Threads app signs up 100m users in less than a week
Threads, the social media app aimed at rivaling Twitter, has signed up more than 100 million users in less than five days, according to new data.
It means Threads, launched by Instagram owner Meta, has beat a record set by Open AI's ChatGPT app.
Threads went live on Apple and Android app stores in 100 countries last Wednesday.
It not available in Europe due to the EU's data privacy legislation.
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Meta, which also owns Facebook, said the app had 10 million users within the first seven hours of launch and more than 30 million by Thursday morning.
Around 24 hours later, that figure had more than doubled.
At 100 million, according to figures from data platform Quiver Quantitative, Threads' base stands at less than a third of the 350 million regular users that Twitter is believed to have.
Some Twitter users have become disenchanted since billionaire Elon Musk took over. Thousands of jobs have been cut under his ownership and he has announced a number of changes to help generate revenue at Twitter.
Other rivals have emerged like Mastodon and Bluesky but have struggled without an existing user base. Threads has capitalised on being linked to Instagram which has more than one billion accounts.
Source- BBC
BBC bosses set to meet police today after presenter who ‘paid teen for sexual pictures’ is suspended
A scandal has now erupted at the BBC, with the presenter suspended and an urgent investigation launched.
The broadcaster confirmed bosses will meet with the Met Police later today to decide whether or not the unnamed presenter has broken the law.
He could face charges of causing or inciting sexual exploitation of a child under the Sexual Offences Act, which carries a maximum 14-year sentence.
The presenter could also be charged with making or possessing indecent images, which has a maximum tariff of ten years.
Under the law, a child counts as someone aged under 18 even if the content was created with their consent.
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk also confirmed talks would be taking place as he suggested a further probe is needed into how the BBC handled the allegations.
Speaking to Sky News, he said: "These are very serious and concerning allegations. You ask me as a parent - I would be extremely concerned about that.
"I think in fairness, I don't know precisely what was said and at what time, but certainly you would expect allegations of that nature to be dealt with very robustly and promptly.
"I think what we are now seeing today… and I understand there is going to be a meeting with the police, and that is absolutely right.
"And it may be that in the fullness of time, there will need to be an investigation about how this allegation was handled. That is quite possible.
"But right now I think it is important, in the interest of that victim, of that complainant, that this is dealt with as quickly and fairly and robustly as possible."
It comes after Scotland Yard yesterday confirmed they had been contacted by the BBC but no formal report has been made.
A spokesperson added: "We will require additional information before determining what further action should follow."
The Sun exclusively revealed the presenter was taken off air after he allegedly paid the youngster over £35,000 when they were 17.
The mum told how the teenager used the man’s alleged funds to feed a drug addiction.
She said they had gone from a “happy-go-lucky youngster to a ghost-like crack addict” in just three years.
In an interview with The Sun on Sunday, she also claimed the family complained in May but became frustrated that the star was still on air a month later.
The family has since handed a dossier of evidence to the broadcaster’s lead investigator, ex-cop Jeff Brown.
The Government is now demanding answers from BBC chief Tim Davie as the scandal deepens.
Former Culture Minister Damian Collins said: “I think the concern will be that this was raised by the family in May this year, but what happened when the complaint was initially raised?
“Why didn’t they do something sooner, I think is a fair challenge to the BBC.”
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer sat down with Mr. Davie and said she was promised the firm was "investigating swiftly".
The chief later sent an email to staff saying he was taking the allegations "incredibly seriously".
Source- The Sun
Commonwealth Games: Broadbell produce world-leading 12.94 seconds in 110m hurdles
COMMONWEALTH Games gold medallist Rasheed Broadbell produced a personal best and world-leading 12.94 seconds (0.7m/s) to win the 110m hurdles in a stirring battle with Olympic champion Hansle Parchment during the Jamaica Athletics Administrative, Association (JAAA) National Championships at the National Stadium on Sunday.
Parchment was second with 13.12 and Orlando Bennett third in 13.19 — both season's best runs.
Broadbell's scintillating run bettered American Cordell Tinch's previous world lead of 12.96. It also broke the Jamaican's previous best of 12.99 set last year. A day earlier, Broadbill had run his season's best 13.06.
Jackson sizzle on the final day of national championships
Shericka Jackson served notice she is ready for the World Athletics Championships just over a month after she completed a fine sprint double, winning the women's 200m in a world-leading 21.71 seconds (-0.5m/s).
It was Jackson's second world leader of the weekend after her personal best of 10.65 to win the 100m on Friday.
Jackson took charge of the race off the curve and powered her way home, beating her previous season's best of 21.98 seconds and Julien Alfred's previous world lead of 21.91.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce ran a season's best 22.26, beating the 22.39 she ran in Saturday's semi-finals, while Lanae-tava Thomas was third in 22.55.
Andrew Hudson retained his men's 200m title, running a season's best 20.11 (-0.2m/s) and beating Rasheed Dwyer (20.26). Tyquendo Tracey was third with a season's best 20.48.
Yohan Blake, the second-fastest man of all time over the distance, was fourth in 20.51. He will miss the World Championships.
Olympic Games women's 100m hurdles bronze medallist Megan Tapper produced a solid display of hurdling as she got off to a flying start and held off NCAA champion Ackera Nugent.
Tapper, who had run a lifetime best 12.44 in Saturday's semi-finals, won with 12.64 (-1.9m/s). Nugent clocked 12.67, while former World Champion Danielle Williams snatched the third spot with 12.82.
Sean Bailey won the highly anticipated battle with Antonio Watson to take his second national men's 400m title, running 44.48 — just off his personal best of 44.43 set earlier this season.
Watson lowered his personal best for the second time in just over a month, clocking 44.54 to take second place. Jevaughn Powell was third with 45.19.
Powell is yet to achieve the World Championships qualifying mark of 45.00 seconds, which could lead to Zandrion Barnes, who finished sixth, getting the nod along with Bailey and Watson for spots on the team to Hungary.
Bailey said while he was satisfied with the victory, there are things to fix.
"I haven't felt like myself throughout the rounds," he told the Jamaica Observer.
"I just talked to my coach about it and fixed it in the finals. I felt great the first 100 meters so I'm like, 'Okay, let me just relax.' I know Antonio Watson's a great finisher so I just wanted to have something to come home with because I know he'd be finishing strong," Bailey said.
Nickesha Pryce won her first women's title as she held off the hard-charging Janieve Russell, the 400m hurdles champion, to win in a new personal best of 50.21.
Russell also lowered her lifetime best to 50.76 while last year's champion, Candice McLeod, was third in 51.01.
Rajay Hamilton won his first national title, securing the men's 800m in 1:47.28 minutes while beating last year's champion and national record holder Navasky Anderson (1:47.67). Tyrese Reid was third in 1:48.45.
Natoya Goule-Toppin won her ninth national championships, clocking 1:58.89 and finishing comfortably ahead of Adelle Tracey who was second in a season's best 2:01.11. Jessica McLean was third in 2:05.76.
Elvis Graham won the men's javelin throw with 74.19m, finishing ahead of Zaavan Richards (70.91m) and Devon Spencer (65.78m).
Source- JamaicaObserver
New Lotus Emira: Mercedes-AMG four-cylinder version to debut at Goodwood
It’s Lotus’ 75th anniversary this year and the firm will have quite the presence at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed with Evija, Eletre and Emira all in attendance - the latter will also be shown off in four-cylinder guise for the first time.
Lotus says customer deliveries of the four-cylinder Lotus Emira will begin later this year, the new version joining the existing V6 model. With a mid-engined, rear-wheel drive setup the Emira goes up against the likes of the Alpine A110 and the Porsche Cayman in the sports car segment.
“It’s a bespoke rear-wheel drive variant of the transmission developed by Lotus in collaboration with AMG. On top of that, the gearshift strategy has been defined by the Hethel team as part of the car’s performance attributes. It is unique to the Emira,” explains Gavis Kershaw, director of Attributes & Product Integrity and long-standing chassis guru at Lotus.
Features such as 20-inch lightweight forged wheels with three colour options, 12-way adjustable heated seats, rear parking sensors, climate control, cruise control, keyless start and selectable drive modes are standard. There is also Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity along with a premium audio system.
First Edition buyers also receive three option packs thrown in, including the Driver’s Pack, which gives customers the choice of two suspension options and tyre choices. Softer Tour suspension comes with Goodyear Eagle F1 Supersport tyres, while the Sport suspension option comes with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres.
The standard-fit Design Pack adds privacy glass, Alcantara headlining and a choice of brake calliper colour, plus Lotus-branded mats. The Convenience pack adds front parking sensors, a reversing camera, rain-sensing wipers and auto-dimming mirrors. Options include the £1200 Black pack which brings lots of black detailing and a £1,800 six-speed paddle-shift automatic gearbox for the V6 model.
Customers are also offered seven no-cost interior colour choices with either Nappa leather or black Alcantara (the latter with different coloured stitching). Six exterior paint colours are available, with more to be added throughout 2022.
The First Edition models will eventually make way for ‘entry-level’ models using both engines. Lotus has already confirmed a starting price of £59,995 for the four-cylinder, although we’ve seen prices for the Emira shoot up since that announcement was made.
The V6 version of the Emira is powered by a supercharged version of Toyota’s 2GR-FE 3.5-litre V6 engine, which produces 395bhp and 420Nm of torque. That torque figure rises to 430Nm in the automatic version.
Lotus says this is enough for a 0-62mph time of 4.3 seconds, or 4.2 seconds with the automatic model. The top speed is 180mph, while power goes through the rear wheels in all versions.
Joining the 3.5-litre V6 version of the Emira, the four-cylinder version of the brand’s last ever combustion car uses the same 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine as the Mercedes-AMG A 45 hot hatch. In the Lotus, it develops 360bhp, a little down on the output of the A 45. Drive goes to the rear wheels via an eight-speed DCT automatic gearbox with paddle shifters mounted on the steering wheel.
Performance figures have not been confirmed, but the four-cylinder model will almost certainly be lighter, certainly so compared with the automatic version of the supercharged V6 car, and its power deficit stands at only 25bhp.
More can come from this Mercedes engine - it develops up to 415bhp in the ‘S’ version of the current A 45 super hatch. As such, it could eventually supersede the V6 as the most powerful option.
Source- AutoExpress
July 3rd was officially the hottest day ever recorded globally
The entire planet sweltered to the unofficial hottest day in human recordkeeping on July 3, according to University of Maine scientists at the Climate Reanalyzer project.
High-temperature records were surpassed on July 3 and 4 in Quebec and northwestern Canada and Peru. Cities across the U.S. from Medford, Oregon to Tampa, Florida have been hovering at all-time highs, said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Beijing reported 9 straight days last week when the temperature exceeded 35 C (95 F).
This global record is preliminary, pending approval from gold-standard climate measurement entities like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. But it is an indication that climate change is reaching uncharted territory. It legitimately captures global-scale heating and NOAA will take these figures into consideration when it does its official record calculations, said Deke Arndt, director of the National Center for Environmental Information, a division of NOAA.
“In the climate assessment community, I don’t think we’d assign the kind of gravitas to a single day observation as we would a month or a year,’’ Arndt said. Scientists generally use much longer measurements — months, years, decades — to track the Earth’s warming. In addition, this preliminary record for the hottest day is based on data that only goes back to 1979, the start of satellite record-keeping, whereas NOAA’s data goes back to 1880.
But Arndt added that we wouldn’t be seeing anywhere near record-warm days unless we were in “a warm piece of what will likely be a very warm era” driven by greenhouse gas emissions and the onset of a “robust” El Nino. An El Nino is a temporary natural warming of parts of the central Pacific Ocean that changes weather worldwide and generally makes the planet hotter.
Human-caused climate change is like an upward escalator for global temperatures, and El Nino is like jumping up while standing on that escalator, Arndt said.
The global daily average temperature for July 3 came in at 17.01 degrees Celsius or 62.6 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer, a common tool often used by climate scientists for a good glimpse of the world’s condition. The analyzer is based on a NOAA computer simulation intended for forecasts that use satellite data. It is not based on reported observations from the ground. So this unofficial record is effectively using a weather tool that is designed for forecasts, not record-keeping.
This average temperature may not seem that hot, but it’s the first time in the 44 years of this dataset that the temperature surpassed the 17-degree Celsius mark.
Hotter global average temperatures translate into brutal conditions for people all over the world. In the U.S., heat advisories are in effect this week for more than 30 million people in places including portions of western Oregon, inland far northern California, central New Mexico, Texas, Florida, and the coastal Carolinas, according to the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center. Excessive heat warnings are continuing across southern Arizona and California, they said.
Source- Fortune
Murder Investigation Launched
The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force are investigating the circumstances that led to
the murder of a male victim earlier today (Wednesday 05 th July 2023).
Based on preliminary information a call was placed to the Police Control Room at around 1:24
a.m. indicating that the lifeless body of a male was laying on the ground, at a location in Five
Cays, Providenciales.
When officers arrived they saw the decapitated body of a male.
A few hours later, at around 7:45 a.m., officers received further information and went to an area
known as Club Med in Five Cays, where they discovered the head of a male victim.
The RTCIPF can confirm the body is that of DESMOND ARTHUR.
ARTHUR, 48, aka PIE and GOMER resided in Five Cays and was last seen around 11 p.m.
yesterday (Tuesday 04th July).
Specialist-trained officers of the RTCIPF are supporting his family through this traumatic loss.
Head of Crime, Safeguarding, and Public Protection Superintendent Dean Holden said: “Whilst
we have no definitive motive at this time, we remain open-minded. However, a key line of
inquiry is whether this could have been some form of retribution as a result of the victim's
apparent involvement in local crime.
“We are also aware of apparent footage on social media of the victim’s body. The circulation of
such imagery is appalling and demonstrates a complete lack of respect for the victim's family
and friends. I am urging people not to view, share, or continue to post any material of this
nature.
“Should you have any information which can assist in the advancement of this investigation,
kindly contact the nearest police station, 911, or TCI Crime Stoppers at 1-800-8477 and give any
information on this incident or any other illegal activity anonymously”.
TCI'S THURSDAY AND FRIDAY WEATHER FORECAST
FORECAST FOR THURSDAY
WEATHER: PARTLY SUNNY, HOT, AND A BIT BREEZY WITH ISOLATED SHOWERS POSSIBLE.
WINDS: EAST TO SOUTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS
SEAS: 4 TO 6 FEET
SUNRISE: 6:11 AM
SUNSET: 7:35 PM
HIGH TIDE: 10:13 AM (2.3 FT) 10:52 PM (3.0 FT)
LOW TIDE: 04:30 AM (0.7 FT) 04:26 PM (0.3 FT)
FORECAST FOR FRIDAY
WEATHER: PARTLY SUNNY, HOT, AND A BIT BREEZY.
WINDS: EAST TO SOUTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS
SEAS: 4 TO 6 FEET
SUNRISE: 6:11 AM
SUNSET: 7:35 PM
HIGH TIDE: 11:09 AM (2.3 FT) 11:43 PM (2.6 FT)
LOW TIDE: 05:18 AM (0.7 FT) 05:22 PM (0.7 FT)
TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK: TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS.
‘Generations Of Haitians’ At Risk
In Port-au-Prince on Saturday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed solidarity with the Haitian people “facing a terrible and mutually reinforcing cycle of… crises”, and urged the deployment of an international force to assist the National Police in combating gang violence.
The UN chief expressed deep concern at the extreme vulnerability faced by the Haitian people – especially women and girls – because of brutally violent and “predatory” armed gangs, like those encircling the capital, blocking main roads, and controlling access to water, food, and health care.
“I condemn in the strongest possible terms the widespread sexual violence which the armed gangs have used as a weapon to instill fear,” he said, calling on the entire international community to urgently “put the victims and the civilian population at the center of our concerns and priorities.”
Speaking to reporters in the Haitian capital, Mr. Guterres said that lasting and fully representative political solutions in Haiti would be impossible without a drastic improvement in the security situation.
“Every day counts. If we do not act now, instability and violence will have a lasting impact on generations of Haitians,” warned the Secretary-General, calling on all partners to increase their support for the national police through financing, training, or equipment.
However, such assistance alone might not be enough to restore the authority of the State.
“I continue to urge the Security Council to authorize the immediate deployment of a robust international force to assist the Haitian National Police in its fight against the gangs,” emphasized the UN chief.
During his one-day visit to the Haitian capital, the Secretary-General met with Prime Minister Ariel Henry, the High Transitional Council, members of civil society, and the political parties, speaking to them on the need for a political entente to end the crisis.
“I call on all actors to create the conditions necessary for the restoration of democratic institutions,” said Mr. Guterres, inviting all parties involved to “rise above personal interests and make concessions” enabling the emergence of a common vision and setting a viable and credible electoral pathway.
He commended the recent inter-Haitian talks, facilitated by the CARICOM Eminent Persons Group, aimed at reaching an agreement on the formation of a national unity government and the expansion of the High Transitional Council.
“Only an inclusive national dialogue – with the full participation of women and young people – will help end the insecurity and find lasting political solutions,” Mr. Guterres said and added that the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the entire UN system would continue to back these efforts.
While in Port-au-Prince, the Secretary-General met local men and women.
“I felt all the exhaustion of a people who have long been grappling with a cascade of crises and unacceptable living conditions. I listened to their call for help,” said the UN chief, noting that currently, one in two Haitians lives in extreme poverty, suffers from hunger, and does not have regular access to drinking water.
With the Haitian people facing such grave challenges, the Secretary-General lamented that the UN humanitarian response plan, which requires $720 million to assist more than three million people, is only 23 percent funded.
It is “a matter of solidarity and moral justice” that the international community step up, he stated.
He specially commended the courage and dedication of humanitarian workers who provide assistance despite many obstacles and asked all stakeholders to uphold human rights and international law and to ensure safe and unhindered humanitarian access to people in need in Haiti.
Only inclusive and sustainable development will help to break the historical cycle of crises, address the humanitarian and security challenges, and create a stable constitutional and political environment, stated the UN chief.
“No solution can be found without the Haitian people,” he continued but acknowledged that the scale of the problems demands the full support of the international community.
To garner that and more, the Secretary-General said that he is heading on Sunday to Trinidad and Tobago, where he will participate in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Summit, which brings together the region’s 20 countries, among others.
Source- Caribbean News Now
Twitter began to restrict how many tweets its users could read
Elon Musk tweeted that unverified users could read 1,000 tweets, and verified users 10,000 per day.
People began to share screengrabs of messages that they'd "exceeded" their daily allowance of tweets.
Elon Musk was doing something that seems unfathomable for a social media company - he was limiting user activity.
The move has baffled advertising executives.
However, this is part of a much longer game that Elon Musk is playing - a battle with AI companies.
Let's first start off with how Twitter actually makes money. The vast majority of its revenue comes from advertising, just like Meta and Google.
When users go onto the platform, they're served ads. The more time they spend on Twitter, the more ads they see. The equation is pretty simple. That's the business.
However, Elon Musk has traditionally eschewed advertising. Tesla famously doesn't do ads.
In 2019 he tweeted "I hate advertising".
And yet he's bought a company that is totally reliant on it.
So, Elon Musk is desperate to generate different revenue streams.
This is not just a business decision. He believes that advertisers hold too much power over social media companies when it comes to moderation.
Advertisers can, and have, pulled their money from Twitter.
Advertisers don't want their ads placed next to racist or extremist content. And so Twitter's main revenue stream also has an influence over how much "free speech" is allowed on the platform.
Mr. Musk told me in April that "most" of the advertisers had returned after initially pausing their ads from Twitter after his takeover.
However, Mr. Musk has another plan to turn Twitter into a profitable company.
He wants Twitter to make money out of the vast amount of data it holds.
Platforms like Twitter and Reddit hold a treasure trove of hundreds of billions of real human conversations - an incredible resource for AI companies.
Large language models (LLMs), can learn from these interactions, and work out how to respond to questions in more human-like ways.
But platforms like Twitter and Reddit want to be paid for the use of their data in this way.
In April, Reddit's chief executive Steve Huffman told the New York Times that he was unhappy with what AI companies were doing.
"The Reddit corpus of data is really valuable," he said. "But we don't need to give all of that value to some of the largest companies in the world for free."
At around the same time, Elon Musk said that Microsoft was "ripping off the Twitter database, demonetizing it (removing ads), and then selling our data to others".
On Saturday it became clear how frustrated Mr Musk was getting.
"We were getting data pillaged," he said.
"Almost every company doing AI, from start-ups to some of the biggest corporations on Earth, was scraping vast amounts of data," he said.
And so, by restricting usage, Elon Musk is hoping to prevent its data from being pulled into LLMs. He wants to negotiate with AI companies and get paid for the content that they take.
Source- BBC
Tesla delivers record number of cars
Electric carmaker Tesla says it delivered a record number of vehicles in the three months to the end of June, after cutting prices to boost sales.
It has lowered prices in markets including the US, UK, and China to compete with rival manufacturers.
This weekend, major Chinese car makers also reported a surge in sales in June.
Earlier this year, Tesla boss Elon Musk said he believed pursuing higher sales, with lower profits, was the "right choice" for the company.
On Sunday, Tesla said it delivered 466,140 vehicles in the second quarter, which was more than 80% higher than a year earlier.
Meanwhile, the company said it had increased vehicle production to nearly 480,000 in the same period.
"Tesla has made a strategic choice to be a volume manufacturer," Bill Russo, the founder and chief executive of advisory firm Automobility, told the BBC.
"This was the main contributor to the sales increase, as its mainly higher-volume Model 3 and Model Y benefitted from the price war," he added.
Dan Ives from investment firm Wedbush Securities told the BBC that "the price cuts in China have been a smart poker move that was massively successful for Tesla".
China is Tesla's second-largest market after North America.
The firm has been cutting prices in the world's second-largest economy, where it faces competition from local electric car makers.
Over the weekend, Beijing-based Li-Auto said its deliveries had hit an all-time high of 32,575 in June, marking its third consecutive monthly sales record.
Meanwhile, deliveries by Shanghai-based Nio and Guangzhou-based Xpeng jumped to 10,707 and 8,620 respectively during the month.
Tesla has also been grappling with increased competition in other parts of the world, and the impact of higher borrowing costs for customers.
It has responded by cutting prices this year.
In April, Tesla said it had no plans to stabilize the prices of its vehicles, even though repeated price cuts had dented profits.
"We're not 'starting a price war', we're just lowering prices to enable affordability at scale," Mr. Musk wrote on his social media platform, Twitter.
At the time Tesla said that its overall revenue had risen by almost a quarter in the first quarter from a year ago, as car sales increased.
However, its profit for the same period dropped by 24%, because of price cuts and higher costs of raw materials and other commodities.
The company is due to report its financial results for the second quarter on 19 July.
Source- BBC