World Echo

The first indications that something had gone wrong at the 2026 White House Correspondents' Association dinner came around 8:35pm on ​Saturday from a series of audible but mysterious thuds. Dinner chatter paused. The silence was broken when the doors crashed open to the ‌giant ballroom at the Washington Hilton, where some 2,600 journalists and their guests - dressed with rare pomp in tuxedos and gowns - had just sat down for the salad courses and glasses of wine. President Donald Trump was seated with first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other dignitaries at a long head table. Elegantly uniformed waiters soon charged down the ​middle aisle. Agents hustled Vance and several others off the stage. Plainclothes officers sprang from their seats and pushed to the ground ​several cabinet members, who had been seated moments earlier at tables among the journalists, then rolled the administration officials beneath ⁠tables. Read: Despite US–Iran deadlock, Trump again praises...

The suspect arrested in the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting on Saturday was identified by a law enforcement official as Cole Tomas Allen, a Los Angeles-area man who appears from social media sites to be a Caltech graduate working as a part-time teacher and game developer. The official said Allen, approximately 31 years of age, is a resident of Torrance, California, a coastal town that is part of the South Bay area adjacent to Los Angeles abutting Santa Monica Bay. US President Donald Trump, who called the suspect “a very sick person”, said he was thought to have acted alone. Trump, along with the first lady and several top Cabinet members, was escorted out of the Washington Hilton ballroom, where the event was taking place, by the Secret Service. Shortly afterwards, he said the suspect had been "apprehended" and shared photos of him on the ground, shirtless, along with blurry security footage of what appeared to be a figure darting past security agents. Read: ...

Palestinians voted in local elections on Saturday that, for the ​first time in two decades, include Gaza and will gauge the political mood as Israel's government seeks to destroy any future for a Palestinian ‌state. The West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA) hopes the symbolic inclusion of the Gaza city of Deir al-Balah will reinforce its claim to authority over the territory from which it was ousted by Hamas in 2007. Gazans, who are struggling to meet their basic needs in the devastated enclave, welcomed the opportunity to vote. "As a Palestinian and a son of the Gaza Strip, I feel proud that after ​this war the democratic process is returning," said voter Mamdouh al-Bhaisi, 52, at the Deir al-Balah polling station. Israel has extended control over Gaza and West Bank Since ​a US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza between Hamas and Israel took effect in October, intermittent talks led by the United States have made little ⁠progress towards a settlement that envisages internat...

Iran said it had hanged an ​Iranian working for ‌Israeli intelligence on Saturday for vandalism and ​violence during nationwide ​protests this year, the ⁠semi-official Tasnim news ​agency reported. It said Erfan ​Kiani, a “hired thug of Mossad,” had engaged in ​the destruction and ​arson of public and private ‌property, ⁠spreading fear and terror across the central city of ​Isfahan, and ​wielding ⁠a machete. He was hanged ​early in the ​morning ⁠after his sentence was confirmed by ⁠the ​Supreme Court ​and following legal procedures, Tasnim ​said. Read: Iran says dual national held for espionage is Swedish Iran executed a man in December 2025 on charges of spying for Israel's intelligence agency, Mossad. This brings the number of convicts Iran has executed on espionage charges since June this year to 10. The executed man had been identified as Aghil Keshavarz, a 27-year-old architecture student. Keshavarz was arrested by soldiers earlier this year in the northwestern city of Urmia, ...

The US Senate will vote as soon as next week on a Democratic-led effort to prevent President Donald Trump from launching an attack on Cuba, Senate aides said, responding to the Republican's threats to take military action against the island. Democratic Senators Tim Kaine, Adam Schiff and Ruben Gallego introduced the Cuba War Powers Resolution last month. Under Senate rules, the Senate's Republican leaders must allow it to come up for a vote. "The president's sabre rattling toward Cuba makes clear where his sights are next," Schiff said in a statement when the resolution was introduced. Exact timing of the vote has not yet been announced, but aides said they expected it before May 1. Under Trump, US forces have launched strikes on boats off Venezuela and gone into Caracas to seize President Nicolas Maduro, and, with Israel, waged war on Iran since February 28, all without authorisation from Congress. Read: CNN's Zakaria to Trump: make concessions Trump has sinc...

India has dismissed as “uninformed” comments shared by US President Donald Trump that described the country as a “hellhole”, saying they were inappropriate and inconsistent with strong ties between the two nations. The remarks originated from conservative commentator Michael Savage during an episode of The Savage Nation talk radio show. Trump posted a transcript of the show on his Truth Social account on Thursday without adding any comment. “A baby here becomes an instant citizen, and then they bring the entire family in from China or India or some other hellhole on the planet,” Savage said, according to the transcript. “That there's almost no loyalty to this country amongst the immigrant class coming in today, which was not always the case. No, they're not like the European Americans of today and their ancestors.” Reuters could not immediately contact Savage. Trump has issued a directive seeking to restrict birthright citizenship in the United States, a move that has been chal...