The number of Twitter users is “tanking” following the release of rival app Threads, according to the head of an internet services company. Cloudflare chief executive Matthew Prince shared a graph showing an apparent decline in Twitter’s popularity following Elon Musk’s takeover of the social network late last year, with a steep drop appearing at the start of July when tech rival Mark Zuckerberg launched his text-based app. Separate figures from data intelligence platform Similarweb showed that traffic to Twitter was down 5 per cent in the first two full days that Threads was available, compared with the previous week, while user retention has also declined. In a report on the trend, Similarweb noted that the drop in user retention is “a bad sign for app user loyalty” for Twitter. The metric only accounts for people visiting Twitter’s website and not those using the app, with other measures suggesting the number of daily active users steadily increased in the nine months following Mr Musk’s takeover. Twitter does not publish up-to-date user data and did not respond to a request from The Independent for the latest figures. The launch of Threads last Thursday saw a record number of users flock to the app in its first few days, with Mr Zuckerberg revealing that the app had reached 100 million sign ups on Monday. “That’s mostly organic demand and we haven’t even turned on many promotions yet,” the Meta boss posted on Threads. “Can’t believe it’s only been five days!” Recent estimates published by Statista put the number of monthly active Twitter users at around 436 million. The arrival of Threads comes at a difficult time for Twitter, with Mr Musk recently announcing a limit to the number of tweets users can view after issues with data harvesting on the platform. Twitter has threatened to sue Threads’ parent company Meta, claiming former Twitter staff were hired to create a “copycat” platform. “Twitter intends to strictly enforce its intellectual property rights, and demands that Meta take immediate steps to stop using any Twitter trade secrets or other highly confidential information,” Mr Musk’s lawyer Alex Spiro wrote in a letter to Mr Zuckerberg, as reported by Semafor. “Twitter reserves all rights, including, but not limited to, the right to seek both civil remedies and injunctive relief without further notice to prevent any further retention, disclosure, or use of its intellectual property by Meta.” The Independent has reached out to Mr Spiro for further information about any potential legal action. Read More Musk, Zuckerberg and the bitter battle for the future of social media Account tracking Elon Musk’s jet is now on Threads after Twitter suspended it Elon Musk says ‘Zuck is cuck’ as Threads inches closer to 100m users Instagram’s boss has said it will fix some glaring issues with Threads

Britain’s medicines regulator has authorized the world’s first gene therapy treatment for sickle cell disease, in a move that could offer relief to thousands of people with the crippling disease in the U.K. In a statement on Thursday, the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency said it had approved Casgevy, the first medicine licensed using the gene editing tool CRISPR, which won its makers a Nobel prize in 2020

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What the papers say Portugal striker Goncalo Ramos, 21, has emerged as a major target for Manchester United. The Daily Mirror reports the Old Trafford club have held talks with Benfica over a deal worth up to £100million, including add-ons. The Red Devils are also poised to join the race for England midfielder Declan Rice, 24, according to The Sun. United are ready to join Arsenal and Chelsea in the hunt for Rice, who impressed in their narrow 1-0 defeat to West Ham on Sunday. The Hammers are eyeing a move for Fulham boss Marco Silva if they part ways with David Moyes, according to the Daily Mail. The 45-year-old has a £6million release clause in his contract. Chelsea are keen to make Portugal forward Joao Felix’s loan from Atletico Madrid permanent. According to the Standard they are willing to offer striker Pierre-Emerick Aubamayeng, 33, and defender Marc Cucurella, 24, as part of a deal for the 23-year-old. Social media round-up Players to watch Viktor Gyokeres: West Ham are keen on a move for the 24-year-old Sweden forward from Coventry, reports the Daily Mirror. N’Golo Kante: The France midfielder, 32, could be persuaded to stay at Chelsea if Mauricio Pochettino is appointed as manager.

Former President Donald Trump's public statements about the federal election interference investigation led to the harassment of witnesses, according to prosecutors with special counsel Jack Smith's office.