Washington, United States:&nbsp;World leaders expressed shock after a shooter charged a glitzy media gala in Washington on Saturday night attended by US President Donald Trump -- and relief that there were no casualties. US law enforcement said the sole suspect, armed with &quot;a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives,&quot; has been detained and will face charges Monday in federal court. Here is how leaders reacted: <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Shehbaz Sharif&nbsp;</h2>The Pakistani prime minister wrote he was &quot;deeply shocked by the disturbing shooting incident.&quot; &quot;Relieved to know that President Trump, the First Lady, and other attendees are safe. My thoughts and prayers are with him, and I wish him continued safety and well-being,&quot; Sharif wrote on X. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Keir Starmer&nbsp;</h2>Britain&#39;s prime minister said he was &quot;shocked by the scenes at the White House Correspondents&#39; Dinner in Washington overnight.&quot; &quot;Any attack on democratic institutions or on the freedom of the press must be condemned in the strongest possible terms,&quot; Starmer wrote on X on Sunday. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Mark Carney&nbsp;</h2>The Canadian prime minister said he was &quot;relieved that the President, the First Lady, and all guests are safe.&quot; &quot;Political violence has no place in any democracy and my thoughts are with all those who have been shaken by this disturbing event,&quot; Carney wrote on X. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Claudia Sheinbaum&nbsp;</h2>The Mexican president wrote on X that &quot;it is good that President Trump and his wife are safe following the recent events. We send them our respect.&quot; &quot;Violence must never be the way,&quot; Sheinbaum added. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Pedro Sanchez&nbsp;</h2>Spain&#39;s prime minister condemned what he called &quot;the attack that took place tonight against President (Trump).&quot; &quot;Violence is never the answer. Humanity will only move forward through democracy, coexistence, and peace,&quot; Sanchez wrote on X. Emmanuel Macron France&#39;s President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday that the incident of a shooter charging a glitzy media gala attended by US President Donald Trump was &quot;unacceptable&quot;. &quot;The armed attack targeting the president of the United States last night is unacceptable. Violence has no place in a democracy,&quot; he said on X.&nbsp; &quot;I extend my full support to Donald Trump.&quot; Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the incident, saying: &quot;In democracies, struggles are waged with ideas; there is no place for any form of violence&quot;. Ursula von der Leyen The EU chief said on X: &quot;Violence has no place in politics, ever&quot; and lauded &quot;the swift action of the police and responders for ensuring the safety of the guests&quot;. Giorgia Meloni Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her &quot;full solidarity and sincere sympathy&quot; to Trump and the others present at the event. &quot;Political hatred has no place in our democracies. We will not allow fanaticism to poison the spaces of free debate and information,&quot; she said.

Americas

World leaders express shock after a shooter charged a glitzy media gala in Washington on Saturday night, attended by US President Donald Trump -- and relief that there were no casualties.

World leaders react to Washington gala shooting

JERUSALEM: Israel said on Friday it had blocked Spain from participating in the work of a US-led center established to help stabilize post-war Gaza following the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) in Kiryat Gat was set up after the ceasefire took effect on October 10, with the goal of monitoring the truce and facilitating the flow of humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory. As part of the CMCC, military personnel and diplomats from several other countries including France, Britain and the United Arab Emirates are also present and participate in meetings on security and humanitarian issues in Gaza, devastated by more than two years of Israeli siege. Representatives of Spain were also participating in the work of CMCC until now. But on Friday, Israel&#39;s foreign ministry announced it was preventing Spain from attending CMCC meetings. &quot;The Sanchez government&#39;s anti-Israel bias is so egregious that it has lost all capability to serve as a constructive actor in implementing President Trump&#39;s peace plan in the CMCC,&quot; Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a statement. &quot;Spain will not be permitted to participate in the CMCC in Kiryat Gat.&quot; Relations between Israel and Spain have deteriorated significantly since Madrid recognized a Palestinian state in 2024. Both countries have withdrawn their ambassadors. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel&#39;s war on Gaza. He had also opposed the US-Israeli military strikes on Iran that began on February 28. Sarr has previously accused the Spanish government of &quot;standing with tyrants&quot; by opposing the US-Israeli attacks on Iran. He also accused Spain of being &quot;complicit in inciting genocide against Jews and war crimes&quot; after it recognized a Palestinian state. Spain only established diplomatic ties with Israel in 1986 following the death of dictator General Francisco Franco in 1975. Under Franco, Spain avoided recognizing Israel and maintained closer diplomatic ties with Arab states.

Flames rise after a strike on the vehicle of Palestinian journalist Mohammed Washeha in southern Gaza City on April 8, 2026. (AFP)

Middle East

Israel bars Spain from a US-led Gaza coordination center, citing Madrid’s pro-Palestinian stance, as tensions rise after Spain recognized Palestinian statehood and criticized Israel’s war on Gaza.

Israel blocks Spain from US-led center monitoring Gaza truce

ADAMUZ: Officials in Spain said the death toll from a high-speed train collision in the south of the country, currently at 39, could rise further, with rescuers at work on the mangled wreckage. It is already Spain&#39;s deadliest train accident since 2013, when 80 people died after a train veered off a curved section of track outside the northwestern city of Santiago de Compostela. The crash happened late Sunday when a train operated by rail company Iryo travelling from Malaga to Madrid derailed near Adamuz in Andalucia. It crossed onto the other track, where it crashed into an oncoming train, which also derailed. The interior ministry said 39 people died. Over 120 people were injured, with 48, including five children, still in hospital, regional emergency services said. Of those, 12 were in intensive care. Heavy machinery was being deployed to lift the most severely damaged train carriages, the head of the regional government of Andalucia, Juan Manuel Moreno told reporters. &quot;Unfortunately, it is quite possible that additional victims will be found beneath the twisted wreckage. The goal is to identify the victims as quickly as possible,&quot; he added. The cause of the derailment was not yet known. Unlike the 2013 accident, the derailment occurred on a straight section of track, and the trains were travelling within the speed limit, officials said. &#39;Extremely strange&#39;Transport Minister Oscar Puente said the first train to derail was &quot;practically new&quot; and the section of the track where the disaster happened had been recently renovated, making the accident &quot;extremely strange&quot;. Train operator Iryo said the locomotive was built in 2022 and last inspected just three days before the accident. It said it &quot;veered onto the adjacent track for still unknown reasons&quot;. The company said around 300 people were on board its service from the Andalusian city of Malaga to the capital, Madrid. Renfe, the operator of the second train travelling to the southern city of Huelva, said it was carrying 184 passengers. Human error has &quot;been practically ruled out,&quot; Renfe president Alvaro Fernandez Heredia told Spanish public radio RNE. &quot;It must be related to Iryo&#39;s rolling stock or an infrastructure issue,&quot; he added. PM heads to sceneThe stretch of track where the accident happened had a speed limit of 250 kilometres per hour (155 miles per hour), Heredia said. One train was travelling at 205 kilometres per hour, and the other 210 kilometres per hour, he added. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was to visit the site of the disaster later on Monday, his office said. &quot;Today is a night of deep pain for our country owing to the tragic rail accident in Adamuz,&quot; he wrote on X on Sunday night, adding: &quot;No words can alleviate such great suffering.&quot; Spain has Europe&#39;s largest high-speed rail network, with more than 3,000 kilometres of dedicated tracks connecting major cities including Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Valencia and Malaga. Emergency services said they struggled to free the hundreds of passengers trapped in the wreckage. &quot;The problem is that the carriages are twisted, so the metal is twisted with the people inside,&quot; Francisco Carmona, head of firefighters in Cordoba, told public broadcaster RTVE. A passenger on the second train who gave only her first name, Montse, told Spanish public television the train, jolted, &quot;came to a complete stop and everything went dark&quot;. She described being thrown around in the carriage at the back end of the train and seeing luggage tumble onto other passengers. &quot;The attendant behind me hit her head and was bleeding. There were children crying,&quot; she added. &quot;Luckily, I was in the last car. I feel like I was given a second chance at life.&quot; Police were focused at the moment &quot;on identifying the victims and carrying out forensic work,&quot; a Civil Guard spokeswoman, Rosa Reina, told reporters in the village of Adamuz. French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were among world leaders offering condolences.

Europe

Spanish media reports suggested that a total of 400 people have been on the two trains; PM Sanchez says "closely monitoring" situation, Madrid region’s president says hospitals available to the Andalusia region if required.

Articles tagged with "Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez"

World leaders react to Washington gala shooting

Israel blocks Spain from US-led center monitoring Gaza truce

High-speed train collision in Spain kills 39, injures dozens

World leaders react to Washington gala shooting