Author: DispatchTimes News Desk

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has appointed Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor to investigate allegations that a former Cornell University student was gang-raped at a fraternity house in October 2024. Ms Hochul said newly released information had damaged her confidence in the handling of the case by local authorities, including Cornell University Police and the Tompkins County district attorney’s office. An executive order signed by the governor requires Ms James to examine the alleged assault and, if warranted, present evidence to a grand jury and pursue a prosecution. The attorney general’s office will now control the criminal…

Italy is seeking clarity over rumours surrounding Christine Lagarde’s future as president of the European Central Bank. The speculation concerns the ECB’s leadership and Lagarde’s position at the institution. No further details have been provided.

Ken Urker, Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s former fiancé, was found dead at his home in Louisiana after relatives warned police that he had threatened to take his own life and owned a gun. Deputies attended the property in Raceland on Thursday evening for a welfare check after family members said Urker was not answering his phone and had failed to attend work. One caller told dispatchers that Urker was in a “dark place”, had threatened suicide and possessed a firearm. A second caller later told authorities he had “killed himself” and asked whether he was safe. Family friends entered the house…

Liverpool’s pursuit of Mexican teenager Gilberto Mora could be complicated by the midfielder’s reported preference for a move to Spain, with Real Madrid and Barcelona understood to be among his favoured destinations. The 17-year-old has become one of the most highly regarded young attacking midfielders in world football after breaking through at Club Tijuana and making an impression for Mexico. Liverpool have monitored Mora for some time and remain interested in taking him to the Premier League. However, his apparent preference for La Liga could hand the Spanish giants an advantage if they decide to pursue the player. Liverpool face…

An 18-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the killing of US Coast Guard pilot Connor Overstreet in Skyway, Washington. Detectives from the King County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit, supported by a SWAT team, detained the suspect at a home in Covington on Thursday, October 1. He was booked into King County Jail on suspicion of second-degree murder and was due to make his first appearance in King County District Court at 2.30pm on Friday. Coast Guard pilot Connor Overstreet was shot in Skyway Overstreet, 29, was shot near South 124th Street and South Langston Road in the…

One Nation’s Victorian election campaign will open in Melbourne on Saturday with the party expected to unveil tougher bail policies and plans for more police on the streets. State leader Warren Pickering will launch the campaign at Crown conference centre alongside Pauline Hanson and more than 750 supporters. The party expects to field candidates in 95 per cent of Victorian seats and will present what Mr Pickering described as a full policy platform. “We should launch 95 per cent of our candidates and we will launch a full policy platform for a better Victoria,” he told 3AW on Friday. Crime…

Christa Pike survived a botched execution in Tennessee after receiving two doses of the lethal drug pentobarbital, in what experts have described as an unprecedented failure of a modern execution by lethal injection. The 50-year-old remained alive after the procedure at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville on Wednesday night and was taken to hospital for what her lawyers described as “lifesaving medical care”. The extent of her injuries was not immediately clear, although a doctor told BBC News she would likely have suffered a traumatic brain injury. Pike’s legal team said she had not lost consciousness and still had…

Chris Brain has been convicted of rape and four sexual assaults against three women who attended the Nine O’Clock Service in Sheffield, the church movement he led in the 1980s and 1990s. The 69-year-old was found guilty at Inner London Crown Court after jurors heard that he used his authority over members of the congregation to abuse women, including ordering them to give him massages at his home. Brain had denied the allegations, claiming the sexual acts were consensual or had not happened. He is now awaiting sentence after being convicted of a total of 22 sexual offences against 13…

AI agents are delivering dramatic productivity gains for some businesses, but weak governance risks preventing companies from deploying them, according to ServiceNow executive Paul Fipps. Fipps, president of global customer operations at ServiceNow, said Standard Chartered Bank was achieving a 77% “deflection rate” across employee requests. The figure refers to requests handled without human intervention. Speaking at the 2026 AIQ Summit, Fipps said: “I always say, if you get 25% to 30% deflection in those use cases, it’s game-changing. If you get 75% to 80%, it is life-changing.” He said the most valuable applications of AI were often “horizontal”, meaning…

Ken Urker, Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s former fiancé, posted a cryptic TikTok livestream just hours before he was found dead in Louisiana, in footage that appears to show him travelling in windy conditions without speaking. Urker was declared dead on Thursday evening, aged 33, on what would have been his 34th birthday. The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to a home in Raceland at about 6.15pm after receiving a call. Urker was dead when they arrived. A death investigation has been opened. Captain Brennan Matherne said detectives had found no evidence of foul play so far, although they had…