us, you are in time for the top business stories. we start in the us where, as you ve been hearing in the last few hours, meta, the owner of facebook, instagram and whatsapp, has launched its widely anticipated new conversation app, threads. it allows users to create posts of up to 500 characters and is being seen as a clear rival to twitter. threads is available to download in more than 100 countries around the world, including here in the uk, but not as yet in the european union because of concerns over privacy regulations. meta boss mark zuckerberg says 5 million users have already signed up to threads in the first four hours. and many tech industry watchers say it poses a very real threat to twitter. i think threads will pose a huge threat to twitter because it is coming from the matter and instagram family of apps. instagram has 2 million users compared to around 250 million of twitter so about ten times bigger already. of twitter so about ten times biggeralready. if of
food prices. the new border target operating model has three stages with the introduction of health certification on imports of goods seen as medium and high risk which includes meat and dairy products, as well as most plants will now require checks from health inspectors or vets before they can be transported. and there will be bigger changes coming from the end of april when these products will be physically checked at new border posts in the uk. then from the end of october, safety and security declarations for eu imports will come into force. it is a lot of new details that have importers worried. anna holligan went to meet one in the netherlands. this planter doesn t put two of the biggest diy stores, for some the rules are about to change. some the rules are about to chance. , , ., , some the rules are about to chance. , , . , change. this is what they call will be plans. change. this is what they call will be plans. because - change. this is what they call will b
on stock exchanges. the approval of the bitcoin exchange traded funds, or etfs, is seen by supporters as a watershed for crypto, giving it financial respectability and mainstream acceptance on wall street, after a string of controversies. erin delmore reports from new york. this decision was years in the making and now it will allow people and institutions to invest in bitcoin almost as easily as they buy stocks. the move could increase demand for bitcoin and legitimacy for the crypto currency industry, which has weathered scandal and scepticism. sec chair did not shy away from that in a statement saying, while we approve the listing and trading of certain ept spot bitcoin shares today, we did not approve or endorse bitcoin. he said investors should remain caution about the risks associated with bitcoin and said the crypto currency is, primarily a speculative volatile asset. while investors and crypto watchers awaited the decision, a false tweet was posted on the sec official
a few hours ago, maersk also announced it will re route some of that red sea vessels around the cape of good hope, on a case by case basis. around 10% of global trade passes through the red sea, that s around 17,000 ships a year. but several major freight companies have now stopped passing through here. instead they are taking much longer route all the way around africa by the cape of good hope. that adds costs and delays. here is the us defence secretary lloyd austin. these attacks are reckless. they are dangerous and they violate international law and so we are taking action to build international coalition to address this threat and i would remind you that this is not just a us issue, this is an international problem and it deserves an international response. well that international response being asked to resolve those concerns? we are nowjoined by russ mould, who is an investment director at aj bell. the question, is it enough? will it work? i the question, is it enough?
to allow millions of tonnes of grain exports from ukraine is extended just a day before it was due to expire. and chipping away at a new trade deal, the uk bets big on a semiconductor agreement with deal, the uk bets big on a semiconductor agreement with japan. hello, welcome, this is world business report, i m ben thompson and good news for the world, that is how the un secretary general as described an agreement with russia to continue allowing ukrainian grain exports via the black sea for another two months. the existing deal was arranged lastjuly, designed to tackle a global food crisis that was caused by russia s invasion of ukraine. one of the world s top grain exporters is of course ukraine. that deal was due to expire today, thursday. here is what the un chief had to say about the importance to world food supplies. these agreements matter for global food security. ukrainian and russian products feed the world. with the black sea initiative more than 10 million tonnes