Author: DispatchTimes News Desk

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…

Democrat James Talarico has opened a two-point lead over Republican Ken Paxton in the Texas US Senate race, according to a new Fox News poll that underlines the contest’s exceptionally narrow margins. Talarico was backed by 51% of likely voters, compared with 49% for Paxton. The difference is within the survey’s three-point margin of error, leaving the race effectively level ahead of November’s midterm election. The poll, conducted between September 24 and 28 by Beacon Research and Shaw & Company Research, is the first Fox News survey of the general-election contest among likely Texas voters. It questioned 881 likely voters,…

A 4.8-magnitude earthquake in Victoria has woken residents after homes swayed and windows rattled during a late-night tremor near Leongatha. Geoscience Australia said the earthquake struck at about 2am, around 135km south-east of Melbourne, at a depth of approximately 10km. More than 14,000 people reported feeling the tremor. Residents described being startled by the movement, with some sharing their experiences on social media. “I thought someone was trying to get in my front door,” one person wrote on Facebook, while another said: “I felt my bed swaying.” A Leongatha resident described the earthquake as a “huge explosion nearby”, saying the…

The Banco Master scandal has intensified disillusionment in Brazil and ensnared presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, alongside business leaders, regulators, judges and other political figures. The mid-sized lender expanded rapidly over the past decade by selling high-yield deposit certificates, some promising returns of up to 140 per cent of Brazil’s benchmark interbank rate. But Banco Master lacked the assets required to sustain those payments. Prosecutors allege that money was diverted to shell accounts while the bank struggled to recover funds from risky loans. Brazil’s Central Bank liquidated the lender in 2025 after it faced a major funding squeeze. Its owner, Daniel…

American Airlines is introducing a cash-and-miles option for ticket bookings, allowing AAdvantage members to combine programme miles with money at checkout. The feature, due to be rolled out in the coming days, will use a slider bar so customers can choose how many miles to apply. Using more miles will result in a larger reduction in the cash price. The option is intended for passengers who do not have enough miles to pay for an entire ticket but want to reduce the amount they spend. American is following rivals including United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, which already allow customers…

Josh Hartnett has revealed that severe food poisoning left him unable to walk for 10 days while he was filming Verity. The actor said repeated vomiting and dehydration caused intense muscle cramps, making work on the film particularly difficult. His co-star Anne Hathaway recalled the illness during the film’s press tour, describing it as “so much worse” than projectile vomiting. Hartnett said he needed to be looked after whenever he was not filming. If he was not required for a scene, he was reportedly lying flat on his back while recovering. The illness came as Hartnett was promoting Verity, and…

Democrat James Talarico has taken a narrow lead over Republican Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate race, according to a new Fox News poll, with the contest effectively tied within the survey’s margin of error. Among likely voters, 51% said they would back Mr Talarico and 49% supported Mr Paxton. The poll’s margin of error was three percentage points. Texas Senate race remains finely balanced Mr Talarico also held a stronger personal rating than his Republican opponent. The Democratic nominee was viewed favourably by 52% of voters and unfavourably by 44%, giving him a net rating of plus eight. Mr…