Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

Andy Burnham has been warned that changing the terms of the prisoners’ early release scheme so PC Andrew Harper’s killers are kept behind bars would force another spate of early releases before the next general election.Prison Service officials have told No 10 that adding an exemption so that those convicted of manslaughter, such as Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, remain in jail would mean further early releases would be needed within 18 months.Governors told the Guardian the prime minister’s decision last week to exempt rapists and serious child sex offenders would force thousands of sentences to be recalculated in haste…

GoogleFollow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.ZDNET’s key takeawaysGoogle Wallet has a new way to securely send money to kids.The kids’ balance has no card or extra account attached.Kids can only spend with tap-to-pay.A few days ago, Google announced a new feature for Wallet — the ability to send money to a child’s Google Wallet account so they can securely spend money with the app’s tap-to-pay feature on a compatible Android phone or watch. As a parent, I realize the struggle of needing to get money to your kids, but not always trusting them to carry cash (or not…

DEF CON 34 – Las Vegas – Security researchers hunting for vulnerabilities could face prison time under a 1990 United Kingdom law that doesn’t distinguish between malicious hackers and those working in good faith. But change may finally be coming.Cybercrime is accelerating rapidly, requiring a holistic approach to curb threats. Security researchers who responsibly disclose vulnerabilities are one way to address burgeoning risks against governments, businesses, and individuals, but many countries have not updated their policies and laws to reflect that, Katharina Sommer, NCC Group’s director of government affairs and analyst relations, tells Dark Reading.Sommer found that 15 countries worldwide…

The following is a guest post and opinion piece by Andre Cronje, Founder and CEO of Flying Tulip.Decentralization was the starting point for DeFi. But it is no longer the complete operating model for most protocols, and our language should evolve with the industry.This is not an argument against decentralization. It is an argument for being precise about where it exists, where operational responsibility remains, and what trust assumptions follow.I say that as someone who spent years building toward the opposite ideal. Yearn Finance launched with no team allocation, no foundation and no pre-mine. Everything went to protocol users. The…

As NASA+ continues its expansion across multiple streaming platforms to bring space closer to home, NASA announced Monday programming is next heading to discovery+ and HBO Max. A continuous live feed of NASA+ programming is streaming on discovery+ live channels, while HBO Max will stream NASA’s special events, including the Artemis III mission in 2027. Viewers on those platforms can stream NASA+ content in Dolby Vision on supported devices, which will bring space exploration to life with vivid colors, sharper contrast, brighter imagery, and richer detail. This enhanced streaming experience will help viewers experience space coverage in a uniquely immersive…

Reading Time: 5 minutes In the final days before Tuesday’s primary, Wisconsin Democrats are still grappling with who will be their party’s gubernatorial nominee. The stakes couldn’t be higher — the party has a chance to take full control of state government for the first time in 16 years. The struggle is real: Should they go with a more moderate, establishment-backed candidate with executive experience or a rising progressive popular among young grassroots activists? Wisconsin Watch traveled to different polling locations and coffee shops around the state to talk with Wisconsin voters about how they’re feeling about the upcoming election.…

An expansive beach in Wales is the site of one of one of the saddest moments of the “Harry Potter” movie series. It’s where Dobby, a freed house elf, dies in Harry’s arms during “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.”“I want to bury him,” the young wizard-in-training says after the elf takes his last breath. “Properly. Without magic.”Fans of the 2010 movie assembled a real memorial to the imaginary elf on the Freshwater West beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales, where the scene was filmed. “Here lies Dobby, a free elf,” says a sign atop a pile of stones, a…

The separatists have good reason to think the Trump administration could be an ally. In January, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called Alberta a “natural partner for the U.S.” while referencing the province’s “great resources.”“People are talking,” Bessent told conservative podcaster Jack Posobiec, nodding to the separatist movement. “People want sovereignty. They want what the U.S. has got.”Rath says he has requested introductions to the U.S. Treasury Department and major financial institutions like JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs to build a day one feasibility plan for Albertan independence, though it’s unclear if he has had any such conversations.The Alberta Prosperity…

The businessman and Reform UK donor Arron Banks is facing calls to lay out the extent of his surveillance of journalists, described by an industry body as an “attack on our democracy”.The News Media Association (NMA), which represents regional and national media, raised concerns after Banks appeared to admit over the weekend to hiring private investigators to spy on a Sunday Times journalist.The revelation, first reported in the New Statesman, has led to fears that other journalists examining the funding of Reform and Nigel Farage, including those at the Guardian, could have been targeted.When asked over the weekend whether he…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.A major earthquake killed at least 47 people in western Colombia on Monday morning, authorities said, with buildings flattened in several cities.The 7.4-magnitude earthquake caused significant damage in the cities of Cali, Pereira and Manizales, according to local reports. Its epicentre was near the town of San José del Palmar, in the impoverished western Chocó province, according to the United States Geological Survey.The mayor of Pereira, a city of about 500,000 people in Colombia’s western coffee-growing region, told local media 18 people…