Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Neutrl has suspended minting and redemptions for its NUSD synthetic dollar after unspecified circumstances affected protocol reserves, leaving the cause and scale of any potential impairment unclear. On Thursday, Neutrl said it had also paused other protocol functions on legal advice while it assesses the impact. The protocol did not identify the affected asset or counterparty, say whether reserves suffered a realized loss or provide a timeline for resuming operations. Structured-yield protocol Strata later said it paused minting, redemptions and related functions for contracts in its Neutrl market, which supports several NUSD-linked products. Strata said its other markets…

Reports circulated that, in May 2025, a Texas sheriff’s deputy searched a data pool of more than 83,000 license plate-scanning cameras made by surveillance tech company Flock Safety to find a woman whose partner alleged she performed a self-administered abortion. Public records confirm the officer did conduct such a search. We left this claim unrated because evidence for what motivated the search is mixed. While the deputy reportedly said they were attempting to locate the woman and her children to “check their welfare” (as they believed she may have been hurt by her partner), the investigation was, at that time,…

At least 11 people were killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday, the Lebanese health ministry said, some of the deadliest in the weeks since the country agreed to a US-mediated peace framework with neighbouring ​Israel. The Israeli military said ‌it struck Hezbollah infrastructure overnight in what it describes as a security zone in southern Lebanon in response to actions against ⁠its soldiers there. Iran-backed Hezbollah said in a statement that the attacks would be “met with what they deserve”. The framework leaves Israeli troops inside occupied southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed and the Lebanese army takes…

Depending on your perspective, Zyzz can be regarded as the original “looksmaxxer”—though the term had yet to be coined—or one of the earliest forefathers of the manosphere as we know it today.“I really see this as a cautionary tale,” Poster Boy’s director, Selina Miles, tells WIRED. She notes that Shavershian’s meteoric rise and untimely death left a huge impression on Australian millennials, and that his legend continues to reverberate today. “He had his transformation, and his story has really resonated with a lot of people,” she says. “We have to stay curious as to why. Why has he had this…

Crypto remains a marginal payment option among euro area businesses even as other forms of digital payments gain ground, according to a new European Central Bank (ECB) report.Just 0.2% of companies selling goods and services online accept crypto assets, the ECB said in its survey on companies’ cash use, published Thursday. Cash remains the most widely accepted payment method, with 92% of companies with physical points of sale accepting it.The ECB surveyed 8,205 businesses across the 21 euro area countries, covering retail, restaurants and cafes, hotels, and arts, entertainment and recreation. Market research firm Ipsos conducted the telephone interviews from…

Congenital heart disease is the most common birth defect, affecting about 1 in 100 babies born each year. The condition can have many causes, including changes involving TBX5, a gene that plays a critical role in building the heart. In some cases, a child has only one working copy of TBX5 rather than two healthy copies inherited from the parents. For years, researchers have been trying to understand why losing the function of just one copy can have such a major effect on heart development, even when the second copy still works. Researchers at Gladstone Institutes now report that TBX5…

Post-earthquake reconstruction is expected to cost around $6.4bn, but Colombia has been hit by renewed US tariffs.Published On 15 Aug 202615 Aug 2026Colombia’s new president has called on United States President Donald Trump to suspend tariffs targeting the South American country, which is reeling from a deadly earthquake that has killed hundreds.President Abelardo de la Espriella said Saturday that he had requested the US “temporarily suspend” tariffs on Colombia to give “relief” to business owners.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listOn Monday, a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Colombia, killing at least 294 people and damaging or destroying tens of thousands…

Under the plans, Jenrick said they would invest in talking therapies, physiotherapy and employment support to move away from people claiming health Universal Credit (UC) payments and Personal Independent Payments (Pip). People with “lover-level conditions” would no longer receive payments, instead accounts run by local councils and mayors will provide for needs such as transport and equipment.Employers would see the creation of a return to work cover giving them a “strong economic incentive” to return an employee to work who has been off due to sickness.Those claiming benefits and who had not returned to work in two years would face…

The Mini 1 was a simplified version of the Auk system, with four oval pots set over a 3-liter reservoir. Users could grow the included herb seeds or anything else they wanted in the pots using coco coir. It was simple, stylish, and effective.The Auk Mini 2 features a handful of updates, but perhaps the most visible is that it comes in new color variations, rather than just black and white. There are still the oak and walnut wood bottoms, but Mini 2 offers beech and ash instead of the Mini 1’s cork. Espresso, sage, and terra-cotta colored tops now…

In brief Bank Leumi, Israel’s largest bank, will let customers trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana inside Leumi Trade through Galaxy’s trading and custody rails. It’s Bank Leumi’s second attempt at crypto trading, after a failed run back in 2022. The target is early 2027, still subject to Bank of Israel approval—the same gate that killed Leumi’s 2022 Paxos plan. Bank Leumi and Galaxy Digital said Thursday they’ll bring cryptocurrency trading to Israel’s largest bank through its digital investment arm, Pepper.“Customers of Leumi and PEPPER, the bank’s mobile digital banking arm, will be able to buy, hold and sell selected digital…