Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

Do you have more information on this topic? Send us a message. The claim that seven U.S. Navy personnel died in a brawl on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is still under investigation, although there’s no credible evidence the alleged incident occurred.  The rumor stems from a report from Iranian state-owned Mehr News Agency, which cited another Iranian media outlet, Tasnim News Agency, that cited anonymous sources.  A spokesperson for U.S. Central Command said the reports were false.  We have left the story unrated because the Iranian reports did not include enough concrete details for us to fully investigate…

Thousands of US military members who have lived aboard an aircraft carrier for more than 250 days are reportedly contending with food shortages, broken plumbing and exhaustion, leading lawmakers to demand answers from the Pentagon and pressuring the Trump administration over the Iran war.Military news outlets reported that some USS Abraham Lincoln sailors have attempted to jump overboard, and families have raised concerns about mental health onboard the ship.Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday called reports of conditions “completely misrepresented”.The carrier left California in November for the South China Sea and was sent to the Middle East ahead of attacks…

Jack Wallen/ZDNETFollow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.ZDNET’s key takeawaysDicio is a solid replacement for Google Assistant.Dicio handles basic tasks very well (including hands-free calling).The free app’s main drawback is that it does not work with Android Auto.I recently wrote about the problems Gemini has with reliably making hands-free calls. Given that Assistant handled this task with ease and predictability, it’s worrisome that Google is set on permanently tossing Assistant aside, without having solved this hands-free issue.  When I learned that Google Assistant would be discontinued next month, I decided to look for an alternative. That search led…

Security researcher Nightmare Eclipse has dropped a fresh zero-day exploit leading to privilege escalation on Windows. Also known as Chaotic Eclipse, the disgruntled researcher released multiple zero-day exploits targeting Microsoft products over the past several months, usually right after the Patch Tuesday security updates. Right on cue, the new proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit, dubbed ShieldBreak, was published on August 2026 Patch Tuesday. It targets a vulnerability in Microsoft Defender, allowing any user to gain System privileges. According to Nightmare Eclipse, the exploit is a RoguePlanet patch bypass, works on the latest Windows 11 versions and on Windows Server 2025, and likely…

The source also said SEC staff have become increasingly focused on the agency’s legal authority to issue such broad relief, including whether it has completed sufficient economic analysis and followed the procedural steps required to justify an exemption. Industry insiders have been instructed that this effort may need to wait for the outcome of the Clarity Act.Resistance came from traditional financial institutions as well.SIFMA, the Wall Street trade group whose members include major broker-dealers and investment banks, has emerged as one of the main groups halting the SEC’s initiative, according to an industry source familiar with the discussions. SIFMA did…

Growing up in Grafton, West Virginia, engrossed in Star Wars and all things science fiction, Fletcher Newell had an early interest in space exploration. That interest only grew when, in 2013, his fourth-grade class took a field trip to a nearby NASA facility he had not yet heard of – NASA’s Katherine Johnson Independent Verification & Validation Facility, located in nearby. Thirteen years later, Newell and 48 of his colleagues at the facility were sworn in as NASA civil servants during a ceremony on Aug. 10. “I had always admired NASA from afar,” said Newell, who started working at IV&V…

Prolonged heatwaves pushed death tolls to new levels this year in Maryland, which recorded its highest number of heat-related deaths with more than a month left of summer.  At least 70 deaths across the U.S. were linked to the heat domes that covered much of the country in July, according to an analysis by The Washington Post. July was the hottest month across the United States since the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration began keeping records 132 years ago.  An August 2024 study that analyzed deaths occurring between 1999 and 2023 using data from the Centers for Disease Control and…

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Israel’s crackdown on settlers in the West Bank; more details on the defense agreement among Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan; and the spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Have tips or feedback? Hit reply with your thoughts. Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Israel’s crackdown on settlers in the West Bank; more details on the defense agreement among Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan; and the spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Have tips or feedback? Hit reply with your thoughts.…

Snopes is still investigating the claim that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt remained on the Air Force One flight from Ankara, Turkey, from which U.S. President Donald Trump had been secretly removed due to a credible threat from Iran, per The New York Times.  The rumor followed the announcement that Leavitt was resigning from her post. This announcement happened two days after the New York Times report.  A spokesperson for the White House and New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, who reported the story, both said Leavitt was not on the plane. However, we could not identify anyone who…

Albanese says he had ‘productive’, ‘substantial’ call with Trump and Aukus still ‘full steam ahead’Anthony Albanese is speaking in Canberra after he held a “productive” and “substantial” call with Donald Trump. He said the pair spoke about a “number of global and regional issues”, including the conflict in the Middle East and recent developments in the Pacific.Albanese said the pair spoke about the Aukus submarine deal, which “remains full steam ahead”. double quotation markWe agreed it was a project that is and will continue to deliver benefits for the United States, for Australia, and for the United Kingdom. He said…