Author: DispatchTimes News Desk

Canada’s trade surplus widened unexpectedly in August to its highest level in more than four years, marking a stronger-than-anticipated performance for the month. The increase in the Canadian trade surplus came as a surprise, with the latest figures placing it at a level not seen for over four years.

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell has rejected calls for panic after his side fell to a 32-26 defeat by the Carolina Panthers on Sunday Night Football. The loss left Detroit 2-2 after four games, with Campbell acknowledging on Monday that the team was not playing with enough discipline or consistency across all three phases. “We have to play a lot smarter than we are right now in areas,” Campbell said. “Really across the board. We have to get things cleaned up.” The Lions defence conceded 445 yards in Charlotte and has allowed at least 30 points in three of…

Veteran ABC newsreader Richard Morecroft has died aged 70 after being diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. He died on the New South Wales South Coast, with his partner of 36 years, Alison Mackay, beside him. A spokesperson confirmed the news on Morecroft’s Instagram page, saying he died on Tuesday “at a time of his choosing”. The statement said Morecroft was “grateful to go peacefully” and described him as “such a warm, generous and caring human”. It added that those who knew him, “if only through their TV screens”, would remember him fondly. Morecroft presented the ABC’s 7pm news bulletin…

Police have made a further arrest in connection with an incident at RAF Fairford. Details of the suspect and the circumstances surrounding the incident have not been disclosed.

British whistleblower Simon Andriesz, who raised allegations about links between US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Jeffrey Epstein, died by hanging in Thailand, according to local records. Mr Andriesz, 57, was found dead in a town outside Bangkok on the morning of September 23. Khlong Luang Town’s municipality office recorded his cause of death as “asphyxiation from hanging”. The former Wall Street banker had been living in Cornwall and was previously managing director at BGC Group, where Mr Lutnick was chief executive. He spent 35 years working in the securities industry before being dismissed in 2017. His family said Mr…

Oil prices stood at $101.43 (£?) a barrel at 7.30am Eastern time, down $4.38 from the previous morning but still around $35.50 higher than a year earlier. The figure is based on the Brent crude benchmark, which is widely used to track global oil performance. Brent was priced at $105.81 a barrel the previous day, while the comparable level a month ago was $97.87 and the price a year ago was $65.94. That means the latest price was 4.13% lower than yesterday’s level, 3.63% higher than a month ago and 53.82% above its position a year earlier. What is driving…

Two former police officers in suburban Chicago have been charged over the alleged misuse of Flock automated licence-plate cameras and law-enforcement databases to conduct unauthorised searches. A DuPage County grand jury indicted Marisa Ciccola, 30, formerly of the Itasca Police Department, and Gerardo Solis, 39, formerly of the West Chicago Police Department, on 29 September. Former officers charged over Flock camera searches Ciccola faces 13 counts of official misconduct, a Class 3 felony, and eight counts of computer tampering, a Class B misdemeanour. Prosecutors allege that she carried out multiple unauthorised searches between June 2025 and May 2026 while acting…

Rising energy costs could force mining companies in Western Australia to move overseas, taking jobs with them, the State’s peak industry body has warned. The warning applies to miners of all sizes and comes as industry heavyweights raise concerns that the mining boom in WA could be put at risk. The industry body said the cost pressures threatened the State’s ability to retain mining operations and the employment they support.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has urged Russia to be more transparent over the death of a laboratory worker in Siberia, amid conflicting accounts about whether she contracted pneumonic plague in a research facility. The 28-year-old woman, named as Darya Shipilova, worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute and died in hospital after developing an illness initially described as a typical acute respiratory viral infection. “I think it’s incumbent upon Russia to obviously share more information with the world,” Mr Rubio said after arriving in Reykjavik, Iceland. He called for Moscow to be “transparent” about the incident and any associated…

A row over Meghan Markle’s £112 advent calendar has escalated after two British clergymen were subjected to a barrage of online abuse for promoting a cheaper Christian alternative. Rev Daniel French, an Anglican priest and London university chaplain, suggested that shoppers could instead buy a £5.99 calendar containing Fairtrade chocolate, a Christmas story and activity booklet, while raising money for The Leprosy Mission. After his post, supporters of the Duchess of Sussex, commonly known as the Sussex Squad, accused him of attacking Meghan’s product. Some responses described him as “evil”, a “demon” and a “disgrace to the cloth”. Rev French…