Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

Warning: This story contains distressing detailsThe mother of a woman found hanging in a tree in Mississippi has spoken of her shock after authorities said they believed her daughter was dead before her body was placed at the allegedly “staged” crime scene. Tasia Fortune, a 29-year-old mother of four, was found hanging from a tree at an abandoned home in Jackson in August.The discovery sparked widespread fears in the majority-black city because of the state’s deep history of racial violence and lynchings. But on Friday, police said that Fortune had been dead before her body was hanged from the tree.”I…

Earth’s days are not exactly the same length. Scientists have been recording small variations in for decades. These changes are minuscule—sometimes just a few milliseconds—and mostly imperceptible, but scientists are keen to understand them as they point to a much more monumental change: Our planet’s rotation speed is shifting.Scientists have already pinpointed a handful of compounding causes. Fluctuations in the atmosphere and oceans can slightly speed up or slow down the Earth’s rotation; major earthquakes can redistribute part of the planet’s mass; and by depositing enormous amounts of water into the oceans, melting continental ice is also a factor.These influences…

Researchers at Graz University of Technology in Austria show that the file-change notification features built into Linux, Android, Windows, and macOS can be abused to monitor other users on the same system, from the rhythm of their typing to the websites they visit. Linux, Windows, macOS, and Android let applications ask to be alerted when files are created, modified, or deleted. Text editors, file managers, sync clients, and antivirus products are among the programs that use this capability. It requires no elevated privileges, only read access to the location being watched.  The attacks never expose file contents, but the researchers…

In 2021, Christie’s sold a Beeple NFT for $69.35 million, and Sotheby’s took another $24.40 million for 101 Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, giving cartoon primates the kind of auction-house treatment usually reserved for Fabergé eggs.But now, not five years later, one of the marketplaces that helped sell the digital art revolution is explaining how customers could take their belongings with them when it closed.Nifty Gateway, the NFT marketplace owned by crypto exchange Gemini, announced its closure in January as its parent decided to concentrate on its primary financial app. The exit arrangements included plans for a bulk withdrawal tool…

NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman are beginning a new chapter after their historic Artemis II journey around the Moon earlier this year. In September, both astronauts are transitioning to emeritus status at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The emeritus program allows highly experienced NASA personnel to remain involved with the agency by volunteering their expertise. In these specialized consulting roles, they can help train and mentor current employees while also gaining more freedom to pursue opportunities outside their previous full time positions. Carrying Artemis II Experience Forward “I’ve had the privilege of knowing Reid and Victor for…

Visitor numbers have surged, fuelled partly by social media posts about Hanle’s night skies and its location on the route to Umling La, which is among the world’s highest motorable mountain passes. But more tourists also mean more traffic, construction and artificial light – all threats to the darkness they come to see.Sonam Jorphail, a senior engineer and head of outreach at the IAO, says tourism is creating jobs and driving development in Hanle, but growth must be managed to protect its dark skies. “They bridge the gap between the science community and common people – locals and visitors,” Jorphail…

Authorities warn residents that extreme conditions could pose risks and urge people to stay away from flooded areas.Published On 26 Sep 202626 Sep 2026Residents of the northeastern United States are facing a powerful storm known as a nor’easter that has knocked out power and caused flooding across the region.The storm has led to the cancellation of more than 400 flights and power outages affecting more than 88,000 homes and businesses as of Saturday afternoon local time. That figure is down from a high of 119,000 earlier in the day.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listBob Oravec, lead forecaster with…

Earlier this month, Pokémon card content creator Natalie Roush posted a video to her YouTube and Instagram pages that enraged the larger collection community. In the now-deleted video, Roush shows off two premium boxes of cards that had not yet been officially released, and implores viewers not to be mad. But they were; other creators claimed that cards Roush had purchased were stolen from the manufacturer and mocked her for trying to sell them at exorbitant prices. The Roush situation was a high-profile example of the way Pokémon card collecting culture has been upended by the influencer economy and people…

China and the United States agreed to establish a channel for handling AI-related incidents and accelerate work on military crisis communications following a three-day summit between President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump in Washington, the two governments said Saturday. They also agreed to continue cooperating through a Board of Trade focused on selected bilateral issues. The White House said the board began operating this week. The summit produced no major breakthroughs, but analysts said the steps toward greater cooperation were important because they established working groups that could help prevent disputes from escalating. Xi returned to Beijing on Saturday,…

Crypto projects spent about $638 million with token buybacks through late August 2026, according to Allium Labs data.That is already a record, up from $545 million over the same stretch of 2025. Hyperliquid accounted for roughly $370 million and Pump.fun for about $200 million, together close to 90% of the total.On Sept. 25, staff at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) addressed the legal tension that has shadowed those programs since they began. The more openly a project ties its token to business returns, the easier it becomes to argue that holders are investing in a security.What SEC staff saidThe…