They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but one can only imagine the reaction of Twitter chief executive Elon Musk to the launch of tech rival Mark Zuckerberg’s Threads on Thursday. As well as producing a copycat text-based public conversation app, the audacious move included co-opting Twitter’s ubiquitous @ sign as its logo and taking “threads” – another Twitter-related term – as its name. As a statement of intent, it’s as bold as it gets.
But the million-dollar question (or in Mr Musk’s case, $44-billion question) is this: are we seeing a genuine Twitter-killer emerging or will it be another flash in the pan from Mr Zuckerberg, who has yet to see his much-hyped metaverse project take off? So far, things look promising for the Meta chief executive. Users are flocking to sign up – seven hours after its launch, Threads reportedly gained 10 million users – that’s close to 24,000 a minute.
A large section of 21st-century humanity wants to have a real-time conversation with itself – hence the importance of platforms such as Twitter or Threads. The anguish that went with Twitter’s recent travails shows there is still a huge market for people who want to talk, argue, share, criticise, collaborate and inform. This is not always pretty, but for many people – and opinion makers in particular – Twitter is an invaluable tool for following breaking news, sharing views or content, or simply taking the pulse of what was happening in the world on any given day.
But it is no secret that Twitter lost users since it began an erratic and unpredictable journey with its mercurial new owner last October. The frustration that greeted Mr Musk’s latest idiosyncrasy – restricting the number of tweets his users could read due to ill-defined data scraping and manipulation claims – was just the latest in a long line of disappointments for Twitter users. The brand has received a pummelling, and the rollercoaster ride that Mr Musk has taken Twitter on as a business – including mass layoffs – has also led to an advertising squeeze; a 40 per cent drop in revenue was reported in January.
It is arguable that Mr Zuckerberg sensed a moment of weakness and struck with his Threads spoiler, possibly even before it was quite ready. Some new arrivals to Threads have their gripes: users are seeing content from unfollowed threads, posts cannot be edited, gifs cannot be uploaded, profile names have to be taken from their Instagram account and multiple links cannot be posted. If these teething problems are ironed out, it could elevate Threads above Twitter, overtaking more modest attempts at provide an alternative, such as Mastodon and BlueSky – the invite-only service from Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey.
Threads also holds out the intriguing possibility of a fresh start from the toxicity and trolling that characterised a lot of interactions on Twitter. Mr Zuckerberg has said his goal “is to keep it friendly as it expands” and a function whereby Threads users can hide certain words could help people exercise more control over what they see. It is also currently free from ads, and Meta’s considerable technical know-how – the reliability of its WhatsApp messaging service is a good example – also gives Threads an edge that a misfiring Twitter and other rivals currently lack.
Ultimately, users will decide Threads’ fate, and the market will react appropriately. Only time will tell if over-stretched users of social media want to follow yet another unfamiliar platform, and many people will have spent years on Twitter, which – for good or ill – has elbowed its way into the centre of online culture and real-time conversations. Claims about Twitter’s imminent demise have surfaced before and, for now, many still consider a presence there to be indispensable. But there is a new and significant challenger to contend with. The winner of this fight will exercise great power over people’s online conversations and information sharing, and this will be something those who tweet or thread will have to contend with.
Mental%20health%20support%20in%20the%20UAE
%3Cp%3E%E2%97%8F%20Estijaba%20helpline%3A%208001717%3Cbr%3E%E2%97%8F%20UAE%20Ministry%20of%20Health%20and%20Prevention%20hotline%3A%20045192519%3Cbr%3E%E2%97%8F%20UAE%20Mental%20health%20support%20line%3A%20800%204673%20(Hope)%3Cbr%3EMore%20information%20at%20hope.hw.gov.ae%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
Cricket World Cup League Two
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Fixtures
Wednesday January 8 –Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 – Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 – UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
Green ambitions
- Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
- Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
- Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
- Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water
PRO BASH
Thursday’s fixtures
6pm: Hyderabad Nawabs v Pakhtoon Warriors
10pm: Lahore Sikandars v Pakhtoon Blasters
Teams
Chennai Knights, Lahore Sikandars, Pakhtoon Blasters, Abu Dhabi Stars, Abu Dhabi Dragons, Pakhtoon Warriors and Hyderabad Nawabs.
Squad rules
All teams consist of 15-player squads that include those contracted in the diamond (3), platinum (2) and gold (2) categories, plus eight free to sign team members.
Tournament rules
The matches are of 25 over-a-side with an 8-over power play in which only two fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle. Teams play in a single round robin league followed by the semi-finals and final. The league toppers will feature in the semi-final eliminator.
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
More on Turkey's Syria offence
Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
