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In brief StarkWare says the first quantum-safe Bitcoin transaction has been mined on Bitcoin mainnet. The method uses hash-based security without changing Bitcoin’s consensus rules. StarkWare still favors a soft fork as a long-term defense against quantum computers. Starkware, the blockchain infrastructure company behind Ethereum layer-2 network Starknet, says the first quantum-safe Bitcoin transaction has been mined on the Bitcoin mainnet, testing a way to protect funds from future quantum attacks without changing the network’s consensus rules.In a blog post on Wednesday, Starkware said the transaction used Quantum-Safe Bitcoin, or QSB, a method developed by Starkware researcher Avihu Levy. Levy…

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) now supply nearly 60% of the calories consumed by adults in the United States and about 70% of those consumed by children. These industrially produced foods include soft drinks, packaged cereals, snacks, and processed meats. They are typically made with refined fats, oils, sugars, starches, salts, and other additives designed to improve flavor, texture, and shelf life, often while lowering nutritional quality. A growing body of research has connected greater UPF consumption with a variety of health problems. Scientists have proposed several ways these foods could potentially contribute to cancer, including disruptions in metabolism, increased inflammation and…

How Australia — one of the planet’s most megadiverse nations — tackles its goal to conserve 30% of its land and seas by 2030 (30×30) may signal whether this, the world’s most ambitious conservation commitment, can succeed.With just four years to meet its promise, Australia has a way to go, but has also achieved some important milestones in part by involving Indigenous communities closely in the effort.“If Australia meets the target well, it will help demonstrate that conservation can be representative, rights-based, well-funded, and effective,” a new op-ed argues.This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of…

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at flooding rescue efforts across Nepal and Tibet, Taiwan’s drone production ambitions, and potential Russian strikes on British targets. A Race Against Time Emergency rescue teams scoured the Nepal-Tibet border on Thursday in search of survivors of a devastating flash flood that hit the region the day before. In Nepal, at least 360 people have been killed, and more than 1,400 others remain missing, including around 700 foreigners, according to Nepali police. Local authorities expect the death toll to rise. On the Tibetan side, Chinese state media said at least three people…

Kurdish leader appointed to the role days after the dissolution of the force he commanded.Published On 27 Aug 202627 Aug 2026Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has appointed Mazloum Abdi, leader of the now-dissolved Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as a presidential advisor.Al-Sharaa issued Decree No 164, appointing Abdi as “as an advisor to the Presidency of the Republic” on Thursday, the Syrian state news agency Sana reported.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThe move comes three days after Abdi announced the dissolution of the SDF and the completion of its integration with the Syrian military.Abdi is the most senior of…

Mélenchon said that if elected, France would “disobey” EU rules on trade and economic policy. He also doubled down on his calls to rewrite the treaties that underpin the bloc. The famously Euroskeptic Le Pen, who previously wanted France to leave the EU, said as president she would slash Paris’ contribution to Brussels by €5 billion. Le Pen’s economic plan takes shape A burning question heading into the campaign season has been the extent to which Le Pen and her far-right party, the National Rally, would tweak its populist economic platform to broaden its appeal to a wider base of…

Investigators specialising in rape and sex offences will be introduced to every police force in England and Wales by the end of 2027, the government has said. Ministers are speeding up the rollout of the scheme, previously announced by Sir Keir Starmer’s government, by 18 months as part of efforts to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG). They are also offering more money for some forces to boost protection orders. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the previous plans were “too slow” and ministers should be “laser focused” on tackling such crimes. One charity has welcomed the measures, but says…

People carrying out home renovations will gain greater protections against “cowboy builders” through a new database of trusted traders and a payment system offering more safeguards, the government has said. Traders signing up to the scheme launching next month will need to demonstrate certain standards of customer service, transparency and dispute resolution.Prime Minister Andy Burnham said unscrupulous tradespeople “leave families with months of stress” as well as unfinished work.The National Federation of Builders said the changes would not stop rogue operators while the Tories suggested there would be added paperwork for firms already operating legitimately.Citizens Advice has said home renovations…

There’s also an array of clothes you can equip your characters with, which Rockstar has apparently coordinated with real-life fashion designers to put in the game. Some of these, however, may only come with the $100 Ultimate Edition that people are very mad about.Maybe Don’t Hit and RunThe NPCs in the game appear much more responsive and interactive than in prior games. According to Dazed, Rockstar has an entire studio in Los Angeles dedicated to working on NPC pedestrian behavior alone.In the Extended Look, gameplay segments with car chases pointedly avoided streamrolling over pedestrians. But NPCs wore yoga outfits, rode…

Presented by EDB As enterprises give AI agents more autonomy — the ability to plan, decide, and act across systems without a human approving each step — a hard question moves to the center of every architecture review: When an agent tries to complete an action that it was never authorized to do, what actually stops it?These are your agents, running on your models, touching your data in your infrastructure — and the responsibility for what they do sits with you. That responsibility can’t be met in hindsight or with a set of abstract policies that live on paper but…