Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

Reform UK’s plan to make employers pay an annual levy for overseas staff would harm the NHS and social care, cause a shortage of schoolteachers, and could push some universities into bankruptcy, experts have warned.Nigel Farage’s party has pledged a “migrant worker surcharge”, which would involve a higher rate of employer national insurance as well as a separate annual charge. It would apply to any employees without a UK passport, including EU nationals with settled status, with the exception of Irish passport holders.The Guardian has also been told that there will be no exceptions for sectors with frequent staff shortages…

Tories and Reform UK tell Burnham they will fight any plan to reform adult social care involving tax risesGood morning. Yesterday Wes Streeting, the defence secretary, told Sky News that, while Andy Burnham spent his first week as PM focusing on cost of living issues, this week the public would see “a prime minister that runs towards big and difficult issues rather than runs away from [them]”. Those challenges include reforming social care and, as Peter Walker reports, Burnham has pledged to use “whatever political capital I have” to finally fix the crumbling social care system in England, saying that…

The idea that cancer could behave like a contagious disease may seem absurd; in humans, cancer cannot be transmitted from one person to another. Yet nature is still full of surprises. In exceptional cases, cancer cells themselves can pass from one individual to another and continue to multiply in a new host. This rare phenomenon has been detected in animals such as dogs, Tasmanian devils, and some species of mollusks, and it seems we can add one more to that exclusive club: catfish.An international team of researchers has identified a transmissible melanoma in the brown catfish (Ameiurus nebulosus)—the first documented…

Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin treasury company Empery Digital has added a completed AI-infrastructure investment to its strategy, closing a $20 million preferred-equity stake in Cardinal Data Power while a much larger property commitment remains conditional.The company said it signed and closed the Cardinal investment on July 20, taking an approximately 8% stake in the Hunt Properties-affiliated developer. The deal formed part of an approximately $70 million Series A intended to support Cardinal’s proposed West Texas data-center campus. Its future capacity, conversion of a campus letter of intent into a binding lease, and power-delivery dates remain projections.The closed investment confirms a broader capital-allocation…

A new study estimates the Sumatran orangutan population declined by nearly 20% between 2011 and 2023.The researchers found that habitat loss alone cannot explain the declines, pointing to additional threats such as killing, conflict and habitat fragmentation.The study is the first comprehensive reassessment of Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutans since a landmark 2016 survey.The Forestry Ministry co-authored the study and says it will use the findings to guide conservation policy, marking a contrast with the previous administration’s public claims that orangutan populations were increasing.See All Key Ideas JAKARTA — The number of Sumatran orangutans has declined by nearly 20%…

Italy’s energy giant Eni has continued its contract awards spree for the third phase of its oil & gas development project off the coast of Côte d’Ivoire, with Saipem having been selected for the delivery of rigid pipelines and associated subsea structures. Source: Saipem Baleine Phase 3 will increase total field production from 60,000 to 150,000 barrels per day and gas output from 80 to 200 million cubic feet per day, making the Baleine project one of the largest offshore energy developments in West Africa. The final investment decision (FID) for the third phase was made in May. Saipem’s scope of work…

It seems as though every week brings another news story on declining global birthrates. A number of political leaders have been panicking for a while, of course, instructing citizens to reproduce in tones so beguiling, who could possibly resist? JD Vance: “I want more babies”; Jacob Rees-Mogg: “We need more babies”. While in France this year, a government direct-mailing campaign urged 29-year-olds to have a baby before it’s too late.People are busily scratching their heads and trying to work out why this is happening. The trend is described as a catastrophe for civilisation, with leaders drumming up incentives and policies…

Introduction: Oil price slides as US and Iran pause fireGood morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.Oil prices have fallen more than 5% this morning as the US paused strikes on Iran for the second night in a row, with military officials advising Donald Trump to stop his bombing campaign. Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil, is now down 5.3% to $91.68 a barrel, after it hit $100 last week.Trum is believed to be considering diplomatic and military options in the conflict with Iran, while the Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu…

Branca, the author who writes extensively on De Gaulle, said the movie resonated strongly with the country’s current political situation, marked by instability and a deep fragmentation, including because it highlighted the importance of legitimacy in politics. There are currently more than 30 already declared or likely candidates in next year’s election, a number inversely proportional to the French population’s declining trust in their politicians.  “[Collaborationist regime] Vichy was legal,[but] De Gaulle was legitimate,” he said. That legitimacy was rooted in his refusal to stop fighting and accept the humiliating defeat inflicted by the German army, which swept over the country and brought it to its knees in the Battle…

Also high on list of reasons to buy the Mission 1 Pro is that, in my experience, when properly color graded, footage from the Mission 1 Pro pairs seamlessly with footage from any other camera. This is especially true in good light, but overall the look of footage is leaps and bounds beyond the Hero 13. Some combination of the bigger sensor, better lens, 10-bit GP-Log2, and higher bit rate leads to more cinematic looking footage than I’ve seen coming out of an action camera.Other great improvements include support for fast charging. You can get to 80 percent in about…