Author: DispatchTimes News Desk

Australian influencer Matilda Baxter has drawn fresh concern after posting a video showing her partner apparently able to wrap both hands around her dramatically narrowed waist following controversial “Barbie waist” surgery. The 23-year-old, who is based in Adelaide and is known online as Tilds Search, appeared in a black compression corset and bright orange cut-out dress in the Instagram clip. “Guys, waist is non-existent. I am a Barbie Doll,” Baxter said as her partner placed his hands around her middle. The procedure, known as rib contouring or rib remodelling, involves weakening and fracturing the lower ribs before repositioning them inwards…

A Fort Bend County woman lost $50,000 after fraudsters posing as sheriff’s deputies convinced her she had missed federal jury duty and was facing arrest. The school worker, who has not been named, received a call that appeared to come from the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office. The caller knew personal details including her address, date of birth and Social Security number, and warned that a warrant had been issued for her arrest. She was told to find somewhere private and remain on the phone while the supposed investigation took place. The scammers then sent messages containing fake arrest warrants,…

Australian shares fell sharply on Friday as crude prices climbed to their highest level since May, with the continuing war between the United States and Iran raising fresh concerns about global energy supplies and inflation. The S&P/ASX 200 dropped 91.1 points, or 1 per cent, to 8,728.3 in early trading, after losing a similar amount on Thursday. The Australian dollar slipped to US71.56 cents. The falls followed another weak session on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 declined for a fourth consecutive day. The index fell 0.6 per cent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 316 points and the…

Republican congressman Rob Bresnahan is campaigning on a bill to give Pennsylvania communities greater control over data centre developments while holding investments in companies that stand to benefit from the industry’s expansion. The issue is central to a new television advert running in the Scranton and Wilkes-Barre area, where Bresnahan is seeking re-election. In the advert, he presents himself as a defender of local decision-making against large technology companies seeking to build facilities in north-eastern Pennsylvania. “Northeastern Pennsylvania is our land and our home, but to big data, we’re just land and dollar signs,” Bresnahan says in the advert. He…

A 47-year-old father has been jailed for six months after threatening to behead his son’s teacher in the French village of Le Fauga, near Toulouse. Abdelkalder B. made the threat on 4 September after his son was punished at the Clément Ader school. The Toulouse Criminal Court heard that he told the teacher he would “cut off the head” of her. The teacher, who has not been named, was reportedly confronted in the school car park. She was left deeply distressed and has been signed off work following the incident. The case was heard in an immediate trial on Thursday…

Dolly Parton’s first posthumous song has been released, with her distinctive voice appearing on a new version of the traditional bluegrass number Bound to Ride. Recorded with the First Ladies of Bluegrass, the track was issued on Wednesday, two weeks after the country music legend died aged 80. Parton recorded her vocal alone in her own studio during the Covid-19 pandemic, while the musicians laid down the instrumental backing separately. The song was later completed for Where the Soul Never Dies: Celebrating 80 Years of the Stanley Brothers, due to be released on 16 October. The album, produced by Alison…

Residents were allowed to return home after a commercial fire in Jarrell, Texas, spread into nearby vegetation and prompted evacuations on Thursday. Several agencies responded to the blaze in the 300 block of Alsace Avenue, according to the Jarrell Police Department. The fire was later brought under control, although its cause remained unknown. Jarrell fire prompts evacuation and road closure Williamson County Emergency Services asked people living nearby to leave the area at about 3pm and follow directions from emergency crews. As flames spread from the commercial structure into surrounding vegetation, helicopters were brought in to help firefighters tackle the…

John Howard has recalled the moment the September 11 attacks unfolded in Washington, saying the shock of seeing the United States under threat changed the course of his prime ministership and left the world “never the same” again. The former Australian prime minister was in the US for talks with President George W Bush when hijacked passenger aircraft struck New York’s World Trade Centre and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Howard had met Bush the previous day, during a three-hour discussion in which terrorism was mentioned only in general terms. By the following morning, it had become the defining…

A former Anthropic researcher has warned that increasingly powerful artificial intelligence could one day threaten humanity, while insisting that current AI systems remain safe for everyday use. Jacob Coxon resigned from the company on Tuesday, accusing Anthropic and rival developer OpenAI of “gambling with our lives” by competing to build ever more advanced models. Speaking to CBS News, Mr Coxon said the prospect of highly capable AI was not far removed from the scenarios depicted in science-fiction films. “If you have a super advanced intelligence, it could, it will be smart enough to kill us,” he said. He said the…

A Republican convention in Dallas was interrupted by a voice from the crowd calling for three prominent Democrats to be shot as Senator Ted Cruz attacked them during a speech on Thursday. The outburst came as the Texas Republican criticised New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and Texas Senate candidate James Talarico at the Republican midterm convention in the American Airlines Centre. Cruz said Mamdani “means it” when he talks about seizing the means of production. A member of the audience then shouted: “He should be shot.” The same words were heard after Cruz accused Mr…