Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

Paris launched a surprise campaign earlier this month calling for sanctions to be dropped on mining and telecommunications billionaire Usmanov and citing a “national security” issue at play. Luxembourg, meanwhile, had long been asking for the de-listing of banking magnate Fridman, who is suing the country for access to assets frozen by the Grand Duchy. “It is done,” said one of the diplomats. “The question is what Baltic countries got in return.”The agreement, reached in a meeting of ambassadors behind closed doors, will take effect if capitals submit their written consent by 6 p.m. Three-year extension A number of other…

Nick Clegg could make approximately $40m (£30m) from the planned float of Nscale as the UK-based datacentre company prepares for a US stock market listing.The former UK deputy prime minister owns more than 917,000 shares in the startup, which is reportedly seeking a valuation of up to $35bn in a flotation. Based on Clegg’s stake of 0.12%, that could yield a valuation of about $42m for the ex-Liberal Democrat party leader.Clegg is a board member at Nscale along with the former Meta executive, Sheryl Sandberg, whose 0.25% stake could be worth $88m if Nscale floats at the $35bn valuation, a…

A biological computing startup that uses neural patterns from rat brain cells to build artificial intelligence just got a major boost from Amazon.Starting Tuesday, select Amazon Web Services customers will gain access to The Biological Computing Company’s “rat brain” AI model as part of a limited preview. The startup’s technology is specifically designed to improve AI for generating videos. Both Amazon and The Biological Computing Company, which goes by the acronym TBC, says they expect the tech to roll out to all AWS enterprise customers soon.“We figured out a way to code information, like images for example, to the biological…

The EvilTokens platform that compromised more than 12,000 Microsoft accounts at over 10,000 organizations has been disrupted in an effort led by Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit (DCU). The phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) operation emerged in February and was the first to support device code authentication at scale and offer cybercriminals AI-powered features for customizing lures and sifting through compromised inboxes to identify high-value targets. In an announcement today, Microsoft said it coordinated the takedown of EvilTokens’ infrastructure, an action that involved the Health-ISAC, law enforcement, and SpyCloud, an identity threat protection company based in Austin, Texas. Following the investigation, two men, aged…

Coinbase Derivatives has filed a proposed framework for perpetual futures tied to individual US stocks and exchange-traded funds, but the contracts remain subject to regulatory approval.The Securities and Exchange Commission notice, published Sept. 18, says Coinbase submitted the proposed rule change to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and that the CFTC had not approved it. The CFTC product register still listed the Single Stock Perpetual Futures Contract as “Approval Pending” when checked Sept. 22.The filing therefore gives Coinbase a public rule proposal, not a product that traders can access. It describes how the exchange wants the contracts to work if…

For years, people have debated whether drinking coffee in the evening interferes with sleep. Some people can have caffeine late in the day and fall asleep easily, while others may remain awake for hours. But researchers are increasingly finding that simply asking whether coffee delays sleep may miss a more important issue: what caffeine does to the brain after sleep begins. To investigate those effects, scientists are using EEG, or electroencephalography — a method used to record the brain’s electrical activity. EEG measurements can reveal much more than how long someone sleeps or how often they wake up. They can…

A vast multi-nation mining project, named Vicuña, is being developed in the Andes to help satisfy the world’s rocketing demand for copper, largely stemming from society’s demand for renewables, such as electric cars, and AI data centers.But experts worry that even gigantic projects like Vicuña will be unable to satisfy global copper demand, expected to reach 50 million metric tons by 2040, almost double this year’s consumption of 28 million metric tons.To meet that astronomical need, mining companies will have to move deep into untapped wildlands, requiring ever larger amounts of energy and water, leading to regional water stress.…

In a move designed to capitalize on renewed global industry interest in oil and gas exploration due to traditional supply chain woes and surging energy demand, Bounty Oil & Gas, an independent Australian oil and gas explorer and producer, has taken a step to widen its portfolio with the acquisition of PetroQuest Liberia Deep Water, which opens the door to a deepwater exploration block in the Harper Basin off the coast of Liberia. Offshore West Africa Transform Margin, showing current licence holders – dominated by oil and gas majors. Source:NOCAL/LPRA licensing data Bounty Oil & Gas has announced a major…

At a moment when Europe is focused on persuading Donald Trump to remain committed to Nato, it needs to convince Americans, too. So the presence this evening of the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, in front of a public audience in Des Moines, Iowa, is significant. This is the home town of Trump’s ambassador to Nato, Matthew Whitaker, and the visit brings the debate over Nato’s future directly to a midwestern audience in a red state that operates far from elite foreign-policy circles in Washington. Rutte’s appearance is long overdue.Russia’s war in Ukraine and uncertainty over the US commitment to…

The US will open two military bases in Greenland as part of a deal with Denmark and Greenland, Reuters has reported.The agreement is expected to be signed on Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. However, its text has not yet been officially publicised.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe move follows a tense, months-long standoff with Denmark and Greenland following US President Donald Trump’s repeated comments that Washington intended to annex the autonomous Danish territory, which is strategic for its location in the Arctic and its significant mineral resources, including rare-earth metals.As a diplomatic…