Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

The far right is on the march. And in Europe, the birthplace of fascism, that has sparked big questions about what it means — for democracy, for the European Union — when far-right leaders actually govern.Far-right parties are leading the polls in Germany and France. Would they moderate once in power? Not necessarily. In Poland and Hungary, hard-right populist governments meaningfully chipped away at the rule of law.But one intriguing counterexample is Giorgia Meloni. Italy’s prime minister was the first far-right leader to take power in a founding member state of the E.U. She hasn’t rigged any courts or deployed…

The architect of the UK government’s AI strategy has joined the US startup Anthropic in a senior role a year after stepping down from his Downing Street post.Matt Clifford, a successful tech investor, was appointed as AI opportunities adviser by Keir Starmer last year but resigned from the unpaid role six months later for personal reasons.Clifford is moving to Anthropic as managing director, international affairs, and will lead the company’s engagement with governments outside the US including in the UK, Europe, Asia-Pacific and India.Anthropic said Clifford would remain as chair of government-backed Aria, the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency,…

Google has reportedly been reaching out to a number of Hollywood’s biggest studios, hoping to strike licensing agreements that would allow it to train its AI models on copyrighted material in exchange for massive piles of cash. In theory, these deals would be a win-win: a huge financial boon to the studios that would also give Google a significant advantage in its race to outpace other AI companies. But while there’s little downside for Google, these deals pose a distinct set of risks to each of the studios that might be thinking about going all-in on AI. Getting into bed…

Security teams have more edge controls at their disposal than ever, and each plays an important role. Yet, despite the best request inspection, credential validation, device fingerprinting, and automation signals available, attackers still successfully hide inside traffic that looks remarkably similar to legitimate user activity. One reason for this is that each security control focuses on a different piece of a user session. If an attacker that otherwise looks legitimate uses a residential IP or a commercial VPN, they may pass through several layers without triggering an alert or action. This is the fundamental problem with existing edge security tooling:…

An affiliate of the political action committee (PAC) Fairshake, which was responsible for pouring more than $130 million in ads and media in the 2024 election cycle, is supporting at least one candidate in Tuesday’s primary in Massachusetts.According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records as of Tuesday, the Protect Progress PAC, a Fairshake affiliate, spent just over $189,000 on media to support Representative Jake Auchincloss running for reelection in Massachusetts’ 4th congressional district. Some of the funds, according to Democratic candidate Jason Poulos, were used to create “AI-generated slop mailers” supporting Auchincloss ahead of the Massachusetts primary, scheduled for Tuesday.In…

A once-nightly oral medication significantly improved obstructive sleep apnea in a large phase 3 clinical trial presented at the 2026 ATS International Conference. The drug, known as AD109, is designed to treat OSA by targeting the neuromuscular problems that contribute to airway collapse during sleep. The study, “Aroxybutynin and Atomoxetine (AD109) for Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Randomized Phase 3 Trial,” was published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. In the SynAIRgy trial, people who received AD109 experienced fewer interruptions in breathing, less oxygen deprivation, and better overall blood oxygen levels while they slept. More than 40…

More than 300,000 cystoscopies are performed in the UK each year and there are significant waiting lists in some areas.While the urine test is not a replacement for cystoscopies, it could help doctors identify patients at greater risk who should be prioritised for urgent ones rather than wait.This NHS trial found that the Galeas urine test identified 92% of bladder cancer cases.A negative result meant there was more than a 99% chance that the patient did not have bladder cancer.It checks for any genetic material shed into the urine by bladder cancer and was originally developed by the University of…

A new award has been created in honor of late conservation icon Jane Goodall by the board of the Starmus Festival, an international gathering of scientists and artists to be held from Oct. 17-22 in Tenerife, Spain. Christiana Figueres has been selected as the recipient of this inaugural Jane Goodall Earth Medal. Figueres is the former executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and is known for her work in securing the negotiations leading to the Paris climate agreement.She joins the podcast this week to discuss the significance of this medal and her thoughts on the…

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s China Brief. The highlights this week: Deadly floods on the Nepal-Tibet border exacerbate China-India tensions, the United States and China prepare for their upcoming summit on AI security, and a Chinese-born crypto billionaire’s personal essay sparks backlash. Welcome to Foreign Policy’s China Brief. The highlights this week: Deadly floods on the Nepal-Tibet border exacerbate China-India tensions, the United States and China prepare for their upcoming summit on AI security, and a Chinese-born crypto billionaire’s personal essay sparks backlash. Deadly Floods on Nepal-Tibet Border The catastrophic floods on the Nepal-Tibet border have become the latest flash point in China…

A court in Honduras has dropped charges against former President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who returned to the country in July after being pardoned in the United States for a drug-trafficking conviction.Hernandez had been accused of fraud and money laundering as part of a corruption scheme from 2010 to 2013, before his presidency.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listBut on Tuesday, judiciary spokesperson Carlos Silva told reporters that Hernandez was not responsible for budgetary decisions at the time of the crimes. Hernandez, a prominent politician in the right-wing National Party, celebrated the decision as a vindication.“This chapter of political persecution…