The 'beautiful little market town' in Essex crowned one of the best in England
The Daily Express has shared its picks of 16 beautiful little English market towns everyone must visit at least once, with one spot in Essex named.
The 2 Essex areas named among UK's best places for first-time buyers
Barratt Homes analysed the data from the ONS, housing reports, and a survey of independent UK homeowners to reveal the top first-time buyer spots.
Essex village council hits back at 'silly' claims that village car park is 'illegal'
The village council has been summoned to court regarding claims that a car park built years ago which takes up part of its village green was built illegally - but they've hit back at the claims
The long-closed Essex train station in a quaint village that's now someone's house
It has been closed since the 50's
Proton Mail Suspended Journalist Accounts At Request of Cybersecurity Agency
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Intercept: The company behind the Proton Mail email service, Proton, describes itself as a "neutral and safe haven for your personal data, committed to defending your freedom." But last month, Proton disabled email accounts belonging to journalists reporting on security breaches of various South Korean government computer systems following a complaint by an unspecified cybersecurity agency. After a public outcry, and multiple weeks, the journalists' accounts were eventually reinstated -- but the reporters and editors involved still want answers on how and why Proton decided to shut down the accounts in the first place.
Martin Shelton, deputy director of digital security at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, highlighted that numerous newsrooms use Proton's services as alternatives to something like Gmail "specifically to avoid situations like this," pointing out that "While it's good to see that Proton is reconsidering account suspensions, journalists are among the users who need these and similar tools most." Newsrooms like The Intercept, the Boston Globe, and the Tampa Bay Times all rely on Proton Mail for emailed tip submissions. Shelton noted that perhaps Proton should "prioritize responding to journalists about account suspensions privately, rather than when they go viral." On Reddit, Proton's official account stated that "Proton did not knowingly block journalists' email accounts" and that the "situation has unfortunately been blown out of proportion."
The two journalists whose accounts were disabled were working on an article published in the August issue of the long-running hacker zine Phrack. The story described how a sophisticated hacking operation -- what's known in cybersecurity parlance as an APT, or advanced persistent threat -- had wormed its way into a number of South Korean computer networks, including those of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the military Defense Counterintelligence Command, or DCC. The journalists, who published their story under the names Saber and cyb0rg, describe the hack as being consistent with the work of Kimsuky, a notorious North Korean state-backed APT sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2023. As they pieced the story together, emails viewed by The Intercept show that the authors followed cybersecurity best practices and conducted what's known as responsible disclosure: notifying affected parties that a vulnerability has been discovered in their systems prior to publicizing the incident. Phrack said the account suspensions created a "real impact to the author. The author was unable to answer media requests about the article." Phrack noted that the co-authors were already working with affected South Korean organizations on responsible disclosure and system fixes. "All this was denied and ruined by Proton," Phrack stated.
Phrack editors said that the incident leaves them "concerned what this means to other whistleblowers or journalists. The community needs assurance that Proton does not disable accounts unless Proton has a court order or the crime (or ToS violation) is apparent."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Possible accomplice of Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson probed as footage emerges of suspicious character after shooting
Agents are looking into footage showing Robinson, 22, talking into a doorbell camera about the murder shortly after he scampered away from the Losee Center at Utah Valley University.
US EV Sales Smash Records In August
US EV sales hit a record 146,332 in August, grabbing nearly 10% of all new car sales, according to Kelley Blue Book. That's the highest yet and up from 9.1% in July. Electrek reports: With the federal EV tax credit set to expire on September 30, analysts say Q3 2025 is shaping up to be the strongest quarter for EV sales in US history. The current record holder is Q4 2024, when 365,824 EVs were sold.
Prices ticked higher, too. The average transaction price (ATP) for an EV in August was $57,245, 3.1% more than July's revised lower ATP of $55,562. Year-over-year, though, EV prices were basically flat, down just 0.1%. The wave of EV sales also helped push up the overall market's ATP.
Incentives, while not as high as July's record, remained hefty. EV buyers received discounts averaging over $9,000 in August, equal to 16% of ATP. That's more than double the incentive rate in the overall auto market and up from 13.6% a year ago. A separate report from Rho Motion found that global EV sales surged 25% in 2025, led by strong growth in Europe and China. "That amounts to 12.5 million EVs, although the data combines both battery EVs and plug-in hybrid EVs for the total," reports Ars Technica.
As for North America? "EV sales are still growing but barely -- up just 6 percent between January and August 2025 compared to the same time period in 2024."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Why talk of a royal return for Harry is 'wide of the mark'... and why few believe he'll ever be fully welcomed back to the fold: REBECCA ENGLISH
When Prince Harry flew into Britain on Monday from California, he came with two aims, but no promises.
Team USA issues blunt response to transgender cyclist's celebrations over Charlie Kirk assassination
Despite widespread condemnation, Chelsea Wolfe, who featured as an alternate on the USA's women's BMX team at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, openly welcomed the assassination.
Friends share how Charlie Kirk's 'lioness' wife Erika is coping after seeing her husband's brutal murder
Those who know her best have told the Daily Mail that Erika, 36, will be holding fast to her faith this week as she desperately seeks solace from it in her time of need.
Newfoundland's 10-Year Education Report Calling For Ethical AI Use Contains Over 15 Fake Sources
Newfoundland and Labrador's 10-year Education Accord report (PDF) intended to guide school reform has been found to contain at least 15 fabricated citations, including references to non-existent films and journals. Academics suggest the fake sources may have been generated by AI. "There are sources in this report that I cannot find in the MUN Library, in the other libraries I subscribe to, in Google searches. Whether that's AI, I don't know, but fabricating sources is a telltale sign of artificial intelligence," said Aaron Tucker, an assistant professor at Memorial whose current research focuses on the history of AI in Canada. "The fabrication of sources at least begs the question: did this come from generative AI?" CBC News reports: In one case, the report references a 2008 movie from the National Film Board called Schoolyard Games. The film doesn't exist, according to a spokesperson for the board. But the exact citation used in the report can be found in a University of Victoria style guide -- a document that clearly lists fake references designed as templates for researchers writing a bibliography. "Many citations in this guide are fictitious," reads the first page of the document.
"Errors happen. Made-up citations are a totally different thing where you essentially demolish the trustworthiness of the material," said Josh Lepawsky, the former president of the Memorial University Faculty Association who resigned from the report's advisory board last January, citing a "deeply flawed process" leading to "top-down" recommendations. The 418-page Education Accord NL report took 18 months to complete and was unveiled Aug. 28 by its co-chairs Anne Burke and Karen Goodnough, both professors at Memorial's Faculty of Education. The pair released the report alongside Education Minister Bernard Davis. "We are investigating and checking references, so I cannot respond to this at the moment," wrote Goodnough in an email declining an interview Thursday.
In a statement, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development said it was aware of a "small number of potential errors in citations" in the report. "We understand that these issues are being addressed, and that the online report will be updated in the coming days to rectify any errors."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Furious SAS troops in High Court war crimes probe accuse senior judge of acting 'unlawfully'
SAS soldiers have launched a legal fightback after a High Court judge banned them from attending hearings. They have accused Lord Justice Haddon-Cave of acting 'unlawfully'.
Keir Starmer backed Lord Mandelson during PMQs 'despite No10 being aware of his emails to Jeffrey Epstein'
Lord Mandelson then backed by Sir Keir at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday before he was dramatically sacked on Thursday as Britain's ambassador to the US.
Revealed: The 100 villages, towns and cities where migrants have been given homes in ordinary streets - so is there an HMO in your area?
In the face of public outrage over migrant hotels, the Government has promised to shut them all by 2029 and is now beginning to do so. A controversial plan is under way
Former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown claims King Charles is frustrated by Prince William's 'underwhelming' approach to royal duties. Cruel and unfair? Or are her sources correct?: GUY ADAMS and RICHARD KAY
It may have only lasted 54 minutes, but this week's Clarence House 'summit' left the King feeling 'currently less irritated' with Prince Harry than by his older brother William.
Oxford shopkeepers in battle of their lives against £5 congestion charge that 'could keep customers away'
The shopkeeper's of Oxford's high street have noticed a drop in footfall as customers are more reluctant to visit in order to avoid the hefty congestion charge.
Utah Governor praised powerful speech on Charlie Kirk suspect speech alongside Kash Patel: 'We got him'
Americans praised Utah Governor Spencer Cox for his honesty and transparency as he addressed the nation Friday with a powerful speech honoring the life of Charlie Kirk.
Air India survivor's wife reveals how her husband is grieving for brother sitting across the aisle from him on doomed passenger plane
The wife of the sole survivor of the Air India crash has revealed how her husband is grieving the loss of his brother who was killed in the tragedy three months ago.
Sir Sadiq Khan gives tube drivers who plunged London into chaos a 3.4% pay rise... and it doesn't even prevent them from MORE walkouts
Sir Sadiq Khan has put forward a pay rise to unions after tube strikes crippled London this week, but it won't stop more walkouts.
Labour plan to house asylum seekers in military barracks 'will cost more than controversial migrant hotels'
Sir Keir Starmer made another dramatic U-turn this week as his government pivoted towards using these facilities in a bid to close down controversial asylum seeker hotels.