标签： Oceania

On Saturday night, a shooting incident disrupted the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner at Washington Hilton, triggering an immediate emergency evacuation of former president and current officeholder Donald Trump. What was meant to be a landmark appearance—Trump’s first attendance at the iconic media gala during his term in office—descended into chaos when gunshots rang out near the venue’s main security screening checkpoint, located just outside the packed ballroom where hundreds of formally dressed guests had gathered.

Within seconds of the loud bangs being reported, United States Secret Service agents drew their weapons, rushed Trump from the stage he was preparing to speak from, and swarmed through the crowds of attendees. Panicked guests dove under tables to take cover as tactical security units established defensive positions around the stage, while uniformed police flooded the hotel perimeter and law enforcement helicopters circled overhead.

The suspect, identified as the gunman, was taken into custody at the screening area shortly after the incident, and Trump confirmed he emerged from the evacuation completely unharmed. In a post to social media immediately after the incident, Trump praised the rapid response of security teams, writing, “Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely. The shooter has been apprehended.”

He also confirmed that all other senior officials, including First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President and Cabinet members, were unharmed, stating, “The First Lady, plus the Vice President, and all Cabinet members, are in perfect condition.” Shortly after the evacuation, Trump announced he would hold an official press conference at the White House to address the incident, and shared plans to reschedule the gala event within 30 days.

This incident marks the third high-profile security threat targeting Trump in less than a year. In 2024, an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania left one attendee dead and Trump with a minor wound to the ear. Just months after that attack, a second man was arrested after a Secret Service agent spotted a rifle barrel protruding from bushes on the perimeter of a West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing a round.

Adding historical weight to the incident, the Washington Hilton—site of Saturday’s gala—was also the location of the 1981 assassination attempt on Republican president Ronald Reagan, who survived a gunshot wound after the attack just outside the venue.

Confusion lingered in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, with senior administration officials evacuated first, and no clear initial details emerging on the severity of the incident or the suspect’s motives. Cabinet member Mehmet Oz, who was escorted out by security, confirmed to reporters he had been told “shots fired upstairs” as the evacuation began. Organizers initially told guests the dinner would continue following the incident, but later reversed course and announced the event would be postponed.

This year’s dinner was already notable for breaking decades of precedent: the White House Correspondents’ Association extended an invitation to Trump despite his years of public attacks on the mainstream media, and his attendance marked the first time he had appeared at the annual gathering during his current term in office. For more than a century, every sitting U.S. president has attended the dinner regularly, a tradition Trump had declined to uphold until this year.

Dubbed the “Nerd Prom” by attendees, the annual event brings together hundreds of Washington-based journalists, media executives, and political figures to raise funds for journalism scholarships and honor outstanding reporting. The gala traditionally features a stand-up comedian routine skewering the sitting president, followed by comedic remarks from the president himself—but organizers did not book a comedian for the 2025 iteration of the event.

As preparations got underway Sunday for a controversial anti-mass immigration rally led by One Nation founder Pauline Hanson on the grounds of Australia’s Parliament House in Canberra, senior Liberal Party figure Angus Taylor has publicly admitted he shares some policy ground with the far-right leader, while pushing for sweeping changes to Australia’s immigration system centered on “Australian values” screening.

By early Sunday morning, event organizers had already begun setting up rally infrastructure, installing Australian national flags and immigration-focused posters emblazoned with flag motifs, with a large contingent of Australian police deployed to the site to maintain public order. Hanson is scheduled to address attendees of the “Rally To End Mass Immigration” later that day.

In an interview with public broadcaster ABC, Taylor responded to questions about Hanson’s hardline anti-immigration position, confirming that the two politicians see eye-to-eye on some key issues, though disagree on others. Taylor’s core starting point for immigration reform, he said, is that Australia’s current annual migration intake has remained far too high, while entry standards have dropped to unacceptably low levels.

The Liberal MP has repeatedly called for a full review and restructuring of Australia’s migration framework, one that enshrines Australian values as a core requirement for entry, including explicit provisions to block radical extremists from gaining entry to the country.

Taylor pushed back on suggestions that his framing of values-based screening would advantage migrants from majority Western nations such as the United Kingdom over migrants from Asian countries including China and Vietnam. He clarified that while “many good people come from bad countries”, noting that some of Australia’s most accomplished citizens trace their roots to nations that were considered unstable or hostile at the time they migrated, he believes “bad countries” inherently carry a higher risk of producing “bad people” seeking entry to Australia.

Despite this, Taylor insisted that the proposed screening process would not be based on country of origin, religion, or race, but exclusively on alignment with Australian values.

When pressed to confirm whether China – which critics frequently accuse of mass imprisonment of journalists and broad application of the death penalty – qualifies as a “bad country”, Taylor avoided a direct answer, instead pointing to other examples. “To claim that Iran is a good country right now. Seriously?” he said, noting that the current federal Labor government has already implemented legislation restricting entry for Iranian citizens, a move Taylor supports.

Taylor also repeated his earlier critical remarks about resettling Palestinian refugees from the Gaza Strip, pointing to ongoing “terrible acts of atrocity” connected to the Israel-Hamas war in the blockaded enclave.

The public alignment between Taylor and Hanson comes at a tense political moment for the Liberal Party, as One Nation is widely predicted to win the New South Wales federal seat of Farrer from the Liberals following the resignation of former Liberal leader Sussan Ley. The Victorian-based MP addressed questions about the Coalition’s controversial decision to give One Nation candidate preferences ahead of Climate 200-backed independent candidate Michelle Milthorpe, brushing off concerns about the strategic choice.

Taylor said the Liberal Party continues to prioritize earning first-preference votes from Farrer voters, and has ranked the National Party second on its how-to-vote cards. Pressed on whether One Nation poses an existential threat to the Liberal Party, Taylor argued that the “existential threats” to Australia’s regional communities are teal independent policies and federal Labor policies.

Speaking to the impacts of current policy on regional Australia, Taylor said residents of rural areas are already facing acute anxiety over access to diesel, a critical resource for planting crops and operating freight transport that underpins regional economies across the country.

On Saturday evening local time, a violent security breach disrupted the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner at Washington D.C.’s Hilton Hotel, where former President and current U.S. President Donald Trump was among 2,500 high-profile attendees. Newly released surveillance footage and first-person accounts have now shed light on the chaotic sequence of events that unfolded shortly after 8:30 p.m.

The alleged attacker, identified by authorities as 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen, a California-based professional with backgrounds in mechanical engineering, computer science, game development, and K-12 education, forced his way through a lobby security checkpoint armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple bladed weapons. According to D.C. Police Chief Jeffery W. Carroll, Allen was a registered guest of the hotel and was acting entirely alone, with no prior criminal record or known ties to extremist groups. Law enforcement officials confirmed Allen opened fire at close range on a U.S. Secret Service officer stationed at the checkpoint; the officer survived thanks to his bulletproof vest, and Trump told reporters Sunday he had spoken directly to the officer, who is in stable condition and recovering well.

Surveillance footage released in the hours after the incident captures Allen moving rapidly through the screening area, a detail Trump highlighted in his post-incident comments: “He was really moving … He looked pretty evil … he was a sick person.” For the President, the first sign of trouble was indistinguishable from a common event disruption: Trump told reporters he initially mistook the gunfire for a loudly dropped catering tray, before security personnel reacted within seconds to evacuate the venue. Footage from inside the packed ballroom shows Trump and First Lady Melania Trump seated at the head stage table when the shots rang out. Secret Service agents immediately rushed the President out of the room, an incident during which he appeared to stumble briefly, before evacuating the First Lady, Vice President JD Vance, and multiple senior cabinet members in attendance.

Eyewitness accounts from journalists inside the venue paint a picture of sudden, widespread panic. Veteran CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, who was just feet from the shooter near a lobby restroom, told his network he saw Allen brought to the ground by responding agents. “I did see the gunman on the ground after he started shooting,” Blitzer said, adding that the suspect carried a “very, very serious weapon.” ABC News editor John Lyons, who was in the ballroom, described a chaotic scene where attendees scrambled to take cover under tables for 15 full minutes: “There was shouting and fear and you heard this kerfuffle,” he said. Sky News correspondent James Matthews called the mood “an atmosphere of extreme fear,” noting that agents moved Trump out of the venue in seconds.

By the time the scene was secured, Allen was taken into custody unharmed. Images from the hotel lobby show the suspect lying face-down on the floor, secured by law enforcement and wrapped in a thermal blanket. Overnight Sunday, FBI agents executed a search of Allen’s residence in Torrance, California, a suburban community roughly 20 miles south of Los Angeles, after securing a federal search warrant from a judge in the Central District of California.

Allen is scheduled to appear in federal court Monday to face multiple felony charges, including weapons violations during a violent crime. Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters Saturday that charges would be filed “shortly,” noting that the nature of the charges would be clear given the suspect’s actions.

In comments to reporters Saturday night at the White House, Trump framed the attack as an assault on the U.S. Constitution, praising the “very brave members of the Secret Service” for their rapid response that prevented any fatalities. He later posted to his Truth Social platform shortly after the incident, writing: “Quite an evening in DC. Secret Service and Police did a fantastic job. The shooter has been apprehended. I have recommended that we “LET THE SHOW GO ON” but, will entirely be guided by Law Enforcement. Regardless of that decision, the evening will be much different than planned, and we’ll just, plain, have to do it again.”

Event organizers ultimately canceled the dinner and announced plans to reschedule the event within 30 days. When asked whether the attack was an assassination attempt against him, coming after a previous failed assassination attempt during the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump offered a characteristic response. He noted that throughout U.S. history, assassination attempts and successful attacks have targeted high-profile, transformative leaders, citing Abraham Lincoln as an example. “They don’t go after the ones that don’t do much because they like it that way,” Trump said. “And when you look at the people that have either whether it was an attempt or a successful attempt, that they’re very impressive, inspirational. … I hate to say I’m honoured by that, but I do know we’ve taken this country … and now we’re the hottest country anywhere in the world with this country. And there are a lot of people that are not happy about that. So I think that’s the answer.”

Saturday’s dinner marked the first time Trump has attended the annual press corps dinner during his two terms in office, an event held with extensive pre-planned security arrangements in response to ongoing threats against the President.

Each year on Anzac Day, nations around the world pause to honor the courage and sacrifice of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, whose legacy stretches back to the disastrous 1915 Gallipoli campaign of World War I. This year, senior members of the British Royal Family led official commemorations across London, honoring more than 100,000 troops who lost their lives in the campaign that shaped ANZAC identity forever.

The day’s formal events began in the pre-dawn darkness, when Princess Anne joined hundreds of attendees for a moving memorial service at London’s Wellington Arch. Organized in partnership by the high commissions of Australia and New Zealand, the service saw the Princess Royal lay a ceremonial wreath at the arch’s memorial. The gathering heard a recital of John McCrae’s iconic war poem *In Flanders Fields*, and the ceremony concluded with performances of the national anthems of the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia, uniting attendees from three nations in remembrance.

As the day progressed, the Princess of Wales Catherine took forward the tradition of remembrance at Whitehall’s Cenotaph. There, she placed a handcrafted wreath of red remembrance poppies interwoven with white flowers, a subtle design echoing the feather motif of the Prince of Wales’ official crest. Attached to the wreath was a personal note signed jointly by Catherine and Prince William, which paid solemn tribute to “soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.”

Following the wreath-laying at Whitehall, the service proceeded with deep ceremonial tradition: Reverend Dr Lyndon Drake recited verses from Laurence Binyon’s *For The Fallen*, the iconic poem that has anchored remembrance services for a century. A trumpeter from the Royal Marines Portsmouth Road Band performed the haunting notes of The Last Post, after which the entire gathering fell silent for a full minute to honor the dead. Hamish Cooper, New Zealand’s High Commissioner to the UK, and Jay Weatherill, Australia’s High Commissioner, walked side-by-side to lay their own official wreaths at the memorial, marking the shared bond of the two ANZAC nations. Catherine joined attendees in singing the hymn *O God Our Help in Ages Past* before uniformed service personnel marched from Whitehall to a subsequent service of commemoration and thanksgiving at nearby Westminster Abbey.

After the conclusion of the Westminster Abbey service, Catherine took time to speak with dozens of military families in attendance, many of whom still carry the legacy of ANZAC losses across generations.

To place the day in historical context, the 1915 Gallipoli campaign was launched as a British-led offensive against the Ottoman Empire, with the strategic goal of opening a secure naval route through the Dardanelles strait from the Mediterranean to Constantinople, modern-day Istanbul. The offensive stalled into a brutal months-long campaign that dragged into 1916, ending in an Allied withdrawal with the catastrophic loss of more than 100,000 troops from both Allied and Ottoman forces. Today, Anzac Day honors not just the dead of Gallipoli, but all ANZAC service members who have fallen in wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping missions across the globe.

Commemorative events were not limited to London. Services were held simultaneously across Australia, New Zealand, and on the Gallipoli peninsula itself, where thousands gather each year to mark the anniversary. In the French Somme region village of Villers-Bretonneux, which was successfully defended by Australian troops during World War I, local and international events also marked the day of remembrance. The British Royal Family marked the occasion officially on social media platform X, reaffirming the UK’s shared bond of remembrance with Australia and New Zealand.