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DCI Jessica James and DI Sunny Khan return for more crime solving on the streets of London.

This month's departures from HBO Max have a color in common: red. It's the color of Hellboy and the color of Mars – and it's also the color of that famous scene in the horror classic Carrie.

My three catch-em-while-you-can recommendations for HBO Max this month have something else in common too: stunning central performances. Ron Perlman is a wisecracking delight as a hellishly powerful superhero, adding a very welcome dose of grumpiness to a genre that was starting to feel somewhat stale. Matt Damon is utterly believable and completely compelling as a scientist stranded millions of miles from home. And Sissy Spacek in Carrie is truly exceptional, delivering a performance that's heartbreakingly fragile and truly terrifying.

These are very different movies, but they're all exceptional. If you've seen them already they're well worth revisiting. And if you haven't, you're in for a movie masterclass on one of the best streaming services.

Carrie

Two Carries are leaving HBO soon: the 1976 original and the 2013 remake. The older film is vastly superior to the newer one – the remake scored just 51% with the critics on Rotten Tomatoes and has variously been called "remarkably redundant", "terrible pointless junk" and "one of the worst remakes ever made". But the original film based on Stephen King's horror classic is tremendous, with an astonishing central performance by Sissy Spacek as the titular teen who starts to suspect she has supernatural powers. It's currently sitting with a whopping 94% rating from the critics.

Carrie "is a terrifying lyrical thriller," legendary New Yorker critic Pauline Kael wrote. "The director, Brian De Palma, has mastered a teasing style – a perverse mixture of comedy and horror and tension." Looking back from the 2020s, Total Film wrote: "Brian De Palma transcends the pulpy horror feel by emphasizing the awakening-sexuality metaphor, and using some glorious trickery," while The Fright File called it "One of cinema's ultimate operatic teenage melodramas. I have seen "Carrie" more times than I can count, and yet it never loses its uncommon heartbreak and blood-curdling dramatic power."

The Martian

Matt Damon spent a lot of time in spacesuits in the 2010s: there was (mild spoiler alert) Bad Space Matt in Interstellar, and Good Space Matt in this impressive solo performance. Damon is Mark Watney, left behind on Mars after a fierce storm leads his fellow explorers to think he's dead and leave the red planet without him. But he's not dead, and he'd really like to get home.

The 91% critic rating is well deserved. Empire Magazine gave the film four stars: "Instantly joining E. T. and Bruce Dern’s Freeman Lowell (Silent Running) in the pantheon of cinema’s greatest space gardeners, Damon’s Watney is the actor at his most engaging, by turns flip and desperate... The Martian mixes smarts, laughs, weird character bits and tension on a huge canvas. The result is (Ridley) Scott’s most purely enjoyable film for ages."

Hellboy

Like Carrie, there's more than one Hellboy movie and the original is vastly better than the remake: the 2019 reboot of Hellboy got a frankly embarrassing 17% critic rating. That's partly because it didn't have Guillermo Del Toro in the director's chair or Ron Perlman in the Hellboy prosthetics. The film is "a unique romp," The New Yorker said, "with an exciting yet vulnerable superhero at the center who just happens to be the spawn of Satan."

NPR raved about it too. "Anyone can send an immense, computer-generated vegetable monster rampaging at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge, but it takes a special kind of imagination to do it in a way that's thrilling, emotionally complex, and rapturously beautiful all at once." Time Out agreed. "Del Toro, in love with his source but never overawed by it, keeps things moving; Perlman ties it together with some of the driest witticisms this side of Indiana Jones."

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This month's departures from HBO Max have a color in common: red. It's the color of Hellboy and the color of Mars – and it's also the color of that famous scene in the horror classic Carrie.

My three catch-em-while-you-can recommendations for HBO Max this month have something else in common too: stunning central performances. Ron Perlman is a wisecracking delight as a hellishly powerful superhero, adding a very welcome dose of grumpiness to a genre that was starting to feel somewhat stale. Matt Damon is utterly believable and completely compelling as a scientist stranded millions of miles from home. And Sissy Spacek in Carrie is truly exceptional, delivering a performance that's heartbreakingly fragile and truly terrifying.

These are very different movies, but they're all exceptional. If you've seen them already they're well worth revisiting. And if you haven't, you're in for a movie masterclass on one of the best streaming services.

Carrie

Two Carries are leaving HBO soon: the 1976 original and the 2013 remake. The older film is vastly superior to the newer one – the remake scored just 51% with the critics on Rotten Tomatoes and has variously been called "remarkably redundant", "terrible pointless junk" and "one of the worst remakes ever made". But the original film based on Stephen King's horror classic is tremendous, with an astonishing central performance by Sissy Spacek as the titular teen who starts to suspect she has supernatural powers. It's currently sitting with a whopping 94% rating from the critics.

Carrie "is a terrifying lyrical thriller," legendary New Yorker critic Pauline Kael wrote. "The director, Brian De Palma, has mastered a teasing style – a perverse mixture of comedy and horror and tension." Looking back from the 2020s, Total Film wrote: "Brian De Palma transcends the pulpy horror feel by emphasizing the awakening-sexuality metaphor, and using some glorious trickery," while The Fright File called it "One of cinema's ultimate operatic teenage melodramas. I have seen "Carrie" more times than I can count, and yet it never loses its uncommon heartbreak and blood-curdling dramatic power."

The Martian

Matt Damon spent a lot of time in spacesuits in the 2010s: there was (mild spoiler alert) Bad Space Matt in Interstellar, and Good Space Matt in this impressive solo performance. Damon is Mark Watney, left behind on Mars after a fierce storm leads his fellow explorers to think he's dead and leave the red planet without him. But he's not dead, and he'd really like to get home.

The 91% critic rating is well deserved. Empire Magazine gave the film four stars: "Instantly joining E. T. and Bruce Dern’s Freeman Lowell (Silent Running) in the pantheon of cinema’s greatest space gardeners, Damon’s Watney is the actor at his most engaging, by turns flip and desperate... The Martian mixes smarts, laughs, weird character bits and tension on a huge canvas. The result is (Ridley) Scott’s most purely enjoyable film for ages."

Hellboy

Like Carrie, there's more than one Hellboy movie and the original is vastly better than the remake: the 2019 reboot of Hellboy got a frankly embarrassing 17% critic rating. That's partly because it didn't have Guillermo Del Toro in the director's chair or Ron Perlman in the Hellboy prosthetics. The film is "a unique romp," The New Yorker said, "with an exciting yet vulnerable superhero at the center who just happens to be the spawn of Satan."

NPR raved about it too. "Anyone can send an immense, computer-generated vegetable monster rampaging at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge, but it takes a special kind of imagination to do it in a way that's thrilling, emotionally complex, and rapturously beautiful all at once." Time Out agreed. "Del Toro, in love with his source but never overawed by it, keeps things moving; Perlman ties it together with some of the driest witticisms this side of Indiana Jones."

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• More range, faster charging and a lower price
• NACS support means it can top up at Tesla Supercharger stations
• The Leaf arrives at a time when demand for EVs is waning in the US

Nissan has revealed pricing for its US-bound Nissan Leaf model and it claims it will be the cheapest EV on sale when it hits roads in 2026.

The updated Leaf, which the Japanese marque hopes will prove even more popular than the ground-breaking original, will start at $29,990 for the Leaf S+ and rise to $38,990 for the top spec Platinum+ trim, which manages 259 miles on a single charge.

The entry-level model is around $3,000 cheaper than the 2011 original and undercuts the outgoing 2025 version, but Nissan will also reveal pricing for the cheapest S model later this year, which could well start at under $28,000.

Redesigned from the ground up and sharing its platform with the Nissan Ariya, the US-spec Leaf S+ features a 75kWh battery pack that is capable of 303 miles on a single charge. The outgoing 2025 model managed a max range of 212 miles.

Despite now adopting the more popular SUV/crossover body shape, the new Leaf is actually a bit shorter than the outgoing hatchback and only 10mm taller, but engineers have somehow managed to declutter to the interior so there is more space to comfortably transport passengers.

Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) charging port has been added, allowing users to gain access to the vast Supercharger network. Charging from 10% to 80% takes around 35 minutes from the faster chargers.

Other notable new features include an electronically-dimming panoramic roof, which Nissan says is a first in the segment, a Google-based infotainment system and advanced camera technology that provides a 360-degree view of the vehicle and offers an 'Invisible Hood' view to make parking easier.

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(Image credit: Nissan)

Despite rapid growth over the past few years, EV sales have slowed in the US in recent months, with Inside EVs reporting that America’s EV market share dropped from 7.4% to 6.6% in April of this year.

Consumer confidence has been shaken by the US government’s decision to remove subsidies, while funding for EV-related industries continues to be attacked. The support to ensure the technology goes mainstream just isn’t in place.

Nissan is also facing a crisis of its own, as its share price continues to tumble due to the continuing losses it has been posting. As a result, it has already announced deep cuts to the workforce and the closure of several plants.

The new Leaf needs to be a big hit in the US, while the upcoming all-electric Micra also hopes to have a successful run in Europe – seeing as it shares most of its components with the hugely popular Renault 5 E-Tech.

Priced as it is, the new Nissan Leaf comes about as close as the US will get to the mythical $25,000 EV (with a useable range) that the internet has been pining for.

Seeing as Tesla looks to have killed that idea, Nissan might be in the perfect position win over new customers.

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There are some very interesting Philips Hue products on the way, including new Gradient Strips, Festavia string lights, and a Philips Hue Bridge Pro that can support up to 150 devices, but one rumored release has had me scratching my head - Philips Hue Essential.

These appear to be slightly lower-spec versions of standard Hue smart light bulbs, and will presumably have a more modest price tag to match – but why? Who, exactly, is Philips Hue Essentials for?

The budget end of the smart lighting market is already dominated by the likes of Govee, Ikea, and WiZ – and that’s where things get interesting. You see, WiZ lights are made by a company called Signify – the same company that makes Philips Hue products under license. Why would it pit its two brands against one another with a low-cost version of Hue?

WiZ smart lights (such as this WiZ Gradient Floor Lamp) are made by the same parent company as Philips Hue products, but for different users (Image credit: Abigail Shannon)

Well, it isn’t – not quite. Aside from price, one of the key differences between WiZ and Philips Hue is connectivity. WiZ lights connect directly to Wi-Fi, meaning there’s no need for a hub, and they’re easier to set up. They’re a good option if you just want one or two bulbs and aren’t planning to build a sophisticated lighting system with switches and sensors.

Although you can control individual Philips Hue lights from your phone using Bluetooth, most people will use them with a Philips Hue Bridge, which plugs into your router and uses the Zigbee wireless protocol to create a mesh network that links all your devices together. No Wi-Fi necessary.

Using Zigbee rather than Wi-Fi means you can have a lot more smart lights in your home (a typical home Wi-Fi router isn’t really intended to communicate with more than a couple of dozen devices), with better range without the need for a Wi-Fi extender. (Zigbee devices also use less power, though LED bulbs aren’t huge energy-hogs to begin with, so you’re not likely to notice a huge difference on that front.)

Philips Hue Essential and WiZ bulbs, therefore, aren’t filling quite the same niche. If you only ever intend to own a couple of smart lights, then WiZ would be just fine, but Hue Essential will give you the option to expand your setup much further in the future, should you choose to.

A bright idea?

"Hue stretches across indoor and outdoor, and has different variants of products in all those categories," Giuliano Ghidini, Business and Marketing leader at Signify, told me in a recent interview.

"Hue offers a more comprehensive range so you can cover all rooms, and thanks to the technology it’s based on, Zigbee, with a Hue hub, you have very good coverage indoor and outdoor, and very high reliability without putting too much stress on your Wi-Fi network."

Pick up a couple of Philips Hue Essential bulbs with a Hue Bridge, and you'll have the option to extend your setup much further at a future date if you want to (Image credit: Philips Hue)

That makes Hue appealing if you have a generous budget and can afford to deck out your entire house, but the high entry price can be off-putting otherwise. A starter kit of two White & Color Ambiance bulbs bundled with a Hue Bridge might cost as much as $140 / £130 / AU$190. When you can pick up four Govee bulbs for a quarter of the price, with no hub necessary, it’s easy to see why homeowners with more modest needs would write off Hue.

The Philips Hue Essential series, depending on how it’s priced, sounds like it could offer the best of both worlds, with a palatable asking price and the ability to expand your smart lighting setup as much as you like later on, or just keep it simple and not feel like you’re under-utilizing it.

Essential? Perhaps not quite, but certainly more tempting.

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In a clumsy T1 preview, Trump Mobile teases two entirely different phones on social media.

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• Hackers claim to be selling millions of PayPal logins, but experts suspect foul play
• The dataset allegedly includes passwords, emails, and URLs for automated attacks
• Experts say the leaked sample is too small to confirm authenticity, and its low pricing casts doubt about its legitimacy

Hackers recently announced on a well-known forum that they were selling a dataset of 15.8 million stolen PayPal credentials, allegedly including login emails and plaintext passwords.

The cybercriminals claim the information was stolen in May 2025, and the dataset contains not just emails and passwords but also associated URLs, making it easier for criminals to automate credential stuffing attacks and launch identity theft scams.

They also claim that while many of the leaked passwords appeared unique and “strong-looking,” a large portion were reused. If true, the value of the dump may be smaller than suggested.

Doubts over the breach claims

However, experts who examined the small sample released to the public concluded it was insufficient to verify the attackers’ claims, noting if the breach really occurred in May 2025, much of the usable data might already have been exploited.

Interestingly, the price set for the alleged database is surprisingly low, raising further doubts about its authenticity.

Historically, high-quality stolen data commands far higher prices on the dark web.

However, PayPal quickly denied any new breach, instead pointing to a “security incident” from 2022, which involved credential stuffing attacks and resulted in regulators fining the firm earlier this year.

That event saw only 35,000 accounts exposed, a far cry from the millions now claimed by attackers.

Skeptics argue the resemblance between the alleged PayPal dataset and the structure of infostealer malware logs from an older event suggests foul play.

Infostealers quietly harvest passwords, cookies, and other details from infected devices, often packaging the data with a URL followed by login information.

It is quite common to find credentials listed in stealer logs that circulate on dark web marketplaces, but these are not directly from PayPal’s system; they are from compromised user devices.

Regardless of whether this new claim proves genuine, the situation underscores how easy it is for user information to circulate once stolen.

Leaked login details can enable identity theft and financial fraud long after the original compromise.

Users who have reused PayPal credentials on other platforms remain vulnerable to attack.

How to stay safe

• Change your PayPal password and avoid reusing it across other services.
• Enable multi-factor authentication to add an extra layer of security.
• Monitor accounts regularly for signs of identity theft or unusual activity.
• Use a strong internet security suite with firewall protection.
• Be cautious with links and attachments that may carry infostealer malware.
• Consider dedicated identity theft monitoring services for added protection.

Via Cybernews

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The case of Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man originally from El Salvador, raised basic questions of due process in Trump's crackdown on undocumented immigrants after he was arrested and sent to a maximum security prison in El Salvador, violating a U.S. immigration judge's 2019 order prohibiting his deportation to his home country.

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Family members of the victims of the 2022 Uvalde school shooting where 19 students and two teachers died, recently got a look at newly released files from the Uvalde Consolidated School District and Uvalde County from the day of the shooting. More than three years after the tragedy, their suffering lingers without answers to their questions about how the security protocols failed that day.

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• Google Gemini Live now provides visual guidance with real-time cues on your screen when you share your camera
• The feature is designed to help users solve tasks visually and identify objects by sight
• Gemini Live has also expanded its app integrations and introduced expressive voice upgrades

Google is continuing its quest to get people to use its Gemini AI assistant at all times and in all places with a new set of upgrades launched alongside the Pixel 10 series of smartphones. The centerpiece of the new and improved Gemini Live is a set of AI eyes, a feature called visual guidance.

Basically, you can give Gemini Live access to your camera, and it will look at the same things you're looking at and help you figure out things like the right tool to use, the best choices to coordinate an outfit, or other tasks. The solutions will be right on the screen, with arrows or circles around the correct answer. For now, the feature will only be available on the Pixel 10, but other Android phones and even iOS devices will be able to use the feature in the near future.

Visual guidance might sound like a party trick, but it could prove to be a major draw for Gemini Live. Instead of receiving a flat, spoken answer when you ask Gemini to help assemble a new piece of furniture, you can now show the parts to your camera and have the assistant visually indicate which goes where. It doesn’t require special hardware; it's like showing a friend who's good at DIY what you have and asking for help.

Google clearly sees it as a way to bridge the awkwardness that sometimes happens when you ask an AI for help and it gives you vague or overly generic answers. “Use the blue-handled pliers,” might not help much if your toolbox has three tools with blue handles. A glowing circle over the right one is much more helpful. As someone who has tried to follow a YouTube tutorial while simultaneously wielding a screwdriver, I get the appeal.

Sweet talk and multitasking

Gemini Live will also sound better when it's showing you things, thanks to new speech models capable of adjusting the tone, and even the character of the voice. So, Gemini might use an especially calm voice to talk about a stressful topic, speed up when you're in a hurry, or perhaps tell you a story about pirates in the stereotypical pirate accent.

Gemini Live is also going to be better at multitasking thanks to new links to apps like Google Calendar, Messages, and Maps. So, when you're chatting with Gemini, you could get it to handle your personal appointments and send texts to your friends with directions.

The revamp of Gemini Live fits with Google's broader approach to AI, positioning it as an ambient, always-on platform rather than a standalone feature. AI assistance that is flexible enough for any event, while using context to be specifically valuable for individuals, is what Google and other AI developers have promised for a while. And while the visual guidance and other tools aren't going to be perfect, the adaptability could make up for it. You don’t need to learn a new system or talk in commands. You just show Gemini what you see, ask it what you need, and get a reply that’s tuned to the topic.

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• China web traffic was blocked from accessing outsider websites
• No political or sensitive events appear to have coincided
• Pakistan also suffered an outage hours before

China appears to have shut itself off from the internet world for over an hour earlier this week, but could it have just been a mistake?

The country's "Great Firewall" disrupted all traffic on TCP port 443, used for HTTPS, for 74 minutes on August 20, 2025, but with most citizens asleep during the outage (00:34-01:48 Beijing time), was this intended behavior?

Interestingly, only port 443 was affected, leaving other ports like 22 (SSH), 80 (HTTP and 8443 (alterative HTTPS) unaffected.

China just had a partial internet outage

By injecting forged TCP RST+ACK packets to cut connections on port 443, the Great Firewall blocked access to most websites outside China and also disrupted services that rely on offshore servers, including Apple and Tesla.

A report explained the Great Firewall of China is not a single entity, but a “complex system composed of various network devices that perform censorship.” The device involved did not match fingerprints of known GFW equipment, suggesting the 74-minute outage could have come from a new censorship device, a misconfigured known divide or a test of port-blocking capability.

The Great Firewall also has a history of glitches, leaks and other technical errors.

Unlike past censorship events, no major political or other sensitive events were identified during this outage, making the reason more obscured.

Coincidentally, Pakistan also saw a large drop in internet traffic hours before the Chinese outage. The two countries both have similar histories of web censorship, and China has even been linked with sharing censorship technology with Pakistan, potentially drawing a link between the two events.

More broadly, the granular and more complex censorship that China chooses (compared with total shutdowns observed in Turkey, Sudan and Egypt) strikes a fine balancing act between restricting access to foreign information while avoiding economic harm.

With the community responding to the report’s comments with suspicions that this could have been a test, we’re left with little more evidence than to believe either this is the case, or it was a mistake.

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