• Armed man killed by agents after entering Mar-a-Lago: Secret Service.
• US president was not present at Mar-a-Lago at the time of incident.
• Agency spokesperson says no US officers injured in confrontation.
  

US Secret Service agents and a sheriff’s deputy fatally shot a man armed with a shotgun who breached the security perimeter of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Trump was in Washington at the time of the incident, which officials said happened around 1:30am (0630 GMT).

The suspect, a man in his early 20s, was spotted by the north gate of the Mar-a-Lago property, carrying a shotgun and a fuel can, the Secret Service said.

Agents confronted the man and told him to disarm but he raised his gun.

“The only words that we said to him was ‘drop the items,’” Palm Beach County sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters.

“At which time he put down the gas can, raised the shotgun to a shooting position,” Bradshaw said.

A deputy and two Secret Service agents then shot him. The man was pronounced deceased and no US officers were injured.

The Secret Service said no one under its protection was present in Mar-a-Lago at the time.

There was no immediate reaction from the White House.

Trump, who often spends his weekends in Mar-a-Lago, has been the target of several assassination plots or attempts.

Earlier this month, Ryan Routh, 59, who plotted to assassinate the president at a Florida golf course in September 2024, two months before the last US election, was sentenced to life in prison.

Routh’s planned attack on Trump came two months after an assassination attempt on the Republican leader in Pennsylvania, where 20-year-old Matthew Crooks fired several shots during a rally, one of them grazing Trump’s right ear.

That attack, in which a rallygoer was killed, proved to be a turning point in Trump’s return to power. Crooks was immediately shot and killed by security forces and his motive remains unknown.

Political violence has escalated in a deeply polarised country where the political discourse has become increasingly aggressive and inflammatory.

In September last year, right-wing influencer and staunch Trump ally Charlie Kirk was shot dead during an event at a university in Utah.

Before that, in June, a masked shooter killed Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband at their home. Another elected official and his wife were also targeted and seriously injured.

And Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro — touted last year as a presidential hopeful — had his home set alight in April in an alleged assassination attempt.

The name of the suspect in the Sunday incident has not been released while officials attempt to contact his relatives.

The US Secret Service is responsible for the safety of the president, vice president and former presidents, and their families, as well as major election candidates and visiting foreign heads of state.

• Next round of talks possible in early March: officials.
• Iran, US differ on sanctions relief, says Iranian official.
• Tehran says wants its right to enrichment to be recognised.
  

Iran and the United States have differing views over sanctions relief in talks to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Sunday, adding that new talks were planned in early March as fears of a military confrontation grow.

Iran and the US renewed negotiations earlier this month to tackle their decades-long dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme as the US builds up its military capability in the Middle East, fuelling fears of a wider war.

Iran has threatened to strike US bases in the Middle East if it is attacked by US forces.

“The last round of talks showed that US ideas regarding the scope and mechanism of sanctions relief differ from Iran’s demands. Both sides need to reach a logical timetable for lifting sanctions,” the official said.

“This roadmap must be reasonable and based on mutual interests.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that he expected to have a draft counterproposal ready within days, while US President Donald Trump said he was considering limited military strikes.

Readiness to compromise

While rejecting a US demand for “zero enrichment” — a major sticking point in past negotiations — Tehran has signalled its readiness to compromise on its nuclear work.

Washington views enrichment inside Iran as a potential pathway to nuclear weapons. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and wants its right to enrich uranium to be recognised.

Washington has also demanded that Iran relinquish its stockpile of highly enriched uranium (HEU). The UN nuclear agency last year estimated that stockpile at more than 440 kg of uranium enriched to up to 60% fissile purity, a small step away from the 90% that is considered weapons grade.

The Iranian official said Tehran could seriously consider a combination of exporting part of its HEU stockpile, diluting the purity of its most highly enriched uranium and the establishment of a regional enrichment consortium in exchange for the recognition of Iran’s right to “peaceful nuclear enrichment”.

“The negotiations continue, and the possibility of reaching an interim agreement exists,” he said.

Benefits for both sides

Iranian authorities have said that a diplomatic solution delivers economic benefits for both Tehran and Washington.

“Within the economic package under negotiation, the United States has also been offered opportunities for serious investment and tangible economic interests in Iran’s oil industry,” the official said.

However, he said Tehran will not hand over control of its oil and mineral resources.

“Ultimately, the US can be an economic partner for Iran, nothing more. American companies can always participate as contractors in Iran’s oil and gas fields.”

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has thwarted organised cyber attacks targeting the country’s digital infrastructure and vital sectors, the state news agency said on Saturday.

The attacks “included attempts to infiltrate networks, deploy ransomware and conduct systematic phishing campaigns targeting national platforms,” and involved artificial intelligence technologies to develop offensive tools, it added.

The report did not say who was to blame for the attacks.

“In this context, the Cybersecurity Council affirmed that the safety of individuals, the protection of personal data, and the continuity of critical services remain top priorities,” WAM quoted the Cybersecurity Council as saying.

The council maintained that the safety of individuals, the protection of personal data, and the continuity of critical services remain its top priorities.

It added that national cybersecurity and cyber defence framework functions “continuously with high efficiency”.

It noted that recent cyber incidents involved attempts to breach networks, deploy ransomware, and carry out coordinated phishing campaigns targeting key national platforms.

The public has been urged to report any cyber threats or suspicious activities through officially designated channels, ensuring the security of the nation’s digital environment and the uninterrupted functioning of its institutions.