Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

A pilot has traced the shape of a bin with their flight path near Clacton before Count Binface challenges Nigel Farage in a byelection on Thursday.The light aircraft spent around half an hour between 2,100ft and 4,150ft above the sea near the Essex coastal town zigzagging to mark out the shape of a bin, according to data from Flightradar24.The plane took off from Earls Colne airfield near Colchester at 2.48pm on Saturday and landed at 4.13pm. The aircraft is in private ownership, according to Flightradar24, and the pilot’s identity is unknown.Voters will go to the polls in Clacton in a…

Samsung continues to innovate in the flip phone space: At the Samsung Unpacked event in London last month, the company unveiled the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 (and the foldable Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Fold 8 Ultra). The phones are available to purchase now through Samsung and the various phone carriers. The new Z Flip 8 is slightly thinner and lighter than its predecessor, and has a larger battery.  Also: Everything announced at Samsung Unpacked 2026: New foldables, smartwatches, and smart glassesIf you’re looking to upgrade, you can preorder the Galaxy Z Flip 8 from Samsung or from phone…

In brief MyTrade founder Liu Zhou has been fined $10,000 over running a crypto wash trading service. Zhou pleaded guilty in October 2024 alongside 17 co-conspirators charged in the same operation. MyTrade’s dashboard let clients order a daily volume of fake trades, executed by bots. The founder of crypto market maker MyTrade has avoided prison and been fined $10,000 for running a wash trading service that generated millions of dollars in fake daily volume across roughly 60 cryptocurrencies.Liu Zhou, 41, a Canadian citizen and Chinese national, was sentenced in Boston federal court on Thursday by U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley,…

After the playwright Tom Stoppard died last year, one of the most striking tributes to his work came from a clinical scientist. Michael Baum explained in the British Medical Journal how, in the interval of a 1993 performance of Arcadia, he experienced an epiphany. Thomasina Coverly’s attempt to plot the equation for a rose prompted him to realise that chaos theory was the best way to explain breast cancer’s pattern of recurrence. It was, he wrote, “the bond that links the arts and the sciences as one enterprise rather than the contents of two silos”.Mr Baum was not the first person to celebrate…

The Israeli government has rejected a 15-point plan backed by the Trump administration aimed at disarming the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.It appeared to be an unusually public break with President Trump, whose relationship with Mr. Netanyahu has had a dizzying and often unpredictable arc. The two leaders launched the war against Iran together in late February. But they have since clashed over how to end it, as well as over the future of Israel’s military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon.Mr. Trump announced the agreement between his Board of Peace and Hamas…

Two drones were spotted over a military base in western Germany just days after an explosive-laden device was found at Leipzig airport.Germany’s armed forces (Bundeswehr) confirmed they were seen on Thursday evening at a base in Mechernich, near Bonn, reportedly housing components for US-made Patriot air-defence systems.A spokeswoman for the Bundeswehr Joint Force Command said military police were deployed to the site before the matter was handed over to local police.It is the latest instance of drones being spotted near military bases or airports in European nations supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia, on which suspicion has fallen. Moscow…

Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.Back-to-school season is already underway, and for many students, that means shopping for the best tech to support their studies. (And for professionals, it can mean looking to update your office environment before a busy Q4.) Buying a new laptop is a great first step, but a computer is only the foundation of a productive student. The right accessories will transform the way you learn and enjoy campus life throughout the semester.Also: Need a new laptop for school? Here are 14 models I recommend to studentsTo speed up your search, I’ve put together…

Michael Saylor says Strategy used AI to design a new class of preferred stocks that ultimately allowed the company to raise roughly $15 billion for its Bitcoin strategy.The Strategy executive chairman said he turned to AI after the company’s existing financing channels, including common-stock sales and convertible bonds, were becoming harder to scale.“I used AI to make $15 billion last year,” Saylor said during an Aug. 6 appearance on The Diary of a CEO podcast.Saylor was referring to capital raised through securities rather than $15 billion of personal income or corporate profit. He said Strategy ultimately sold about $10.5 billion…

Prosecutors in Ecuador have charged a former interior minister and six others on suspicion of being involved in the assassination of a presidential candidate in 2023.José Serrano and the head of cartel Los Lobos, Wilmer “Pipo” Chavarria, were implicated in the murder of Fernando Villavicencio at a campaign event in the capital, Quito, days before the election.Five people linked to the criminal gang were jailed over the hit in 2024, while Pipo was captured in Spain last year, having faked his own death.Villavicencio, a journalist turned prominent legislator, was known for his anti-corruption stance and was one of few candidates…

President Trump’s takeover of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has left the building nearly empty. So the few lonely staff members who remain ahead of a potential two-year closure this month for renovations are prone to sharing tales of what for 50 years has made the place special.Like the mice.Kennedy Center mice do not resemble the typical gray house mice found in fields and woods in warmer weather and in kitchens and attics when it’s cold. They are roughly half that size, with large ears and fur of a golden tan color that, if they were…