DC Gala Shooting, Sub 2-hr Marathon, & Otter Attack Settlement

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Adam Rogers
April 27, 2026

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An armed man charged toward the ballroom of the White House Correspondents' Dinner at the Washington Hilton Saturday night, sending hundreds of journalists, celebrities, and officials diving under tables as shots rang out.
President Trump was rushed offstage and evacuated unharmed. One Secret Service officer was shot but protected by a bullet-resistant vest and is recovering. Suspect Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, was tackled and taken into custody on two firearm charges, including assaulting an officer.
It was the first Correspondents' Dinner Trump had attended as president. It was also the third time since 2024 he has been under threat in his immediate vicinity — including the Butler, Pennsylvania, assassination attempt that injured him and killed a firefighter. Reagan was shot outside the same Washington Hilton in 1981.
The Hilton remains open to regular guests during the dinner, with security focused on the ballroom rather than the hotel at large — a vulnerability Allen appeared to exploit. Police believe he acted alone but have not identified a motive.

For the first time in history, two runners officially broke the 2-hour marathon barrier. Kenya's Sabastian Sawe crossed the finish line in 1 hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds at the London Marathon, shattering the previous world record by 65 seconds. Just 11 seconds back, Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha also finished under two hours.
The achievement had been chased for decades. Eliud Kipchoge came close in 2019, but in a specially arranged unofficial race. Sunday marked the first time the barrier has fallen in official competition. As recently as 1999, the men's world record stood at 2:05:42, meaning the sport has shed more than six minutes in 25 years.
Sawe made it look inevitable, pulling clear of Kejelcha with about 7.5 miles remaining and sprinting alone down The Mall, running the second half faster than the first. Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa also set a women's-only record, winning in 2:15:41.

Palestinians voted Saturday in the first elections in Gaza in more than two decades. Polling stations opened in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza alongside simultaneous elections across the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Overall turnout reached 53.4% in the West Bank, higher than expected, while Gaza recorded 22.7%. Hamas did not field candidates and did not block the vote.
The Palestinian Authority, the internationally recognized governing body of the Palestinian people and Hamas rival, organized the races. It was the first election since Hamas violently seized control of Gaza in 2006, and is part of the PA's effort to politically re-link Gaza and the West Bank. Israel reportedly blocked ballot materials from entering Gaza, forcing the commission to improvise with wooden boxes and ink repurposed from a vaccination drive.
The elections filled seats on local councils responsible for water, roads, electricity, health centers, and schools — services that have collapsed in Gaza and are under severe strain in the West Bank. However, Israel still maintains control over the flow of resources into Gaza.

President Trump cancelled planned US-Iran peace talks in Pakistan, saying Iran must come to American negotiators rather than the other way around. (More)

Sen. Thom Tillis dropped his blockade of Federal Reserve chair nominee Kevin Warsh after the Justice Department ended its criminal investigation into current chair Jerome Powell. (More)

A former University of South Florida student was charged with murdering his roommate and the roommate's girlfriend, two Bangladeshi doctoral students who vanished from the Tampa campus April 16. (More)

Tuareg separatists recaptured the northern Mali city of Kidal after Russian mercenaries and Malian troops withdrew following coordinated rebel and Islamist attacks on the capital and four other cities. (More)

Viktor Orbán quit his parliamentary seat to rebuild his party after a landslide loss to Peter Magyar ended his 16-year rule of Hungary. (More)

Venezuela's government declared its amnesty law over after releasing 8,616 political detainees, but human rights groups called the move unconstitutional and said hundreds of political prisoners were left out. (More)

US stock markets closed mixed on Friday (S&P +0.80%, Nasdaq +1.63%, Dow -0.16%) as the S&P and Nasdaq closed at record highs. (More)

Oil surged 2% to nearly $108 a barrel after US-Iran peace talks fell apart and Iran's Revolutionary Guard seized two cargo ships near the Strait of Hormuz. (More)

Google committed $10 billion to Anthropic with potential for $40 billion total, days after Amazon announced its own massive investment in the Claude AI maker. (More)

Carson Hocevar passed Chris Buescher on the final lap to win at Talladega for his first NASCAR Cup Series victory. (More)

Nelly Korda won the Chevron Championship by five shots Sunday for her third major title, returning her to world No. 1 in women's golf. (More)

The Michael Jackson biopic "Michael" opened to $97 million domestically and $217 million worldwide, shattering the record for music biopics. (More)

Researchers found that a therapy focused on rebuilding patients' capacity for joy outperformed conventional depression treatment, which targets sadness, by directly addressing anhedonia, the inability to feel positive emotions. (More)

A new study found that fish oil supplements may hinder brain recovery after repeated mild head injuries, with the omega-3 fatty acid EPA linked to weaker blood vessel repair in mice and human tissue. (More)

Astronomers fully mapped the Vela Supercluster, a massive collection of galaxy clusters hidden behind the Milky Way, finding it's 300 million light-years wide and among the universe's largest structures. (More)

April showers are getting more extreme.

Ranking the world’s 10 most-walkable cities.

8 signs you're the problem in an arguement.

Family gets $350K settlement after an otter attacked their toddler.

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