Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

Reading Time: 3 minutes Last winter, a vacant lot between West Concordia Avenue and North 12th Street in Milwaukee was buried in snow waiting to become a community garden. Now, hundreds of children from We Got This Milwaukee are spending their summer making each plot flourish and using the garden as a safe haven to look out for each other and build character.  We Got This Milwaukee works with youths ages 10 to 18 to maintain 15 formerly vacant lots in the 53206 ZIP code by planting produce and flowers to give away to residents for free, while also cleaning…

The claim that U.S. President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice extorted Connecticut Children’s Medical Center to force it into ending gender-affirming care for minors is still under investigation.  The rumor stems from several news reports that said the medical center committed to ending gender-affirming care and to setting aside $500,000 to “provide care for individuals who say they were harmed by gender-affirming care they previously received.” It is true the DOJ applied legal pressure that led the Connecticut hospital to settle, based on a statement on the DOJ website. Whether it constitutes extortion is debatable. The statement says Connecticut Children’s…

Europe braced on Wednesday for a fifth heat wave of a record-breaking summer that has already spurred wildfires of rare ferocity, caused water shortages across the continent and, for many Europeans, sapped the joy from a season they once savored.The heat is expected to sweep from the west, with a high of 109 degrees Fahrenheit, or 43 degrees Celsius, predicted in Spain on Thursday, before hitting more eastern countries like Germany over the weekend.In Britain, the government convened a special ministerial meeting on Wednesday morning to prepare for the fallout, as tourists and residents from Madrid to Rome spoke wistfully…

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “We know how challenging this summer is proving, particularly for firefighters tackling wildfires, farmers working in drought conditions, and NHS staff in busy A&E units. “We will continue to take the action needed to keep communities safe, protect water supplies, support farming communities and safeguard the environment.” Britons are this week bracing for their fifth heatwave of 2026, with some temperatures forecast to exceed 36C. The Met Office, Britain’s national weather service, has warned that this summer is set to be the U.K.’s hottest since records began. More than two-thirds of England is now in…

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he accepts his announcements aimed at tackling the cost of living are not enough on their own and hinted at further support. Burnham told BBC’s Wake up to Money he will deliver an “accumulation of smaller things” that “combine to take the pressure down” on household budgets.He spoke of an overhaul of train fares and “more public control” of energy, water and housing but did not give details on how he would bring this about.Burnham has made a number of announcements to help people with the cost of living since taking office, including the…

Andy Burnham will chair an emergency Cobra meeting in response to the extreme heat, which has caused wildfires and plunged many parts of Britain into drought.The prime minister will meet ministers, officials and agencies as high temperatures continue across the UK, with 33C forecast on Wednesday and up to 38C on Thursday.A No 10 spokesperson said the government understood that firefighters, farmers and NHS staff were all facing challenges connected to the weather.It will be the second Cobra meeting this year on heatwaves, after one took place amid high temperatures in June. It comes as parts of the country face…

As AI makes coding dramatically faster, the next big challenge in software development is testing and validating all that code. Blacksmith has raised a new $45 million round to capitalize on that shift. The Series B, led by Peak XV Partners, values Blacksmith at $550 million, up from the $60 million valuation it was assigned when it raised a $10 million Series A less than a year ago. Existing investors GV and Y Combinator also participated, bringing the startup’s total funding to $58.5 million. Founded in 2024, Blacksmith helps companies build, test, and verify software before it reaches production. The…

Signal has introduced Automatic Key Verification, a new security feature that gives users a new way to ensure their encrypted chats haven’t been intercepted. The new feature is part of a “key transparency” system that uses Cloudflare and Trail of Bits as trusted third-party independent auditors to verify the integrity of Signal conversations. “It works through a system of verifications performed by you, your Signal connections, and third-party auditors that together provide the same assurance as manually verifying safety numbers. Unlike safety numbers, these verifications are done independently and do not require an in-person meeting or a secondary communication channel,”…

Strategy’s U.S. dollar reserve has reached $4.65 billion, up from $3.75 billion two weeks earlier. It has also sold almost 7,000 BTC since late June 2026.  Many are wondering why a company built around accumulating Bitcoin would choose to hold billions of dollars in fiat. More importantly, should other Bitcoin businesses do the same?  Strategy holds cash because it’s in a very unique position  Strategy increasingly operates as an issuer of Digital Credit: preferred securities backed economically by an enormous Bitcoin balance sheet. These instruments create fixed dollar dividends obligations. Bitcoin produces no cash flow. Strategy’s software business produces far…

Norwegian Shearwater GeoServices has received two letters of award (LOAs) from India’s government-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) for 3D seismic surveys offshore India which together add approximately 15 vessel months of backlog.Source: Shearwater Geoservices The awards cover a nine-month project offshore India’s west coast and a six-month survey on the east coast. Both projects are described as large and are expected to begin early in the fourth quarter of 2026, materially strengthening vessel utilization visibility into 2027. They are currently under LOA and are progressing toward final contract execution, expected during the third quarter. “These awards represent a significant…