Author: DispatchTimes News Desk

A California estate agent accused of acting as an unregistered Chinese agent had links to people connected to alleged criminal operations involving money laundering, forced labour and online fraud, court records indicate. Wanying “Heather” Zhang, 34, of Irvine, was charged by the FBI last week after she was allegedly caught surveilling the son of Taiwan’s president in Seattle in 2025. She was travelling with Fatai Miao, 54, whom investigators have also linked to individuals involved in alleged criminal enterprises. The connections offer an insight into the network surrounding Zhang, whom US federal agents allege spent years carrying out intelligence work…

Meghan Markle vowed never to wear Roland Mouret’s designs again after a member of the fashion house mistakenly asked the Princess of Wales’s team for dresses supplied to her, the designer claims. Mouret says the Duchess of Sussex was left humiliated when his staff contacted Kate’s stylist at Kensington Palace rather than approaching Meghan or her aides directly. He alleges that Meghan telephoned him in anger and rejected his apology. “Meghan was furious and called me. ‘You don’t realise what you’ve done! You’ve embarrassed me’,” Mouret writes in his memoir, I Am Roland Mouret: The Butcher’s Boy Who Dressed the…

Haley Stevens has endorsed Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan’s Senate race but has largely stayed away from his campaign, raising concerns among Democrats that the coalition she built during the primary has not rallied behind her former rival. Stevens quickly backed El-Sayed after losing the August 4 Democratic primary, but has since done little publicly to help him take on Republican former representative Mike Rogers. Some of her former supporters and donors continue to withhold their backing, while others have openly supported Rogers. Asked whether she was encouraging her former donors to support El-Sayed, Stevens said her role was to “be…

European stocks rose as markets stabilised, while the dollar was on course to record a weekly loss. The gains came as calmer conditions returned to financial markets, with investors monitoring movements in equities and currencies.

Chelsea captain Reece James has undergone surgery on a knee injury suffered during the club’s 5-1 win over Bournemouth, with no timeframe yet given for his return. The setback is another blow for the 26-year-old right-back, whose recent run of improved fitness has been interrupted just as the new campaign began. Reece James injury record at Chelsea James made 24 appearances in all competitions during the 2022/23 season and missed the 2022 World Cup with England. He featured only 10 times the following campaign, ruling him out of Euro 2024. His availability improved in 2024/25, when he played 32 matches,…

Samoa opened their Rugby League World Cup campaign with a rout of France, led by Sua Fa’alogo’s four-try performance. The Samoan speedster completed his haul in the opening match, underlining his impact as Samoa swept aside France.

An explosion in Belfast has led to the evacuation of nearby homes. Details are limited in the material provided, with no further information on when the blast occurred, the exact location in the city, the cause or any casualties. The focus of the report remains on the immediate consequence — residents being evacuated in the wake of the Belfast blast. No additional information is supplied in the source material.

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has unveiled a new Roadster sports car that appeared to fly during a livestreamed event at a SpaceX facility in Texas. The vehicle launched from a curved ramp, travelling upside down along its surface before leaving the end, rotating 180 degrees in mid-air and landing on its wheels. The demonstration took place at a SpaceX test facility in Waco and was broadcast on Tesla’s X account. The car was fitted with thrusters and high-pressure gas boosters, which Musk said were powered by “ultra high-pressure air tanks”. “Flying cars are real,” Mr Musk said, while acknowledging…

The Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia remains scheduled to begin in January, organisers have said, despite a series of attacks on Riyadh that have disrupted the country’s sporting calendar and led to the indefinite postponement of golf’s Saudi International. The 24-team football tournament is due to take place from January 7 to February 5. Its local organising committee said preparations were continuing, while the Asian Tour delayed its flagship event after assessing the challenges of staging it safely. The Houthi group claimed responsibility for the deadliest attack, which struck Riyadh’s international airport on Saturday. Fourteen people were killed and more…

The Trump administration is asking a federal appeals court in Washington to accept that records created in the White House belong to Donald Trump rather than the American public, in a challenge to the Presidential Records Act. Three judges on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit are due to hear arguments on Friday over the administration’s attempt to invalidate the law, which has governed the preservation of presidential papers since 1978. The case is part of a wider effort during Mr Trump’s second term to test restrictions on executive power introduced after the Watergate scandal.…