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Meta’s Threads racked up more than 30 million sign-ups within about 18 hours of its launch, emerging as the first real threat to Elon Musk-owned Twitter, as it took advantage of its access to billions of Instagram users and a similar look to that of its rival.

Dubbed as the “Twitter-Killer,” Threads was the top free app on Apple’s App Store in the UK and the US on Thursday. Its arrival comes after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter’s Musk have traded barbs for months, even threatening to fight each other in a real-life mixed martial arts cage match in Las Vegas.

“The cage match has started, and Zuckerberg delivered a major blow. In many ways, it’s exactly what you’d expect from Meta: Stellar execution and an easy-to-navigate user interface,” Insider Intelligence principal analyst Jasmine Enberg said.

Twitter responded on Thursday by threatening to sue Meta, according to the publication Semafor, citing a letter delivered to Zuckerberg by a lawyer for Twitter.

Numerous competitors to Twitter have sprung up following Musk’s $44 billion purchase of the social media platform last year, which was followed by a series of chaotic decisions that have alienated both users and advertisers. Musk’s latest move involved limiting the number of tweets users can read per day.

Twitter’s stumbles make room for a well-funded competitor like Meta Platforms, analysts and experts said, particularly because of its access to Instagram users and its advertising strength.

“Meta’s release of Threads came at the perfect time to give it a fighting chance to unseat Twitter,” said Niklas Myhr, professor of marketing at Chapman University, referring to the turmoil at Twitter after it limited the number of tweets users can see.

“Threads will be off to a running start as it is built upon the Instagram platform with its massive user base and if users adopt Threads, advertisers will be following closely behind.”

Other competitors have found limited success. Mastodon, another Twitter-like app, has 1.7 million monthly active users, according to its website, while Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey-backed Bluesky has about 265,000 users.

Twitter had 229 million monthly active users in May 2022, according to a statement made before Musk’s buyout.

While Threads is a standalone app, users can log in using their Instagram credentials, which makes it an easy addition for Instagram’s more than 2 billion monthly active users.

Threads’ launch was clearly a first stab at a service as it currently lacks the bells and whistles of Twitter.

“There should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully we will,” Zuckerberg said on Threads, where he now has a million followers.

Threads does not have hashtags and keyword search functions, which means users cannot follow real-time events like on Twitter. It also does not yet have a direct messaging function and lacks a desktop version that certain users, such as business organizations, rely on.

Some users including tech reviewer Marques Brownlee posted about the need for a feed that only consists of the people one follows. Users currently have little control over the main feed.

Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino, who was hired by Musk in May to shore up advertiser confidence, said in tweet on Thursday that “everyone’s voice matters” on the app. “We’re often imitated — but the Twitter community can never be duplicated.”

Currently there are no ads on the Threads app and Zuckerberg said the company would only think about monetization once there was a clear path to 1 billion users.

Existing ad relationships from Instagram and Facebook should help Threads’ revenue, said Pinar Yildirim, associate professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

“Facebook is a less uncertain bet compared to Twitter and a bigger player in the ad market.”

Some analysts said Threads was reminiscent of Meta’s success in integrating crucial features of platforms such as Snapchat and TikTok in the case of Instagram’s Stories and Reels.

At least four brokerages raised their price target on Meta, whose shares have already more than doubled in value this year.

On Thursday, Meta shares were down 0.2% amid a broader market selloff, after rising 3% on Wednesday ahead of Threads’ launch.

The app is available in over 100 countries, but Bloomberg News reported that it won’t be launched in the European Union as of now as Meta works out how data sharing between the new platform and its Instagram app will be regulated.

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Judge HR rescues Yanks as ‘ghosts’ keep ball fair

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Judge HR rescues Yanks as 'ghosts' keep ball fair

NEW YORK — Cody Bellinger stood in the on-deck circle during the fourth inning Tuesday night — the ideal vantage point to follow the 100 mph fastball that Aaron Judge somehow launched from over a foot inside off the plate and into the sky down the left-field line in what was perhaps the most important swing of the New York Yankees‘ 2025 season.

Bellinger had just one wish: “I was just saying, ‘Hit the f—ing foul pole.'”

When it did, striking the pole three-quarters of the way to the top for a game-tying three-run homer against the Toronto Blue Jays, a path to survival cleared for the Yankees, who were facing elimination in Game 3 of the American League Division Series.

Finally, after being dominated the first two games and falling behind by five runs Tuesday, there was life. Soon after, for the first time all series, the Yankees took the lead on Jazz Chisholm Jr.‘s laser to right field in the fifth inning.

In the end, fueled by their first offensive explosion of the postseason and a crucial bullpen performance, the Yankees won 9-6 to force a Game 4 on Wednesday.

“You just never know with the wind if it’s going to push it foul and keep curving or not,” Judge said. “But I guess a couple ghosts out there in Monument Park helped kind of keep that fair.”

The Blue Jays had been 39-0 this season when leading by at least five runs. The Yankees had not won a playoff game after trailing by at least five runs since the 2010 AL Championship Series, and they became the fifth team in history to overcome a five-run deficit when facing elimination.

“It was just keep putting together at-bats,” Bellinger said. “Grinding away, chipping away. The confidence in this room is very high. We all believe in each other. Not an ideal start for us, obviously, but we got to pick each other up, and we did a good job of that today.”

The series shifted to the Bronx after two games in Toronto, but the script appeared nearly identical early. Outscored 23-8 at Rogers Centre, the Yankees fell behind 6-1 through 2½ innings Tuesday. Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. continued his superstar turn with his third home run of the series, a two-run blast in the first inning. All-Star Carlos Rodón lasted just 2⅓ innings, forcing New York’s bullpen to cover at least 20 outs.

The Yankees were reeling again.

But this time, they rebounded, tallying two runs in the third inning, three in the fourth on Judge’s power display, two more in the fifth and a final one in the sixth with help from two Toronto errors and Anthony Santander‘s errant diving attempt on a double by Bellinger.

Meanwhile, five Yankees relievers combined to toss 6⅔ scoreless innings. Devin Williams logged 1⅓ frames — the first time he has pitched more than one inning this season — to extend his scoreless streak to 12⅓ innings since Sept. 7. David Bednar followed to finish the job with a five-out save.

“They were awesome,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of the relievers. “Again, I don’t think any of them, hopefully, are overly taxed too, with the game tomorrow.”

On the other side, the Blue Jays used six relievers to cover 5⅓ innings after Shane Bieber exited with two outs in the third inning. Louis Varland, the second one summoned, was inserted by manager John Schneider to face Judge in the fourth inning. The hard-throwing right-hander got ahead 0-2 when he threw a pitch that he nor anybody else in the stadium thought Judge could hit over the wall and keep fair.

“It just shows he’s just unbelievable,” Chisholm said of Judge. “We all went over the video about 10 times in the dugout after he hit it. It was crazy.”

“You just never know with the wind if it’s going to push it foul and keep curving or not. But I guess a couple ghosts out there in Monument Park helped kind of keep that fair.”

Aaron Judge

The blast was the sixth of Judge’s career in potential elimination games, tying David Ortiz for the most in postseason history. The two-time AL MVP finished Tuesday’s contest 3-for-4 with a double and an intentional walk, pushing his playoff batting average to .500 and OPS to 1.304. Judge added two diving catches in right field and heads-up baserunning that led to a run in the third inning.

Heavily scrutinized for his October struggles in previous years, Judge is carrying the Yankees.

“It was a best-player-in-the-game type performance,” Boone said. “It was special when, obviously, needless to say, we’re backs against the wall and then some in a Game 3 situation.”

The Yankees will be in that position again in Game 4, their fourth elimination game in less than a week. They will have, on paper, the pitching edge with Cam Schlittler getting the start and the Blue Jays deploying a bullpen game with Varland as the opener.

The path to survive another day and force a winner-take-all Game 5 in Toronto on Friday is there.

“For us, it’s about living to fight another day, right?” Bellinger said. “That’s all you can really do in this game.”

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Prime Day-2 Green Deals: Greenworks electric mini-bike + tools, EGO equipment, Navee sale, Aventon e-bikes, and much more

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Prime Day-2 Green Deals: Greenworks electric mini-bike + tools, EGO equipment, Navee sale, Aventon e-bikes, and much more

It’s the second day of Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days event, and we’ve got another jam-packed edition of Green Deals for you, led by a rare price cut on the Greenworks 80V STEALTH Electric Mini-Bike to $1,440. Right behind it is a more sizeable collection of EGO electric tools and equipment getting discounts than we usually see at once, with the brand’s EGO Z6 52-inch Cordless Electric Zero-Turn Riding Lawn Mower coming with six 12.0Ah batteries at $5,600. There’s also Navee’s increased Autumn EV Sale savings starting from $266, and so much more waiting for you below – plus, all the other eco-friendly discounts we couldn’t stuff in here are available within our Prime Day Green Deals hub. And don’t forget to check out yesterday’s edition with the first-day favorites.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

Hop on Greenworks’ 80V STEALTH electric mini-bike with Bluetooth speakers and rare price cut to $1,440 for Prime Day

As part of its Prime Big Deal Days, Amazon is offering a rare price cut on the Greenworks 80V STEALTH Electric Mini Bike to $1,439.99 shipped. Normally sitting up at its full $1,800 price, discounts are pretty rare on this model, as opposed to the few but more frequent savings that hit its counterparts in the brand’s e-transportation series. We saw the price drop to its lowest to $1,349 in May, with the deal here coming in as the second-best rate that saves you $360 off the tag.

This is the most advanced of Greenworks’ e-transportation lineup, which all take advantage of the brand’s versatile and interchangeable batteries for power, letting you get more bang for your buck, especially when you have quite the arsenal of the brand’s tools. The Greenworks 80V STEALTH electric mini-bike is powered by the two included 8.0Ah batteries to carry you for up to 27 miles, only taking two hours to recharge thanks to the 8A dual-port charger. The stylish mini-bike frame houses a 1,000W brushless rear hub STEALTH motor (hence the name), which can top out at 20 MPH when in its Eco mode and up to 25 MPH when set to the Sport mode.

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Compared to the other e-bikes in the brand’s series, this model brings along a much larger list of additional features, like the front fork suspension, dual rear shock absorbers, 19-inch all-terrain tires, an integrated headlight and taillight with three settings, an IPX4 water-resistant build, a push-button start, 3-in-1 functionality (forward, neutral, reverse), integrated Bluetooth speakers, an LED screen, and more.

EGO riding lawn mower parked in garage with other tools hanging on wall

Prime Day drops 52-inch EGO Z6 cordless zero-turn riding mower with 6x 12.0Ah batteries to $5,600, more

As part of its ongoing Prime Big Deal Days, Amazon is offering up to 28% discounts on a collection of EGO Power+ lawn care equipment. One notable price cut during this event is on the newest EGO Z6 52-inch Cordless Electric Zero-Turn Riding Lawn Mower with six 12.0Ah batteries for $5,599.99 shipped. Normally going for $6,999 in full, the few discounts we’ve seen hit it over the year have taken the costs down as low as $5,499, which we last saw at the top of April. The deal here provides a 20% markdown off the going rate, slashing $1,399 off the tag for the third-lowest price we have tracked. You can also find a large number of other tools seeing discounts in the brand’s official storefront here, with the best of them collected together below.

If you want to learn more about this riding mower, as well as browse the other EGO tool discounts, be sure to check out our original coverage of these deals here.

man doing wheelie on navee st3 pro electric scooter

Navee’s Autumn Sale increases EV savings for Prime Day, with its flagship ST3 Pro dropping to $710, more

Navee’s ongoing Autumn EV Sale has increased savings on e-scooters for the week of Prime Day, complete with bonus savings and some free gear too. A notable price cut is coming to the brand’s flagship ST3 Pro Smart Electric Scooter for $709.99 shippedafter using the code AFF50 at checkout for an additional $50 off the price, with the first 30 orders also getting a free chain lock (a $49 value). This model released back in March and carries a $950 MSRP these days, which we’ve mostly seen discounted to $760 during most sales, though there have been falls as low as $685 and $660 in the past. While this event continues, you can score $240 off the going rate for the third-lowest price we have tracked, which also beats out its Amazon pricing by $50.

If you want to learn more about this scooter, either read our in-depth hands-on review or check out our original coverage of this and the other EV deals here.

woman riding Aventon Aventure 2 e-bike down beach
woman mowing lawn with greenworks 40V 21-inch cordless lawn mower
govee outdoor garden lights lighting up flower beds with color
lectric one e-bike
ecoflow early prime day power station sale
anker solix early prime day power station sale

Best Fall EV deals!

Best new Green Deals landing this week

The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.

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Politics

Poll shows crypto-focused candidates could sway voters in US midterms

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Poll shows crypto-focused candidates could sway voters in US midterms

Poll shows crypto-focused candidates could sway voters in US midterms

With more than a year until US elections to determine control of Congress, a new poll suggested some crypto-minded Democratic voters could be swayed to vote Republican.

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