US President Donald Trump said on April 26 that the suspect accused of trying to attack administration officials at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on April 25 had an anti-Christian manifesto and “a lot of hatred in his heart” but was stopped well short of the hotel ballroom hosting the event.
Mr Trump told Fox News that the suspect was “a sick guy” and that his family previously expressed concerns about him to law enforcement officials. The suspect, whom an official identified as Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, was arrested at the scene of the event in Washington DC.
“When you read his manifesto, he hates Christians,” Mr Trump said on Fox News’ Sunday Briefing programme.
The manifesto was sent to Allen’s family members shortly before the attack, a law enforcement official told Reuters. The suspect called himself the “Friendly Federal Assassin,” the official said.
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PHOTO: REUTERS
The state visit by Britain’s King Charles III to the US would take place as planned, Buckingham Palace said on April 26, following a shooting at a Washington media gala.
The incident late April 25 at the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents’ Association came less than 48 hours before King Charles and Queen Camilla begin a four-day state visit to the United States.
The palace said that King Charles was “greatly relieved” that Mr Trump, his wife Melania and other guests were unharmed and later on April 26 said the trip would go on as planned.
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PHOTO: AFP
A Syrian court conducted the first hearing on April 26 in the trial of ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad and senior figures from his government, one of whom appeared in person.
Assad and his brother Maher have fled Syria and will be tried in absentia, but one of their relatives, former security official Atif Najib, was in the dock in handcuffs.
“Today we begin the first trials of transitional justice in Syria,” judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan declared as he opened the session.
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PHOTO: AFP
Israel’s Supreme Court on April 26 ordered the state to cut financial benefits to ultra-Orthodox Jews who refuse to answer conscription call-ups.
“Since no concrete steps have been proposed indicating an intention to enforce the obligation to enlist… there is no alternative but to order practical measures,” the court said in its ruling.
There is a long-standing exemption from compulsory national service for ultra-Orthodox men who engage in full-time religious study, which dates back to Israel’s founding in 1948.
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PHOTO: REUTERS
FIFA is in discussions with national associations to increase prize money for all 48 teams participating in the 2026 World Cup, football’s global governing body said on April 26.
The proposal must be approved at the FIFA Council meeting on April 28, held ahead of the 76th FIFA Congress in Vancouver.
Last December, FIFA said prize money for the 2026 World Cup would be 50 per cent higher than for the previous edition at US$655 million (S$835.9 million) after agreeing a record US$727 million financial contribution to the tournament.
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