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Since Instagram’s text-based alternative to Twitter, Threads, rolled out last week, a handful of memes and conspiracy theories have surfaced around the app’s unusual ‘at symbol’-like logo – from the inaccurate suggestion it was predicted by The Simpsons (it wasn’t), and now, to claims it’s actually linked to the devil (it isn’t). The baseless theory - seemingly backed by Twitter owner Elon Musk himself, if his public tweet likes are anything to go by – suggests the swirly icon secretly contains the number ‘666’, often referred to as “the number of the beast” and considered a link to the Antichrist. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Claiming they “can’t stop seeing it”, one Twitter user asked: “Does anyone else think the Threads logo just looks like 666? The first 6 is forward and white, then the second one is smaller and backwards, and the third one is the black space inside.” “How to put 666 ‘the number of the beast’ into a logo,” wrote another, in a tweet liked by Musk. Several other accounts have branded Threads “satanic” over the supposed link. In fact, the baseless claim became so popular that Instagram boss Adam Mosseri shared a thread on Friday explaining the real meaning behind the logo. “The Threads logo, in Instagram Sans, is inspired by the @ sign, which stands for someone’s username, the individual, and voice. “It’s a single unbroken line, inspired by the loop seen in the app when a thread is started,” he wrote. When one user commented that it “would have been entertaining” if Mosseri jokingly confirmed the conspiracy to be true, the exec replied: “It was tempting, but I feel like that kind of sass would just blow up in my face.” Sensible. Of course, this is just one fact which dispels this conspiracy theory as nonsense and baseless, but one lesser-known bit of historical trivia also exposes just how outlandish the claim is. All the way back in 2005, it was reported that a newly discovered fragment of the oldest version of the New Testament – the second part of the Bible – from the third century gave a different number entirely for the number of the beast. Found in historic dumps near Oxyrhynchus in Egypt, the text from the Book of Revelation indicates it’s not 666 which is the fiendish number we should all be fearing, but the far less aesthetically pleasing 616. Professor David Parker, Professor of New Testament Textual Criticism and Paleography at the University of Birmingham, said: “This is an example of gematria, where numbers are based on the numerical values of letters in people’s names. “Early Christians would use numbers to hide the identity of people who they were attacking: 616 refers to the Emperor Caligula.” This is in contrast to the far more popular 666, which is understood to have referred to Emperor Nero. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Hannah Waddingham caused a stir during an appearance at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix over the weekend, when she made a joke about her love of Lewis Hamilton that was sure to divide fans. The actor was being interviewed by Channel 4 when she made the remark, referencing the British driver's controversial title loss to Max Verstappen last season. "I've waited a long time to be here", she said, before quipping: "Am I allowed to say that I'm very much looking forward to seeing Lewis Hamilton, eight-time champion?" Hamilton would've been the eight-time champion, had Verstappen not taken the win. Click here to sign up for our newsletters

BEIJING/SHANGHAI China's passenger vehicle sales fell in June, data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed on

By Matteo Allievi (Reuters) -European shares recovered from early losses on Monday, as gains in oil and insurance stocks offset

LONDON Top cryptocurrency bitcoin could reach $50,000 this year and $120,000 by the end of 2024 Standard Chartered

Carl Icahn is getting breathing room from banks more than two months after Hindenburg Research disclosed its short-selling

Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Issa Rae and all the stars of the Greta Gerwig-directed film graced the hot pink carpet of the Barbie world premiere in downtown LA. Australian actor Margot Robbie channelled the 1960s Solo in the Spotlight Barbie – and it’s the definition of the siren look. Robbie’s stylist Andrew Mukamal choose a black embellished rhinestone Schiaparelli strapless dress with a nylon net flounce at the bottom, and a red rose. She paired the glamourous number with a four-strand Lorraine Schwartz diamond choker, black arm-length gloves and black peep toe heels, while holding a pink chiffon pocket scarf. The Solo in the Spotlight Barbie has endured as a collectors’ favourite. Ryan Gosling brought the Ken-ergy with his Gucci plush two-piece suit and unbuttoned shirt in baby pink. He paired it with a Barbie pendent necklace, cream brogues, and was styled by Mark Avery. President Barbie Issa Rae and her stylist Wouri Vice had a custom moment with designer Marc Bouwer in a hot pink, key-hole gown, with a turtle neck and large bow. She wore it with her hair pulled back into a high pony tail, diamond drop-down earrings and a pink clutch bag. It was a full circle moment for rapper Nicki Minaj also known as the ‘original Barbie’ on the film’s soundtrack. Her outfit was inspired by the Diva Gone Platinum Barbie, and wore a grey ribbed crop top and wrap detail draped maxi skirt. Israeli model and actor Gal Gadot made a surprise appearance at the Barbie LA premiere, in an asymmetric JW Anderson brown pin-striped dress. Her hair was parted down the middle and pulled back into a sleek ponytail. Gadot paired the look with an white asymmetric bag and perspex heels. Doctor Strange star Xochitl Gomez wore a Dolce & Gabbana black and white gingham fishtail dress. She paired it with a black umbrella, black court heels and an elegant updo. Singer Dua Lipa – who stars as Mermaid Barbie and is on the film’s soundtrack with Billie Eilish and Nicki Minaj – wore an alluring silver sheer custom dress, with a square neckline detailing, and metallic silver pointed heels. The film’s writer, director, and executive producer Greta Gerwig arrived at the premiere in hot pink — from head to toe. She wore a pink blouse with a pussybow neckline that she tucked into a floor-length maxi skirt, and pink court heels. She paired the outfit with a pink oversized blazer she wore off the shoulder, and a pink mini Valentino bag.

'Already planning the ways to spoil her and then hand her back,' Al Roker wrote, sharing the news of Courtney Roker Laga becoming a mother

SHANGHAI China's IPO applications slumped by a third in the first half of 2023, as earnings volatility, a

President Joe Biden is kicking off his first full day of his trip abroad this week with a visit to the UK where he will meet with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and King Charles III. The president landed in London on Sunday night ahead of Monday’s meeting with Mr Sunak, where the two leaders will discuss a range of topics including the war in Ukraine and will seek to bolster the US-UK “special relationship”. After that, he is heading to Windsor to meet the King – after infamously snubbing his coronation back in May. From there, the president will travel to Vilnius, Lithuania, for a meeting of NATO leaders. While Ukraine – and the US’s recent controversial decision to send cluster munitions to help in the war efforts – is expected to dominate conversations among the leaders, all eyes will also be on the president’s actions. Mr Biden has a well-documented history of embarrassing gaffes – something he admits, having once referred to himself as a “gaffe machine”. The president, 80, has a speech impediment which is often blamed for his verbal gaffes on the world stage. However, his string of verbal – and physical – slip-ups have been seized upon by his political rivals, in particular Donald Trump, who have sought to claim that they are a sign of a lack of mental competence. Whatever the reason, it’s undeniable that Mr Biden has become notorious for his blunders from muddling up leaders and wars to a series of trips and falls. As all eyes turn to his actions during his visit to the UK, here are some of his most notable gaffes to date: Muddling up the wars in Ukraine and Iraq In another infamous slip-up in June 2023, the president muddled up the ongoing war in Ukraine for the Iraq War, which ended in 2011. Mr Biden was speaking to reports on the south lawn of the White House before heading to Chicago when he was asked whether he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin had been weakened by the Wagner Group’s mutiny. Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin had briefly led a rebellion marching towards Moscow. Mr Biden responded by saying that Mr Putin was “clearly losing the war in Iraq”. “It’s hard to tell, but [Putin’s] clearly losing the war in Iraq, losing the war at home. And he has become a bit of a pariah around the world,” he said. ‘God save the Queen’ That same month, Mr Biden made another verbal gaffe when he bizarrely closed out a speech on gun control with the proclamation: “God save the Queen, man.” The president was speaking to a group of gun control advocates at the National Safer Communities Summit in Connecticut at the time. The slip-up raised eyebrows as to who he was referring to. Was it Queen Elizabeth II who died in September 2022? Or was it Queen Camilla who was crowned just one month earlier when King Charles III took the throne in a coronation that Mr Biden famously snubbed? The White House later sought to explain away the bizarre reference by saying that he was merely “commenting to someone in the crowd”. ‘Mr President?’ The last time Mr Biden and Mr Sunak met, the US president accidentally called him by his own moniker: “Mr President.” The UK PM travelled to Washington DC for a two-day trip in early June where the two leaders held a meeting in the Oval Office White House. As they smiled for photos, Mr Biden said: “Well, Mr President...” Quickly correcting himself, he added: “I just demoted you, Mr Prime Minister.” The two laughed off the slip-up and continued with their meeting. Biden tumbles on stage at Air Force Graduation Mr Biden took a rather large tumble while on stage at the Air Force Academy graduation ceremony in early June. The president delivered the commencement address at the event and stayed on stage as graduates were handed their diplomas. As he walked off, he then stumbled and fell to the ground. He was helped up by Air Force officials and appeared to point at a sandbag as the culprit responsible for the mishap. White House communications director Ben LaBolt later tweeted that he was “fine” and that “there was a sandbag on stage while he was shaking hands”. This is far from the only time Mr Biden has taken a tumble. Napping at COP26 In a video that went viral on social media, Mr Biden was caught sleeping on the job at the COP26 climate change conference in Scotland in November 2021. In the clip, the president was seen appearing to nap during the opening remarks at the climate event – with his eyes shut at one point for more than 20 seconds. An aide was seen popping over and nudging him from his apparent slumber. Read More Biden news – live: US president to meet King Charles and Rishi Sunak ahead of Nato summit What are cluster bombs and what is controversial about Biden sending them to Ukraine? Biden touches down in UK as president expected to be challenged over cluster bombs at Nato summit Budget 2022: Hunt says UK in recession as he announces huge tax rises Jeremy Hunt increases energy windfall tax in budget Jeremy Hunt freezes tax allowances and hits 45p rate payers

Elon Musk has escalated his rivalry with Mark Zuckerberg in his latest tweets, calling the Meta co-founder a "cuck." Since Zuckerberg's Meta launched Threads, a text-based social media app to rival Musk's Twitter, the two billionaire businessmen have been exchanging jibes online. Some of these include Zuckerberg taking to Twitter for the first time in 11 years to post a Spider-Man meme, Musk challenging Zuckerberg to a cage fight and Twitter threatening Threads with a lawsuit. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Now, Musk has responded to a screenshot from Threads that shows a post from the official account of the fast-food chain Wendy’s that reads: "hey @zuck, you should go to space just to make him really mad lol." To which Zuckerberg replied with a crying laughing emoji. Though clearly, this didn't amuse Musk as he declared on Twitter in response: "Zuck is a cuck." And he didn't stop there, in a follow-up tweet suggested another contest - not a cage-fighting one this time but something more explicit: "I propose a literal d*** measuring contest," Musk tweeted, along with a ruler emoji. The Elon Musk parody account cracked a joke in response to the real Musk's latest tweets: "At this point, I can't keep track of which account I'm tweeting from." This is the same parody account that called Zuckerberg a "lizard boy," and caught the attention of the actual Elon Musk who responded: "So many people think this account is me," with the eyes emoji. Zuckerberg has yet to respond in this war of words, though clearly this feud is far from over... Elsewhere, what is Threads, Instagram's 'text-based' alternative to Twitter, Threads users issued warning over new social media app, and Elon Musk responds to parody account calling Mark Zuckerberg 'lizard boy'. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

European stocks are the cheapest they’ve ever been compared with their US peers, according to Citigroup Inc. strategists