Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

Farmers have relied on plastic since the 1960s, when the mass production of affordable agricultural tools derived from petrochemicals made them widely accessible. Plastic mulch quickly became a cornerstone of crop production, helping farmers boost yields of everything from corn to tomatoes by stabilizing soil temperature and controlling diseases and weeds with fewer pesticides. Now scientists and policymakers are struggling to preserve the benefits of farmers’ dependence on plastic—dubbed “plasticulture”—while mitigating a growing litany of environmental costs.  “How do you balance the use of this technology that has completely revolutionized agriculture with the environmental concerns that arise from that?” asked…

When ProPublica recently investigated a rape crisis that surged through Syracuse University in the 1980s, we found evidence that the school had taken steps to suppress news coverage of the assaults. The university responded by portraying itself as a changed institution today, “committed to supporting the students who come forward and being there for them at every step of the process,” as a school spokesperson put it. But the university’s recent actions in a lawsuit filed by a former student who was attacked on campus during that period appear at odds with that commitment. After the Syracuse Police Department agreed…

Pete Ford (Letters, 20 August) rightly reminds us that “The Victorians … built reservoirs, aqueducts and local water-storage infrastructure.” But who were these “Victorians”? Generally speaking, they were local councillors and their professional engineers.Taking my own town as an example, within 40 years of its incorporation as a borough in 1868 it had built five new reservoirs, as well as taking over others previously provided by ad hoc groups of commissioners, with water delivered through 240 miles of mains. By 1897 it was one of 610 urban councils with their own water undertakings.As recently as 1971, Queen Elizabeth opened Scammonden…

The new chancellor, John Healey, will delay setting out when the UK will meet the target of spending 3% of GDP on defence until next year’s spending review, the Treasury has confirmed.Healey resigned as defence secretary in June under Keir Starmer’s leadership, accusing the then prime minister of being “unable” and the Treasury “unwilling” to “commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country”.However, since succeeding Rachel Reeves when Andy Burnham arrived at No 10, Healey has declined to set a date for meeting the 3% target, which he had previously insisted should be hit by 2030.Treasury sources…

The brothers, who arrived in court in shackles, were questioned in turn by their defence attorneys and government lawyers as they took the stand.Andrew Tate, 39, declared he has “never committed the crimes I’m accused of”.Tristan Tate, 38, described his detention conditions as small and hot, with little sunlight and exercise.”It’s beginning to grate on me because I can’t partake in helping with my defence,” he told the court, according to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.”It’s death by scurvy,” he said, adding that he had lost 14lb (6.3kg).The British Embassy filed court documents asking the judge to keep the…

Two election monitors from the Justice Department tried to interview voters and examine voting machines at polling places during Wyoming’s primaries last week, local officials said, drawing pushback from the state’s Republican governor.The federal election monitors arrived at a polling site in Cheyenne, Wyoming’s capital and its largest city, without advance notice around 7 a.m. last Tuesday, said the Laramie County clerk, Debra Lee. They asked to interview voters and inspect the machines, but were denied, officials said.“It was aggressive, unexpected, disruptive — certainly didn’t seem to show respect for the state,” Gov. Mark Gordon of Wyoming said in an…

Conspiracy theories surrounding singer and philanthropist Dolly Parton’s recent death have flooded the internet, referencing everything from satanic rituals to cloning. But one conspiracy theory has dominated all the others: the claim that Parton’s death was caused by “turbo cancer” brought on by the Covid vaccine.There is no evidence to support the claim that Parton’s death had anything to do with the vaccine. Parton, 80, died after “a short battle with cancer,” her family said in a statement. In May, Parton shared that she was responding well to treatment related to her immune system and digestive system.In 2020, the singer…

Cybersecurity researchers have flagged a fresh set of campaigns targeting government and diplomatic organizations in Romania, Spain, and Türkiye between late September 2025 and early April 2026. These campaigns, per Recorded Future Insikt Group, have led to the deployment of a previously undocumented backdoor dubbed HOOKEDGE, a lightweight Windows batch script that’s distributed via macro-enabled Microsoft Word documents bearing diplomatic-themed lures. Early versions are said to have impersonated Spanish government material, before switching to a social engineering approach a month later. The activity has been attributed with moderate confidence to a Russian state-sponsored hacking group known as APT28 (aka Fancy…

A US Securities and Exchange Commission proposal to create two crypto fundraising exemptions had drawn 31 posted public comments as of Aug. 27, plus one separately labeled meeting memorandum.With comments due Oct. 20, remaining commenters had 54 days to seek changes to the framework.The proposed exemptions would let eligible crypto ventures raise up to $5 million in any four-year period under one path and up to $75 million in each 12-month period under another.The SEC comment window shows 31 public comments, one meeting memo, two proposed exemptions, and an Oct. 20, 2026 deadline.The posted comment file did not identify a…

Pramod Poudel, who lives in Uckfield in East Sussex, told the BBC he has not heard from his family since the flood hit on Wednesday.”It’s a very, very difficult time for me and for my family and my country at this moment, but obviously I have to go and see what’s happening there,” he said.Poudel, who goes by the name Pedro, said he is travelling home to Nepal because “my family needs me”.University of Kent graduate Nabhi Das from Streatham in South London has also been widely reported as missing Nepal.Several of those missing had been making a pilgrimage to…