Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

In brief Standard Chartered initiated coverage of Chainlink on Monday with a price target of $200 by end-2030, up from around $8 today. The bank expects tokenized assets on-chain to reach $4 trillion by end-2028 and assets deployed in DeFi to grow 37-fold to $2.7 trillion by 2030. LINK was trading at around $8.25 Monday, down 0.8% on the day, according to CoinGecko. Standard Chartered has initiated coverage of Chainlink with a price target of $200 by the end of 2030, implying a roughly 25-fold gain from around $8 today and outperformance of both Bitcoin and Ethereum over the period.Geoff…

Governments have urged people to avoid outdoor activities, while several top tourist attractions remain closed, including parts of Disneyland and Legoland, and several viewing platforms along the Bund in Shanghai.Footage on state media show ground-floor businesses flooded in the former French Concession in Shanghai, an area popular with tourists, and people wading through ankle-deep waters.Several state media outlets have reported that a nine-year-old boy from Wenling, Zhejiang is missing after being swept into the sea. Chinese officials have not reported any casualties.Parts of Zhejiang could receive 250mm to 500mm of rain over the next few days, forecasters say.Authorities in Hangzhou,…

Following proof of the presence of microplastics in Amazonian rivers, streams and lakes, researchers are investigating how these particles affect fish health and physiology.A study highlights the risks associated with microplastics in the air-breathing organs of the pirarucu, a giant fish that must rise to the surface to breathe.Studies conducted with Amazonian fish show microplastics in their gills and digestive tracts, and experiments with the tamoatá point to increased stress and weight loss.Scientists warn of risks to human health in a region where fish is a dietary staple; in Brazil’s Amazonas state, average annual consumption is 14 kilos per…

DOF Group, a Norwegian operator and owner of a fleet of advanced vessels for the energy and marine sectors, has lined up work for two anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessels in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) region, encompassing member states and territories across the Caribbean, as well as Belize in Central America and Guyana and Suriname in northern South America. Illustration; Source: DOF DOF has been awarded firm contracts with a combined duration of 150 days for two of its undisclosed AHTS vessels in the CARICOM region, a grouping of 23 countries that represents a political and economic union of…

Despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent on environmental cleanup, more than half the yards in a section of Omaha, Nebraska, that used to surround a lead smelter still have enough contamination to cause high blood-lead levels in kids, according to tests by the Flatwater Free Press and ProPublica. The findings were consistent across the city’s older urban core — in the historically Black neighborhoods north of downtown, the predominantly Hispanic areas to the south and the more white and affluent areas in midtown. However, homes closest to where a lead smelter and other downtown factories operated tended to have…

It’s been far from an idyllic summer for Europe, where powerful wildfires have incinerated France and Spain, forcing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and driving what has likely been both countries’ largest peacetime evacuations ever. If regions haven’t been torched, they may be parched. Water levels in the Danube River, a vital artery for Europe, have plunged to such depths that remnants of sunken World War II German warships are now visible to onlookers. It’s been far from an idyllic summer for Europe, where powerful wildfires have incinerated France and Spain, forcing hundreds of thousands of people…

Claim: The U.S. Army swore in four senior executives with ties to technology companies Meta, Palantir, OpenAI and Thinking Machines Lab as lieutenant colonels. Rating: Context The Army swore in tech executives with ties to those companies in June 2025 — not in summer 2026, like some social media posts implied. Rather, in July 2026, the Army announced it had commissioned three other tech executives, including another person from Meta, one from Cloudflare and another from Sutter Hill Ventures. In 2026, social media users spread a rumor that the U.S. Army swore in four senior tech executives as lieutenant colonels. …

At least one person died in an explosive wildfire in British Columbia that prompted evacuation orders for roughly 20,000 people over the weekend, the authorities said on Sunday, as more than 100 blazes burned across the Canadian province.The Bald Range fire had consumed more than 33,000 acres as of Sunday night, according to the British Columbia Wildfire Service. The fire was out of control, and dozens of firefighters and other personnel were at the scene, the agency said.The fire was first reported Friday near Summerland, a district about 260 miles by road east of Vancouver, according to the wildfire service.…

Strapped up in his navy suit, blue tie and charmingly nerdy glasses, Andy Burnham entered No 10 newly appointed as our fifth prime minister in four years. I didn’t watch this historic scene live on BBC News. Instead, I saw a 10-second clip on TikTok, with a viral Love Island soundbite: “A hot new bombshell has entered the villa.” Not exactly the introduction you might expect from a world leader – or is it?The video sent millions of eyes rolling backwards and many flocking to the comments, cringing at the idea of British politics succumbing to ridiculous social media trends.…

I use Wireless earbuds constantly. I use them for work, running, working out, relaxing, traveling—whatever I am doing, chances are I have a pair of wireless earbuds on me, just in case. While some of the earliest models were huge and inconvenient, earbuds nowadays are slim, comfortable, and often affordable.The WIRED Reviews team doesn’t just use earbuds—we test them. Hundreds of them, actually. And after weeks of music, calls, commutes, and rogue earbuds flying out of our ears, we’ve chosen these favorites that are the best for most people.For more top picks, check out our other audio guides, like the…