Author: DispatchTimes News Desk

Niger’s failed mutiny has exposed President Abdourahamane Tchiani’s growing reliance on Russia to protect his government, after Russian personnel and equipment helped loyalist forces retake a key airbase in Niamey. Soldiers from the self-styled Armed Forces for the Restoration of the Homeland launched a coordinated assault on 29 August, targeting Air Base 101 at Niamey’s international airport, the presidential palace and the national broadcaster. A statement circulated during the fighting falsely claimed that Tchiani had been removed. Presidential guard units held the palace through the night, while about 200 Russian Africa Corps personnel, supported by drones and reportedly reinforced from…

Hallmark star Evan Roderick has married Dion Karas in a three-day wedding celebration in Loutraki, Greece, six months after referring to her as his wife. The 31-year-old actor and Karas exchanged vows on 22 August in the Greek city where she spent her summers growing up. The ceremony was held at her family’s hometown church, followed by a reception at the family home. Karas said Loutraki had become “a very special place for both of us” and felt like the right setting for their friends and family. Roderick was baptised Greek Orthodox last year and has since regarded Greece as…

A 21-year-old man from Horicon was killed after his vehicle left the road and crashed into a utility pole in Washington County, Wisconsin, early on Saturday, 12 September. Emergency crews were called to the area near Fork Road and County Highway S in the Town of Addison at about 4.20am, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said. Deputies determined that speed was a factor in the crash. An initial investigation found that the vehicle had been travelling east on County Highway S before leaving the road and moving on to the south shoulder. The vehicle then returned to the carriageway, crossed…

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has described Indigenous Australians as “the most primitive race” in a podcast interview recorded last year. During the interview, Hanson questioned the emphasis placed on Aboriginal culture and language, saying: “We’re actually all leaning towards this … teaching about Aboriginal culture and language – for what?” She then asked: “What the hell have they done in this country for … supposedly 60,000 years?” “They’d never invented the wheel. There was nothing here. What are we actually holding up? A few, you know, rock paintings,” she said. Hanson added: “Sorry, they’re the most primitive race on…

An experienced motorcyclist who died after crashing on the Western Highway in Victoria has been identified as Ballarat rider Peter ‘Tiki’ Mason. The 71-year-old artist was riding near Trawalla Road in Trawalla, west of Melbourne, shortly before 12.50pm on Sunday when he reportedly struck a pothole and lost control of his motorcycle. He died at the scene. Police said the precise circumstances of the crash had yet to be established and would be investigated. However, friends and local riders have blamed the condition of the road, sharing photographs of potholes across Victoria’s highways. Dave Turner, a close friend, paid tribute…

The new season of 60 Minutes opened on Sunday with a familiar blend of conflict, accountability journalism and sport, despite sweeping changes to the programme’s leadership and correspondent line-up under CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. Ross Douthat joined the cast in place of Scott Pelley, while the programme adopted more polished visual production. Its redesigned stopwatch and sleek screens replaced the traditional “book” graphics that had appeared behind correspondents. But the content remained recognisable to long-standing viewers. Norah O’Donnell interviewed an Air Force colonel who described being rescued after he was shot down over Iran, while Lesley Stahl investigated intermediaries…

Sydney Sweeney’s dating history has come under renewed scrutiny following the end of her long-term relationship with Jonathan Davino and her reported romance with Scooter Braun. The 29-year-old Euphoria actress spent much of her twenties with Davino, to whom she was engaged for several years before the couple split in 2025. Sweeney has since been linked with Braun, and their relationship has reportedly become more serious over the past year. Only a small number of Sweeney’s relationships have been publicly confirmed, while several other romances have remained the subject of speculation. Among them was speculation involving her Anyone But You…

A 40-year-old woman in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, has died from complications associated with measles, local authorities said, bringing the state’s reported total for measles-related deaths this year to three. Jefferson County coroner Greg Furlong said the woman died on Saturday 12 September. Her identity has not been released, and officials have not confirmed her vaccination status. Furlong described the death as measles-related and said no further information about the case would be made public. Jefferson County is a rural area about 80 miles north-east of Pittsburgh. The two previous deaths reported in Pennsylvania this year involved infants who were too…

Former Strathfield mayor Matthew Blackmore has told a corruption inquiry that a handshake agreement over the council’s leadership was followed by a breakdown in relations with fellow Labor councillors Sharangan Maheswaran and Karen Pensabene. Giving evidence to the Independent Commission Against Corruption, Blackmore said the trio had agreed he would serve as mayor for the first year of the council term before a Labor councillor, most likely Pensabene, took over for the remainder. Blackmore ultimately did not honour the arrangement. When counsel assisting, Hugo Wilesmith, asked whether he had intended to keep the agreement, Blackmore replied: “No.” He agreed that…

The brother of Hayden Panettiere’s former boyfriend Brian Hickerson has spoken out after being arrested for disorderly conduct following a disturbance at a restaurant in Greenville, South Carolina. Zach Hickerson said tensions had risen because of “misconceptions” and rumours surrounding the actress’s death, after an eyewitness alleged that the brothers had been heckled by other diners. “This is the problem with y’all putting stuff on the Internet: People fill in their own holes and then they want to attack people for no reason,” Zach said after being released from custody. He added: “It’s just super-frustrating all that we’ve been through…