Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

Gloria Steinem, the feminist crusader who, in galvanizing the modern women’s movement, helped millions of women develop a sense of self-worth and gain a measure of equality at home, at work and in society at large, died on Wednesday at her home in New York City. She was 92.Her death was announced in a post on social media, which did not give a cause. Calling herself “an entrepreneur of social change,” Ms. Steinem helped usher in sweeping cultural transformations across virtually every facet of American life, from the boardroom to the courtroom to the bedroom.For more than half a century,…

Belkin is joining companies like BMX, Kuxiu, and Zens with the launch of its first power banks featuring semi-solid-state battery technology. The company claims the new accessories have been “engineered to last up to 3x longer than other power banks” with the addition of a “gel-like layer” alongside the liquid electrolyte typically found in lithium-ion batteries.Other advantages of what Belkin is calling its BoostSolid Cell technology include a reduced risk of overheating that could cause swelling or fires and consistent power delivery across a wider temperature range. They’re more expensive than power banks with comparable specs, but a longer functional…

That creates a powerful combination. The CSO provides the top-down, cross-functional influence. The CISO provides the technical depth and delivery capability. Neither role has to pretend to be the other, and together, they can create something that the current model often struggles to provide: Executive ownership of the business protection agenda combined with genuine technical expertise. The CSO should own the ‘how’ and the ‘who’ For more than two decades, the cybersecurity industry has become increasingly sophisticated at explaining what organizations should do. We have frameworks, standards, controls, architectures, technologies and regulatory requirements. There is no shortage of advice about…

Student loan real-world asset (RWA) protocol Pencil Finance completed a $1 million onchain student loan cycle, offering financing to thousands of students in Southeast Asia who were underserved by traditional lenders.Pencil said it completed its first fully onchain student loan cycle on the blockchain, where the platform deployed $1 million in capital as a lender that was repaid by borrowers to the bundle’s funders with yield, the company revealed in a Thursday announcement shared with Cointelegraph.The bundle was funded in July 2025 by Animoca Brands, Open Campus and New Campus, structured as a senior tranche with fixed returns and a…

When John Glenn orbited Earth in 1962, he commented on a striking green valley northwest of El Paso, Texas, surrounded by an otherwise dry landscape. That contrast is largely the result of human-made lakes along the Rio Grande, which have made farming possible in the arid region. Irrigation supports crops including alfalfa, cotton, onions, pecans, and the area’s famous Hatch green chiles. In recent years, however, unusually dry conditions across the Rio Grande basin have placed growing pressure on those water supplies. The region has endured prolonged and extreme drought. Conditions worsened in 2026 when the river’s headwaters in the…

This June, Pemex and Petrobras, the state fossil fuel companies of Mexico and Brazil respectively, announced a two-year partnership to jointly explore mature and deepwater oilfields in the Gulf of Mexico.Details of the exact arrangement have not been released, despite both companies being state-run and campaigners’ calls for greater transparency, but subsequent reports suggest that exploration could focus on the Bay of Campeche, near the Gulf’s largest marine protected area and several vulnerable reef habitats.Both companies have downplayed the significance of the deal as a preliminary step, but environmental campaigners said it risks tying both nations to decades of…

Edinburgh-headquartered Flotation Energy and London-based Harbour Energy have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on assessing opportunities for powering oil and gas assets in the North Sea with floating offshore wind energy. “The agreement brings together Harbour Energy’s extensive experience as a North Sea operator, with the floating offshore wind and electrification expertise within our project, to explore potential scenarios and build greater understanding of the technical, regulatory and commercial considerations involved”, Flotation Energy said via social media. The deal could be relevant to Harbour’s significant offshore footprint around Scotland, which includes the Solan field west of Shetland…

For most of his presidency and especially since Russia launched its full-scale war, Ukrainian voters have rallied around Volodymyr Zelensky as a pillar of national resilience and unity. That’s for good reason: He has been an effective wartime leader and helped mobilize the democratic world on Ukraine’s behalf. But now, after more than seven years in office, four and a half years of war with Russia, and a series of scandals involving his leadership team and close friends, Zelensky appears to have lost the nation’s political support. Indeed, polling published in early August points to a major mood swing among…

Claim: A screenshot authentically shows a Truth Social post from U.S. President Donald Trump announcing the construction of the “Melania Canal” to connect to “Lake America,” also known as Lake Ontario. Rating: After U.S. President Donald Trump announced in August 2026 that he would rename Lake Ontario to “Lake America,” social media users spread a screenshot appearing to show a Truth Social post from the president that announced the construction of the “Melania Canal” that would connect to the lake.  The screenshot circulated across Facebook (screenshot) and Threads. Here’s what Trump allegedly said:  The FAKE NEWS is saying we need…

François Picard is pleased to welcome Anna Borshchevskaya, Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute. She interprets Russia’s reported missile support for Iran not as an isolated arms transaction, but as part of a broader geopolitical strategy in which Moscow treats Ukraine, Iran, NATO, and the United States as interconnected fronts. In her analysis, Vladimir Putin’s objective is less about pursuing direct military confrontation with Washington than about altering the strategic environment around it: strengthening actors hostile to the United States, increasing the costs of American and Israeli military action, and repeatedly probing Western thresholds for retaliation. Putin relentlessly tests where Western…