Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

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…

The White House has defended three taxpayer-funded advertisements featuring President Donald Trump by comparing them to ads that were paid for by past presidential administrations. But some legal experts have said the Trump White House commercials are political messages intended to influence the 2026 midterms and may violate U.S. laws, including a prohibition against using federal funds for propaganda. The White House described its ads as “public service announcements” in a Sept. 25 press release pushing back on criticism. It said, “The announcements are very clearly not campaign ads; President Trump is not on the ballot and there is no…

A UK probe into a suspected bomb plot at an airbase used by the United States was mired in confusion Tuesday, as police said no explosives but a “quantity of petrol” was found in vehicles seized nearby. Police were called to the Royal Air Force Fairford base in southwest England on Sunday after a resident saw several vans “acting suspiciously”, triggering an evacuation of the nearby village and the declaration of a “major incident”. “Those vehicles have been subject to extensive examination … and we can confirm that no improvised explosive devices were found. However, a quantity of petrol was…

“We’re here to deliver a message,” one 16-year-old female student told the AFP news agency. “We’re not here to smash everything up for no reason. We’re here precisely to say that the education system is completely broken. There are 34 of us in each class, and it’s just not feasible. The teachers are overworked.”Taking to X, French Education Minister Édouard Geffray said students have the right to protest, but condemned reports of violence as “indefensible”.Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told BFMTV 440 people were detained, adding: “We don’t have the final tally yet, but I’m told two thirds led to police…