The man suspected in the White House correspondents’ dinner shooting wrote a statement saying he wanted to target members of President Donald Trump’s administration, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the document.

Acting attorney general Todd Blanche said that the suspect in custody, identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, appeared to be targeting members of the Trump administration, and potentially Trump, but that the information was “quite preliminary.”

Officials based their assessment on Allen’s writings, including a statement he sent to members of his family before the shooting, investigators said. D.C. interim police chief Jeffery Carroll said Saturday night that Allen was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and knives when he charged through a security checkpoint toward the ballroom at the Washington Hilton, where hundreds of journalists, politicians and celebrities were gathered for the dinner.

Culled: Washington
Post

By Wumi Tewogbade ,Abuja

The European Commission on Wednesday, announced €235 million in humanitarian assistance to support the most vulnerable people in West and Central Africa.

In a statement issued by EU, in Abuja, the organisation said the fund will support those affected by current conflicts and food crises, forcibly displaced people, host communities, and hard-to-reach populations.

Out of the money, Nigeria is expected to get €33 million.

The statement reads, “Out of the €235 million, €75 million will be directed to the Central Sahel, over €16.6 million to Cameroon, €22 million to the Central African Republic, over €72 million to Chad, €4.8 million to Mauritania, €33 million to Nigeria, and over €6 million to coastal countries.

“An additional €6.4 million will support projects with a regional scope.

“West and Central Africa is facing a storm of humanitarian crises, driven by conflict, poverty, hunger, instability, and climate shocks.” said Hadja Lahbib, Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management.”

Lahbib said in the statement, “Last year in Chad, I saw the human cost with my own eyes: families who had fled with nothing but the clothes on their backs, their homes lost, their livelihoods destroyed. For millions of people, humanitarian aid is not a choice. It is food on the table, clean water, medicine, shelter, and a chance for their children to learn again.

“The European Union will always stand with people in crisis, as a reliable and principled humanitarian partner, to save lives, ease suffering, and bring hope where it is needed most.”

It would be recalled that the West and Central Africa region is plagued by various humanitarian crises, with significant needs for humanitarian assistance.

The primary driver of these crises is conflict, further intensified by the adverse effects of climate change and a multitude of local factors related to governance, demography and access to land and resources.

The epicentre of these crises is in the Central Sahel and Lake Chad regions, with the Central Sahel conflict spilling over in the coastal countries, fuelling large-scale displacement both internally and across borders. The ongoing Sudan crisis is also severely impacting the resilience of Eastern Chad. In addition to these intertwined dynamics, standalone crises persist in North-West Nigeria, North-West and South-West (NWSW) Cameroon, and the Central African Republic (CAR).

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned “in the strongest terms” the damaging of a “Catholic religious icon” by an Israeli soldier in southern Lebanon.

It follows an image that emerged online appearing to show an Israeli soldier striking a statue of Jesus Christ with a sledgehammer.

In a statement on X, Netanyahu said he and “the overwhelming majority of Israelis” were “stunned and saddened” to hear of the incident.

He says military authorities are conducting a criminal investigation into the matter, and will take “appropriately harsh disciplinary action” against the offender.

“Israel is the only place in the Middle East that adheres to freedom of worship for all. We express regret for the incident and for any hurt this has caused,” he adds.

Earlier, the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, called for “swift, severe, and public consequences”.