Threads hits 100 million users

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July 10, 2023 View online 1/ Instagram Threads hits 100 million users, becoming easily the fastest growing app ever Threads app has reached 100 million users, making it easily the fastest growing app ever. The site reached the number early on Monday morning, according to a tracker that looks at the numbers that are made public on each Threads account. The previous fastest growing app was OpenAI's ChatGPT. But it took that site two months to reach 100 million users.   Threads, which was released late on Wednesday, has taken only a few days to reach the same number. Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has released a number of updates throughout those days, saying that the growth was "way beyond our expectations": it hit two million in two hours, and ten million in seven hours, he had said. Twitter had 229 million monthly active users in May 2022, according to a statement made before Elon Musk bought it late last year, while more recent data from Statista puts the figure at 436 million. 2/ Biden hails 'rock-solid' US-UK relationship at Downing Street talks with Sunak President praised close ties between the two countries during UK visit with prime minister and King Charles 3/ Disgraced USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar almost killed after prison stabbing Convicted sex abuser assaulted in federal prison in Florida 4/ Trans youth and families condemn 'heartbreaking' Tennessee court ruling against gender-affirming care Judges uphold ban on gender-affirming care, dismissing wave of other court rulings in five states 5/ Philadelphia gunman killed first victim two days before mass shooting, authorities say Kimbrady Carriker charged with five counts of murder, attempted murder, reckless endangerment and firearms charges THE BIG QUESTION How many casualties has Russia suffered in Ukraine? Establishing accurate data on the number of military casualties sustained since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February 2022 is difficult for two reasons. The severity of the fighting on the ground and the fact that both sides are inclined to keep their cards close to their chests to avoid damaging morale – especially at a time when the war is entering a pivotal new stage.   The Kremlin, in particular, is unlikely to admit to high fatality rates among its troops because to do so would amount to a confession that Vladimir Putin's spurious war to "de-Nazify" Russia's neighbour state is not going according to plan and, in fact, represents a monumental miscalculation on the part of its leader, who is already under pressure at home over the attempted uprising by Wagner Group mercenaries.   Moscow is more likely to downplay its own (rarely offered) numbers and accuse its enemies of dishonestly briefing against it whenever outside estimates are offered that imply significant Russian losses. 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