- The struggle to keep track of Gaza war deaths
- China cuts another key interest rate to boost economy
- Restarting nuclear power plants: the unprecedented gamble in the US
- US state executes man despite conviction doubts
- Asylum seeker lifts South Korea hopes at Homeless World Cup
- Hostages freed in Gaza truce pine for those left behind
- Pope offers refuge to Myanmar's jailed Suu Kyi: report
- Tragic tale of two West Bank teenagers freed in Gaza truce
- US intel warns of Iran threats to assassinate Trump: campaign
- In election, Hollywood is about cash not endorsements
- UK foreign minister Lammy seeks 'strongest position' for Ukraine
- Macron presses Iran president for Lebanon de-escalation
- UNRWA fears new 'tragedy' as Lebanon violence adds strain: chief to AFP
- Russia mulls ban on 'childless propaganda'
- Blackwater founder probed by Venezuela over anti-Maduro campaign
- Crypto CEO and Bankman-Fried ex Caroline Ellison gets two-year sentence
- Hezbollah announces death of commander after strike on south Beirut
- Tatum hungry for more after breakthrough Celtics success
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs sued for alleged 2001 rape
- Biden pleads for democracy in emotional UN farewell
- New York area port prepares for possible US strike disruption
- Rodri 'irreplaceable' but Guardiola confident Man City will still compete
- Brook 'relieved' as maiden ODI hundred sets up first win as England captain
- Dior's arrows and Amazons as Saint Laurent revives its master
- Mbappe strikes again as Madrid hold off Alaves
- Nkunku hits Chelsea hat-trick, Man City edge into League Cup last 16
- Amnesty calls for commission to probe Kenya protest deaths
- Bolivian government rejects Morales ultimatum for cabinet reshuffle
- US Congress calls on Novo Nordisk to lower drug prices
- Stock markets advance on China stimulus
- Russia 'can only be forced into peace," Zelensky tells UN
- Hundred hero Brook keeps England alive in Australia ODI series
- Biden pleads for democracy in final UN address
- Brook's hundred sees England beat Australia in 3rd ODI
- Alarm grows as Israel and Hezbollah exchange intense fire
- NFL legend Favre reveals Parkinson's diagnosis
- Biden urges world to 'stop arming generals' in Sudan
- Defying experts, Trump vows tariff-driven US economic boom
- Stokes open to England white-ball return
- No peak oil demand 'on the horizon', phaseout a 'fantasy': OPEC
- Sri Lanka's new leftist leader dissolves parliament, calls snap polls
- England scrum-half Mitchell to see specialist on neck injury
- Under-pressure Masood to lead Pakistan in England Tests
- Storm Helene on track to hit Florida as major hurricane
- IOC should reinstate Russia as soon it obeys rules: Samaranch
- Dior unleashes arrows and Amazons at Paris Fashion Week
- San Siro loses 2027 Champions League final due to uncertain future
- Canada's Trudeau faces no-confidence vote
- AI research uncovers 300 ancient etchings in Peru's Nazca desert
- Brazil's Lula calls Security Council makeup 'unacceptable'
Biden, Trevor Noah headline White House journalists' gala dinner
The president and jokes are back, the Covid masks are off and the White House Correspondents' Dinner -- Saturday's glitzy party mixing Washington politics, media and Hollywood -- is on.
The White House press corps association, the WHCA, has hosted presidents for an annual black tie dinner starting with Calvin Coolidge in 1924.
But the televised Washington social juggernaut -- beloved by some, maligned as cringe-worthy by others -- shuddered to a halt under the twin impacts of Donald Trump's media-bashing presidency, then Covid-19.
So to gather 2,600 invitees at the Washington Hilton, scene of the 1981 assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan, offers a restorative return to the familiar, with President Joe Biden on hand to hear himself being roasted by Daily Show host Trevor Noah.
Some dub the WHCA get-together the "Nerd Prom," referring to the giddy excitement of often less-than-glamorous journalists as they mix it up for a night with the rich and powerful.
While peak glitz was under Barack Obama's Hollywood-connected presidency, Saturday's version will feature guests including Kim Kardashian, an opening video skit by British comedian James Corden and a raft of competing after-parties.
- Covid, Ukraine cast shadows -
Covid-19 vaccination is mandatory for the gala, but many question the wisdom of 79-year-old Biden joining. His vice president, Kamala Harris, tested positive for the virus last week and the country's senior infectious diseases specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci is not attending.
Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who will be there, said Biden was skipping the meal itself and will mask up when not speaking.
He wanted to "showcase his support for the free press" and to submit himself to Noah's roasting routine, "where he will be on the menu, as he likes to say," Psaki added.
Biden appears to want to draw a line under Trump, who not only never attended the dinner, but branded journalists "the enemy of the people."
The last WHCA gala before Covid-19 broke out was in 2019. It featured neither the president nor even a comedian -- fallout from the previous year's event when featured comedian Michelle Wolf's jokes upset Trump press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
With Washington glued to news from Ukraine and the US pushback against Russia, the dinner will have a serious side, paying tribute to sacrifices made by journalists in war zones.
"I've always had respect for the press, but I can't tell you how much respect I have watching them" in Ukraine, Biden said.
WHCA President Steven Portnoy, from CBS radio, said it was time to return to tradition, with an evening honoring pioneering reporters of the past, prize winners from today and paying "respects to our colleagues who have died covering the war in Ukraine."
And "there might be a few other surprises, too," he added.
S.Keller--BTB