A fatal attack on Berlin’s Pride festival has left locals wondering how their city will recover. Ali Darwich, a gay Muslim police officer, feels the attack was not only directed against the LGBTQ+ community but also against everything Berlin stands for: diversity, tolerance and freedom. He expressed concern about the polarization of society and an increase of hatred against minorites of all kinds. Despite the tragedy, Darwich hopes Berliners will unite and create a better city. He continues to advocate for love and equality, refusing to let hate win.

Germany says fatal Berlin Pride attack believed to be Islamic extremist terror.

Salman Rushdie has testified for the second time about being stabbed nearly to death four years ago in a western New York amphitheater. The prize-winning author took the witness stand Thursday at Hadi Matar's federal terrorism trial. The 28-year-old Matar already was convicted of a state-level attempted murder charge in the 2022 attack at a cultural institution where Rushdie was poised to speak about threats to writers and artists. Matar has pleaded not guilty to federal charges that include engaging in an act of transnational terrorism. Prosecutors claim Matar was motivated by an Iranian leader’s 1989 call for Rushdie’s death because of his novel “The Satanic Verses.”

The man who was convicted of trying to kill Salman Rushdie is on trial again. Prosecutors and defense lawyers gave opening statements Wednesday in Hadi Matar’s federal terrorism trial in Buffalo, New York. The Booker Prize-winning Rushdie is expected to testify later this week. He was stabbed on a lecture stage in 2022. The 28-year-old Matar has pleaded not guilty. He is serving a 25-year prison sentence on an attempted murder conviction. The federal case is expected to delve more into questions of motive. Prosecutors argue that Matar was acting out of loyalty to Iran’s theocratic government and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. Iran's late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini called for Rushdie’s death following his 1988 novel “The Satanic Verses.”

British prosecutors have charged a 28-year-old man with murder in the death of former politician and reality TV contestant Ann Widdecombe. Joshua Kerry was charged after being held for more than a week. Police continue to investigate whether the killing had a political or terrorist connection. Widdecombe, 78, was a former member of Parliament and a prominent voice in the British political world. She was known for her socially conservative views. Police believe she was attacked on July 8. She failed to appear for a scheduled TV interview that afternoon and was found dead the next day.

The Justice Department has filed a first-ever petition to a secretive and dormant court created 30 years ago to weigh government requests to deport so-called “alien terrorists” from the United States. The Alien Terrorist Removal Court was established in 1996 but had never received a petition until this past Wednesday, when the Justice Department filed an application seeking the removal of an individual whose name is withheld from the single-page document posted on the court’s website. A written response from the court's chief judge indicates that a hearing was held last week and that the Justice Department was directed to provide more information on Wednesday.

An Israeli strike on a funeral in the Gaza Strip has killed at least seven people and wounded another 22. That's according to a local hospital. The Israeli military said it targeted a “terrorist cell” in the area. The Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp confirmed the number of casualties, saying people were struck at the funeral for a Palestinian killed in a strike earlier on Friday.

President Donald Trump addressed the nation on topics that included elections and voting machines, revisiting long-debunked conspiracy theories about his 2020 defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. The speech came as he’s escalated his calls for Republicans to pass tighter federal voting rules ahead of November’s midterm elections. At Trump’s last primetime presidential address in April, he said the U.S. would accomplish its Iran war objectives “very shortly.” But days of back-and-forth attacks by the U.S. and Iran across the Middle East and in the Strait of Hormuz have shredded the interim deal to pause the fighting.