Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

In Israel, relations with the small Gulf state of Qatar are front and center of a bitterly contested election season. Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett—who is seeking to unseat Benjamin Netanyahu in the October elections—recently advocated that Qatar be designated an enemy state while alleging that multiple Israeli “influencers” and “research organizations” are on Doha’s payroll. This fits Bennett’s political playbook of trying to out-hawk Netanyahu while also projecting a catchall appeal as a centrist alternative. And Qatar fits this bill perfectly. Suspicion of Doha and its relationship with Hamas is one of the few things that supporters and…

Claim: In August 2026, the Florida Chamber of Commerce paid for an advertisement in Times Square naming New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani Florida’s “Economic Developer of the Year.” Rating: In August 2026, images emerged online purportedly showing a Times Square billboard, paid for by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, that appeared to mock New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.  The billboard read: “Mayor Zohran Mamdani: Florida Economic Developer of the year.” Many online saw this as a dig at Mamdani’s mayorship, implying businesses were relocating to Florida as a result of his policies. The images spread on multiple platforms,…

Poland’s prime minister said Thursday that authorities arrested a Russian citizen who was allegedly recruited by Russia’s secret services, thwarting his plan to kill a Ukrainian American citizen in the Polish capital, Warsaw. The Russian was detained ​on ‌August 7 and had been ⁠recruited to kill a man who was “inconvenient to the Putin regime”, Donald Tusk told ‌journalists.  Read morePoland detains suspect in fatal shooting of Russian artist critical of Putin, Tusk says The Russian had been hired to kill a man ​who had both Ukrainian and US passports, Tusk said, without giving any more information on his identity. “At…

On about 40 mornings each year, the justices take their seats behind the Supreme Court’s majestic mahogany bench to hear oral arguments.Part interrogation of the lawyers before them and part conversation among the justices, those sessions are not as important as the written briefs submitted by the parties. But the arguments that follow those submissions are essentially the only way the public can see the court at work.The ritual had hardly changed in 50 years until the spring of 2020, when the pandemic ousted the justices from the courtroom for 18 months.Scrambling for a solution, they decided to hold arguments…

George Finch, who made history last year after he was elected as leader of Warwickshire county council at the age of 19, is no stranger to criticism.His year at the helm of a minority Reform administration has been dominated by a string of controversies, including three code of conduct investigations and a no-confidence call – which he survived by just one vote.The latest controversy concerns a dispute over the region’s libraries. In June, Finch claimed he had received “a number” of complaints from people that the county’s libraries had been “promoting contested gender ideology”, prompting Warwickshire Pride to issue a…

Reddit’s popular r/Bumble community – where half a million people share dating stories and discuss app features – has largely questioned the platform’s rule changes.In particular, users have asked how Bumble was now different from any other dating app.”If you women want men to message first, use a different app,” one person wrote, while another said they “really valued” women making the first move. “Women get swamped with messages, so any woman who messaged me showed real interest,” they said.Others argued the feature had already been diluted when Bumble introduced “Opening Moves” – a feature allowing women to set a…

The ransomware group known as DeadLock has been observed using decentralized infrastructure to facilitate victim communications and data leak operations in a bid to improve operational resilience. “Its recovery ecosystem combines the Session messaging network with blockchain-backed services that store and deliver resources used throughout the extortion process,” the Microsoft Threat Intelligence team said. The tech giant said it observed the ransomware being deployed by multiple threat actors, including an affiliate for Lynx and INC ransomware. DeadLock was first detected in July 2025, employing double extortion tactics to encrypt victim environments and apply pressure by threatening to publicly release exfiltrated…

In brief Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority and HTX are in talks to settle the regulator’s claim that the exchange illegally promoted crypto services to UK consumers. The High Court has paused proceedings until late August to let the two sides reach a deal, Reuters reported from court filings. The FCA’s claim names a Panamanian company and four categories of “persons unknown,” including anyone who takes over the exchange before October 2028. The Financial Conduct Authority and HTX are “in talks” to negotiate a settlement in the regulator’s case over unlawful crypto promotions to UK consumers, with London’s High Court pausing…

Mina Guli had run more than 25 miles when she saw the plume of smoke towering over the Utah desert. The Australian ultrarunner was preparing to run another 25 miles in the morning, but watching the nearby wildfire grow made it impossible to relax and rest up for the next day’s mileage. “We would lie in our tents at night and look out across the landscape and see the Babylon Fire burning in the distance,” said Guli, referring to the wildfire burning in southeastern Utah. “It’s hard to describe if you haven’t seen how big it is. It looked like…

A 102-year-old man has died of his injuries after allegedly being assaulted at a pub in south Wales.Phillip Ormerod of Cwmbran in the Welsh valleys, was taken to hospital after the incident at the Crow’s Nest pub on 1 August. Gwent police said on Thursday that he had since died.A 56-year-old man from Llanelli was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm in connection with the case. He has been released but remains under investigation.The senior investigating officer, DCI Shelley Comley, said: “We understand the public interest in this incident but want to remind people that not only is this…