charges against Mayor Eric Adams. Judge Ho's ruling is expected soon.

(Image credit: Yuki Iwamura)

Lawmakers sought to dispel Kremlin talking points echoed by the president that Ukraine was responsible for the war with Russia. But they said Trump should be given room to negotiate.

(Image credit: Joe Raedle)

• Instagram is continuing to expand what's possible in the DMs
• You can now schedule a message and easily translate one
• The bigger news dropped from JENNIE and Doechii as you can share music now

Sure, Instagram DMs might be best known as where you might shoot your shot with someone or send Reels to friends with common interests, but Meta wants them to be used as a core messaging service. At least, that’s what we think this pretty major expansion to Instagram DMs, which is rolling out now, indicates.

Just days after debuting the ability to give another user a nickname timed to Valentine’s Day, Instagram is rolling out four major improvements to its DMs. Starting with the ability to schedule a message, which I was surprised wasn’t already there. Instagram is now playing catch up with the likes of iMessage – which only got this feature in iOS 18 – Messenger, and WhatsApp.

Within Instagram, though, you can now write out a message – emojis, GIFs, and all – and schedule it to be sent later for individual or group messages. You can schedule one for up to 29 days in the future, which might prove fruitful if you need to be sure an important message will be sent, like for a friend's birthday or an anniversary with a loved one.

(Image credit: Instagram)

Further, Instagram knows its platform is global and that you might be messaging someone in another language. And rather than copying that message into another app or the web for a translation, you can now translate a message into 99 different languages right within Instagram. You can do this by long holding on to the message and selecting the translate option. This one could prove pretty handy.

Next, we’ve all been there when group messages get busy – it can be a constant onslaught of new items to read, and other messages or items shared can get lost in the mix. Instagram has a fix, well, at least one that could help, as you can now pin up to three messages to the top of an individual or a group chat. So, if you’re planning a weekend trip with friends, you can get the essential details up top.

Considering Instagram already integrates music into Stories and lets you share an adorable vinyl record spinning with artwork, it was only a matter of time before this feature arrived in messages. The result is that you can share your favorite tracks with your friends in a one-person or group message and listen to the track simultaneously.

You also don’t need to navigate out to Apple Music or Spotify to find the track as you can search for your favorite songs right in-line from a new pop-up menu. It’s similar to picking a track to share on Stories or as backing music for a Reel. Instagram actually partnered with JENNIE and Doechii to unveil this feature.

(Image credit: Instagram)

All of this stacks up to make messaging in DMs a bit more seamless but also to keep you more within Instagram rather than navigating out to other apps. Additionally, Instagram also now lets you generate a QR code so another user can easily join a group chat by just scanning it.

Let us know what your favorite feature of this Instagram DM drop is in the comments below, but in the meantime, I’m going to share some new music in a DM with my friends.

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• Six rack-mounted servers arrive in Q1 2025, while the Synergy 480 blade and DL580 quad-socket in Q3 2025
• Offers up to 288 cores, 8TB DDR5 memory, and PCIe Gen5
• HPE introduces quantum-resistant encryption

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has unveiled its latest ProLiant Compute Gen12 portfolio, introducing eight new servers powered by Intel Xeon 6 processors.

This marks a departure from previous generations that offered AMD EPYC alternatives, and HPE says the new lineup with faster DDR5 configurations can provide up to 65% annual power savings, thanks to its AI-driven optimizations and fanless Direct Liquid Cooling (DLC) architecture which reduces cooling power consumption by up to 90%.

The ProLiant Gen12 portfolio integrates quantum-resistant encryption to guard against cryptographic threats while HPE iLO 7 offers independent hardware-based protection for sensitive credentials, such as encryption keys and system passwords.

Expanding the ProLiant lineup

The ProLiant Gen12 series includes six rack-mounted servers, a blade server, and a high-performance quad-processor system.

Among them, the DL380 (2U) and DL360 (1U) provide dual-socket configurations, supporting up to 288 cores, 8TB of DDR5 memory, and PCIe Gen5 expansion. These models cater to enterprises requiring scalable compute power for AI, cloud, and virtualization workloads.

For businesses seeking cost-effective single-socket solutions, the DL320 and DL340 offer targeted performance benefits. The DL320, a 1U server, supports up to 144 cores, 2TB of DDR5 memory, and PCIe Gen5 expansion, making it ideal for virtualization while the DL340, a 2U server, is optimized for AI-driven cloud computing with support for up to 8TB of DDR5 memory and PCIe Gen5 connectivity.

Designed for SMBs and edge computing, the ML350 tower server offers up to 8TB of DDR5 memory and multiple PCIe Gen5 slots. Meanwhile, the DL380a, a 2U rack server, is built for intensive workloads, supporting up to 16 single-wide or 8 double-wide GPUs.

HPE plans to release the six rack-mounted servers in Q1 2025, while the Synergy 480 blade server and the high-performance DL580 quad-processor system will launch this summer, available as standalone units or through HPE GreenLake.

“Our customers are tackling workloads that are overwhelmingly data-intensive and growing ever-more demanding,” said Krista Satterthwaite, senior vice president and general manager, Compute at HPE.

“The new HPE ProLiant Compute Gen12 servers give organizations – spanning public sector, enterprise and vertical industries like finance, healthcare and more – the horsepower and management insights they need to thrive while balancing their sustainability goals and managing costs," she added.

"This is a modern enterprise platform engineered for the hybrid world, designed with innovative security and control capabilities to help companies prevail over the evolving threat landscape and performance challenges that their legacy hardware cannot address."

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Seven Chilean men face federal charges related to a string of burglaries at the homes of six high-profile athletes. NFL quarterbacks Pat Mahomes and Joe Burrows were among the targets.

(Image credit: Justice Department)

Back when the iPhone SE was still a thing, it was well understood that "SE" stood for "Special Edition," but applying that logic to the iPhone 16e, which Apple announced on February 19, makes no sense. That would make it the "iPhone 16 Edition".

That "e," though, must stand for something.

Apple isn't talking about it. Trust me, I asked. However, a little research reveals that Apple has used the "e" a couple of times before. There was 2002's eMac, where "e" stood for "education." Such a nomenclature made the product's intention clear. Apple wanted schools to adopt this cheaper, boxy, candy-colored computer. I don't think they were very successful.

Twenty years before that, Apple sold the Apple IIe, where the "e" on its second-generation and rather popular personal desktop PC stood for "Enhanced."

As far as I can tell, those are the only other times Apple applied an "e" to a product name. However, the iPhone 16e is neither an "education" smartphone nor exactly an "enhanced" model.

There are other ideas that I think, upon reflection, make some sense, but first, we have to step back and ask why this new 5G, 128GB, 6.1-inch super Retina XDR-sporting phone is not called the iPhone SE 4.

What does 'e' mean to you?

Clearly, with its wealth of updates, including a more powerful rear camera (48MP fusion), the A18 chip that supports Apple Intelligence, Face ID, wireless charging, and the Action Button, this is nothing like any SE model. It has far more in common with all the other iPhone 16 models. The notch, instead of a Dynamic Island, is odd and feels like a throwback but otherwise, the iPhone 16e feels like part of the new family.

But those differences, like the notch, lack of MagSafe support, and the missing Camera Control, also make it distinctive.

Perhaps you'd accept that some of those missing attributes might not be core to the iPhone 16 experience (is the Camera Control necessary?) and, on balance, you might consider this $599 phone "exciting" because it's comparatively affordable while still providing the "essential" iPhone 16 "experience".

I think you get where I'm going. If I had to guess, I'd say that Apple is being a little "enigmatic" and using a handful of "e" words to define this model. That's not necessarily a bad thing since it means the "e" in iPhone 16e can mean what you want it to mean.

I do think Apple missed an opportunity here. This is the first and only iPhone 16 with the new C1 cellular modem. The introduction of this piece of Apple Silicon is a huge deal and kind of makes the new phone special or "Special." Why Apple didn't name this the iPhone 16s is beyond me.

This might not have been the answer you were looking for, but I think it's the one we've got. I hope everyone is okay with that.

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The iPhone 16e starts at $599, which is nearly $200 more than the iPhone SE it just replaced.

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Germany's economy boomed as the world underwent globalization. But since then, too little investment, too much bureaucracy and a nearby war in Ukraine has cause Europe's largest economy to stagnate. The issue has played a big role in the upcoming German election. Our Berlin correspondent tells takes us to a German factory.

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Hurricane, who was a Special Operations Canine for the Secret Service, became the most decorated dog in U.S. history. He died this week at the age of 16.

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SpaceX engineers were said to be simply touring the Federal Aviation Administration on Monday. In fact, some were already being onboarded at the agency under a policy designed to increase “employment opportunities for people with disabilities.”