Author: DispatchTimes News Desk

Taxpayer-funded pro-Trump advertisements costing more than $1.4 million have drawn growing criticism from legal experts and members of the president’s own Republican party, who question whether the campaign breaches federal spending laws. The White House has defended the three television and streaming adverts as public service announcements, while refusing to say which part of the US government is paying for them. The campaign is nearing at least $1.5 million in public spending, according to estimates cited in the material. John Thune, the Republican Senate majority leader, said the adverts should not have been funded by taxpayers. “It shouldn’t be paid…

Ms. Pat has criticised Judge Judy after the television personality said unhappy Americans should “go somewhere else”, calling the remark insensitive and rooted in wealth and privilege. Speaking in New York City on Monday, Ms. Pat said Judge Judy was out of touch with the difficulties faced by many Americans, particularly minorities. Judge Judy had argued that America was “the greatest country in the world” and told those who did not like it to leave. Ms. Pat said such a view was easier to express from a position of wealth and security. She accused Judge Judy of failing to understand…

A Dolton police officer has been placed on leave after footage of a confrontation with a man outside his home in neighbouring Calumet City was widely shared online, prompting an investigation into a subsequent shooting. The videos, recorded by doorbell cameras and a mobile phone, appear to show officer Terry Young following Shaun Brown to his property on Saturday after a traffic-related encounter. Brown says the police vehicle’s emergency lights were not activated during the pursuit. Brown alleges that Young slapped him during the confrontation and that he told the officer he was being recorded before ordering him to leave…

Gay Bernadette Branchi, the 88-year-old wife of former Automotive Holdings Group chairman Robert Branchi, has been arrested and charged with attempted murder over allegations that she tried to kill her husband. The couple live together at The Queenslea aged-care home in Claremont, where Ms Branchi was taken into custody late on Thursday. Mr Branchi’s wife is accused of attempting to kill him at the care home. The allegation has not been tested in court.

Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson are to meet leading AI executives at the White House on Tuesday, as lawmakers weigh how to regulate rapidly advancing technology without undermining US innovation. Those expected to attend include Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei, OpenAI president Greg Brockman, Google chief executive Sundar Pichai and Palantir chief executive Alex Karp. Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang are also expected to be there. Mr Johnson said the discussion would focus on finding the “right balance” between regulation and innovation. “Instead of just smothering this with red tape, which is…

Kai Schreiber towered over her mother Naomi Watts as the pair attended the Gucci Store Show during Milan Fashion Week’s Womenswear Spring/Summer 2027 event. The 17-year-old model posed beside the Oscar-winning actress at Allianz MiCo in Milan, with their height difference particularly noticeable. Watts is 5ft 5in, while Schreiber stands at 5ft 11in. Watts wore a bright fuchsia suit with black pointed heels, while her daughter chose a sleeveless white mini dress, silver heels and heavy eye make-up. Schreiber completed the look with a bone-coloured Gucci purse. The actress has regularly supported her daughter at modelling events, and was also…

Glen Powell said he did not see Donald Trump at the University of Texas game, despite the president being in the stands for the Longhorns’ 20-17 victory over Tennessee. The actor was still celebrating Texas’s away win when he was seen leaving Los Angeles International Airport with his girlfriend, Michelle Randolph, on Monday. Powell said he was unaware that Trump was at Neyland Stadium and did not see the president appear on the stadium’s giant screen, where he received a mixed reaction from spectators. Instead, the actor’s attention was on the match and the top-ranked Longhorns, whom he watched from…

A federal jury has ordered the former owner of a Super 8 hotel in College Park, Georgia, to pay $164 million to a woman who said she was trafficked there as a teenager. Lincoln Bancorp LLC was found liable for $44 million in compensatory damages and $120 million in punitive damages after a three-day trial in the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The plaintiff, identified in court documents by the initials J.R. to protect her privacy, was 15 when traffickers began taking her to the hotel on Old National Highway in 2020. Evidence presented at trial…

Goodman Group has abandoned plans for an $800 million hyperscale data centre on Sydney’s north shore after strong opposition from local residents and concerns from utilities about the pressure it could place on existing infrastructure. The proposed 28-metre Project Mars facility in Lane Cove West would have operated around the clock, with an 81-megawatt capacity. Its construction would have involved demolishing and excavating four warehouses. In a letter to the New South Wales government, Goodman’s head of planning, Guy Smith, said the company was withdrawing the application after considering changes to policy and feedback received during the planning process. “During…

A 14-year-old volleyball player has been identified as one of three people killed in a three-vehicle crash in regional Victoria. Tenesha Fieldsend was travelling home from a bronze medal-winning competition when the Mitsubishi Triton she was in crashed on the Western Highway near Ledcourt, about 200km north-west of Melbourne, on Sunday. Police said the vehicle was being driven by Tenesha’s 17-year-old brother, who was a learner driver. The Triton struck the side of a truck before colliding with another car. Tenesha suffered critical injuries and later died in hospital. Two people in the third vehicle were also killed. The Latrobe…