Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

It’s too soon to say the bond markets have turned on Andy Burnham. Tuesday’s spike in gilt yields, taking the UK’s 30-year borrowing costs to their highest level since 1998, was part of an international sell-off of government debt.The main contributors are well-known. The Iran war, by increasing the cost of energy, has overturned the comforting start-of-the-year thesis of falling global inflation and interest rates. A plunging Japanese yen has kicked away another assumed source of financial stability. The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, hasn’t calmed nerves with his solo, and so far futile, attempt to bring down US yields.…

I think automakers are finally getting the memo. Rather than try to reinvent the wheel with its new electric vehicle, Range Rover just made one that looks nearly identical to its lineup of gas-powered SUVs. They didn’t try to pass off some sleek, spaceship-looking pod as a Range Rover. Sometimes familiar designs are the way to go.Of course, under the surface the Range Rover Electric is nothing like its internal combustion engine sporting brethren. Twin permanent magnet 260kW electric motors are powered by a double-stacked 118.5 kWh lithium-ion battery, with an estimated range of 330 real-world miles.The all-wheel drive system…

The UK Cyber Security and Resilience Bill (CSRB) has been given late amendments specifically targeting the supply chain threat against the nation’s critical infrastructure. The UK CSRB – not to be confused with the US Cyber Safety Review Board (CSRB) – was introduced to Parliament in November 2025. It has successfully completed all necessary steps through the House of Commons, has moved to the House of Lords (as HL Bill 32) and is now close to receiving Royal Assent. Royal Assent is the point at which the Bill becomes an Act of Parliament and part of UK legislation, where it…

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) wants to let Wall Street’s official shareholder records move onchain while keeping regulated transfer agents in control.On Sept. 1, the financial regulator proposed its first major overhaul of transfer-agent rules since regulations were adopted in the late 1970s and early 1980s, explicitly allowing blockchain or other distributed-ledger technology to serve as a company’s master securityholder file, or part of it.That would bring tokenized securities deeper into the machinery that determines who legally owns shares, rather than limiting blockchain to a parallel record or digital representation.One recordkeeping transfer agent would still retain exclusive control…

High above Earth, thin veils of metallic haze drift through the edge of space. Known as sporadic E layers, these high-altitude “clouds” form from the vaporized dust of burnt-up meteors, earning their name from the unpredictable way they emerge and then dissipate. Now, new results from a NASA sounding rocket — a suborbital research rocket — that flew five detectors through one of these layers simultaneously reveal unexpected complexity in the layer for the first time. Though invisible to the eye, sporadic E layers make their presence known to the radio signals we rely on for long-distance communication. When present,…

An intense downpour at Grand Canyon National Park transformed hiking trails and shallow creeks into deadly rapids over the weekend, killing at least two people. Following scattered showers Saturday morning, around an inch of rain pummeled parts of the storied Arizona park in just a half hour later that day. Flash floods carried water, mud and debris through the rocky peaks and winding, narrow paths that scores of recreationalists traverse each year. Ahead of the storm’s apex, hikers scrambled to reach higher ground, some forced to find refuge in a cactus patch. Overall, around 80 people were evacuated over the…

Australia’s energy giant Woodside has confirmed the arrival of the final and heaviest module for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) project upgrade, emphasizing that a 10-story, 4,500-ton structure marks another step toward the first LNG cargo from its $12.5 billion gas project in the fourth quarter of 2026. Delivery of Pluto LNG module for Scarborough gas project; Source: Woodside While announcing that the last and heaviest module for Pluto LNG’s Train 1 (T1) modifications project in Karratha was delivered to the site in Western Australia, Woodside said the arrival put an end to four years of planning, fabrication and shipping. The modifications…

Illinois producers wanting to pursue conservation projects have fewer resources this year with almost half of Illinois counties having lost federal conservation staff in 2025. Data published in June by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition shows Illinois had 77 fewer Natural Resources Conservation Service staff in January 2026 compared to January 2025’s staffing levels. The NSAC is a group of grassroots organizations that advocate for sustainable agriculture, food systems, natural resources and rural communities.  (function(){function e(){window.addEventListener(`message`,function(e){if(e.data[`datawrapper-height`]!==void 0){var t=document.querySelectorAll(`iframe`);for(var n in e.data[`datawrapper-height`])for(var r=0,i;i=t[r];r++)if(i.contentWindow===e.source){var a=e.data[`datawrapper-height`][n]+`px`;i.style.height=a}}})}e()})(); The counties with the most personnel losses were Champaign, Williamson, Macon, Shelby and Whiteside. Pulaski, Cook, Warren…

After about a month-long pause, the US resumed attacks on Iran on Sunday, when it announced it had struck two rocket launchers to prevent them being used to lay naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran retaliated by firing missiles at air bases in Jordan and a drone at the UAE.The US and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran on 28 February, killing the country’s supreme leader and other top officials at the start of a massive air campaign. Iran responded by attacking Israel, US bases and allied states in the Gulf with missiles and drones, and effectively…

As the on-again, off-again war in Iran flares up again, President Trump seems bogged down in a conflict that he cannot control or move past, despite his declarations of total victory.On Tuesday night, after the latest exchange of fire over control of the Strait of Hormuz, Mr. Trump called on the Iranian people to rise up — something he did at the outset of the war six months ago, before he backed off and acknowledged that his command was easier said than done.In a social media post, Mr. Trump also brushed off the stalled negotiations with Iran.“I couldn’t care less…