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The celebrity midlife crisis is a glorious thing, and I think we can all agree that Sacha Baron Cohen's has been one of 2025's best. It began with the implosion of his marriage in April.

Don't say you weren't warned. When the Government announced last October that migrant hotels were being closed, I told you there was no cause for celebration.

A major refurbishment has transformed critical care at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford.

Browser game teaches Vim's famously unintuitive movement commands to keep your hands on the keyboard

Before you buy that designer piece for your home, you might want to read this.

Chelmsford MP Marie Goldman on how her team has been working to challenge the government and bring about positive change.

Chelmsford MP Marie Goldman on how her team has been working to challenge the government and bring about positive change.

Community groups across Essex are set to benefit from a share of £31,000 from the Stansted Airport Community Fund.

Editor-at-Large Alison Boshoff reveals where it all went so spectacularly wrong as Harry and Meghan planned their high-stakes return to the UK.

An estimated 2.6 million people in the UK already use weight loss jabs to tackle stubborn fat. But for many the results can be underwhelming. Now experts think they've found the answer.

Immaculately made up, sporting giant designer sunglasses and carrying a Louis ­Vuitton handbag, Tareena Shakil looks every inch the social media influencer she aspires to be.

Being a single woman in my 40s, I've enjoyed some good times. The one thing these experiences all have in common? They all happened after a glass (or three, or four) of wine. And it was glorious.

Enterprise software giant confirms it's 'applying discipline' when it comes to jobs and business trips as it tries to keep pace

Adrian and I had been dating for three months when we went to stay at a big, fancy hotel. But breakfast the next morning came as a shock after I noticed he kept glancing around furtively.

Our expert children's reviewer, Sally Morris, picks out the best books for your kids to take on their summer holiday

Police and fire crews were called to the residential street in Hattersley, Hyde after the blaze was started on Monday night.

by George Whittaker

The PorteuX project has officially released PorteuX 2.6, bringing a new round of updates to the lightweight Slackware-based Linux distribution. Designed to be fast, portable, modular, and immutable, PorteuX continues to appeal to users who want a complete desktop operating system that can run efficiently from a USB drive or other removable media. The latest release introduces a newer Linux kernel, improved power management, updated desktop environments, and numerous performance and usability improvements.

Released just two months after PorteuX 2.5, version 2.6 focuses on refining the user experience while maintaining the distribution's minimalist philosophy.

Powered by Linux Kernel 6.19

At the heart of PorteuX 2.6 is the Linux 6.19 kernel series, bringing improved hardware compatibility, updated drivers, security fixes, and better support for modern processors and peripherals.

The updated kernel helps ensure smoother operation on both newer desktop hardware and laptops while continuing PorteuX's emphasis on speed and low resource usage.

Better Battery Life with TLP Support

One of the headline features in PorteuX 2.6 is support for TLP, the popular command-line utility used to optimize laptop battery life.

Available through the PorteuX AppStore, TLP automatically adjusts various power-saving settings, including CPU behavior and device power management, helping extend battery life without requiring constant manual tuning.

For laptop users, this addition makes PorteuX an even more attractive lightweight operating system.

Automatic CPU Microcode Loading

The release also introduces automatic loading of Intel and AMD CPU microcode when booting in non-fresh modes.

Microcode updates help address processor bugs, improve stability, and deliver security fixes directly from CPU manufacturers. Automating this process reduces the need for manual configuration while ensuring supported systems benefit from the latest firmware improvements.

Updated Desktop Environments

PorteuX continues to offer multiple desktop editions, each updated to recent upstream releases.

Version 2.6 includes:

• GNOME 49.4
• KDE Plasma 6.5.5
• Xfce 4.20
• Cinnamon 6.6
• LXQt 2.3
• MATE 1.28.2
• COSMIC 1.0.8
• LXDE 0.11.1

This broad selection allows users to choose between modern feature-rich desktops and extremely lightweight environments depending on their hardware and workflow.

Performance Improvements Throughout the System

Although PorteuX has always emphasized performance, version 2.6 introduces additional optimizations behind the scenes.

Developers report improvements including:

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: WhatsApp this week started rolling out username reservations ahead of the broader launch planned later this year. The feature -- which lets people find and message each other by handle instead of phone number -- is already raising impersonation concerns, drawing scrutiny from security experts and regulators in India, the app's largest market, with more than 500 million users. The rollout marks a shift in how people identify one another on WhatsApp. Instead of relying on phone numbers as the primary identifier, users will increasingly interact through platform-managed usernames, a change that Meta says improves privacy but that critics argue could create new opportunities for impersonation. [...] Asked about how it protects against impersonation, Meta told TechCrunch it reserves usernames for public figures, government entities, and "some variations" of those names so only the legitimate owner can claim them. The company did not explain, however, how it decides which lookalike usernames get proactively reserved and which don't. The concerns have already reached regulators in India, where cyber fraud schemes frequently exploit messaging platforms to impersonate police, banks, and government officials. [...] Rachel Tobac, chief executive of SocialProof Security, called usernames a net privacy gain because they reduce the need to share phone numbers, which can expose users to SIM-swap attacks, phishing, and account takeovers. Still, she said, lookalike usernames still create opportunities for impersonation. "Ultimately, usernames are a great idea to avoid leaking your phone number to folks you don't know, but it's important to verify identity with the username function too," Tobac told TechCrunch. Her advice for most users: Pick a username that isn't easily guessable, so it's harder for attackers to find you, message you cold, or harass and spam you. [...] The Mozilla Foundation said the introduction of usernames is likely to bring new tradeoffs. "Increased scams and impersonation from fake handles are potentially a big one," it told TechCrunch. "Checking a phone number can be a useful verification tool, but these harms are also permitted by the platform's fundamental design choices." Mozilla also flagged a broader interoperability question -- one worth logging if you're building on top of, or competing with, Meta's ecosystem. While letting users claim their existing Facebook and Instagram usernames may cut down on impersonation, it also shows how easily Meta can stitch identity together across its own apps, even as users still can't take that identity, or their contacts, to a rival platform. For now, WhatsApp says it is taking a gradual approach to the rollout. "We're taking our time and listening to feedback so that when it rolls out later this year we get it right," the company said in its FAQ.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The I newspaper has named Walton as having one of the best coastal beaches in Britain and the best in Essex.

A Braintree artist has wowed millions online after recreating Wimbledon’s Centre Court using nothing but a typewriter.