Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

Scientists in the Philippines have produced a draft genome of the Visayan spotted deer, an endangered mammal endemic to the island nation.The draft genome, the first of its kind for any of the Philippines’ endangered mammals, has already revealed information that can be used for conservation planning, including confirmation that captive populations are dangerously inbred.While the captive population shows low genetic diversity overall, researchers are working to identify individuals that still carry unique variants, and to shape captive breeding programs around genetic findings.Efforts in the lab are paired with efforts to confirm the locations of wild populations, plan future…

Cyber warfare is increasingly coming for U.S. water supplies. Water providers in at least seven U.S. states have been targeted by cyberattacks over the past two weeks, according to multiple agencies including the FBI, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Some officials indicated that as many as a dozen states could have been impacted. The hackers targeted components known as programmable logic controllers, which allow utility providers to manage the flow and even chemical composition of water supplies to the homes and businesses they serve, according to the agencies. In many cases, they…

At least four people died in eastern Japan after “unprecedented” heavy rain that left nearly 7,000 stranded at Tokyo’s Narita airport, and forced thousands to take refuge in government buildings.The torrential rains hit Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo, on Thursday night, triggering landslide warnings and power outages. Evacuation orders were issued for more than 400,000 people in Chiba and other areas, and about 45,000 homes lost power, as 115mm of rain fell hourly, approximately the same amount usually recorded for the whole month of August.It was the first time the Japan Meteorological Agency has issued the highest level 5 warning…

Farage says he will not attend vote count amid ‘plot to embarrass him’Nigel Farage has said he will not attend the Clacton byelection count after advice from Essex police about a plot to embarrass him on stage during the announcement of the result.The Reform UK leader pre-empted the official announcement of the result of the byelection by telling supporters he had secured more votes than when he won the seat at the 2024 general election.Farage called the result a “convincing, overwhelming win” that would surpass the 21,225 votes he received just two years ago, PA Media is reporting.However, speaking at…

Alison DeNisco Rayome / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNETFollow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.If you’ve found yourself constantly distracted by your iPhone’s many, many notifications, you’ve probably tried out Do Not Disturb (DND) mode. But if you’re only using it as a more advanced silencing mechanism, you’re missing out on a lot of useful features.  Also: How to clear your iPhone cache (and why it’s critical for faster performance)I dug through settings and message boards to find the most helpful DND tips so you can get more out of your phone (and your attention span).  1. Enable DND only…

An Akira ransomware affiliate disabled the endpoint detection and response (EDR) solution on a compromised system by restarting the machine into Safe Mode with Networking. The attack occurred on August 4 after the hacker obtained initial access through an exposed SonicWall VPN device without multi-factor authentication (MFA). Managed detection and response (MDR) services company Huntress says that roughly two hours after a successful VPN login, the attacker connected to the domain controller via RDP, enumerated Active Directory users and computers, and then moved to an application server. They used WinRAR to archive mapped file shares and the s5cmd command-line tool to…

Crypto and prediction market bigwigs are set to gather at the White House next week, according to a Thursday report from POLITICO.  The report, citing people with knowledge of the matter, said the industry officials would meet one day before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission holds a meeting for its new Innovation Advisory Committee. The committee will feature a panel of experts also from the crypto, prediction market and traditional finance spheres.  Despite the long-awaited crypto Clarity Act being delayed, regulators are moving ahead with pro-crypto initiatives.  POLITICO’s report did not mention if President Trump would attend the event.  Last…

A growing human population, expanding croplands, and drier conditions driven by climate change within protected areas could significantly intensify human-elephant conflict in Southern Africa, a recent study finds. Southern Africa is home to almost 300,000 African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana), with many populations rebounding after decades of poaching. The region is also seeing rapidly expanding farms and human populations, leading to instances of crop raiding by elephants. To understand what drives the problem in the region, they used data on crop raiding recorded within 38 community-managed communal conservancies in Namibia from 2004 to 2020, and used statistical methods…

Wars may not take summer holidays, but they do sometimes see exhaustion. As drones race back and forth across Ukraine and the strait of Hormuz, a grim stalemate seems to have invaded the earth beneath. Aerial bombardment knows limited resistance and even less victory or defeat. Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Iran and their allies seem able to defy diplomacy and drop bombs on each other for ever.At which point the outside world can merely count some of the costs. Vladimir Putin’s known desire to eliminate Ukraine’s historical identity has led to its cultural devastation. Two weeks ago Unesco reported the destruction…

Home Middle East Live Issued on: 14/08/2026 – 04:31Modified: 14/08/2026 – 04:38 Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during an interview with Fox News outside the White House on July 30, 2026. © Julia Demaree Nikhinson, AP US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened Thursday to subject Iran to economic isolation “like the world has never seen before”, adding that new measures are expected next week. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates. 14/08/2026 – 04:38Kushner to travel to Middle East to advance Gaza ceasefire plans President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and negotiator Jared Kushner will travel to the Middle East next week…