Footage from the security checkpoint shows officers taking down magnetometers when the alleged gunman emerges from a doorway and starts sprinting toward them with a firearm

Prosecutors have shared a video of the moment authorities say an armed man stormed the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in an attempt to kill the US president.

Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for Washington, posted the video on social media on Thursday, April 30. The nearly six-minute video shows the alleged gunman, Cole Tomas Allen, walking back and forth down a hallway the day before the attack, and briefly checking out the hotel gym.

Footage from the security checkpoint shows federal officers taking down magnetometers when the alleged gunman emerges from a doorway and starts sprinting toward them. The gunman quickly reaches the officers before most of them appear to notice him.

Only one officer visible in the video appears to have drawn his gun before the gunman passed; Pirro said he’s the one who was shot and returned fire.

Prosecutors had previously claimed the agent was shot in the bullet-resistant vest during the melee, but had not confirmed it was Allen who shot the agent. Pirro said that there is no evidence that the officer was hit by friendly fire.

Allen, 31, from California, was injured but was not shot during the incident at the Washington Hilton, which disrupted the event packed with journalists and administration officials, including top-ranking leaders.

Allen earlier on Thursday agreed to remain jailed while he awaits trial. He did not enter a plea during his brief appearance in federal court.

Court papers state that Allen took a picture of himself in his hotel room minutes before the incident, and that he was outfitted with an ammunition bag, a shoulder gun holster and a sheathed knife.

Allen reportedly referred to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin” and alluded to grievances over a range of Trump administration actions.

He was charged on Monday with the attempted assassination of the president and two additional firearms counts, including discharging a weapon during a crime of violence.

He faces up to life in prison if convicted of the assassination count alone.

The summer holidays are almost here

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Passengers flying with easyJet have been reminded about an “important” 30-day rule – and ignoring it could cause a few issues. According to the airline, the online check-in process, which is “quick and easy”, should be done anywhere from 30 days up until 2 hours before departure.

And with many gearing up for the summer holidays, the more organised you are, the faster you can board without all the hassle.

Travellers are reminded: “You can check in between 30 days and 2 hours before your flight departs and you can download or print your boarding passes for all your flights. You may need your passport or identity card and we‘ll ask you to confirm your contact details.”

You can store your boarding pass in the free easyJet mobile app or print it out. A PDF on your phone won’t work because airport security can’t scan it. If you lose it, you can print it again – make sure it’s printed clearly.

You may need a new boarding pass

easyJet stress: “If you make any change to your booking – like adding hold luggage or flight changes – make sure you check in again, and print off a new boarding pass.”

It adds: “If you have any technical problems whilst checking in, please don’t give up and do try again later. If you continue to have difficulty, please ask our ground crew for help when checking in at the airport: this must be done before the bag drop closing time.”

“You’ll miss your flight”

Urging people to read its “important timings” section, easyJet stresses that all passengers need to ensure they have all documents ready and arrive at the airport in time or risk missing their flight.

It reads: “These are the important timings when you travel with us. You need to have all your documents ready and leave enough time to get through the airport so that you can be on time for your flight. If you’re late, we may not accept you for travel and you’ll miss your flight.

“All timings are based on your flight’s scheduled departure time. Unless we tell you otherwise, these timings still apply even if your flight is delayed, as we always do what we can to make up any delay.”

The budget airline flies to over 150 destinations across Europe and North Africa. It also operates from a host of airports and in an exciting update for holidaymakers, it introduced new flights to the Canary Islands, Egypt, France, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Poland and Slovenia.

The new routes will launch in winter this year, and will see easyJet be the only airline to offer some of these holiday hotspots from three UK airports.

What’s the point of play? Is it simply a way to keep children occupied, or something more? For some, it’s about learning literacy and numeracy. For others, it’s how friendships form and relationships deepen. But it can be all of these at once, and more.

Most parents recognise that play matters. But there’s less agreement on what kind of play is best. Should children be guided towards activities designed to build specific skills, like sports for coordination, or construction for maths and engineering? Or should the child’s own interests lead the way, regardless of perceived educational value?

Our research focuses on a type of play often dismissed as “just for fun” – playing with dolls. Across a series of studies, we found that doll play can help children understand other people’s thoughts and feelings. This is a skill that underpins social interaction throughout life.

There is pressure on parents to create the “right” environment for development, often filled with toys that promise clear educational outcomes. STEM-focused toys (science, technology, engineering and maths), in particular, are widely seen as beneficial for learning. Doll play, on the other hand, can be viewed as having little educational benefit.

Our findings challenge that assumption.

More than make-believe

When playing with dolls, children often play out scenes between characters. These may seem simple on the surface but could present opportunities for the child to develop social and emotional skills.

As parents, it seems obvious that playmates are important for building and learning about relationships and other people, and recognising others’ emotions (empathy). But what if children can develop these skills even when playing alone?

Previous studies have found that children who engage more in pretend play tend to have stronger social understanding and empathy. Earlier studies, however, didn’t often use controlled methods to separate out the different factors linking pretend play and social understanding.

So, we set out to test this more directly. We worked with children aged four to eight, assessing their ability to understand that others can hold different beliefs and desires to their own. This is an important milestone in social development. If children recognise that their own mental states may vary from others, this should help them better understand other people and know how to interact with them.

After that initial assessment session, children were randomly assigned either a set of dolls or a tablet with open-ended creative games. They were asked to play several times a week, with parents logging how and when play occurred. We didn’t instruct children how to play because we wanted to understand their natural behaviour.

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After approximately six weeks, both sets of children came back and again completed the task about understanding others’ mental states. We found that the children who had been assigned dolls to play with, rather than tablets, showed a greater improvement in their understanding of others’ mental states during the intervening period.

The findings suggest that doll play can actively support the development of social understanding. This is consistent with prior research of ours showing that areas of the brain linked to social processing are activated during doll play, and that children use more language about thoughts and feelings when playing with dolls than when using tablets.

Why it matters beyond childhood

For parents, the message is reassuring – playing with dolls lets children practice skills that they can also use when playing with playmates, like understanding others, anticipating behaviour and responding appropriately.

These abilities matter far beyond childhood. They help us collaborate, resolve conflicts and navigate relationships. In a world that often feels increasingly divided, the capacity to see things from another person’s perspective is not just useful – it’s essential.

Reports of ants rocket in the UK during spring as they emerge from their winter homes but they can be hard to clear

Finding you have a stream of ants around your garden or even inside your home can be annoying and uncomfortable. According to pest clearing experts Pest UK, April is the time of year that they get most enquiries on how to clear the insects.

It said: “Depending on the weather they come out of hibernation (or over wintering, insects don’t hibernate in the same way that mammals and rodents do) in March or early April. Often ants in April will forage inside buildings as it may still be too cold outside.

“When its cold they can be difficult to control. The reasons for this are that the metabolism of the ants is still slow and so any uptake of insecticide will take time to work.

“Another reason is that only part of the nest may be active which means that it may take some time for ants from the rest of the nest to come into contact with the insecticides. The ants that you are seeing probably come from several nests.

“They follow pheromone trails left by ants and these trails will attract ants from many different nests. Control is not just finding the nest and killing it because most cases it will not just be one ants’ nest.”

The firm said it uses insecticide bait, a residual insecticide spray or a residual insecticide dust, adding that one or more of these types of treatments may be carried out.

However if you want to try a home grown treatment one expert set out their method using “ingredients you probably already have”. Thach Nguyen, a real estate expert, said: “If you got ant problem in your rental house or even your own primary house, here’s the way how to get rid of it.

“Now you probably have these ingredients already in house, Borox, sugar, cotton balls and water.” He said you should mix together three-quarters of a cup of water, one-quarter cup of sugar and three-quarters of a tablespoon of this Borax.

While Borax is not available on general sale in the UK Borax substitutes that are available will do the same job. These cost as little as £6 for 500g on Amazon.

The expert explained: “Then you take the cotton ball, say, like two or three or four of them, depending how many you need. You dip it inside this mixture where you made then you put these cotton balls where you see a lot, where the ant comes out, and you put it there.

“And then basically, they come and they got to drink this stuff. They’re gonna bring it back to the nest.

“They’re gonna kill all the colony. Now, the next day you wake up, you’re gonna see you ain’t have no ants.”

Metformin is the main treatment for type 2 diabetes but research is also investigating its potential for other conditions, including PCOS

People taking Metformin, the primary treatment for type 2 diabetes, have been informed that it can deliver numerous additional beneficial effects – alongside some adverse ones. Writing on The Conversation website, Dipa Kamdar, Senior Lecturer in Pharmacy Practice at Kingston University, explained that it has helped millions manage their blood sugar levels, and has sparked renewed research interest in areas ranging from ageing and cancer to cardiovascular health and fertility.

The drug originates from a plant called galega officinalis, also known as French lilac or goat’s rue, which was originally used in folk remedies for symptoms now understood to be linked with diabetes, such as excessive thirst and frequent urination. During the early 20th century, scientists extracted blood sugar-lowering compounds from the plant, Ms Kamdar explained. Following years of development and clinical testing, metformin proved to be a relatively safe and effective treatment, and was launched in the UK during the late 1950s.

Clinical trials demonstrated that Metformin was successful at reducing glucose levels while also decreasing diabetes-related complications. It subsequently became the principal treatment for type 2 diabetes throughout much of the world.

Scientists are currently investigating whether Metformin could be beneficial for other conditions. Ms Kamdar said: “One common off-label use, meaning a medicine is prescribed for a condition it has not officially been approved to treat, is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

“Many people with PCOS have insulin resistance, which means their bodies do not respond properly to insulin and need to produce more of it to keep blood glucose stable. High insulin levels can stimulate the ovaries to produce more androgens, a group of hormones that includes testosterone.

“Raised androgen levels can disrupt ovulation and contribute to irregular or absent periods. By improving insulin sensitivity, metformin can help reduce these effects and may help regulate the menstrual cycle.”

Ms Kamdar revealed the drug was also being investigated for its potential impact on ageing and longevity. She said: “Although early findings are intriguing, there is still no conclusive evidence that it slows ageing in humans, and it is not approved for that purpose.

“Some research has suggested that metformin may have neuroprotective effects, meaning it could help protect the brain and nervous system, particularly with long-term use. But the evidence is inconsistent, and large, long-term clinical trials are still needed to determine whether metformin really can protect against dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases.”

Those taking Metformin may encounter side-effects, Ms Kamdar noted – amongst them nausea, stomach discomfort, diarrhoea, changes in taste, and loss of appetite. More seriously, users can also be affected by vitamin B12 deficiency, which has consistently been observed in people with type 2 diabetes who take metformin. “This may happen because the drug reduces how well vitamin B12 is absorbed in the gut.

“Over time, low vitamin B12 can lead to anaemia or peripheral neuropathy. Anaemia means the body does not have enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen properly, while peripheral neuropathy refers to nerve damage, usually in the hands or feet, that can cause tingling, numbness, pain or weakness.”

Read the full article here.

Confirming the news, Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: “In honor of the King and Queen of the United Kingdom, who have just left the White House, soon headed back to their wonderful Country, I will be removing the Tariffs and Restrictions on Whiskey having to do with Scotland’s ability to work with the Commonwealth of Kentucky on Whiskey and Bourbon, two very important Industries within Scotland and Kentucky.

Firefighters are tackling the wildfire as it continues to burn throughout the night

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A fire in the peak district is causing clouds of smoke in the Glossop area as residents are issued warning by the fire service.

There is a wildfire burning into the early hours of Friday, May 1 off Snake Pass in the Peak District.

Snake Pass is a 26-mile scenic route in the Peak District National Park linking Sheffield and Manchester.

Partners from the Fire Operations Group (FOG) are currently dealing with the blaze.

The fire service were first informed of the incident at 8.58pm on Thursday, April 30 and flames continue to burn.

There is a large amount of smoke coming from the inferno according to Derbyshire Fire and rescue Service.

Residents have been issued a warning to shut all windows and doors as firefighters work to control the blaze.

A spokesperson for the fire service said: “We received the call at 8.58pm on April 30. The fire is likely to be causing a smoke plume in and around the Glossop area.

“Keep windows & doors closed.”

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service have already put out a warning ahead of summer after there have already been six wildfires in the area this year.

Official data has revealed there have been 83 wildfires across Greater Manchester since 2021, including a significant rise in 2025 when 38 incidents were recorded.

Six wildfires have already been recorded so far in 2026, with warmer and drier conditions during the spring and summer likely to increase the risk, GMFRS said.

“Recent incidents have also highlighted the challenges faced by firefighters tackling wildfires,” a spokesperson said. “Crews have responded to multiple large-scale moorland fires in difficult terrain, often working for extended periods in remote locations and changing conditions to bring incidents under control and prevent further escalation.”

The US justice department says the video also shows Allen “casing the area” at the hotel, on the day before the dinner, when prosecutors say the defendant checked in as a guest. It appears to show him walking down a hotel corridor on the eve of the gala and popping into the hotel gym.

Further statements will be provided to give background to the treatment and care Laura Vasilisina received before her death.

A coroner will review the mental health treatment and care received by a teenager before her death. Laura Vasilisina died aged 19 at her home in Cambridge.

The hearing by Coroner Simon Milburn took place on Wednesday, April 29, at Vantage House in Huntingdon. Mr Milburn decided the inquest will need to look at the treatment and care Miss Vasilisina received for her mental health and drug and alcohol use before her death.

Miss Vasilisina had been in contact with the liaison psychiatry service provided by Cambridge University Hospitals. She was being treated for a history of drugs and alcohol use that had affected her mental health, and had also been in contact with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

A toxicology report showed there was a mix of drugs and alcohol in her system at the time of her death. Further statements will be provided by the liaison psychiatry service and doctors who had been in contact with Miss Vasilisina before her death.

The pre-inquest heard that Miss Vasilisina’s treatment and care history prior to her death “will be relevant to the background” for the inquest. The inquest was adjourned and will be reviewed in 12 weeks after the statements have been provided.

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