Author: DispatchTimes News Desk

California voters have rejected a proposed billionaire tax that would have imposed a one-off levy of 5% on most of the wealth of the state’s richest residents. Supporters of Proposition 40 said the measure could have raised $100 billion for healthcare, arguing that wealthy Californians should help fill a funding gap after healthcare programmes were cut by the Republican-controlled Congress. The campaign was led by SEIU-UHW, a union representing healthcare workers. California is estimated to have more than 200 billionaires, although some estimates put the figure at several hundred. Opponents said the California billionaire tax would encourage wealthy residents to…

Australia is to introduce mandatory reporting of artificial intelligence breaches and establish a regulator after an OpenAI agent breached a government website. The measures will tighten oversight of AI systems in response to the incident involving the OpenAI agent. No further details of the breach or the proposed regulator were provided.

Olivia Cooke has criticised the “ugliness” of the House of the Dragon fandom, saying it is marked by misogyny, racism and fan theories that can bear little resemblance to what appears on screen. Cooke, 32, plays Queen Alicent Hightower in HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel. She spoke about the reaction to the series after deleting her Instagram account before its third season premiered in June. “There’s a lot of ugliness to that fandom as well,” she said. “It’s steeped in misogyny. There’s a lot of racism. I try to let it take up minimal mental real estate.” The actress also…

An elderly couple in Cypress, Texas, have spent three weeks in a hotel while waiting for their furniture to arrive from Florida, as the wife undergoes treatment for stage 4 small cell lung cancer. The couple’s daughter, Amanda McClendon, said she paid Petrolino Moves $4,000 to transport her parents’ belongings from Tallahassee to their rented home in Cypress. She said the family had been told to expect delivery on October 23, but that date passed without the furniture arriving. Her parents have instead been paying for hotel accommodation since October 19. “At the beginning of the year, my mom was…

Actor Charlotte MacInnes faces the prospect of bankruptcy as Rebel Wilson seeks more than $1 million in legal costs after winning a defamation case against her, the Federal Court of Australia has heard. Ms MacInnes, 28, is appealing the judgment and is asking for any assessment of the costs to be delayed until that challenge has been decided. The appeal is expected to be heard by a full bench of the Federal Court in early 2027. Her barrister, Sue Chrysanthou SC, told Justice Wendy Abraham that Ms MacInnes had been unable to find work since the case concluded and was…

Harare home demolitions have left families homeless and intensified a dispute over whether residents were wrongfully evicted from land allocated through municipal processes. In St Martins Extension, Methro Masunga, a single mother of three, said bulldozers and municipal police arrived at about 5am on August 14 and began destroying homes. She had spent years saving from part-time cleaning work to buy a residential stand and build a house. “I thought they were here for some other business, probably land development or road grading; alas, they had been sent to destroy our homes. We tried to understand, but no one would…

The Voice season 30 Top 13 has been confirmed, with America saving Kyle Davis after he was eliminated during Cut Week. The 61-year-old Team Kelly singer is now the oldest contestant in the show’s history. The result was announced during the November 9 episode, completing the line-up for the live rounds. Davis will perform in the live episode on November 16. The Voice season 30 Top 13 Adam Levine selected Lexi Stephens, Connor Closs and Dakota Cohen for his team. Stephens and Closs were chosen to advance immediately, while Cohen progressed after her Cut Week performance. Kelly Clarkson’s team includes…

A 20-year-old motorcyclist has died after a collision with an SUV near Collin College’s Spring Creek Campus in Plano, Texas. Dameon Nyoni, a Plano resident, was riding north along Jupiter Road when the crash happened at about 2.40pm on Monday, November 9, according to Plano Police Department. Investigators said a Chevrolet Trax was turning south on to Jupiter Road from Sewell Drive, near the college’s southern entrance, when it was struck by the motorcycle. Plano Police and Plano Fire-Rescue attended the scene near the junction with East Spring Creek Parkway. Emergency crews carried out life-saving treatment, but Mr Nyoni was…

Beaconsfield mine survivor Todd Russell has died after more than a year of cancer treatment, prompting an emotional tribute from Brant Webb, the man who spent two weeks trapped underground with him. Russell, 54, died at home on Monday night surrounded by friends and family. Webb said his former mining partner had fought as hard as he could against the illness. “He really did try his hardest to beat this one …. unfortunately, it got him in the end,” Webb said. The pair were among 17 workers at the Beaconsfield gold mine in Tasmania when a small earthquake caused a…

California voters have rejected a proposed billionaire wealth tax, in a result projected after a campaign that divided Democratic allies and attracted unprecedented spending for a tax measure in the state. Proposition 40 would have imposed a one-off 5% levy on California residents with a net worth of at least $1 billion. Real estate and certain retirement assets would have been excluded. Supporters said the measure could raise $100 billion over five years, with 90% allocated to healthcare and the remainder divided between education, food assistance and administering the tax. California billionaire wealth tax divides Democrats The proposal was presented…