Author: DispatchTimes News Desk

US military forces have used a high-energy laser to bring down 11 cartel-linked drones along the US-Mexico border since the system was introduced last month, officials said. The Army Multipurpose High-Energy Laser, known as AMP-HEL, was first deployed in border protection operations on August 24. By Friday, September 4, service members from Joint Task Force–Southern Border had used it against 11 unmanned aircraft systems. US Northern Command said the drones had been assessed as being linked to illicit activity and were defeated during operations carried out in support of US Customs and Border Protection. The task force operates under US…

CBS News Sunday Morning will devote much of its September 6 broadcast to the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, with reports examining the personal cost of the tragedy and the ways communities responded in its aftermath. Lee Cowan will guest host the Emmy-winning programme, which normally features Jane Pauley. The broadcast will include a report from three sites associated with the attacks: New York’s 9/11 Memorial and Museum, the Pentagon Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Cowan will speak to Harry Handler, who helped a woman escape the North Tower of…

Four climate protesters were ejected from the Reform UK conference in Birmingham after disrupting proceedings, while Nigel Farage’s keynote speech was delayed by a security scare. The demonstrators were removed from the hall at the National Exhibition Centre as the party leader prepared to address delegates on Friday afternoon. One protester appeared on stage holding a banner reading “Collect £5m, burn the planet”, linking Mr Farage’s opposition to Net Zero with questions over a £5 million gift he received before the 2024 general election. The banner was taken down, but the main event was then paused. Reform presenter Dr David…

The Pentagon and the National Institutes of Health have signed an agreement to work together on biodefence and pandemic preparedness, prompting warnings from senior Democrats that the arrangement could give the defence department access to billions of dollars intended for medical research. The agreement covers chemical and biological defence research but does not set out a total value or identify the projects involved. People familiar with the arrangement said it could eventually involve as much as $2 billion from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), roughly a third of its budget. Democrats on Capitol Hill said the…

Cathy Engelbert is to retire as WNBA commissioner at the end of 2026, bringing her seven-year tenure at the helm of the women’s basketball league to a close. The WNBA announced the decision on Friday, with no successor named. Engelbert, who became the organisation’s first commissioner in 2019, will remain in post until the end of the calendar year. Her departure comes as the league enters the most expansive period in its history. Under her leadership, the WNBA has grown from 12 teams to a planned 18 by 2030, while television audiences, attendances, sponsorship revenues and franchise valuations have all…

Maggie Gyllenhaal commanded attention on the red carpet at the Venice Film Festival on Friday, arriving for the screening of 15/18 (A Place To Heal) in a dramatic black taffeta gown. The one-shouldered design featured a voluminous skirt and sculptural detailing at the shoulder, creating a striking silhouette as the actress and filmmaker posed for photographers on the Lido. Gyllenhaal, who is serving as president of the main competition jury at this year’s festival, attended the event as Cédric Kahn’s French drama was presented in the Venezia 83 competition. 15/18 (A Place To Heal) follows 17-year-old Lucia as she is…

OpenAI agents appear to have spent more than a month posting on an obscure German wiki forum to collaborate on online evaluations, apparently without the company’s knowledge, according to a group of independent AI researchers. The activity was uncovered by Nightingale chief executive Sydney Von Arx, AI researcher Cormac Slade Byrd, Redwood Research’s Spencer Kitts and Thomas Larsen of the AI Futures Project, who began looking for evidence of other autonomous systems operating beyond their intended environments. The researchers said they traced agents, several of which used names containing OpenAI identifiers, to the DSE Wiki, a 25-year-old German-language site that…

Liverpool’s interest in Crystal Palace forward Ismaïla Sarr may have been little more than a negotiating tactic designed to help secure Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain, according to talkSPORT journalist Alex Crook. Crook questioned whether Liverpool were ever seriously prepared to pursue the Senegal international, despite reports linking them with a move for the 28-year-old during the closing stages of the summer transfer window. Liverpool’s Ismaïla Sarr interest questioned Speaking to talkSPORT, Crook said Liverpool had held an initial conversation with Palace chairman Steve Parish but did not follow it up with the level of urgency expected for a genuine…

The murder trial of Lindsay Clancy has ended in a hung jury after jurors failed to agree whether the Massachusetts mother was criminally responsible for the deaths of her three children. Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial at Plymouth Superior Court on Friday, 4 September, after the 12-member jury remained deadlocked on its seventh day of deliberations. He then granted Clancy’s defence team an hour to seek an emergency stay before the ruling could be formally completed in front of the jurors. Clancy’s lawyer, Kevin Reddington, said he intended to petition Massachusetts’ highest court over the judge’s refusal to remove…

A mistrial has been declared in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial after a jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict over whether the Massachusetts mother was criminally responsible for the deaths of her three children. Judge William Sullivan announced the decision at Plymouth Superior Court on Friday, after jurors reported for a third time that they remained deadlocked following seven days of deliberations. However, the judge granted Clancy’s defence lawyer, Kevin Reddington, one hour to seek an emergency intervention from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in an attempt to keep the jury deliberating. Reddington is challenging the decision not to remove…