Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

From the seafloor to turtle stomachs, scientists are finding plastic everywhere they look for it. Now, researchers in Japan have found plastic thermally adhered to coral rubble, an amalgamation they’ve termed “plasticoral,” according to a new study. The finding is raising concerns about potential ocean chemical leaching, habitat degradation and a new way for microplastics to enter the marine environment, they say. Ifenna Ilechukwu, first author of the study with the University of Ryukyus in Japan, and his colleagues found five pieces of “plasticoral” on three different beaches during a routine marine litter survey on Japan’s Okinawa Island…

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Spain’s push for housing reform, U.S. forces withdrawing from Iraq, and the White House’s latest trade ban on Canada. Stronger Tenant Protections Less than a week after an 87-year-old Madrid resident was forcibly evicted from her apartment via stretcher, becoming a symbol of Spain’s real estate crisis, the woman is being allowed to return home. Her legal victory may mark the beginning of Spain’s path toward housing reform as Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez unveils new legislation in response to mass anti-government protests. Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at…

Claim: There will be a “two-moon night” on Sept. 29, 2026. Rating: Context The celestial object referenced in the posts making the claim, asteroid 2025 PN7, is not visible to the naked eye, binoculars or even amateur telescopes. Because its orbit around the sun is very similar to Earth’s own orbit, 2025 PN7 is considered a “quasi-moon.” In late September 2026, some Facebook pages spread a rumor that Sept. 29 would be a “two-moon night.” For example, text on an image in one Facebook post (archived) claimed that “Earth may seem to have two moons in the sky.” The text…

More than 400 people, most of them children, have been detained in France on Tuesday after teenagers across the country blockaded their schools in protest at class sizes, teacher shortages and long timetables.Interior minister Laurent Nunez told BFM TV: “440 were detained across national territory. We don’t have the final tally yet, but I’m told two-thirds led to police custody.”The education ministry said 400 schools were affected by protests or disruptions on Tuesday, out of about 3,700 across the country.The demonstrations began in Paris last week and have since escalated and spread across France. On Tuesday, high school pupils in…

The president of France’s hard-right National Rally (RN), Jordan Bardella, has said he will sue for libel after a report published antisemitic comments that it alleged he had made as a young activist.The Mediapart website released what it said was the result of “several months” of investigation into “dozens of written conversations” Bardella allegedly had in 2013.With seven months to go before France’s presidential elections, Bardella condemned “the beginnings of a total war” aimed at destabilising his party, and RN presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said she had total confidence in him.The alleged remarks included blatantly antisemitic tropes, and Bardella…

1. Ending the pensions triple lockOne of Burnham’s most concrete promises was to end the triple lock as we know it.For the last 15 years, the state pension has increased by whichever is the highest out of earnings, inflation or 2.5%. From 2030, if Burnham is still prime minister, it will instead rise by the highest out of inflation or 2.5%, meaning that for the first time since 2011, pensions will be allowed to increase by less than earnings.There is a backstop however – in years where earnings are higher than inflation or 2.5%, the government will guarantee that the…

ZDNET’s key takeaways Security experts warn of a growing market in stolen AI account credentials. LLMjacking, the illegal use of AI resources, is a popular criminal trend in 2026. Businesses must monitor and protect their accounts. Here’s how. Security experts warn that it’s not just artificial intelligence (AI) going rogue that we have to worry about — there’s also a booming underground economy for selling access to your AI models and computing power.  Speaking to the Financial Times, John Hultquist, chief analyst for Google Threat Intelligence Group, said that the cybersecurity unit has seen a “major increase” in what is…

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman introduced a “remarkably capable, always-on” artificial intelligence agent at an appearance Tuesday where he avoided any reference to security concerns around the company’s most advanced models. At the company’s annual developer conference, Altman made a slew of product announcements and updates, including the company’s new agents, called Dots. The agents, designed to complete ongoing tasks proactively on behalf of users, are a competitor of Meta’s personal agent Muse, which exploded in popularity after Meta’s own conference last week. Dot agents will be “like an AI helper that always has your back, inspired by the cool versions…

Update (Sept. 29, 8:45 pm UTC): This article has been updated to include a response from the CFTC.Two of the United States’ financial agencies tasked with overseeing and enforcing digital asset regulation will be down to just three commissioners after Friday, following the departure of a Republican member.On Friday, Hester Peirce, who served as a commissioner with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for eight years, will leave the agency about two months before the end of the 18-month extension for her second term. The departure of Peirce, whom many in the industry knew as “Crypto Mom” for her…

Scientists in China have discovered a previously unknown tick-borne virus that can cause a flu-like illness involving fever, fatigue, gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, and unusual laboratory results. Researchers led by the State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity in Beijing have named the newly identified orthonairovirus Asian longhorned tick nairovirus (ALTNV). The discovery, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, grew out of efforts to understand why about 30% of patients with symptoms suggestive of Dabie bandavirus (DBV) infection test negative for the tick-borne hemorrhagic fever. A Search for the Cause of Unexplained Tick Illness DBV causes severe fever with…