Author: DispatchTimes News Desk

More than 3,000 people invested their savings in Bournemouth-based Ethical Forestry Limited between January 2008 and December 2015, but prosecutors say the company’s former directors diverted millions of pounds into luxury lifestyles. Matthew Pickard, Stephen Greenaway and Paul Laver are being sentenced at Southwark Crown Court after admitting fraudulent trading linked to the £70 million investment scheme. The company promoted forestry investments in Costa Rica, persuading members of the public to move money from pension schemes into plantations which were supposed to generate returns when the trees were harvested. But the court heard that although some trees were planted, no…

A US appeals court has ruled that a federal judge did not have the authority to erase former Army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl’s court-martial conviction, restoring the legal force of the punishment imposed after he left his post in Afghanistan. A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ordered the dismissal of Bergdahl’s claims, finding that a district court could not use a collateral challenge to set aside a military court judgment. The decision overturns a 2023 ruling by District Judge Reggie Walton, who had vacated orders and rulings made in Bergdahl’s case after…

New York City is to impose a one-year moratorium on student-facing generative AI in public schools from 2-K through eighth grade, affecting almost 600,000 pupils in the largest school system in the United States. Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels announced the policy on Wednesday, September 2, ahead of the start of the 2026-27 school year. Companion chatbots will be prohibited across all year groups, while high school students will receive limited and supervised access to selected AI tools. The city described the measure as the broadest student-facing AI restriction in the country. It will cover software including…

Amazon has introduced a new Alexa for Shopping feature that can help customers check whether an email, text message or phone call genuinely came from the company, amid the continued use of impersonation scams targeting shoppers. Customers can ask the assistant about a suspicious communication, which Amazon says will compare it with a record of messages sent by the company. It will also assess details including the wording, formatting and sender information. Alexa for Shopping will only confirm that a message is genuine when Amazon is “completely certain”, according to the company. In one example, a customer asks whether Amazon…

An adult was wounded in a reported shooting at an elementary school in Waynesboro, Virginia, on Wednesday, although no children were injured, according to an official who attended the scene. Westwood Hills Elementary School was evacuated after the incident, with all pupils, teachers and staff accounted for and safe. The Augusta County Sheriff’s Office said the situation had been contained and secured by 10.23am local time. The injured adult was taken to hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, Waynesboro city council member Jim Wood told the Associated Press. He described the shooting as an isolated, one-to-one incident and…

Western Australia’s government has stepped in to ensure actors recruited for the first open days at the $233.5 million Perth Film Studios are paid, after they were initially offered meals and the chance to gain “exposure” rather than a fee. More than 30 actors had been sought by contractor West Coast Crew to appear in a live music video shoot during the events at the new studio in Malaga on 11 and 12 September. Roles included kung fu fighters, police officers and zombies. An email circulated by the contractor described the work as an “unpaid opportunity”. Participants were told they…

Two men were shot dead outside a gay bar in Tucson, Arizona, in an attack being investigated as a possible hate crime, police said. Vincent Anthony Siqueiros, 42, and Cameron Davis Capara, 33, were confronted in the car park of Venture-N shortly after midnight on Monday, August 31, according to the Tucson Police Department. Police believe Ousman Ceesay, 44, shot both men before suffering gunshot wounds himself. He was taken to hospital but later died. Siqueiros and Capara were pronounced dead at the scene at the bar on North Sixth Avenue, near the junction with Speedway Boulevard. Investigators said Ceesay…

US private credit firms have marked down more loans in the first half of 2026, with software borrowers facing particular pressure despite signs that portfolio values stabilised during the second quarter. A Reuters analysis of regulatory filings from 44 US business development companies (BDCs) found that the fair value of their investments fell further below reported cost as market spreads widened and concerns grew about the financial health of some borrowers. The companies, which mainly lend to small and medium-sized businesses, held investments worth $92.88 billion at fair value on June 30, compared with a reported cost of $95.19 billion.…

AI detection company Pangram has raised $9 million and secured a partnership with Substack, as its co-founder and chief executive Max Spero warned that distinguishing between human and machine-produced work is becoming increasingly difficult. Substack is using Pangram’s technology to identify the use of artificial intelligence in newsletters, giving readers an indication of whether content from authors they follow has been written with AI. The deal comes as AI-generated text and images spread beyond social media, appearing in job applications, product reviews and insurance claims. Platforms are under growing pressure to establish whether material submitted by users is genuine. Pangram…

Texas voters remain firmly Republican-leaning as the state’s 2026 election approaches, but a new poll has found the US Senate race between Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico effectively deadlocked. The survey also recorded strong opposition to new data centres and Flock-style automatic number-plate recognition cameras. Paxton was backed by 43.4 per cent of likely voters, compared with 44 per cent for Talarico, according to the Overton Insights poll of 1,167 Texans conducted between August 24 and 26. Once voters who said they were leaning towards a candidate were included, the Senate contest became an exact tie, underlining the…