Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

Rayner says Burnham won’t accept ‘system says no’ advice over prisoner release schemeGood morning. Andy Burnham has been prime minister for three weeks and one day, and arguably he is performing his first U-turn. It is in relation to the prisoner early release scheme and, in particular, finding a way of ensuring that two of the killers of PC Andrew Harper are not included.Burnham has been looking at this for some time. Early last week he announced significant changes to the early release scheme that he inherited and that was due to come into force from September. Around 1,000 fewer…

11 August 2026Free open-air concert in Frankfurt celebrates Europe’s diversity Performances by Frankfurt Radio Big Band and Frankfurt Radio SymphonyTen shortlisted euro banknote designs on display at ECB standOn Thursday, 20 August 2026 the European Central Bank (ECB) and the broadcaster Hessischer Rundfunk (hr) will once again host the Europa Open Air concert at Weseler Werft in Frankfurt. The free event brings together music, culture and community in a unique riverside setting and reflects the ECB’s commitment to engage with its host city. The theme of the event is “celebrating Europe”.This year’s programme features the Frankfurt Radio Big Band, the…

If you’re looking for somewhere soft to land at the end of each day, a Tempur-Pedic mattress is a safe bet. Tempur-Pedic is known for its super-soft memory foam mattresses, and has a huge range of products for you to end your day on. I’ve slept on everything from a Tempur-Pedic mattress to sheet sets and even pillows from the brand—truly, if there’s new bedding you need, particularly anything with a soft, sinking sensation to cradle you as you sleep, you can find it from Tempur-Pedic.You can get the ultra-soft goods for a little cheaper thanks to WIRED’s Tempur-Pedic coupon…

Artificial intelligence is giving security researchers new ways to examine code, trace unusual behaviour and identify flaws that conventional tools may overlook. The pressure is particularly visible around Zero-day vulnerabilities, a recent Minimus analysis considers how container composition, dependency records and rebuild speed affect the response after an unknown flaw is exposed. Faster analysis helps only when organisations can also establish where the vulnerable software is running.In May 2026, Google Threat Intelligence Group reported the first case in which it believed a threat actor had used AI to help develop a zero-day exploit. The exploit appeared in a Python script and…

Ravie LakshmananAug 11, 2026Supply Chain Attack / Vulnerability Cybersecurity researchers have warned of a supply chain compromise impacting WordPress plugin vendor BdThemes, prompting the content management systems (CMS) platform’s plugins team to temporarily disable their downloads. “Unlike traditional software supply chain attacks, zero source code files were modified within the official WordPress.org repository,” Wordfence researcher Paolo Tresso said. “Instead, threat actors poisoned a static remote JSON data stream fetched by an administrative promotional banner component.” The list of affected plugins is below – Element Pack Addons for Elementor – Elementor Widgets, Elementor Templates, Elementor Addons [bdthemes-element-pack-lite] – 100,000+ active installs…

ADI Chain’s job is to turn those deals into blockchain tokens and handle payments using stablecoins (digital tokens pegged 1-to-1 to real currencies like the UAE dirham or the U.S. dollar), so money moves instantly without a traditional bank wire. For now, this is aimed at “qualified institutional participants,” or large, vetted investors, not everyday retail buyers.Shipfinex CEO Capt. Vikas Pandey said the partnership would let the company “create a regulated digital route into this market, with every instrument tied to a real vessel, its economics and its legal structure.”No maritime asset tokens have been issued yet and Shipfinex doesn’t…

For thousands of years, potatoes have been central to life in the Andes. Indigenous Andean communities were the first to domesticate the starch-rich crop, turning it into a dietary staple long before potatoes spread around the world. Now, researchers have found evidence that this ancient reliance on potatoes may also have shaped human evolution. Indigenous people in Peru today carry more copies of a gene involved in starch digestion than any other known population. A new study co-led by researchers at UCLA and the University at Buffalo suggests that natural selection began favoring Indigenous Andeans with especially high numbers of…

A massive wildfire within a national park in Indonesia has forced a total closure of one of the country’s best-known tourist destinations. Some 899 hectares (2,222 acres) of savanna and forest within Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS) in East Java province have been destroyed by fire as of the morning of Aug. 11, the provincial disaster management agency told Mongabay. The fire, which broke out on Aug. 3 in the park’s eastern entrance, is suspected to be human-caused, TNBTS chief Rudijanta Tjahja Nugraha told local media. TNBTS spokesperson Endrip Wahyutama confirmed the blaze originated along a path…

Adrian Chiles’s emotional response to Poor by Katriona O’Sullivan really resonated with me (I’d never cried during a live broadcast – then three poignant words had me sobbing, 30 July). I read it and my heart both sobbed and cheered for Katriona’s younger self and the woman she has become.With its linear narrative, rich cultural references and “rags-to-riches” form, it might be taken for a tale of “that was then but this is now”. However, the defining part of the book is the epilogue, making clear that Katriona’s account of growing up in grinding, abject poverty is a story of…

A major earthquake struck Colombia on Monday, killing more than 100 people, damaging hundreds of buildings in the country’s west and prompting a frantic search for survivors.The 7.4-magnitude earthquake was the most powerful recorded in the South American nation in the past decade, the Colombian Geological Survey said.President Abelardo De La Espriella of Colombia, who had been sworn into office just three days before the quake, declared a state of emergency and said that he would directly lead the disaster response.Here’s what to know.Where did the earthquake happen?The epicenter of the quake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, was about…