Author: DispatchTimes News Desk

Lionel Messi has reached an agreement in principle to buy Spanish second-tier club CD Eldense, paving the way for the Argentina and Inter Miami forward to become the owner of a second Spanish team. The proposed deal would see Messi acquire the shares currently held by Colombian investment group TH Soluciones, making him Eldense’s majority shareholder. Financial details have not been disclosed. Eldense said the transaction remained subject to the completion of legal and contractual procedures, including due diligence and approval from Spain’s High Council for Sport. The agreement was also confirmed by the town hall in Elda, where the…

Oil prices have surged above $100 a barrel after fresh attacks between the United States and Iran raised fears of further disruption to energy supplies across the Middle East. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose by almost 3 per cent to $100.72 a barrel on Wednesday, while US West Texas Intermediate gained 2.4 per cent to about $95.25. The jump came as financial markets reacted to a new escalation in the conflict. The US military said it had destroyed five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday after Iranian forces attempted to strike an American warship with ballistic missiles. Iran subsequently launched…

The Apple Store has gone offline ahead of the company’s “Surprise and Shine” event, fuelling speculation that new products are about to be added to the online shop. Visitors to Apple’s website were met with a message stating: “Be right back. We’re making updates to the Apple Store. Check back soon.” The disruption was reported on Wednesday, 9 September, several hours before the launch presentation is due to begin. The outage is a familiar pre-launch ritual for Apple and does not confirm which products will be announced. However, it has intensified anticipation among customers waiting for the company’s next generation…

Germany’s first tender for 4.5 gigawatts of new gas-fired power capacity has attracted more bids than the available volume, in a sign of strong industry interest in the government’s plan to reinforce electricity supplies. The Federal Network Agency said the successful bidders are expected to be announced by 3 November. The auction closed on 8 September as part of a wider programme to procure new dispatchable capacity for Europe’s largest economy. Successful projects will be required to keep the capacity available for 15 years in return for annual payments. The scheme is intended to provide electricity during prolonged periods when…

Dolly Parton kept her cancer diagnosis from much of her extended family because she did not want her fans or loved ones to worry, her sister Stella has revealed. Speaking to Gayle King on CBS Mornings, Stella Parton, 77, said the country music icon had deliberately chosen to keep her illness private before her death in Nashville on August 25, aged 80. “Dolly could not bear negative things,” Stella said. “And she would not have wanted her fans worried about it.” She added that Dolly “did not want people sad” and that only some members of the family were aware…

An Anthropic researcher has resigned over fears that the race to develop self-improving artificial intelligence could eventually put humanity’s survival at risk. Jacob Coxon, who said he spent the past three years working on pre-training research at OpenAI and Anthropic, accused both companies of pursuing increasingly capable systems without adequate safeguards. “They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives,” Mr Coxon wrote in a post on X. He said people working on the technology “earnestly believe it could kill us all by the end of the decade”, arguing that the risks were being recognised privately even…

Two children are in critical condition and an adult has suffered serious injuries after a crash on the I-35 service road at Woodward Street in South Austin. The children were taken to Dell Children’s Medical Centre, while the adult was transported to St David’s South Austin with injuries described as serious but not life-threatening, according to Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services. Austin police said the collision was reported at about 8am on Wednesday, September 9, and prompted the deployment of STARFlight, the area’s emergency medical helicopter service. The crash caused widespread closures around the junction. The southbound I-35 service road…

US stocks opened lower on Wednesday as intensifying tensions between the United States and Iran sent Brent crude above 100 US dollars a barrel and unsettled investors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 407 points, or 0.8%, shortly after the opening bell, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.4%. Oil prices moved sharply higher after Iran said it had fired ballistic missiles at a US base in Jordan, while reports of attacks on vessels heightened concerns over supplies from the region. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 2.8% to 100.62 US dollars a barrel, marking…

Lindsay Clancy’s lawyer has urged Donald Trump to intervene in the Massachusetts case after her murder trial ended in a mistrial, saying presidential involvement could help bring the “tragic case” to a resolution. Kevin Reddington said he would ask a court to dismiss the charges against Clancy at a hearing on September 29, arguing that a retrial should be barred on double-jeopardy grounds. The trial ended on September 4 after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict following more than seven days of deliberations. Clancy remains accused of killing her three children — five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson and eight-month-old Callan…

The family of businessman Rami Naimi has spoken publicly for the first time about what they allege was his abduction in Dubai, torture in Saudi Arabia and subsequent imprisonment, as they called on the UK, US and European governments to help secure his release. Mr Naimi, a father of three and son of former Saudi oil minister and Aramco chief Ali Al-Naimi, was detained in 2017 after returning from Australia with his father. His family say he was blindfolded, driven to Abu Dhabi and flown by private jet to Saudi Arabia. He was held at Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel during a…