Day 58 of the US-Israel war on Iran opened with diplomatic ruin: Trump cancelled his envoys' trip to Pakistan, declaring Iran's offer "not enough." Hours earlier, a 31-year-old man with multiple weapons charged a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton. A Secret Service officer took a bullet. Iran's foreign minister left Islamabad saying he had shared a peace framework but had yet to see whether the US was "truly serious about diplomacy." Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz is no longer just about oil. The UN warns of a fertiliser crisis. Netanyahu ordered new attacks on Hezbollah. And in Mali, the largest coordinated jihadist assault in years is still unfolding.
Six conflicts deepened in a single 24-hour cycle. None of them show signs of de-escalation. This is the world on April 26, 2026.
Donald Trump was rushed offstage at the Washington Hilton on Saturday evening after gunfire broke out outside the ballroom where the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner was taking place. The president, First Lady Melania Trump, and Cabinet members were unharmed.
According to Trump's own account at a subsequent press conference, a man armed with multiple weapons charged a security checkpoint and was "taken down" by the Secret Service. Trump described the suspect as a "very sick person" and a "thug" who had attacked the US Constitution. A Secret Service officer was shot during the confrontation but survived, saved by his bulletproof vest.
Multiple US media outlets identified the suspect as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California. Jeanine Ferris Pirro, the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, said Allen would be charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on federal officers using a dangerous weapon. FBI Director Kash Patel said officers had begun examining the suspect's background.
"As you know, this is not the first time in the past couple of years that our republic has been attacked by a would-be assassin who sought to kill." - Donald Trump, press conference, April 25, 2026
Trump later posted surveillance footage on Truth Social showing a man running past security personnel, who then drew their weapons and opened fire. The footage was immediately criticised by former Secret Service agents who noted that publishing surveillance video of a security checkpoint breach while the investigation was still active was, at minimum, an extraordinary breach of protocol.
Al Jazeera producer Chris Sheridan, who was inside the ballroom, reported hearing five gunshots. "We could smell the powder. We immediately dove to the ground. It was directly behind me," he said. Sheridan noted that while the ballroom had "airport-level" security, anyone with a dinner ticket could access the hotel's lower level where the event was held.
World leaders including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum condemned the attack. Trump stated the shooting was unrelated to the Iran war. "I don't know if that had anything to do with it, I really don't think so, based on what we know," he told reporters.
This is the second assassination attempt on Trump in two years, following the Thomas Crooks shooting at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania in July 2024 that killed one bystander and wounded Trump's right ear.
The prospects for a diplomatic breakthrough in the Iran war collapsed on Saturday when Trump cancelled a planned visit to Pakistan by his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, saying Iran's offer was inadequate and the trip would involve "too much time" and "expense."
The cancellation came hours after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi departed Islamabad, where he had presented mediators with what he described as a "workable framework to permanently end the war on Iran." Araghchi also met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and held a call with Turkey's Hakan Fidan. But the Iranian position was unequivocal: no negotiations under siege.
"Breaches of commitments, blockade, and threats are main obstacles to genuine negotiations." - Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in a phone call with Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif
Trump, speaking to reporters in Florida, declared that Iran "offered a lot, but not enough." On Truth Social, he posted that there was "tremendous infighting and confusion" within Iran's leadership and that "nobody knows who is in charge, including them." He added: "We have all the cards, they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!"
The White House had said on Friday that Vice-President JD Vance had been "on standby" to join the talks had they proved successful. His absence from the initial delegation was itself a signal that no major breakthrough was expected.
Araghchi's itinerary now takes him to Oman and then Russia. Iran is playing a longer game, building a diplomatic track through multiple capitals while the US attempts to compress negotiations into a single bilateral channel. The fundamental impasse has not changed: Iran demands an end to the naval blockade and a ceasefire before meaningful talks; the US demands Iran come to the table while the blockade remains in place.
The United Nations warned on Saturday that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz now threatens a humanitarian catastrophe far beyond energy markets. Fertiliser supplies are being disrupted, with ripple effects that could devastate agricultural production across South and Southeast Asia.
The stakes of the Hormuz standoff have expanded dramatically since the US began its naval blockade of Iranian ports on April 13. Iran responded by closing the strait to all foreign shipping and capturing several foreign-flagged vessels. The result is a mutual siege: the US chokes Iran's export revenue; Iran chokes the world's energy and agricultural supply chains.
According to trade intelligence firm Kpler, Iran exported 1.84 million barrels per day of crude oil in March, and 1.71 million bpd in April so far. Even at the conservative estimate of $90 per barrel, Iran earned at least $4.97 billion from oil exports in the past month, roughly 40 percent more than before the war began. The blockade is intended to choke this revenue. It has not done so yet.
"One cannot restrict Iran's oil exports while expecting free security for others. The choice is clear: either a free oil market for all, or the risk of significant costs for everyone." - Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref, April 19, 2026
On Friday, the US Treasury added China's Hengli Petrochemical, the country's second-largest independent refinery, to its sanctions list. The Treasury said Hengli was "one of Tehran's most valued customers" and had generated hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran's military through crude oil purchases. About 40 shipping firms and vessels alleged to be part of Iran's shadow fleet were also sanctioned. The Chinese embassy in Washington pushed back, calling on the US to "stop politicising trade and sci-tech issues and using them as a weapon."
Iran's parliamentary speaker and lead ceasefire negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, stated that a full ceasefire could only work if the US naval blockade is lifted. Analysts say Iran has the economic will to sustain the standoff for months. Its floating storage of roughly 127 million barrels of crude oil, estimated in February, provides a buffer. But the longer the strait stays closed, the greater the damage to global agriculture and food security, not just to oil prices, which have already pushed past $106 per barrel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military on Saturday to "vigorously attack Hezbollah targets" in Lebanon, further straining a ceasefire that was extended by three days just 48 hours earlier.
The directive followed a day of cross-border violence. Lebanon's health ministry reported that Israeli strikes on a truck and a motorcycle in Yohmor al-Shaqif, in the Nabatieh district, killed four people. Another strike on Safad al-Battikh in the Bint Jbeil district killed two more and wounded 17. The Israeli Defense Forces claimed it had "eliminated" three Hezbollah members driving "a vehicle loaded with weapons" and another on a motorcycle. Two more armed Hezbollah members were killed in the Litani area, according to the IDF.
Hezbollah retaliated, claiming an attack on an Israeli army vehicle in southern Lebanon. The IDF reported a "suspicious aerial target" near Malkia, calling it "an additional violation of the ceasefire."
Israel continues to occupy much of southern Lebanon and has been carrying out large-scale demolitions. The Media Freedom Coalition, a partnership of countries including the UK and Finland, condemned attacks on journalists in Lebanon after a strike killed Amal Khalil, a journalist for a Lebanese newspaper, and injured freelance photographer Zeinab Faraj on Wednesday. The IDF said it did not target journalists.
The ceasefire, such as it is, has reduced fire between the two sides without stopping it. Each side accuses the other of violations. Netanyahu's order to escalate suggests that even the pretense of restraint is fading.
While the world's attention is fixed on Iran and Washington, the Sahel is burning. Explosions and sustained gunfire were reported in Mali's capital, Bamako, early on Sunday as armed groups launched coordinated attacks across the country. Fighting has also been reported around Kati, home to a major military base outside the capital, and in Gao, Sevare, Mopti, and Kidal in the north.
The assault involves two separate armed groups operating in coordination. The Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), which seeks a breakaway ethnic Tuareg state, focused on northern cities. The jihadist group Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), affiliated with al-Qaeda, staged simultaneous attacks on multiple locations across the country. An FLA spokesman, Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, told the BBC the operation had been planned "for a long time, in a well-planned manner, and in fact, in alliance with JNIM."
Ramadane claimed FLA forces had taken control of Kidal and were expanding their presence in Gao. He posted unverified footage purporting to show militants overrunning a camp occupied by the Malian army and Russian mercenaries in Kidal, as well as a military helicopter shot down near Gao. A local official confirmed fighting "between the Malian army, the Russians and the rebels" was continuing in Kidal on Sunday.
"We are in Kidal and it has not fallen completely. There are still elements of the Malian army and Russian mercenaries there. All of Gao's gates have fallen, but the camps of the army have not." - FLA spokesman Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane
Mali's military said it was fighting "terrorist groups" that had been "routed" with "several hundred" killed. The BBC has not been able to independently verify this claim. In Bamako, checkpoints have been established on roads leading to the airport, vehicles are being searched, and a curfew is in effect from 21:00 to 06:00 local time for the next three nights. Bamako International Airport has been temporarily closed.
Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel programme at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Mali, described it as "the largest coordinated jihadist attack on Mali for years." The UK Foreign Office has advised against all travel to the country.
The attack is a devastating indictment of the military junta led by General Assimi Goita, who seized power in a 2020 coup promising to restore security. Since then, UN peacekeepers and French forces have withdrawn, and the government hired Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group to fill the gap. That gap, clearly, has not been filled.
At least seven people were killed in Russian strikes across Ukraine overnight, including five in the central city of Dnipro where an apartment building was hit. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack lasted "practically all night," with rescue workers still searching for survivors under rubble on Saturday morning.
More than 600 Russian drones were launched in what appears to be the largest single attack in several days. Ukrainian authorities said they repelled the vast majority. Russian missiles and drones also targeted Chernihiv, where two people were killed, as well as Odesa and Kharkiv. British Typhoon jets were scrambled from Romania during the attack when Russian drones were detected near the border, though the UK Ministry of Defence clarified that the aircraft did not engage and no drones breached Romanian airspace.
Ukraine also carried out some of its longest-distance drone strikes deep inside Russian territory. In Yekaterinburg, almost 1,000 miles from Ukraine's border, the governor said six people were injured when a building was struck. In nearby Chelyabinsk, drones targeting an industrial facility were intercepted. Russia's Ministry of Defence claimed it shot down 127 drones over more than a dozen regions and also claimed to have taken control of Bochkove, a village in the Kharkiv region near Ukraine's northern border.
Zelensky met Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Friday, the second round of talks between the pair in recent months. Saudi Arabia and its neighbours have a renewed interest in Ukraine's drone warfare expertise since coming under Iranian attack. The two discussed strengthening air defence cooperation and joint military production.
A leaked Pentagon email, first reported by Reuters on Friday, has sent shockwaves through the Atlantic alliance. The email suggested measures for the US to punish allies it believes have failed to support the US-Israel campaign against Iran, including seeking to suspend Spain from NATO.
There is, in fact, no provision in the NATO treaties to expel a member country. Any action to bar Spain from key civilian or military roles would require unanimous agreement among all NATO members. Fellow EU leaders at the Cyprus summit immediately leapt to Spain's defence. Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten said he wanted to be "crystal clear" that Spain was and would remain a full NATO member. A high-ranking German official stated plainly: "Spain is a member of NATO. And I see no reason why that should change."
Italy's Giorgia Meloni, once considered a Trump ally and described as a "Trump whisperer" between Europe and Washington, criticised the tensions with Madrid as "not at all positive." Meloni has denied the US permission to use the Sigonella airbase in Sicily for military operations against Iran and called Trump's recent derogatory remarks about the Pope "unacceptable." Trump responded by telling an Italian newspaper that she was "no longer the same person."
The leaked Pentagon email also suggested reviewing the US position on the UK's claim to the Falkland Islands, claimed by Argentina. The apparent motive: Trump's fury at UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer for initially denying a request to use British military bases ahead of the Iran strikes in February. The UK has since allowed the US to use bases for strikes on Iranian sites targeting the Strait of Hormuz, and RAF planes have participated in missions to shoot down Iranian drones. But Starmer insists that deeper involvement and the current blockade are not in Britain's interest.
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was outspoken in his opposition to the US-Israeli strikes from the beginning, describing them as illegal under international law. He immediately denied US forces permission to use Spanish bases for the campaign. Trump's response has been to treat a NATO ally as an adversary.
The alliance fracture is no longer rhetorical. It is now documented in Pentagon correspondence.
At least 14 people were killed and more than 38 injured, including five minors, when an explosive device was detonated on the Pan-American Highway in Cajibio, in Colombia's Cauca region, on Saturday. Cauca Governor Octavio Guzman condemned the "indiscriminate attack" and demanded a "decisive, sustained" response from the national government.
Colombia's Armed Forces commander, General Hugo Lopez, called it a "terrorist act" and blamed the network of Ivan Mordisco, one of the country's most wanted figures, and the Jaime Martinez faction. Both are FARC dissident groups that rejected the 2016 peace agreement and have continued to fight for control of drug trafficking routes through Cauca and Valle del Cauca to the Pacific port of Buenaventura.
The bombing was not an isolated incident. At least 26 separate attacks have occurred in southwestern Colombia in the past 48 hours, including a shooting at a police station in Jamundi, an attack on a Civil Aviation radar facility in El Tambo where authorities took down three explosives-laden drones, and two vehicle bombings near military units in Cali and Palmira. Colombia's Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez was in Palmira for an emergency meeting when the highway bombing occurred.
President Gustavo Petro, himself a former FARC fighter, called the perpetrators "terrorists, fascists, and drug traffickers." But Petro's peace overtures to remaining armed groups have failed to stem the violence. The FARC dissidents who did not demobilise in 2016 now control significant territory and trafficking corridors, and they are showing the country exactly what that control looks like.
The through-line connecting these events is the accelerating fragmentation of the post-1945 order. The Iran war has pushed oil above $106, triggered a fertiliser crisis the UN now calls a humanitarian catastrophe, and driven a wedge between the US and its NATO allies so deep that the Pentagon is drafting emails about suspending member states. Russia sees an opportunity and is pounding Ukrainian cities with the largest drone swarm in days. Israel is using the chaos as cover to escalate in Lebanon. And in the Sahel and South America, armed groups that have nothing to do with Iran or the US are exploiting the global distraction to launch their most ambitious attacks in years.
Trump's decision to cancel the Pakistan envoy trip is the clearest signal yet that the US believes time and economic pressure are on its side. Iran's calculation is the opposite: that it can outlast a blockade and that its closure of Hormuz is leverage, not desperation. Both cannot be right. The data suggests both might be wrong. Iran's oil revenue has actually increased during the blockade. But global fertiliser supplies are running out, and the countries that depend on them are not the ones fighting the war.
The shooting at the Correspondents' Dinner will dominate American news cycles for days. It should not obscure the fact that on the same day, the diplomatic track in the Iran war collapsed, a NATO ally was threatened with suspension by its own alliance, and wars on four continents escalated simultaneously. The correspondents' dinner is a metaphor: the people in the ballroom are taking cover while the world outside catches fire.
Sources: Al Jazeera, BBC News, Reuters, AFP, IRNA, Tasnim News Agency, ISNA, Kpler, US Central Command, Lebanese National News Agency, Malian military statements, FLA spokesman Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, Colombian Armed Forces, US Secret Service, Truth Social (Donald Trump), Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
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