Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

Wired for Profit: Fourth in a series about Alabama Power’s influence over electric rates, renewable energy, pollution and politics in the Yellowhammer State. WESTOVER, Ala.—Shannon Vanden Heuvel said she doesn’t believe a word they say.  A marketing designer and proud mom, she’s seen the seemingly endless television advertisements from Alabama Power, the state’s largest electric utility, an effective monopoly in much of the state.  The ads say that Alabama Power has made a commitment to customers like her. As data center developers eye Alabama in droves, the state’s largest electricity provider has made that claim clear: Don’t worry about your…

Sometimes it feels as though horrific world events and the malicious entities behind them are reaching into every aspect of our lives, from heatwaves that keep me shut away indoors, to generative AI that makes it increasingly difficult to trust what I read online. I can no longer even retreat into my favourite video game without funding human rights abuses across the world.I’ve been playing The Sims series of life-simulation games since its first release at the turn of the millennium, when I sat with my sister in the corner of the sitting room using money cheats to build mansions…

Chinese authorities have arrested a local government official and a businessman suspected of sexually assaulting a woman at a business gathering, in a case that has sparked outrage in the country.The woman was allegedly assaulted at a karaoke bar in Hangzhou after an official dinner involving executives from several companies and officials.Local authorities said an investigation had found the woman was sexually assaulted by both men, adding that she had been pushed to the ground by one of them, causing injuries to her lower back.Both suspects in the case have been dismissed from their positions, the statement added.Sexual misconduct at…

The White House did not provide further details on the agreement but the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said on social media that the “deal will include comprehensive market access for all American goods, economic security commitments, digital trade alignment, and many important provisions that will continue to protect our market and American workers, along with our Canadian partners.”Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney issued a statement confirming the pause. “Substantial progress has been made, although there is important work still to be done,” Carney said. “As this work is ongoing, the United States has agreed to postpone the implementation…

“Giving your opponent a way out” is one of his golden rules of campaigning – his full list can be found in his new book Institutionalised Deceit: Taking the Lid off Westminster Governance.Another is to avoid party tribalism. Despite voting Green, Bailey has rarely been picky about who he works with.In the 1980s, he teamed up with the Association for the Conservation of Energy, a body governed by directors and CEOs.In a goodbye speech at the end of his time with them, Bailey said: “Perhaps we have both learnt something.”I have learnt that not all capitalist bastards are capitalist bastards…

Four days before Tuesday’s Democratic Senate primary, State Representative Angie Nixon did what she has always done in Florida: Organize activists.The group of volunteers for her underdog Senate campaign sat inside a union office in suburban Broward County, a liberal stronghold in the increasingly Republican-leaning state. It was a small group, maybe a dozen people.But don’t worry, Ms. Nixon’s political director, Rachel Gilmer, reassured them: “This tiny room is part of many, many tiny rooms” across the state, she said, with more volunteers also ready to knock on Democratic voters’ doors.Ms. Nixon, 42, walked in, wearing a big smile and…

WIRED analyzed the software by examining code Flock served from its own login portals. Loading those pages returned a user interface for screens that would ordinarily appear only after a police user signed in, letting reporters reconstruct portions of the authenticated applications, their prompts, search fields, tools, and controls, without actual access. The files appeared to contain everything needed to reconstruct the interface from scratch.Before an officer runs a search, the software can ask for a justification. The code shows that by default an officer has to type a reason for the search; however, the form appears to place no…

Cybersecurity researchers have flagged a new typosquatting campaign targeting RubyGems users with a Windows-based information stealer. OpenSourceMalware, which discovered the activity on August 15, 2026, is tracking the threat under the moniker StubMaker. The complete list of packages published as part of the campaign is below – ubnuler ubnlder ri18nr reaker rakier orakw joxn ise18n ioe18n ie18u iai8n i1l8n i18om activesupmport brumdler brundlef “This new malware harvests browser credentials, cryptocurrency wallets, seed phrases, and Telegram data,” security researcher Paul McCarty (aka 6mile) said. “All of the malicious RubyGems packages appear to be typosquats of popular Ruby dependencies, but rather than…

Asset manager Neuberger has launched its first tokenized fixed-income fund through Securitize, offering an actively managed high-yield strategy across four blockchains, Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Avalanche (AVAX) and Sui (SUI).The Neuberger Securitize High Income Tokenized Fund (HINC) will invest primarily in high-yield bonds, with additional exposure to collateralized loan obligations and leveraged loans, according to an announcement Tuesday.The launch comes as investors are demanding higher yields amid heated competition for corporate and government funding. “The previous market regime rewarded investors for assuming that capital would remain cheap and plentiful,” Saxo chief investment strategist Charu Chanana said in a Tuesday client…

Norway’s state-owned energy giant Equinor has bolstered its exploration portfolio by joining an exploration license in the Orange Basin offshore Namibia, operated by the U.S.-headquartered energy giant Chevron. Map showing location of PEL 90 in Namibia’s Orange Basin; Source: Equinor Equinor has signed an agreement with Harmattan Energy, a Chevron subsidiary in Namibia, to acquire a 17.4% participating interest in petroleum exploration license 90 (PEL 90), referring to Block 2813B in the Orange Basin. The transaction marks the Norwegian firm’s entry into Namibia and provides access to a drill-ready prospect scheduled for testing in 2026. Currently, Chevron’s subsidiary owns an interest…