Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

One of the curiosities of debates about cycling in the UK is that almost all of them centre on the place with the greatest concentration of not only bikes but also politicians and journalists: inner London. Inevitably this is just a small part of the story.Much of the current focus is on so-called share bikes operated by companies such as Lime and Forest – nippy electric-assist machines that can be picked up and left on pavements. On Saturday, a Guardian investigation revealed that councils in the capital have so far this year seized 3,393 dangerously parked or abandoned ebikes, a…

Claim: Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, then-real estate developer Donald Trump said 40 Wall Street, a building he owns, was “the tallest” in downtown Manhattan or New York City. Rating: Context Trump specifically called 40 Wall Street the tallest building on downtown Manhattan, not all of Manhattan or New York City. Whether Trump’s comments amounted to bragging, as some people online claimed, is open to interpretation. Around the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a claim (archived) circulated online that U.S. President Donald Trump, then a New York City real estate developer, said after the attacks that he now…

The central theme of the BRICS bloc of nations is to push back against the global economic dominance of Western countries. That core value was very much at the centre of this year’s 18th BRICS Summit, which took place last week in India.At the September 12 and 13 summit in New Delhi, leaders committed to expanding local currency trading systems and cross-border payment systems by investing in BRICS Pay, an initiative of the BRICS Business Council.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list“We acknowledge the work done to study the cross-border interoperability of payment and messaging channels, and the discussions…

French former minister Rachida Dati has gone on trial in Paris for corruption, accused of taking money from Renault-Nissan in return for political influence.Dati, 61, who was justice minister under former President Nicolas Sarkozy and culture minister under Emmanuel Macron, is known to have been paid €900,000 (£770,000) by the car giant between 2009 and 2013.According to a contract signed in 2009, shortly after she ceased being a minister under Sarkozy and was elected as a member of the European Parliament, the payment was for legal services performed for the company.But magistrates argue the contract was used to disguise payments…

Andy Burnham has insisted he is prepared to take “difficult decisions” on the economy, after a former Bank of England chief economist said investors were worried about his willingness to cut spending.Speaking on Tuesday, Andy Haldane, who has advised Burnham on the economy, claimed financial markets had grown wary of his economic plans and now considered his premiership a “traditional tax and spend socialist government”.But the PM rejected this, adding that he would not take risks with the economy and had already made difficult choices since taking office.It comes as recent rises to the cost of UK borrowing worsened the…

SpaceX is ready to perform the 14th test flight of its Starship mega-rocket, and now the company will finally try to put the upper stage into Earth’s orbit for the first time, the company announced Tuesday. The test launch is scheduled for September 22, with a 75-minute launch window opening at 7:15 a.m. CT. During the test launch, SpaceX plans to deploy the first batch of third-generation Starlinks into its network of 10,000 internet satellites. The company expects to launch 26 V3 satellites into orbit in this test flight. If successful, this will be the first Starship launch to generate…

Microsoft says it’s still investigating a known issue that causes the Copilot and Copilot Chat buttons in Classic Outlook to disappear for some Windows users. As it acknowledged when it announced a fix via a service change in June, this affects only customers with the Copilot Chat (Basic) license or a paid M365 Copilot (Premium) account who may no longer see the Copilot buttons in the side navigation and above the ribbon. According to Microsoft, affected users may also experience one or more of the following issues: The Copilot button is missing from the top-right area above the ribbon. The…

Bitcoin fell to an intraday low below $75,000 on Sept. 15, extending a selloff already underway ahead of the Senate vote on the CLARITY Act.The Senate failed 49-50 to invoke cloture on a motion to proceed to the bill, short of the 60 votes required, leading Bitcoin to its intraday low.Coinbase fell about 10%, and Circle lost more than 11%, with the larger losses hitting crypto businesses directly exposed to US regulation.On the macro side, the 10-year Treasury yield reached 5.041%, its highest level since 2007, while Brent crude traded above $105.Polymarket showed odds for CLARITY passage falling from 31%…

Knee braces, water therapy, and exercise may be among the most effective drug-free options for people with knee osteoarthritis, according to a large analysis published in the open-access journal PLOS One. The research was led by Yuan Luo of the First People’s Hospital of Neijiang, China. Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a widespread joint condition that affects millions of older adults. It can cause persistent pain, stiffness, and difficulty moving the knee, sometimes making everyday activities much harder. Many patients are treated with anti-inflammatory medications, but these drugs can carry gastrointestinal and cardiovascular risks. That has increased interest in treatments that…

The U.S. announced a historic oil deal in August that gives it access to more than 65 billion barrels of proven reserves in Venezuela, which is structured through a private company, North American Blue Energy Partners.It’s part of a U.S. attempt to increase investment in Venezuela’s natural resources, most notably oil and gas.The country has one of the largest proven crude oil reserves in the world, at an estimated 300 billion barrels. However, it’s heavier and harder to refine than the oil in other countries.Observers expressed concern about increased greenhouse gas emissions and oil spills, as well as the…