Morning Briefing
A gunman opened fire at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday night, targeting an event attended by Trump and his cabinet — and the political fallout is already ugly. Suspect Cole Tomas Allen, 31, is charged with an alleged assassination attempt, and the Trumps are now using the chaos to go after Jimmy Kimmel. Meanwhile, markets are absolutely ripping: this is shaping up to be one of the biggest single-day rallies in years across every major index.
What Matters Today
- Shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner: California man Cole Tomas Allen, 31, allegedly opened fire at the high-profile Washington event. Investigators say he sought to kill Trump and cabinet officials and had an anti-Christian manifesto. Trump and Melania are already demanding ABC fire Jimmy Kimmel over a pre-dinner parody bit — expect this to dominate the news cycle all week. SBS News
- King Charles visits the White House: The state visit pressed ahead despite the dinner shooting, with Trump assuring Charles he'd be "very safe." Any meeting between the two is being kept off-camera to avoid awkwardness — which tells you everything about the current US-UK dynamic. BBC World
- Australia's defence spending slips in global rankings: New SIPRI data shows Australia's military spend fell in global rankings even as worldwide defence expenditure surges amid war and geopolitical upheaval. The US, China and Russia alone account for more than half of all global defence spending — a stark backdrop for the coming federal election debate on AUKUS and strategic posture. SBS News
- NDIS plans being cut before overhaul is even in place: Families of autistic children say plans are already being slashed or rejected, with bureaucrats telling them to wait for alternative support programs that simply don't exist yet. A deeply concerning preview of what the NDIS shake-up looks like on the ground. Guardian AU
- Indigenous woman dies after housing eviction: Noongar woman Mary Ann Miller died of sepsis while homeless, having fled public housing to escape an allegedly abusive ex-partner. Indigenous leaders are calling it a systemic failure — and they're right. Guardian AU
- Sabastian Sawe breaks the two-hour marathon barrier: Kenya's Sawe ran 1:59-something at the London Marathon — the first time in history the sub-two-hour mark has been broken in an official race. Unlike Kipchoge's controlled attempt, this one counts. SBS News
- Iran-US nuclear talks collapse, Tehran turns to Moscow: Planned Iran-US talks in Pakistan fell apart over the weekend, and Iran's foreign minister has now flown to Moscow to meet Putin. Germany's Merz says the US is being "humiliated" at the negotiating table by Tehran — not a great look for Trump's dealmaking brand. Guardian AU
Markets
Something significant happened over the weekend — this is not a normal trading day. The S&P 500 is up over 12%, the NASDAQ is up nearly 19%, and the Nikkei has surged 13%. The ASX 200 added nearly 3% as well, though it's playing catch-up after the others moved first. The most likely driver is a major de-escalation in US-China trade tensions — possibly a tariff pause or deal signal — which would explain the simultaneous surge in equities, gold (up 4.5% to US$4,695), AUD (up strongly to 0.719), and crypto. Bitcoin has jumped nearly 16% to US$76,900 and Ethereum is up 15% — risk-on is firmly back. If you went to sleep Friday night, the world looks very different this Monday morning.
Worth a Read
- The Correspondents' Dinner shooting, from inside the room: Guardian AU's live coverage includes a great detail — one attendee calmly kept eating his salad as chaos broke out around him. The Guardian's David Smith was in the room and has a podcast account worth hearing. Genuinely wild scene.
- Kevin Rudd's warning on green energy: Rudd says Australians will call "bullshit" on the energy transition unless they see tangible cost benefits. Blunt, and probably correct — worth reading ahead of what's shaping up as an energy-heavy election campaign.
- Kim Jong Un opens a memorial for North Korean soldiers killed in Ukraine: BBC World reports the ceremony was attended by Russia's Defence Minister. North Korea is now openly commemorating its war dead from a conflict it officially denies participating in. The brazenness here is notable.
- State Library of NSW turns 200: Guardian AU has a gorgeous photo gallery of 200 standout objects from the collection — including Shelley's hair and a copy of Schindler's list. A rare piece of good-news culture worth five minutes of your morning.