Author: DispatchTimes News Desk

Susan Collins’s re-election campaign in Maine has placed her reputation for independence at the centre of the contest, with former senator Joe Manchin joining her for breakfast with voters in Lewiston. Manchin, who left the Democratic Party and retired from the Senate in 2024, portrayed the Republican incumbent as a politician who represents Maine rather than her party or Donald Trump. “She’s not a Trump senator. She’s not a Republican senator or a Democrat senator,” Mr Manchin told reporters after the event. “She’s an American senator that represents her state of Maine.” Ms Collins is the only Republican senator seeking…

A woman who alleges Russell Brand raped her at his London home told Southwark Crown Court that she was left feeling “degraded” and as though she had been treated “like an animal” and “a piece of meat”. The woman, who was 21 at the time, said she had been a “massive Russell Brand fan” and had “adored” the comedian when they first met after a performance at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2009. Brand, 51, denies three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault relating to six women. Recorded police interviews with the woman…

Candidates in the Texas US Senate race are entering the final sprint of a contest that could decide the balance of power in Congress. With voters heading to the polls, attention is focused on the issues motivating them and the last-minute efforts being made by both campaigns to secure support.

Technology was the focus of the trading day, with market activity framed around the sector.

Reality TV star Kash had been receiving death threats before she was fatally shot in Oakland, California, her mother has said, claiming jealousy over her daughter’s appearance and public profile may have played a part. Cynthia said the threats came from people in Oakland social circles who knew of Kash. She said she did not know whether any of those individuals were connected to the confrontation in which her daughter died. Her mother believes jealousy ultimately led to Kash being confronted and attacked by another woman on the night of 11 October. However, she has not directly linked the alleged…

Amy Klobuchar and Lisa Demuth will face each other in the final televised debate of Minnesota’s governor’s race on Wednesday evening, less than two weeks before voters go to the polls. The one-hour Minnesota governor debate will be broadcast live from the KTTC/KXLT studios in Rochester at 7pm local time, with coverage beginning at 6.30pm and post-debate analysis to follow. The event is being produced jointly by FOX 9 and Gray Media stations serving Rochester, Duluth, Mankato and Fargo-Moorhead. It is expected to be the only live televised debate to reach viewers across every television market in Minnesota. Minnesota governor…

Former SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith has denied murdering civilians or breaking the rules of engagement during his deployments in Afghanistan, in extracts from an interview broadcast by Australian radio host Ben Fordham. Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most decorated living soldier, was arrested in April and charged with murdering or ordering the murders of five unarmed detainees between 2009 and 2012. He denies the accusations. Asked directly whether he had shot civilians, Roberts-Smith said: “I didn’t bloody murder anyone.” In the interview, conducted in Queensland on October 8, Mr Fordham asked whether he had shot prisoners or seen anyone else shooting them. “No,”…

Becky Drury, the teacher wounded in an Oregon elementary school shooting, has described being shot at close range before she had any chance to act, saying she pretended to be dead in the hope the gunman would not fire again. Drury, 54, was outside her classroom at Silver Rail Elementary School when she saw what was happening and ran towards it, according to a statement issued on Wednesday. “I turned to shut the door behind me, but the shooter was already there,” she said. “Before I could do anything more, he shot me at close range and I fell to…

Mexico has charged former Chihuahua attorney general Cesar Jauregui with treason over allegations that he allowed United States agents to take part in an anti-drug operation without federal approval. The case centres on the country’s strict rules governing foreign forces on Mexican territory and has highlighted longstanding sensitivities over US involvement in Mexico. Under Mexican law, the federal government must authorise the activities of foreign personnel in the country. The authorities began examining whether those rules had been followed after two US agents and two Mexican law-enforcement officials died in a car crash on 19 April. News reports, citing anonymous…

Stuyvesant High School in New York is facing calls for action after its student chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America co-signed an Instagram post declaring: “Intifada Until Victory!” The October 8 post was also signed by YDSA chapters at Hunter College, the New School, City College and Lehman College. It accused the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America of silencing student activists seeking to protest Mayor Zohran Mamdani over his position on Israel. The groups accused Mr Mamdani of betraying the Palestinian cause and criticised his decision to retain NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, describing…