Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

Where do diesel prices stand now? Diesel prices have remained elevated beyond the spring planting season, with farmers now approaching the fuel-intensive fall harvest. In the Midwest, on-highway diesel averaged $5.26 per gallon during the week of Aug. 3, up nearly 39% from $3.79 per gallon during the same period a year earlier, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. American farmers spent an estimated $1.4 billion more on diesel during the 2026 planting season than they did a year earlier, according to a July analysis released by the congressional Joint Economic Committee Minority. The report estimates diesel costs for…

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s China Brief. The highlights this week: The United States blames China for local data center opposition, details emerge about a California killing involving three Chinese immigrants, and Beijing issues new rules on exit bans and offshore trusts. Welcome to Foreign Policy’s China Brief. The highlights this week: The United States blames China for local data center opposition, details emerge about a California killing involving three Chinese immigrants, and Beijing issues new rules on exit bans and offshore trusts. Explaining AI’s Popularity As public opposition to artificial intelligence data centers rises across the United States, Silicon Valley elites and…

Coalition promises to drastically cut net overseas migration and housing construction codeThe Coalition has promised to drop net overseas migration to under 180,000 a year over the forward estimates, including by cutting family and international student visas, as part of a push to open up more housing supply.The shadow housing minister Andrew Bragg will be up at the national press club and says the opposition will strip the 2000 page national construction code, which he says makes it “illegal to build a cheap safe house”, down to an 80-page “basic Australian standard”.The current permanent migration level is set to 185,000…

You may think it’s a commitment to buying a round, the ability to chat at length about the weather, or making a proper cup of tea. But when it comes down to what makes people proud to be British, there is a consensus across all ages, demographics and political groups – and tea, pints and the weather don’t get a look-in.Hard work, fair play and community are the values that voters – no matter which political party, age group, social class or region they come from – instinctively believe capture what it means to be British, according to a large-scale…

The police chiefs from Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland also called for greater consideration of victims when prisoners have their sentences altered – such as with the government’s early release scheme, which was designed to reduce prison overcrowding.Under changes to the Sentencing Act made this year, Cole and Bowers, who were sentenced to 13 years for manslaughter in 2020, will become eligible for release from custody after serving half of their sentences.In the letter, released on Tuesday evening, police chiefs said the early release of PC Harper’s killers, and that of anyone involved in the death of an officer,…

Andriy Onufriyenko/ Moment via Getty ImagesFollow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.ZDNET’s key takeawaysSoftware factories will prepare prototypes for wide distribution. Leading AI companies are creating the foundations.The specter of daily releases and updates demands greater automation. Tune into the TV show Shark Tank, and the most recurring question you hear voiced by the venture capitalists to budding entrepreneurs is whether they have arrangements with a factory to cost-effectively mass-produce their pooper-scoopers, comfort socks, or scrub pads. The idea of a mass-production facility may make sense for software delivery as well.Imagine submitting your prototype — such as a vibe-coded initial version…

Hackers associated with the Russian threat group Sandworm have been targeting system administrators and IT professionals through fake job offers since at least May. A report from the Ukrainian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) details a social engineering campaign attributed to UAC-0145, which is believed to be a sub-cluster of Sandworm (APT44). In the campaign, the threat actor targets victims while posing as IT companies and recruiters. The agency says that the attacker studies the targets’ resumes uploaded on job sites and then initiates direct contact. Conversations are then moved to Telegram to arrange a video interview over Zoom. During the interview,…

Bitdeer’s existing at-the-money program could raise up to $1 billion through Class A share sales, about twice the roughly $500 million the Bitcoin miner says it still needs to build its Tydal AI data center.Its latest prospectus supplement filed Aug. 10 sets no minimum sale amount, however, and does not commit the company to sell the full authorization or spend all of it on Tydal.At the filing’s illustrative price of $10.88, a full draw on Bitdeer’s $1 billion ATM capacity would require about 91.9 million new shares. That issuance would equal 40.4% of the 227.4 million Class A shares outstanding…

This article is for students grades 5-8. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is NASA’s newest astrophysics observatory. The telescope will scan large sections of space. Roman will help astronomers answer questions about dark energy, dark matter, exoplanets, and more. ______________________________________________________________________ Words to Know Astrophysics: a branch of space science that applies physics and mathematics to study the universe. Lagrange point: a position in space where the gravitational forces of a two-body system, such as the Sun and Earth, are balanced. This point creates an “orbital parking spot” where minimal fuel is needed to maintain a spacecraft’s position. Infrared light: light…

U.S.-headquartered energy services provider Expro has lined up a new deal for a well abandonment program in the North Sea with an undisclosed oil and gas operator on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS). Illustration; Source: Expro Expro has secured what it describes as a major multi-million-pound contract with an unknown UK operator, said to reinforce its position as a leading supplier of subsea safety systems in the UK North Sea plug and abandonment (P&A) market. The U.S.-headquartered firm will provide its 7-3/8” large bore subsea test tree assembly (SSTTA) safety system to support the client’s P&A campaign across a portfolio of…