Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

A Republican-controlled US Senate committee voted to hold Dr Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after the veteran public health official repeatedly pleaded the fifth amendment to parry a hostile inquisition into his stewardship of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.Fauci, the former director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Niaid), who led the agency for 38 years before retiring in 2022, gave the same response to multiple questions while refusing to give clarifying answers during a tense hearing last week, citing his constitutional protections.The Senate homeland security and government affairs committee voted in favor of referring a…

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has raised concerns that child sex offenders and other “serious criminals” could be freed from jail early under the government’s release scheme.The government is planning to release about 5,000 offenders in England and Wales well before the end of their sentences in an effort to make space in overcrowded jails.Andy Burnham reviewed the scheme after he became prime minister and this week he announced that some prisoners convicted of rape, serious child sex and other grooming offences would barred from early release.But in a letter, external, Badenoch said many more types of offenders – including those…

The headline figures show that small boats crossing the Channel are down by 43% compared with January to mid-July 2025 – from 21,690 people who crossed last year to 12,469 over the same period this year.Since Andy Burnham came to power on 20 July, however, there has been a small increase on the same period last year. Between 20 July and 2 August 2025 1,962 people crossed the Channel in small boats. Over the same period this year more than 2,000 have crossed.Burnham visited Dover’s joint command room on Sunday where small boat movements across the Channel are tracked using…

Ford’s next-generation electric truck will be called Fathom, and it will start at $28,350 when it goes on sale in 2027, the company said on Thursday. A “destination and delivery” fee will bring that price up to $29,945, putting the Fathom just below the $30,000 mark that Ford has targeted since it first started talking more openly about the project in 2025. The truck, when it arrives next year, represents a major bet for Ford. It’s the automaker’s second all-electric truck after the F-150 Lightning (third, if you count the limited-run Ranger EV from the late 1990s). But like many…

For decades, cybersecurity has been built around one assumption: defenders had enough time to: Discover vulnerabilities. Assess exposure. Deploy patches. Verify that critical systems remained protected. That assumption shaped how organizations built security programs, how vendors developed security products, and how regulators measured cyber resilience. That assumption no longer holds AI has not created a new category of cyber risk. Rather, it has exposed the limitations of a security operating model built for a time when attackers operated at human speed. When AI can identify vulnerabilities, generate working exploits, analyze attack surfaces, and chain weaknesses together at scale, the timeline…

Criminals stole more than $30 million through physical attacks on crypto holders in the first half of this year, putting the year on pace to surpass the record $58 million stolen in 2025.In a Chainalysis report released Thursday, the blockchain analytics firm said that 46 violent crypto-related incidents had been documented globally through late June, up from 40 during the same period in 2025. The incidents include kidnappings, home invasions and hostage situations, collectively known as “wrench attacks.” The findings suggest wrench attacks are increasing, expanding the risks facing crypto holders beyond custody and asset management to their physical safety, homes…

A major new study provides strong reassurance about the use of acetaminophen (paracetamol) and ibuprofen (Advil) during a baby’s first year. Researchers found no evidence that either common pain reliever increases the risk of eczema or bronchiolitis, a respiratory illness that often affects young children. Earlier studies had raised concerns that acetaminophen (Tylenol) given during infancy might be connected to eczema, asthma, or other health conditions later in childhood. “Our study found that paracetamol and ibuprofen are incredibly safe to use in young children,” says lead researcher Professor Stuart Dalziel, Cure Kids Chair of Child Health Research at Waipapa Taumata…

Chinese state-owned oil and gas giant China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and its partner, the U.S.-headquartered energy firm ConocoPhillips, have brought online the next expansion segment at an existing oilfield off the coast of China, enabling the project to be home to 19 offshore platforms and a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel. Penglai field; Source: ConocoPhillips via LinkedIn According to ConocoPhillips, Bohai Phase 5 is now fully online, adding two new wellhead platforms, four platform expansions, and 91 wells to the CNOOC-operated Penglai field in Block 11/05 of Bohai Bay in the south-central Bohai Sea at an average…

by Natalie Yahr / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch August 6, 2026 Click here to read highlights from the story Free, simple tools can help people measure the change in inflation and see whether their pay is keeping up.  Experts Wisconsin Watch spoke to said that if your wage hasn’t changed and inflation rises, your real earnings decrease.  Workers can use inflation calculators to seek a raise if their real wages have dropped. Inflation hit a three-year high in May, leaving a growing number of Americans struggling to afford necessities. The rate has since slowed a bit, but most prices aren’t…

Israeli prosecutors Thursday charged a settler for the killing of a Palestinian community leader last year in the occupied West Bank, according to an indictment filed in district court. In the document, prosecutors accuse Yinon Levi, who lives in the south of the West Bank, of reckless manslaughter in the death of prominent Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen in July 2025. The charge holds a lesser punishment than murder under Israeli law. The indictment also charges Levi with armed trespassing and malicious property damage. Read morePalestinians bury activist shot dead by West Bank settler It is extremely rare for Israel to charge…