Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

PC Andrew Harper’s killers will be excluded from the early release scheme after the prime minister said anyone convicted of unlawful killing would be exempt.Andy Burnham said “hundreds” of people will remain in prison as part of changes to the scheme designed to ease overcrowding in prisons.“We’ve come up with a proposal which will allow not just those guilty of manslaughter, the people involved in the killing of PC Harper, but those who have been convicted for indecent assault, those convicted for death by dangerous driving, all of these offenders now will remain in prison. Hundreds of them,” the prime…

Under the influence of psychedelics, the usual organization of the human brain loosens. That’s what scientists have generally thought, with several studies showing that when we take these substances, the signals pinging between our neurons become more diverse and unpredictable. This increased entropy in our gray matter may underlie the strange, random, and often memorable experiences of psychedelic trips.But in one of the largest neuroimaging studies on the effects of psilocybin to date, researchers uncovered a hidden order in the apparent chaos. The study, published in Nature, indicates that while psilocybin blurs some of the boundaries within the brain, our…

The Manchester Airports Group (MAG) disclosed that hackers breached its systems and stole customer data, including Wi-Fi sign-ups from Manchester, Stansted, and East Midlands airports. The intruder did not access customer payment details, and the attack had no impact on airport operations, the company said. A statement from the company today notes that the exfiltrated data also “relates to car park, lounge and Fast Track bookings.” The list of compromised details includes customers’ email addresses, phone numbers, vehicle registration numbers, and postcodes. “The incident has not resulted in any operational disruption,” assured the organization, adding that “Airport operations remain unaffected…

In brief About 81,700 Bitcoin options worth $6.44 billion expire on Deribit at 08:00 UTC Friday, split between 44,639 calls and 37,061 puts for a put-to-call ratio of 0.83. Deribit’s max pain level sits between $68,000 and $70,000, roughly $9,000 to $11,000 below Bitcoin’s price near $79,000. Call open interest is concentrated at the $75,000 and $80,000 strikes, with more than $500 million in notional sitting within 5% of spot price. Bitcoin options worth $6.44 billion expire Friday on the cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Deribit. It’s a whopping big number, just as the Bitcoin market heats up again and sentiment shifts…

Students who attended public school pre-K went on to perform better academically through high school than children who received family-based childcare, according to new research from Florida International University. The findings come from one of the largest long-term studies of early childhood education outcomes. Led by George Mason University and overseen by FIU associate professor of teaching and learning Charles Bleiker, the research tracked 400,000 Miami-Dade County public school students beginning in third grade and followed their progress through high school. Over the course of 20 years, students who had attended public school pre-K4 earned higher grades and scored better…

The rebel fighters who abandoned Falam in Myanmar in April said they gave up the strategic border town near India only after running out of bullets.The fighters had endured a six-month assault by Myanmar’s military, including more than 2,500 air strikes and a ground assault by roughly 1,000 troops. The fall of the town, which had been under opposition control for a year, marked a strategic victory for the military: Falam is home to the only airport in Chin State and commands a trade route to the Indian border.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listWithin weeks, three more towns…

Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch have spent years trading barbs and fighting for the rightwing vote. But now the party leaders find themselves in a much more bizarre struggle – for the affections of the rightwing Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni.The row began on Monday when the Times published an article claiming that during a meeting in Rome, Meloni had advised the Conservative leader against doing a deal with Farage to unite the right. After complaints from Reform – and, reportedly, Meloni’s team – the article was amended to remove that claim.Uniting the right? Badenoch’s meeting with Meloni was subsequently…

As my 20s are set to come to an end later this year, I’ve officially reached the age where sleeping in the wrong position or stretching just a little too far can cause aches and pains. I’ve always been somewhat skeptical of massage guns, mostly because I’ve tried a few off-brand ones and just assumed they’d eventually end up collecting dust in a drawer. But after a few weeks of testing the Therabody Theragun Sense (2nd Gen), I was surprised. Turns out massage guns aren’t as gimmicky as I had thought. The Theragun Sense, which retails for $299, is a…

PaperCut is warning that hackers are actively exploiting a vulnerability in all versions of its PaperCut NG and PaperCut MF print management software in zero-day attacks. The company says it is aware of confirmed attacks on customers and is urging organizations with Internet-exposed PaperCut Application Servers to immediately restrict access to the web interfaces to trusted IP addresses. “PaperCut Software security response team is investigating active exploitation of a vulnerability affecting PaperCut NG and PaperCut MF,” reads an urgent security advisory published Thursday. “We are aware of confirmed customer incidents and are treating this matter with the highest priority.” PaperCut says…

IREN is still mostly a Bitcoin miner by revenue, even as it retires mining hardware to make room for AI infrastructure and grow IREN’s AI cloud revenue.The company’s fiscal 2026 results, filed Aug. 27, show Bitcoin mining generated $578.2 million of IREN’s $707 million in annual revenue, or about 81.8%. AI Cloud Services contributed $128.8 million.That ongoing transition produced a $638.8 million non-cash impairment, primarily tied to decommissioning miners as data center sites were converted for AI workloads. IREN also reported a $702.6 million net loss, which was affected by the impairment and other items. The charge was not a…