Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

UYUNI, Bolivia—The Salar de Uyuni salt flat is the pride of Bolivia, spanning nearly 7,000 square miles and drawing thousands of tourists to its surreal bright-white landscape. It also lies atop a stockpile of lithium, a mineral crucial to the clean energy transition that’s long given hope to the country’s faltering economy. Bolivia is home to roughly 20 percent of the world’s lithium deposits, mostly beneath Salar de Uyuni, but it produces less than 1 percent of global lithium. President Rodrigo Paz, who took office last year pledging measures to revive the economy, will be judged in part based on…

The claim that U.S. President Donald Trump aide Natalie Harp is a cancer survivor cannot be independently verified by Snopes. Because Snopes looks for primary sourcing and evidence to rate our claims, we are leaving this claim unrated. The rumor stems from social media posts criticizing a senator for referencing Harp while mocking Trump in August 2026. These posts said Harp was a cancer survivor, while other posts argued there’s no proof of that claim. The claim that Harp had cancer is based on her own accounts of her experience battling a rare bone cancer, which she wrote and spoke…

The US has imposed a new round of sanctions on Cuban officials and companies, Secretary of State Marco Rubio says.Nine state-owned mining, metal and building firms, the Ministry of Construction and officials connected to a Cuban-based international institute have been named in the latest tranche of economic sanctions.In a statement, Rubio accused various figures of “ferrying a new brigade of international sympathizers to Havana to network with regime officials” to coincide with the late former leader Fidel Castro’s 100th birthday.Cuba has denounced all sanctions imposed by the Trump administration.Rubio said the figures targeted by the sanctions form “part of the…

Nancy Kissinger, the widow of former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, who shared his whirlwind life of international diplomacy — and then of tarnished celebrity, as a controversial elder statesman — for half a century, died on Thursday at her home in South Kent, Conn. She was 92. Her death was announced by her family.Politically savvy, well versed in global issues and fiercely protective of her husband’s name, Mrs. Kissinger traveled widely with him on diplomatic missions after their 1974 marriage. And when Mr. Kissinger stepped down three years later, they became a familiar Washington couple at state dinners,…

I was delighted to get Hibiscus (otherwise known as hot pink), but there’s also a more subtle Pistachio (warm green), and the usual Frost (white) and Obsidian (black). I’m sad they cut Indigo (surely everyone’s favorite from last year). Like Apple, Google seems to save the fun colors for the regular Pixel, and the Pros look more muted.Despite a 6.3-inch screen, this is what passes for a small phone nowadays. Switching from last year’s Pixel 10 Pro XL, I really appreciated how easy it was to handle the Pixel 11 one-handed. It’s a little thick, but it feels good in…

Three distinct suspected Russian cyber espionage threat clusters have been observed leveraging legitimate authentication flows to single out individuals working in academia, aerospace and defense, governments, and think tanks across Europe, as well as academia and think tanks within the U.S. These clusters include UNC6293, UNC7005, and UNC5976. “These clusters engage in persistent, adaptive phishing campaigns, using sophisticated social engineering tactics to compromise personal accounts across multiple platforms,” Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) researchers Gabby Roncone and Wesley Shields said in a report published today. UNC6293, first detailed by the tech giant and the Citizen Lab in June 2025, is…

Macroeconomist and author Lyn Alden has said that while sentiment for Bitcoin has been low in recent months, there are “not a lot of downside catalysts” for the asset left.  Speaking in a Thursday interview with CNBC, Alden said that the “fast money” has been washed out and market observers are not expecting Bitcoin treasury Strategy to sell anymore.  Alden’s comments come after Bitcoin shot up this week. The leading cryptocurrency was recently trading for $72,660 — a more than 6% 24-hour rise — after reaching $72,890 earlier on Thursday.  “By almost every metric, Bitcoin is near the low end…

Between Aug. 11 and 12, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) photographed a newly formed crater on the Moon. The crater appeared after a SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage struck the lunar surface on Aug. 5. The rocket stage had previously launched in January 2025 as part of the Firefly Blue Ghost 1 mission. Capturing the impact site required careful maneuvering. Engineers tilted LRO so its cameras could point toward the crater as the spacecraft passed roughly 60 miles above the lunar surface at a speed of about 1 mile per second. The orbiter circles the Moon from pole to pole…

Well managed protected areas can reduce the illegal wildlife trade, but the reality is that this crime will persist as long as trafficking networks remain, a new op-ed says.Corruption often provides traffickers a way to circumvent and undermine even well-managed protected areas, suppressing enforcement and concealing wildlife losses.“The question is not whether we can afford to invest in dismantling trafficking networks. Given what we now know about their reach and capacity, the question is whether we can afford not to,” a new op-ed argues.This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of…

Last month, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer resigned from his post and was replaced by Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester. Starmer’s downfall was precipitous and embarrassing. He held office for less than two years after being elected in a landslide 2024 vote that saw his Labour Party oust the long-ruling Conservatives. Starmer’s fate contrasts starkly with that of his Spanish counterpart and ideological peer, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Christened by the New Statesman as “Europe’s left-wing icon,” Sánchez recently entered his eighth year in office and is gearing up for reelection next year. He has weathered the…