Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

GLP-1 drugs such as semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro and Zepbound) have surged in popularity for treating diabetes and helping people lose weight. About one in eight U.S. adults now use these medications, which are also known to provide cardiovascular benefits. But new research suggests that those heart benefits may fade quickly when treatment is stopped. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis tracked more than 333,000 U.S. veterans with type 2 diabetes for three years. They found that interrupting or stopping GLP-1 treatment for as little as six months was associated with a meaningful…

Two South Korean companies, GasEntec and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), are pooling resources to commercialize small-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) technology. Illustration; Courtesy of Samsung Heavy Industries The two companies have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for GasEntec to license SHI’s SAMSUNG Enhanced Nitrogen Split Expansion (SENSE) liquefaction technology for small-scale applications between 50,000 and 1 million tons per annum. The MoU enables the duo to pursue the first commercial licensing of SENSE. Brian Yoon, Chief Executive Officer of GasEntec, commented: “As global LNG capacity expands, liquefaction technology is entering a new cycle of innovation and diversification. “Our…

Claim: A video circulating online in 2026 authentically showed a rhino and muntjac deer headbutting each other at a Polish zoo. Rating: In September 2026, social media users shared a video of an unusual animal encounter. The clip showed a rhino and a much smaller muntjac deer appearing to play together and butt heads in the snow. “A tiny 13 kg Chinese muntjac deer playfully challenged a 1.7-ton rhino named Maruśka at the Wrocław Zoo in Poland,” one Reddit post (archived) captioned the video. Since January 2026, the clip has appeared in posts on X, Threads, Facebook and YouTube. Overlaid…

Iran ready to reopen strait of Hormuz if US eases military pressure and lifts blockade, official saysIran is ready to ⁠reopen ⁠the strait of ​Hormuz within seven days ⁠if the US ⁠eases military pressure and ​lifts ‌its ‌blockade on Iranian ‌ports, a senior Iranian official has told the Reuters news agency.There is no more immediate detail on how exactly this reopening would work in practice and the US hasn’t commented on the report, which we have not been able to independently verify.The official ‌also told Reuters that the Iranian delegation to ​the UN General Assembly has ​full authority ​to revive…

NEW YORK — The U.K. will seek to use its upcoming G20 presidency to forge a global agreement on AI, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said ahead of a visit to the U.N. General Assembly in New York. This comes as discussions about global AI governance have shot up the diplomatic agenda in the wake of dire warnings about the potential threats from the technology, and marks the most significant intervention yet from the U.K.’s prime minister about how he will respond to perceived threats from AI. Speaking to journalists on Monday night, Burnham said the U.K. was “uniquely positioned to…

Following a consultation, the government has now set out exactly who the new right will apply to.It said including step, half, adoptive, foster and kinship care relationships – where family or friends take care of a child when their parents are not able to – would “bring the UK’s laws into the 21st century”.Welcoming the move, the chief executive of the Kinship charity, Lucy Peake, said: “Kinship families grieve the loss of a loved one just like any other family, and this right to take time off work will help ensure they are treated fairly alongside other bereaved families.”Meanwhile, the…

Ruth Gregory, deputy chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said it is a “dismal backdrop for the autumn Budget, with the government once again borrowing more than expected”.She said the figures raise the likelihood of many of Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s policy ambitions being “reined in or delayed to avoid big tax hikes and/or a backlash in the markets”.Gregory also warned that, with the economy weakening, the government is likely to continue borrowing more than expected.Emma Reynolds, chief secretary to the Treasury, said that the UK has “huge potential” for economic growth, but only with “fiscal discipline” from the government.”At…

Kairos Power has picked engineering firm Samsung C&T to help build its 50-megawatt demonstration reactor for Google, which the nuclear startup is aiming to have completed by 2030. As part of the deal, Samsung C&T will make an equity investment in Kairos and provide “in-kind” engineering services, the combination of which is worth up to $100 million, Kairos Power said Monday. The equity investment will make up $70 million of the total, a Kairos spokesperson told TechCrunch. Samsung C&T has built or helped build about a dozen nuclear reactors around the globe. Kairos is part of a wave of nuclear…

Toyota Motor estimates that expanding automation across its factories, group companies, and major suppliers could require around 400,000 robots and annual spending of about 1 trillion yen ($6.4 billion) from 2028.The potential investment was discussed with investors earlier in September, according to Reuters. Toyota has not said whether the full investment will proceed or how many years spending at that level would continue.The 400,000 figure includes replacements for existing machines and new robot installations, covering humanoid and non-humanoid systems. The potential investment spans industrial robots, automated logistics, and future human-robot collaboration on factory floors.Toyota already uses and tests robotics across…

In April, I wrote about what I called the Cyber AI Parity Window. This is the rare period in which defenders and adversaries gained access to the same transformative technology at roughly the same moment. For most of cybersecurity history, advanced offensive capability reached attackers years before defenders could respond with comparable technology. AI changed that pattern. At the time, my argument was simple. Parity creates an opportunity, and its value depends on what defenders do with it. I also warned that the window would narrow. Five months later, we have a better sense of how quickly. OpenAI recently described…