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An update has been issued after a major emergency response at Clacton beach.

The Whitby Steampunk weekend is held twice a year in the North Yorkshire town and features over 80 trade stalls, a retail emporium and talks.

Big names such as Tom Zanetti and Sophie Ellis-Bextor will be performing

CNN reports on yaks "designed and cloned" in secretive, high-altitude labs in Tibet — 2.4 miles (4,000 meters) above sea level. They're a critical part of the local economy, and researchers "hope to create an 'elite' herd of super-yaks, healthier and more fertile than their predecessors." Both domestic yaks and their wild cousins have been facing threats for years, with some rare subspecies at risk of disappearing entirely. Authorities in the southwestern Chinese region have poured tens of millions of dollars into boosting the yak industry in recent years — and they hope cloning can help. The first yak clone came in July 2025, Chinese state media hailing it as a breakthrough achievement that combined cloning with gene selection. More clones were born this spring — and researchers are now aiming to create a herd of more than 100 "elite" yak clones by 2028, boasting desired traits like faster growth and larger size. "This shows the technology has moved from a one-time success to a stable, mass-scale application," said Fang Shengguo, the project's scientific lead and director of the State Conservation Center for Gene Resources of Endangered Wildlife, according to state-run news agency Xinhua... Many experts acknowledge there are legitimate arguments for using cloning in conservation, and for gene selection in farming. But the ethical waters are murky, and any such project should have high levels of public transparency and accountability, said Lisa Moses, a veterinarian and bioethicist at Harvard Medical School. So far, much of the yak cloning project remains mysterious, with information largely limited to glowing state-media coverage... [S]ome scientists say these projects reduce our sense of urgency toward fixing the environment, and that we can't simply churn out clones while the planet burns. To truly enact change, they say, we have to continue addressing the root cause of the problem — restoring degraded habitats, lowering carbon emissions, cracking down on poaching, and more. But for others, "there is a strong feeling ... that traditional conservation is essentially failing now," Moses said. "What we've been doing for the last 100 years to try to stave off ecological destruction is not working.... The argument is, we don't have a choice," she added. "If we want to try to do something that will actually make a difference, we need to use these technologies, specifically synthetic biology, to essentially override evolution and change the fitness of the species for the environment that they live in." "History is littered with good intentions in the environment gone wrong," Moses said, "and I would argue that these technologies have even more unknowns than ones that we previously employed." The article points out that the number of wild yaks "dropped more than a third in the last 30 years, with just 10,000 to 20,000 individuals left, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society." The yaks are threatened by climate change and habitat degradation, "with warmer temperatures bringing invasive plant species and increased competition for resources... in one of the world's most inhospitable terrains."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Olivia Attwood gets a tattoo on her ring finger after posting about her 'up and down year' on Instagram on Friday following ex Bradley Dack's outing with new romance. 

The England Lioness, 38, shared the happy news in an Instagram post on Saturday, after Stephen was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2018.

A major emergency response is underway at Clacton beach, with multiple services including an air ambulance and coastguard helicopter at the scene.

A major emergency response is underway at Clacton beach, with multiple services including an air ambulance and coastguard helicopter at the scene.

The 'Golden Age' murder mystery novellist was born on the 'English Riviera' in Torbay, south-west England, on September 15 1890.

Princess Andre has hit out at an unnamed rival on TikTok on Saturday whom she described as 'little miss copy cat'. 

The glamour model, 48, has reportedly reached the 'end of her tether' with the so-called businessman's behaviour, after he was thrown in a Dubai jail for the second time.

Facebook announced Friday they're launching a badge "that verifies there's a real person behind a profile". "You record a short video selfie, which we check against your existing profile photos to confirm a match. The process is free and typically takes just a few minutes. Accounts must meet our trust and safety standards to qualify for verification...." Once verified, your badge will appear across the places on Facebook where it matters most: Marketplace, Dating, Groups, and Profile to start. Over time, we'll add badges in Feed posts as well. There's no subscription fee — you verify once, and the badge travels with you across Facebook... [Y]ou'll see the Verified badge on accounts that have completed the verification process... It's a quick, visible signal, before you respond to a listing, accept a date, or join a conversation, that there's a real person on the other end. "We're rolling out Facebook Verified in phases, starting in select markets with plans to expand globally..." their announcement adds. "As AI makes it easier to do more on Facebook, a clear signal that distinguishes real people becomes essential. That's what Facebook Verified is for: keeping the moments that matter on Facebook grounded in real people." Lifehacker shares their reaction: Facebook says it will store your selfie video for "up to 30 days" after verification, which is a one-time process. It's not entirely clear what happens with that video in the meantime, and it's worth noting that Meta has relied on user data to train its AI. Meta AI (and Meta more broadly) is a terrible offender when it comes to privacy and security, so you should consider whether the tradeoff of a verification mark is worth handing over more of your data and read the privacy policy before you agree. Google also launched a video selfie verification feature this week, though its purpose is to prove your identity should you get locked out of your account. Unlike Facebook Verified, which is meant to be a trust signal to other users, Google's selfie verification allows access to your entire Google account, bringing with it some additional security considerations.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Video shows the dramatic moment when an industrial units fire in Essex led to an explosion in one of the most serious incidents the county fire service has dealt with in recent years.

Video shows the dramatic moment when an industrial units fire in Essex led to an explosion in one of the most serious incidents the county fire service has dealt with in recent years.

Rhys Evans was one when he was kept in a sterilised 'bubble' at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) to protect him due to a rare genetic condition that left him without an immune system.

Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma married his childhood sweetheart yesterday - with a host of his City team-mates in attendance at the lavish reception.

Leigh-Anne Pinnock showed off her bare baby bump in a colourful crop top as she performed at Lazydays Festival on Saturday. 

Josie Gibson has revealed the father of her son Terry Bond is back in their lives after a period of estrangement and says they are 'trying to work it out'.

A lot of people would be very happy to go back to the 1970s. The Tories should be careful about saying that Andrew Burnham will return us to those years.

A UNAMIOUS decision was made at a council meeting to pass a motion connected to Colchester’s Local Plan.