Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

The smartphone industry’s next battleground may not be the phone itself, but how consumers get it. As premium devices become more expensive, Apple, Samsung, and others are betting that leasing, subscriptions, and guaranteed buyback programs can make upgrading more attractive. This week, Apple launched Apple Upgrade in the U.S. in partnership with Klarna, allowing consumers to lease an iPhone, Mac, iPad, or Apple Watch for a monthly fee with the option to upgrade, return, or eventually purchase the device. Samsung, meanwhile, has been offering its Galaxy Forever program in India, combining financing with a guaranteed buyback to let consumers upgrade…

The Clarity Act will likely get through despite some — older — Democrats holding it back, according to Coinbase’s Chief Policy Officer, Faryar Shirzad.  Speaking on The Hill’s morning Rising show Friday, Shirzad said that crypto was “maybe the most bipartisan issue in Washington.”  JUST IN: 🇺🇸 Coinbase Chief Policy Officer talks CLARITY ACT progress on The Hill:””We’ve got ethics nailed down, we’ve got nominations nailed down, we’ve got a bipartisan bill on the substance, we should be good to go” 👏 pic.twitter.com/gMKuM7ujYs— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) July 31, 2026 He added that while some lawmakers were holding back the long-awaited…

Millions of people take statins to lower cholesterol and reduce their chances of having a heart attack or stroke. For some patients, however, the medications can cause muscle pain, weakness, and difficulty exercising, making it harder to stay on treatment. Researchers at McMaster University have now identified a biological pathway that could help explain why these muscle symptoms develop. The finding may eventually lead to treatments that make statins easier to tolerate without reducing their important cardiovascular benefits. Published in Science Advances, the study points to a previously unrecognized interaction between the immune system and muscle cell metabolism. The mechanism…

Spain said migrant crossings into its North African enclave of Ceuta stopped overnight, as police began installing a 500-metre (1,640-foot) floating barrier on Saturday off its border with Morocco following a mass rush that killed at least 67 people. According to Spanish authorities, about 60,000 people had crossed ​into Ceuta by land ‌and sea from Thursday in an unprecedented surge at one of the European Union’s only land borders with Africa. More than ⁠48,000 of them returned to Morocco within 48 hours, Spain said. Reuters video on Saturday showed Spanish soldiers and police patrolling a mostly empty Tarajal beach shrouded…

Motorola/ZDNETFollow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.If you’re in the market for a new, inexpensive smartphone or a backup to your main device, I have a great deal for you. Motorola’s 2024 Moto G Play LTE is currently on sale at Best Buy for $100. That is $50 off its original $150 price tag, and I think it’s one of the best values for a phone that you’ll find at the moment.Also: The best Android phones to buy in 2025Even though Motorola has since released the 2026 Moto G Play, the 2024 model has aged quite well. A big…

U.S. spot Bitcoin funds posted net outflows of $265.4 million on July 31, reversing a $233.1 million inflow the previous session. Ethereum showed a $9 million net inflow, but only because BlackRock’s staked Ethereum fund drew more than the group gained overall.Every Bitcoin product displayed in Farside’s July 31 table was flat or negative. BlackRock’s IBIT lost $122.7 million, Fidelity’s FBTC lost $54.8 million, and Grayscale’s GBTC lost $52.6 million. BITB and ARKB lost another $17.8 million and $17.5 million, respectively. Related ReadingBitcoin ETFs just broke a brutal $500M losing streak, but the entire recovery is an illusion propped up…

Italy is not the only country to see Spain as soft on migration, though.Meloni’s call for an urgent meeting of interior ministers to be held on Tuesday was signed by almost two dozen EU heads of state, calling for the elimination of all policies that could be “pull factors” to Europe.Above all, they mean Spain’s controversial move to allow hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants apply for residence and work permits and “regularise” their status.The government’s pragmatic: Spain is ageing and needs workers.But those who flocked to the beaches of Ceuta this week were not heading to sign up for…

At least three people were killed and two others were wounded in a shooting at an In-N-Out Burger in Twin Falls, Idaho, on Saturday, the authorities said.The Twin Falls police received a call around 2:30 p.m. local time about an active shooter inside the dining area at the In-N-Out Burger restaurant on Blue Lakes Boulevard, said Josh Palmer, a city spokesman.The suspected shooter is dead, the police chief in Twin Falls, Matthew Hicks, said during a news conference on Saturday.It was not immediately clear if the gunman was among the three fatalities or in addition to them. It was also…

Perhaps more importantly, Rorra, Boroux, and Culligan have shed nearly all plastic from their devices, especially in areas that come in contact with filtered water. Boroux in particular has taken the extra step of attaining certification for microplastic filtration. If microplastics are a big concern for you, the new generation of gravity-fed filters does quite a bit to alleviate these worries.Best Countertop Water Filter Overall: Boroux LegacyPhotograph: Matthew KorfhagePhotograph: Matthew KorfhageBorouxLegacy Water Filter SystemAccordionItemContainerButtonWIREDNSF-certified microplastic and particulate filtrationIndependent testing shows yearlong filtration of PFAs, heavy metals, chlorineGosh, it’s handsomeTIREDBig, bulkySetup and filter priming is tediousOf the three new-school gravity-fed systems…

In brief OFAC sanctioned two Iranian firms behind a scheme requiring vessels to buy IRGC-approved “insurance” to transit the Strait of Hormuz. One of them, Hormuz Safe, accepts Bitcoin and other digital assets to evade sanctions, Treasury said. Blockchain analysts told Decrypt in April they saw no evidence crypto was being used at scale for Hormuz tolls. Iran is accepting Bitcoin from commercial shipping in exchange for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the U.S. Treasury, whose Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two firms behind the scheme on Wednesday. Vessels crossing the chokepoint, which carries a fifth…