Author: DispatchTimes News Desk

Two senior Reform UK aides have stepped down pending an internal investigation after an undercover report alleged that the party discussed ways of handling foreign donations in breach of electoral law. James Orr, the party’s former head of policy, and Dan Jukes, regarded as one of Nigel Farage’s closest advisers, left their roles after Channel 4 broadcast the investigation on Thursday evening. Reform said the inquiry would be conducted independently and without prejudice. “No further comment will be made while the investigation is ongoing,” a party spokesperson said. The programme, produced by an undercover team from Verbatim, followed a journalist…

Trail-camera footage from the National Trust’s Holnicote Estate on Exmoor appears to show two wild beavers forming a bond which conservationists hope could lead to a new family. The pair have been filmed together in the Somerset landscape, prompting speculation that they may eventually breed and help establish a growing wild population in the area. The animals were released as part of a licensed National Trust project in February 2026, when a family group and a separate pair of Eurasian beavers were introduced at sites across the estate. It followed the charity’s success in keeping beavers in enclosed areas at…

OpenAI altered several benchmark figures for its GPT-6 Astra model after publishing its launch announcement, with some revisions making Astra appear stronger and temporarily reducing the reported scores of rival Anthropic models. The changes emerged during an unusually delayed release on Thursday, September 3. OpenAI had intended to publish the announcement at 2pm Eastern Time, but the page was withdrawn and did not become consistently accessible until almost two hours later. The company’s X account shared the post at 3.32pm, although many users received an error message. OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman later wrote that the company had “hit a…

Taraji P. Henson has shared a series of bikini photographs and a video from a recent girls’ getaway to Nobu Hotel Los Cabos in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The 55-year-old actress posted the images and reel to her Instagram Stories, offering followers glimpses of the sun-soaked break with friends at the luxury resort. Henson also documented the group’s visit to MUNA, the hotel’s Mediterranean-inspired restaurant, during its annual Culinary Month. She praised chef Diego Sobrino after enjoying a special meal with her companions. “I had the absolute pleasure of visiting @nobuloscabos with my girls during their annual Culinary Month,” Henson…

The family of Dale Henry Spry, one of two residents killed in a Minneapolis apartment shooting, has remembered the 63-year-old Army veteran as a peacekeeper, prankster and devoted uncle. Spry and Muse A. Afrah, 61, were found shot dead on the ninth floor of Shoreline Plaza, in downtown Minneapolis, after Carlton Johnson II allegedly opened fire at the building on Wednesday, September 2. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said the violence began shortly after 4.30pm during a custody exchange involving Johnson and the mother of his child. The child was not physically injured, while the woman was taken to…

A Brisbane extension designed around a swimming pool has been named Australia’s House of the Year, after transforming a modest 1920s cottage into a light-filled family home without sacrificing its garden. Half Light House, in Clayfield, northern Brisbane, was created by architect John Ellway for Annie and Jim, who bought the timber house in 2008. The project also won the House Alteration and Addition Over 200 Square Metres category at the 2026 Houses Awards. The couple commissioned the work after their family grew to include three young children. They wanted an undercover pool, but were determined not to use up…

Polygraph tests were administered to several dozen senior US military officials during an unusually broad Pentagon investigation into leaks about the country’s dwindling stocks of advanced weapons, according to officials briefed on the inquiry. The examinations, carried out earlier this summer, included officials from US Central Command and other combatant commands. The questioning covered sensitive national security matters, including whether those tested had disclosed information to journalists. Two officials said nobody failed the questions specifically intended to establish whether they had leaked information to the media. The tests were conducted by military investigators and did not involve the FBI, according…

Holidays can expose cracks in a relationship that are easier to ignore at home, according to writer and broadcaster Kat Farmer, who has reflected on the pressure a shared break can place on an unhappy couple. Farmer, who was married for 20 years before separating from her husband, said a holiday can intensify existing tensions by removing the distractions and routines of everyday life. “If you weren’t in a great place back at home, a holiday is like a magnifying glass on your marital problems, because you’ve packed up all those issues and squeezed them into a one-bedroom villa,” she…

Former Kentucky governor Matt Bevin has been arrested on a movie set and ordered to serve 60 days in jail after repeatedly failing to comply with court orders in a child support dispute involving his adopted son. Mr Bevin, 59, was taken into custody by Bourbon County sheriff’s deputies on Thursday after they received a report that he was participating in filming in Paris, Kentucky. Sheriff Tony Asbury said deputies confirmed an active warrant before arresting him without incident. He was initially taken to the Bourbon-Nicholas County Regional Detention Centre before being booked into Louisville Metro Corrections. Mr Asbury said…

Britain is to cut the discount rate used to assess long-term public infrastructure projects from 3.5% to 3%, in a move the Treasury says will encourage investment across the country. The change forms part of reforms to the Treasury’s Green Book, which guides government departments when they compare the costs and benefits of proposed capital projects and other public spending decisions. A lower discount rate increases the weight given to benefits expected to emerge years or decades after a project is completed. That could improve the prospects of transport, housing and social infrastructure schemes whose wider economic impact may take…