Author: DispatchTimes News Desk

San Francisco marked the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks with ceremonies honouring first responders, veterans and those whose lives were changed by the events of September 11, 2001. The city paused on Friday, September 11, as communities gathered to remember the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks and recognise the firefighters, police officers, paramedics, military personnel and other volunteers who responded in the aftermath. One commemoration was held at the Presidio’s Main Post, where the Heart and Armor Foundation for Veterans Health led a gathering featuring music, remembrance and community service. Veterans also invited participants to write messages…

Athletics has launched a radically shortened, invitation-only competition in Budapest, with the World Athletics Ultimate Championship designed to bring the sport’s biggest names and most marketable moments to television and digital audiences. The event, which began on Friday, is intended to fill the years between the World Championships. Rather than following the traditional nine-day format, it will run across three evening sessions of three hours each. The programme has been reduced to 28 finals, with no heats and fewer rounds. Field events, along with the 800 metres, 1500 metres and 5000 metres, will be staged as straight finals, while the…

Rudy Giuliani said he told New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani that he “pray[s] for you all the time” when the two men shook hands at a 9/11 remembrance ceremony in Manhattan. The brief exchange at the Ground Zero memorial came despite an increasingly bitter public dispute between the former mayor and his successor, who attended the ceremony on Friday morning. Giuliani, 82, said the pair faced one another and exchanged a few words before Mamdani moved on to greet other attendees. According to Giuliani, the mayor replied: “Thank you.” “We realized that if either one of us turned our backs…

Australia’s Optus has apologised for an outage that disrupted emergency calls, prompting concern over access to vital services. The telecommunications company acknowledged the disruption but no further details were provided.

People gathered at the Victory Steps in Buckeye, Arizona, on Friday to honour first responders and remember those killed in the September 11 attacks, 25 years after the tragedy. The Patriot Day memorial climb was held at Victory Steps at Verrado, where participants paid tribute to the emergency workers who responded to the attacks on September 11, 2001. The City of Buckeye said the event ran from 5.30am to 10.30am and included a memorial climb followed by a pancake breakfast at Center on Main. The gathering formed part of wider commemorations across the Phoenix area marking the anniversary, with residents…

Zak Butters has nominated the Western Bulldogs as his preferred destination for the 2027 AFL season, turning down interest from Geelong and Richmond. The departing Port Adelaide midfielder is a restricted free agent, meaning his current club can match the Bulldogs’ offer and force a trade to be negotiated between the two sides. The proposed Western Bulldogs deal has been reported as the biggest in AFL history, worth between $1.8 million and $2 million a season over nine years. Butters, 26, is understood to have celebrated the decision with friends at recently retired Bulldogs champion Tom Liberatore’s pub in Seddon,…

An aircraft fuselage fell from a truck trailer and came to rest in the median of US Highway 151 in Dodge County, Wisconsin, on Friday afternoon. Deputies from the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office were called to the road near Oakwood Road, in the Town of Trenton, at about 4.21pm after reports of the obstruction. The fuselage was being transported by lorry and trailer when the straps holding it in place failed. It then slid from the trailer and stopped in the central reservation. Although the incident may have looked like a plane crash, officials said the aircraft was neither flying…

An 18-year-old man has been charged with murder after police allegedly linked him to a fatal mistaken-identity shooting in Sydney’s west through a seized drone. Emergency services were called to a house in Bruce Street, Merrylands West, at about 3.15pm on Wednesday, September 2, after reports of gunfire. Officers found 40-year-old Joshua Macdonald suffering from a gunshot wound. He was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics but died at the scene. Following an investigation, Raptor Squad officers, assisted by Taskforce Falcon and homicide detectives, arrested the teenager in West Hoxton at about 5.30am on Friday. A 19-year-old man who was allegedly…

Rapper Lil Durk has been acquitted of all charges in a Los Angeles federal trial over an alleged murder-for-hire plot targeting fellow rapper Quando Rondo. Durk, whose real name is Durk Devontay Banks, had faced charges including murder, stalking and conspiracy. A jury returned its verdict on Friday. Prosecutors alleged that Durk targeted Rondo, whose real name is Tyquian Bowman, in retaliation for the killing of Chicago rapper King Von. Rondo was the intended target of a 2022 shooting near the Beverly Center in Los Angeles. He was not hit, but his cousin, 24-year-old Saviay’a Robinson, was killed. Authorities alleged…

Pauline Hanson has taken aim at Anthony Albanese’s background, highlighting that the Australian prime minister grew up in social housing in Sydney’s inner west. Mr Albanese was raised by his mother, Maryanne, who lived on a disability pension. Hanson’s comments have focused on the circumstances of the prime minister’s upbringing and his family’s time in public housing.