Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and BlackRock-backed tokenization platform Securitize signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to advance tokenization and digital asset infrastructure across the United Arab Emirates and Dubai.The MoU will establish a collaborative framework to support regulated tokenization initiatives, foster institutional participation and strengthen Dubai’s digital asset ecosystem, the companies said in a Thursday announcement shared with Cointelegraph.VARA and Securitize seek to support tokenization initiatives in Dubai, including projects initiated by VARA, to attract more talent and explore how tokenized financial products should operate under Dubai’s regulatory framework.Tokenization initiatives are also gaining traction in other financial technology-focused…

At first glance, stromatolites and their close relatives, microbial mats, can look like little more than dark, ancient rocks. In reality, they are densely packed, layered communities built by microbes. Billions of years ago, before animals and plants existed, stromatolites helped release some of the earliest oxygen into Earth’s atmosphere. Now, a study published in Current Biology suggests these unusual formations may also preserve clues to another major event in Earth’s history: the emergence of complex life. Associate Professor Brendan Burns, an evolutionary microbiologist at UNSW Sydney, is part of a research team that discovered a previously unknown microbe living…

As data centers and other large users drove demand higher, U.S. power plants increased their output by 2.1 percent in the first half of the year compared to the first half of 2025.  This week, I looked at which states rose and fell the most and which power sources drove those changes, based on figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The states that saw the largest increases in utility-scale electricity generation were, in order: Texas, Washington, Tennessee, Ohio and New Mexico. Each has its own story, with solar surging in Texas and different technologies rising in the other states,…

Israeli elections are less than two months away, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s prospects are not looking good. Opinion polls show support for his Likud party stagnating or even declining, while the main opposition party is steadily rising. The scare tactics that Netanyahu employed so successfully in the past against his rivals aren’t gaining traction this time. Meanwhile, a clutch of new right-wing parties threatens to divide his bloc and steal votes from Likud. So, what can Netanyahu do to rescue himself from the very real risk of  being voted out of power? Israeli elections are less than two months…

Claim: Texas state Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat, voted against SB 17, a bill meant to prevent China from buying land in Texas. Rating: Context It’s true that Talarico voted nay on the bill in question, SB 17, even though he had previously voted in favor of continuing to amend its language. The final version of SB 17 included amendments that its opponents said would broaden it beyond its intended scope. A spokesperson for Talarico said he voted nay on the final version to prevent giving the governor more power. The bill ultimately passed and became law in September 2025.…

Born on 25 March 1934 in Toledo, Ohio, she had a difficult childhood and did not go to school full-time until she was 12 years old.After university in the late 1950s, she went to India on a research scholarship and spent two years in a variety of roles, including helping village women organise non-violent protests against government policies, which sparked her interest in grassroots activism.She then moved to New York City in the early 1960s to start her career as a freelance writer. Her big break came through an exposé of Playboy Bunny working conditions. Eventually she became a columnist…

Politicians to both his left and right point to what they say is Morocco’s track record of using the border with Spain as leverage when it has a grievance. Many have interpreted the police report pointing to the role of Moroccan security forces in the July crossing as reinforcing this theory, although Sánchez maintained there was no solid evidence of government involvement.The report, commissioned by a High Court judge, said security forces had “made no serious attempt” to stop the influx and quoted some migrants saying Moroccan gendarmes had even provided guidance.Responding to the revelations, as well as media reports…

Reform UK’s decision to ban some journalists from its conference shows that Nigel Farage would use state power to target opponents and be authoritarian in government, Kemi Badenoch has said.Answering questions after a speech on defence in London, the Conservative leader was asked about Reform’s decision to refuse accreditation to a series of journalists for its conference this week.One of the journalists was Anna Isaac, the Guardian’s City editor, who broke the story that Farage had accepted an undeclared £5m gift from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne.Farage’s attacks on the media were “very personal” at times, Badenoch said, also citing…

Reform has been critical of measures contained in the bill and the impact they could have on funding the party receives from donors.There are currently no restrictions on the amount of money UK-based donors can give to political parties and politicians.Labour MP Stella Creasy said donations from individuals and companies giving £1m or more had “surged” in the last decade and gave examples for different political parties.Among those she named was British billionaire Christopher Harborne, a Thailand-based businessman, who is one of Reform’s biggest backers. Last year he gave a single donation of £9m to Reform – the biggest single…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Nvidia has agreed to buy AI model platform Hugging Face for $13bn, in the latest step by the $5.4tn chip giant to use its financial might to accelerate the technology’s boom while exerting greater control over the industry.Hugging Face, which only last year turned down a large investment from Nvidia at a $7bn valuation to maintain its independence, serves as a repository for millions of models and data sets and has become a champion of “open” AI systems. Nvidia said the goal…