Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

Bitcoin treasury company Strategy reported a loss of $8.22 billion for the second quarter of 2026 thanks to the falling price of the leading cryptocurrency.  In its quarterly report, Nasdaq-listed Strategy (MSTR) — formerly MicroStrategy — put the loss down to the Bitcoin price crash, even as the company continued raising capital, buying more Bitcoin and paying down debt. In the same period of 2025, Strategy reported a net income of $10.02 billion.  “In the second quarter of 2026, Strategy strengthened its balance sheet while navigating a meaningful Bitcoin price decline,” Strategy CEO and President Phong Le said in a…

Prolonged droughts, especially those linked to the 2023–24 El Niño, exposed the vulnerability of Zambia and Zimbabwe’s hydropower-dependent electricity systems, triggering severe power shortages and renewing interest in coal.While coal is viewed as a short-term solution to stabilize electricity supplies and support industrialization, it could undermine Paris Agreement commitments, lock in carbon emissions and reduce export competitiveness as trade rules that put a cost on carbon emissions come into play.Households and businesses in Zimbabwe are increasingly investing in rooftop solar, demonstrating that decentralized renewable energy is becoming a practical response to unreliable grid electricity.Although solar power is becoming more…

Thursday, American Oversight challenged the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor’s response to its recent demand letter, arguing that the agency’s evolving explanation raises new questions about whether it adequately preserved and searched for Dallas Woodhouse’s text messages and other public records about election administration. In a July 24 letter responding to our demand for records, the auditor’s office acknowledged that it only began gathering additional responsive text messages after media reports revealed their existence. The office also stated that, because former elections liaison Dallas Woodhouse has since resigned, it no longer has access to his personal devices or…

Ukraine has hit Russian oil refineries several times, while Russia strikes Dnipropetrovsk and a cargo vessel near Odesa.Published On 31 Jul 202631 Jul 2026Russia and Ukraine have exchanged more overnight attacks causing casualties on both sides, say local officials.Two people were killed and three others injured in a Russian attack on the Nikopol district of Dnipropetrovsk in Ukraine, said regional military administration head, Oleksandr Hanzha.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listFour districts were hit more than 20 times with drones, artillery and aerial bombs, he added on Telegram.In the Volgograd region of Russia, a Ukrainian drone attack killed one…

Andy Burnham has said he has “concerns” about plans to reduce the number of jury trials in England and Wales and wants to look in detail at the proposals.The proposals were put forward by former justice secretary David Lammy under Sir Keir Starmer’s government.Lammy had said reducing the number of jury trials would help tackle the huge backlog in Crown Court cases, but critics – including most barristers and many Labour MPs – fear it will undermine the justice system.Speaking to reporters on a visit to Sheffield, the prime minister said: “My instincts are that we need to find ways…

Concerns have been raised over the level of a debt accumulated by a council.Northumberland County Council owed £898.4m as of the start of the financial year – up from £830.8m in April 2025.At a meeting of the audit and standards committee, Independent councillor Patrick Lambert said he was concerned that the amount of debt was equal to £5,500 per household in the area and council taxpayers may “have to pick up the pieces”.The cabinet member for finance, Nick Oliver, said the council’s spending choices had been affordable and “in the best interests of the residents of Northumberland”.The Conservative administration has…

Ellis AI announced Thursday its emergence from stealth with $10 million in seed funding from investors including First Round Capital, 645 Ventures, Harlem Capital, Khosla Ventures, Thrive Capital, Slow Capital, Kearny Jackson, and Ariel Alternatives CEO Mellody Hobson. Ellis uses AI agents to tackle the fragmented workflow private credit managers deal with, including managing documents, spreadsheets, and correspondence. The company was founded by Ryan Williams, best known for co-creating the real estate investment platform Cadre alongside Josh and Jared Kushner back in 2014. That company raised more than $160 million in funding and, at its peak, was valued at $800…

Earlier this month, Interpol revealed that authorities in Singapore and Oman used a worldwide network of law enforcement agencies and financial organizations to halt a $6.6 million payoff from a business email compromise (BEC) scam, part of Operation First Light 2026, which — among other milestones — blocked more than 31,000 bank accounts linked to fraud.When companies and individuals report fraud and cybercrime, it’s often too late to recover transferred funds. The coalition of law enforcement agencies and financial firms, known as the Interpol Global Rapid Intervention of Payments (I-GRIP) mechanism, has been working together to cut down the time…

Coinbase said it captured a record 10.3% share of global crypto trading volume during the quarter, its third consecutive quarterly gain. Analysts at Benchmark, Oppenheimer, Clear Street and Cantor all highlighted the figure as evidence that trading activity is consolidating onto larger regulated exchanges during periods of market stress.Several also pointed to derivatives, where Coinbase reported flat trading volumes despite management saying the broader derivatives market declined by double digits.Diversification shows progress, but isn’t enoughAnalysts viewed Coinbase’s push beyond spot trading as encouraging, even though the newer businesses remain too small to offset weakness in core trading revenue.The company is…

According to traditional Sri Lankan paddy farmers, long dry spells have occurred every four to seven years.Sri Lanka has experienced around 25-26 El Niño events from 1950 to date, out of which only three have been strong El Niño events, meteorology department officials say.The irrigation department has introduced new water-saving techniques such as alternative wetting and drying to preserve excess water during the forecasted dry season.Attempts are also being made to integrate science into decision making, but there are gaps in research due to a lack of access to information, academics say.See All Key Ideas COLOMBO — Even though…