Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

Claim: In April 2026, ICE detained Eissa Hashemi and his wife, Maryam Tahmasebi, as well as their teenage son, because Hashemi’s mother was a spokesperson for the Iranian government during the 1979 hostage crisis. Rating: In August 2026, a claim circulated online that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained an Iranian man and his family — legal residents who were residing in Los Angeles — because his mother was a spokesperson for the Iranian government during the 1979 hostage crisis, in which militants seized 66 American citizens at the U.S. embassy in Tehran. The story spread via numerous Facebook posts,…

The mayor of Como has banned riding bicycles in certain areas of the historic Italian city after he was hit by an electric one. Alessandro Rapinese said the ban was necessary to improve public safety. It means from September, cyclists will have to dismount through an area of around 30 streets.He told Italian news agency Ansa: “People act based on their own experiences and I know what it’s like to be hit by one of these beasts.”Several other local authorities around Europe, including in the UK, have restricted where and how e-bikes and other single-person vehicles can be used.The measure…

Even as progressive candidates have achieved high-profile victories this year, a handful of moderate Democrats have proved that centrists can still win competitive primary races.In recent weeks, moderates like David Crowley in Wisconsin and Representative Jared Moskowitz of Florida have prevailed in primaries. Others, like Mary Peltola in Alaska, have shown electoral strength that centrists have pointed to as they argue that their approach is superior for winning tough general elections.The moderates who have won have often localized their races, distancing themselves from national leaders and casting themselves as independent-minded.“Democratic primary voters still value electability above all else, but they…

A former North Yorkshire councillor who also served as the mayor of Harrogate posted antisemitic tweets which were “greater than bigotry in the extreme”, a court heard.Pat Marsh, 78, is accused of stirring up racial hatred by publishing written material in relation to posts made on X in January and February 2024.A trial of facts is taking place at York Crown Court as Marsh, who has dementia, has been deemed physically and mentally unfit to enter a plea and give evidence as part of a conventional trial.The trial of facts, which has yet to hear evidence in her defence, is…

Adit Singh was a partner at Foundation Capital when he helped source and co-lead the first funding round into then-obscure chip startup Cerebras. By the time Cerebras held its blockbuster IPO in May, Foundation Capital held a roughly 7% stake, making it the third-largest shareholder in the company, which now trades at a valuation of nearly $50 billion. Singh now has a new VC firm to call home: On Thursday, he said he’s now joined the 57-year-old Mayfield as an infrastructure partner. At Mayfield, Singh will invest in hardware, infrastructure software, cybersecurity, and physical AI. He says it was the…

AI data centre regulation in Pennsylvania now begins with a signature. Before the state will so much as open a developer’s permit file, that developer has to sign a contract accepting a fixed set of conditions and the penalties for breaking them, and persuade the town that has to live with the building to say yes.Governor Josh Shapiro signed Executive Order 2026-05 in the US state’s capital, Harrisburg, on Tuesday. It directs the Department of Environmental Protection to review permit applications from proposed data centres only where the developer has committed to the Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) Requirements through a Consent…

A new Android malware named Manic targeting users in multiple European countries has a fallback mechanism for exfiltrating data through nearby infected devices. The malware has been active since at least February and combines spyware, banking fraud, and remote control capabilities. It targets at least 169 banking, government/eID, payment, crypto wallet, messaging, and authenticator/2FA apps, with users in Ukraine being the primary focus. Mobile security company ThreatFabric analyzed the Manic malware and found that it uses transparent overlays on the numeric keypads of legitimate applications to capture victims’ taps and reproduce them through Android Accessibility, allowing the legitimate applications to…

Public Bitcoin miners are spending billions chasing artificial intelligence and high-performance computing revenue, though returns have yet to keep pace, underscoring the massive upfront investment required to diversify beyond Bitcoin mining.In its latest Miner Weekly newsletter, BlocksBridge Consulting reported that a group of 15 Bitcoin miners and AI data-center companies spent a combined $30.7 billion on capital assets in their latest 2026 reporting periods, already 42.6% more than the $21.53 billion they spent throughout 2025.Among Bitcoin miners specifically, the gap between capital spending and AI revenue remains significant. Nine comparable miners spent $5.11 billion on capital assets during the first…

As the effects of the 2026 snow drought in the western United States carry into summer, NASA Earth data is feeding machine-learning forecasts that inform decisions about water, power, and public safety in Washington state.   Tacoma Power, a Washington public utility, is using a U.S. technology company’s river-flow forecasts during a year of water extremes on the Cowlitz River. The utility’s largest hydroelectric project uses water stored behind Mayfield and Mossyrock dams to generate enough electricity to serve more than 151,000 homes each year. Upstream Tech’s HydroForecast combines weather forecasts and river measurements with NASA-produced satellite data on snow…

The Yaya Leadership Initiative, launched in memory of late Indonesian environmental leader Nur Hidayati, aims to develop a new generation of community leaders, particularly women, young people, Indigenous peoples, and grassroots activists.The initiative builds on Yaya’s leadership approach, which emphasized sharing power, supporting women and young activists, and connecting environmental, Indigenous, agrarian, and human rights movements.Organizers say the initiative is especially important as Indonesian environmental defenders face rising threats, while social movements struggle with fragmentation, polarization, and a lack of leadership succession.The YLI has begun supporting emerging leaders through fellowships and aims to build networks that help activists remain…