Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

Chinese AI startup Manus, which earlier this year had to break off a merger with Meta, is in discussions to raise $500 million at a $4 billion valuation now that it has resumed operations as an independent company, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing anonymous sources. Potential investors in the round include IDG Capital, Boyu Capital, battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology, as well as existing backers Tencent, HSG and Zhenfund, the Journal reported. Manus is also said to be considering a restructuring exercise to prepare for an IPO in Hong Kong. Manus, which went viral following a demo of its…

SecurityWeek’s weekly cybersecurity news roundup offers a concise overview of important developments that may not receive full standalone coverage yet remain relevant to the broader threat landscape. This curated summary highlights key stories across vulnerability disclosures, emerging attack methods, policy updates, industry reports, and other noteworthy events to help readers stay well-informed about the evolving cybersecurity environment. Here are this week’s highlights:  Raindrop raises $35 million for AI agent monitoring Raindrop, designed to detect unknown failures in autonomous agents, announced a Series A funding round of $35 million, adding to last year’s $15 million seed round. Raindrop continuously analyzes agent…

Quantum computing is a risk to Bitcoin but the community recognizes the issue, according to asset manager VanEck’s Head of Digital Assets Research.  Speaking to CNBC on Friday, Matthew Sigel said that while progress on addressing the issue may be slow because of the crypto network’s decentralized nature, the community was working on it.  The crypto community has sounded the alarm about hypothetical advancements in quantum computers that could in the future be able to break Bitcoin’s cryptography.  Some in the space — including Bitcoin developers — have started preparing for a post-quantum future by testing quantum-resistant signatures on live…

Someone in 17th century Poland really did not want one particular girl rising from the dead. In 2022, archaeologists unearthed an unsettling grave in a cemetery in Pień, north-central Poland. A young woman had been buried with the handle of a sickle driven into the dirt beside her neck so that its serrated blade hooked over her throat. The woman, who the researchers call Zosia, also wore a triangular padlock on the big toe of her left foot. Sign up for our newsletter We summarize the week’s scientific breakthroughs every Thursday. “The placement of the sickle and the…

Reading Time: 5 minutes This article was originally published by Votebeat, a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access. Over the past several years, gridlock between the Republican Legislature and Democratic governor’s office means election legislation in Wisconsin has hardly seen the light of day. Though Republican lawmakers have pushed for stricter voting rules, Gov. Tony Evers has blocked those efforts at several turns during his eight years in office, leaving election policy changes in a stalemate of bills and vetoes. Instead, courts have increasingly become the primary venue for election rules to be challenged and changed.…

Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s Latin America Brief. The highlights this week: Brazil sends its foreign minister to a BRICS summit in New Delhi, Guatemalans protest fuel price hikes, and Chile remembers a renowned documentarian. The BRICS leaders’ summit in New Delhi last weekend underscored how as the global order unravels, cooperation among the grouping deepens. Many long-standing BRICS demands, such as expanding the United Nations Security Council, haven’t materialized. But the bloc has steadily increased economic ties, including by launching its own development bank. BRICS members have long sought to reform the Western-dominated order, making their joint positions particularly…

Claim: A video authentically shows a 104-year-old woman named Mabel Rose Thompson chiding U.S. President Donald Trump. Rating: In September 2026, Snopes readers searched this website for information about a video allegedly showing a 104-year-old woman named Mabel Rose Thompson chiding U.S. President Donald Trump. A search located a Threads post (archived) from Sept. 15 displaying the clip with the onscreen caption, “At 104, I’ve Seen 18 Presidents. Trump Was the Most Unforgettable.” That Threads post featured the TikTok watermark for a user who previously posted (archived) the video and garnered more than 2 million views. The video begins with…

Government has promised to fully investigate after 37 miners died while being held in police custody in Niger state.Published On 18 Sep 202618 Sep 2026Security forces in Nigeria have opened fire and deployed tear gas during protests over the deaths of 37 miners in custody.Demonstrators rallied in their hundreds in the mineral-rich city of Minna in Niger State during a second day of protests on Friday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listIt was not immediately clear whether troops fired live ammunition or anti-riot pellets, but a witness told the Reuters news agency that bullets had been used and the…

“The situation we face is serious. It is serious due to the international situation and the consequence of wars that we endure,” Macron said. “In this context we need to stay united.” France’s dire fiscal outlook, which has prompted the government to pursue a €54 billion budget squeeze next year, will make it difficult for the state to massively subsidize increasingly expensive energy bills. Macron told reporters, however, that the government was working on targeted assistance proposals. Macron also said he was seeking to firm up French access to oil and gas supplies during recent meetings with leaders from Saudi…

The world’s poorest countries were worst hit by British aid cuts under Keir Starmer’s government, while higher-income countries saw their share of aid increase, new figures reveal.The latest figures released by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office show a 6.7% decrease in funding to the least-developed countries and low-income countries, amounting to cuts of £118m.The UK’s overall Official Development Assistance budget in 2025 decreased to 0.44% of gross national income (GNI), compared with 0.5% in 2024, a drop of £987m. Further cuts are expected as part of the plans announced last year by Keir Starmer, who said money would be…