Iran State TV Hacked with Image of Khamenei in Crosshairs

Moments from the hacking of the Iranian news channel by the "Edalat-e Ali” group on Saturday evening (Reuters)
Moments from the hacking of the Iranian news channel by the "Edalat-e Ali” group on Saturday evening (Reuters)
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Iran State TV Hacked with Image of Khamenei in Crosshairs

Moments from the hacking of the Iranian news channel by the "Edalat-e Ali” group on Saturday evening (Reuters)
Moments from the hacking of the Iranian news channel by the "Edalat-e Ali” group on Saturday evening (Reuters)

Hackers supporting Iran's wave of women-led protests interrupted a state TV news broadcast with an image of gun-sight crosshairs and flames over an image of supreme leader Ali Khamenei, in footage widely shared online on Sunday.

In other anti-regime messages, activists have spray-painted "Death to Khamenei" and "The police are the murderers of the people" on billboards in Tehran, said AFP.

"The blood of our youths is on your hands," read an on-screen message that flashed up briefly during the TV broadcast Saturday evening, as street protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, again rocked Tehran and other cities.

"Police forces used tear gas to disperse the crowds in dozens of locations in Tehran," state news agency IRNA reported, adding that the demonstrators "chanted slogans and set fire to and damaged public property, including a police booth".

Anger has flared since the death of Amini on September 16, three days after she was arrested by the notorious morality police for an alleged breach of the Iranian republic's strict dress code for women.

"Join us and rise up," read another message in the TV hack claimed by the group Edalat-e Ali (Ali's Justice).

It also posted pictures of Amini and three other women killed in the crackdown that has claimed at least 95 lives according to Norway-based group Iran Human Rights.

Another 90 people were killed in Iran's far southeast, in unrest on September 30 sparked by the alleged rape of a teenage girl by a police chief in Sistan-Baluchestan province, said IHR, citing the UK-based Baluch Activists Campaign.

One Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps member was killed Saturday in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province, and a member of the IRGC's Basij paramilitary force died in Tehran from "a serious head injury following an armed attack by a mob," IRNA said -- in killings that raised the death toll among security forces to 14.

- Bloody crackdown -
Iran has been torn by the biggest wave of social unrest in almost three years, which has seen protesters including university students and even young schoolgirls chant "Woman, Life, Freedom".

In Amini's hometown Saqez, Kurdistan, schoolgirls chanted and marched down a street waving their hijab headscarves in the air, in videos the Hengaw rights group said were recorded on Saturday.

Gruesome footage has emerged from the state's often bloody response, spread online despite widespread internet outages and blocks on all the major social media platforms.

One video shows a man who was shot dead at the wheel of his car in Sanandaj, Kurdistan's capital, where the province's police chief, Ali Azadi, later charged he was "killed by anti-revolutionary forces".

Angry men then appear to take revenge on a member of the feared Basij militia, swarming him and beating him badly, in another widely shared video.

Yet another video clip shows a young woman said to have been shot dead in Mashhad in the country's northeast.

Many on social media said it evoked images of Neda Agha Soltan, a young woman who became an enduring symbol of the Iranian opposition after she was shot dead at protests in 2009.

- 'Not afraid anymore' -
In the face of the violence and the online restrictions, protesters have adopted new tactics to spread their message of resistance in public spaces.

"We are not afraid anymore. We will fight," read one large banner placed on an overpass of Tehran's Modares highway, seen in images verified by AFP.

In other footage, a man with a spray can is seen altering the wording of a government billboard on the same highway from "The police are the servants of the people" to "The police are the murderers of the people".

Several water features in the Iranian capital were said to have been colored blood-red, although the head of city's municipality parks organization Ali Mohamad Mokhtari insisted that "this information is completely false".

Iran has accused outside forces of stirring up the protests, as solidarity rallies have been worldwide. The United States, European Union and other governments have imposed new sanctions on Iran.

Iranian army commander Abdolrahim Mousavi said the force "will not permit any interference and aggression by any foreign powers in the country's internal affairs", IRNA reported Sunday.

IRNA also said students at universities in Tehran and in Bushehr in the country's south organized gatherings to condemn "the actions of rioters".

Iranian pop singer Shervin Hajipour -- who was arrested after his song "Baraye" went viral online and became a protest anthem -- appeared back in an Instagram video Sunday for the first time since his release.

In a short message, the 25-year-old denied links to any "movement or organization outside the country" and said his song was only meant to "express solidarity with the people".



French FM: US's Hormuz Coalition 'Not in Competition' with France, UK-led Bid

French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and French Government Spokesperson Maud Bregeon attend the questions to the government session at the National Assembly in Paris, France, April 28, 2026. REUTERS/Abdul Saboor
French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and French Government Spokesperson Maud Bregeon attend the questions to the government session at the National Assembly in Paris, France, April 28, 2026. REUTERS/Abdul Saboor
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French FM: US's Hormuz Coalition 'Not in Competition' with France, UK-led Bid

French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and French Government Spokesperson Maud Bregeon attend the questions to the government session at the National Assembly in Paris, France, April 28, 2026. REUTERS/Abdul Saboor
French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and French Government Spokesperson Maud Bregeon attend the questions to the government session at the National Assembly in Paris, France, April 28, 2026. REUTERS/Abdul Saboor

France's top diplomat on Friday said a new US-led coalition to reopen the Strait of Hormuz would complement and not compete with a similar mission spearheaded by France and Britain.

Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, speaking in Abu Dhabi following a regional tour, said he briefed Gulf allies on the UK-France initiative which was now at an "advanced" stage.

On Thursday, a US official confirmed to AFP that Washington was launching an international coalition dubbed the "Maritime Freedom Construct" to restart shipping in the vital route.

The strait, which normally carries one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas, has been effectively blockaded by Iran over the Middle East war, sending prices soaring and choking trade networks.

The UK and France have led talks on a separate maritime effort, recently holding a meeting with more than 50 countries in London.

The US mission is "not of the same nature as the one we established... it comes as a sort of complement", Barrot said in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, following visits to Saudi Arabia and Oman.

"It is not in competition with the initiative we have launched and on which we are focused," he added.

The Wall Street Journal said a reported diplomatic cable called on US embassies to press foreign governments to take part in the US-led effort.

Asked whether France would join Washington's initiative, Barrot said he could not comment at this stage.

The UK-France mission "is now at an advanced stage, the planning has been finalized, and I have come to present the concept of this mission to a number of our closest partners in the region,” he added.

US President Donald Trump has lashed out at allies' reluctance to get involved in the US-Israeli war on Iran, and previously urged oil-reliant nations to take responsibility for reopening the strait.

Iran has vowed not to reopen the waterway as long as the United States blockades its ports. The closure has had a widespread impact on the global economy, with oil prices hitting a four-year high this week.


Prosecutors Release Video of Armed Man Storming Correspondents’ Dinner

White House Correspondents' Association Dinner shooting suspect Cole Tomas Allen sprints past security personnel in a screengrab form security camera video, at Washington Hilton Hotel, Washington DC, US, April 25, 2026. (US Attorney Jeanine Pirro via X/Handout via Reuters)
White House Correspondents' Association Dinner shooting suspect Cole Tomas Allen sprints past security personnel in a screengrab form security camera video, at Washington Hilton Hotel, Washington DC, US, April 25, 2026. (US Attorney Jeanine Pirro via X/Handout via Reuters)
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Prosecutors Release Video of Armed Man Storming Correspondents’ Dinner

White House Correspondents' Association Dinner shooting suspect Cole Tomas Allen sprints past security personnel in a screengrab form security camera video, at Washington Hilton Hotel, Washington DC, US, April 25, 2026. (US Attorney Jeanine Pirro via X/Handout via Reuters)
White House Correspondents' Association Dinner shooting suspect Cole Tomas Allen sprints past security personnel in a screengrab form security camera video, at Washington Hilton Hotel, Washington DC, US, April 25, 2026. (US Attorney Jeanine Pirro via X/Handout via Reuters)

Federal prosecutors released a video Thursday showing the moment authorities say a man armed with guns and knives tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner and attempt to kill President Donald Trump.

Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for Washington, posted the video on social media amid questions over whose bullet struck a Secret Service officer as Cole Tomas Allen ran through security with a long gun toward the hotel ballroom packed with journalists, administration officials and others.

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, however, said Thursday that there is no evidence that the officer was hit by friendly fire.

The video appears to show Allen run through a magnetometer and point his weapon at the agent, who fired back five times, according to authorities. It's not clear from the video at what moment Allen's weapon fires.

Allen was injured but was not shot during the Saturday night attack at the Washington Hilton, which disrupted one of the highest-profile annual events in the nation’s capital.

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

Secret Service Director Sean Curran defended the agency's security plan for the event and said he would not change it. He said in a Fox News interview that the attack was stopped within seconds at the outermost perimeter of a multi-layered security bubble around the president.

The distance from the magnetometers to the podium where Trump was seated was 355 feet, with two sets of stairs, a doorway and many more armed Secret Service officers in between, he said.

"The site was set up perfectly," Curran said.

The nearly six-minute video released by Pirro shows 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 about a dozen federal officers taking down magnetometers and casually standing around when the 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.

In court papers pressing for Allen's continued detention, prosecutors wrote Wednesday that Allen took a picture of himself in his hotel room just minutes before the incident, and that he was outfitted with an ammunition bag, a shoulder gun holster and a sheathed knife.

In a message that authorities say sheds light on his motive, Allen referred to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin” and alluded obliquely to grievances over a range of Trump administration actions.

Allen’s lawyers agreed during the brief hearing before US Magistrate Moxila Upadhyaya to keep their client behind bars for now after initially arguing in court papers that Allen should be released.

In a court filing Wednesday, the defense wrote that the government’s case is “based upon inferences drawn about Mr. Allen’s intent that raise more questions than answers” and noted that Allen’s writings never mentioned Trump by name. The defense left the door open to pressing in the future for Allen’s release before trial.

“The government’s evidence of the charged offense — the attempted assassination of the president — is thus built entirely upon speculation, even under the most generous reading of its theory,” defense lawyers wrote.

Allen was charged on Monday with that crime, as well as 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.

Allen, 31, is from Torrance, California. He worked as a part-time tutor for a test preparation company and is an amateur video game developer.


Russian Attack Hit Port Infrastructure in Ukraine’s Odesa Region, Officials Say

Burned buses following a Russian strike on a residential area in Odesa, southwestern Ukraine, 30 April 2026. (EPA)
Burned buses following a Russian strike on a residential area in Odesa, southwestern Ukraine, 30 April 2026. (EPA)
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Russian Attack Hit Port Infrastructure in Ukraine’s Odesa Region, Officials Say

Burned buses following a Russian strike on a residential area in Odesa, southwestern Ukraine, 30 April 2026. (EPA)
Burned buses following a Russian strike on a residential area in Odesa, southwestern Ukraine, 30 April 2026. (EPA)

A Russian drone attack overnight damaged port infrastructure in Ukraine's southern Odesa region and wounded two people in the city of ‌Odesa, regional ‌governor Oleh Kiper said ‌on ⁠Friday.

In Odesa, an ⁠apartment was destroyed and the roof caught fire following strikes on a 16-storey building. In another high-rise, the ⁠fire engulfed the ‌12th ‌floor, emergency services said.

They posted ‌photos of a high-rise ‌building ablaze and firefighters working at the sites.

Ukraine's seaports authority said ports ‌in the Greater Odesa hub and on the ⁠Danube ⁠River came under attack.

It said the strikes caused damage to the berthing and storage facilities and started local fires, which were promptly brought under control.

The ports continue to operate, it added.