On Saturday, Budapest, the capital of Hungary, hosted Pride, where nearly 200,000 people marched according to the organizers — despite the ban by nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

In addition to the law passed in mid-March banning such gatherings, Hungary went so far as to amend its Constitution to “protect children” from LGBTQ.

“It’s hard to estimate the exact number because there have never been this many people at Budapest Pride,” said Pride President Viktoria Radvanyi to AFP, while Budapest Mayor from the Green Party Gergely Karácsony praised the record attendance.

“Thank you, Viktor Orban, for promoting a more tolerant society!” he wrote on Facebook.

The police, citing “child protection,” banned the event last week, marking a setback for LGBT+ rights in the European Union (EU).

However, the organizers and the mayor’s office decided to go ahead with the parade, claiming such an event does not require official approval.

After support was expressed from 33 countries for the gathering in Budapest, the justice minister warned diplomats in Hungary that if they participate in the banned event, they would “have to face consequences.”

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Cameras were pre-installed in Budapest to enable facial recognition so authorities could fine participants up to 500 euros, while organizing or inviting participation could lead to one year in prison.

Goran Miletic, director of Civil Rights Defenders for Europe, attended the Pride March in Budapest. He told Danas that this year’s Pride in Budapest was clearly the most important one in Europe.

He added that Orban himself contributed to this by reacting not with compromise but with increased repression, after initially weak responses to the ban. In the end, the solidarity with the organizers, both within Hungary and across Europe, was unexpectedly large,” said Miletic.

According to him, every major Pride in Europe, political groups, and institutions sent delegations, and nearly everyone made supportive statements or came in person to support the march.

“There were definitely more than 100,000 people in the streets (some say even 200,000), which no one expected. There were many older citizens of Budapest. The atmosphere was joyful and musical, even though the Pride was clearly a protest against Orban’s rule and laws,” Miletic noted.

He stated that the true star was the mayor, who after the ban declared the entire event a city gathering, opened the Pride Park on public grounds, and thus helped circumvent the ban.

“The atmosphere in Budapest was excellent, small right-wing groups looked rather ridiculous, especially since the police had to protect them. All in all, a very important day for the LGBT community in all homophobic countries in Europe — and certainly for Serbia, and a major own goal by Orban,” Miletic concluded.

Before Orban returned to power in 2010, Hungary was one of the strongest defenders of LGBT+ rights in the region: homosexuality was decriminalized in the early 1960s, and same-sex civil unions were recognized in 1996. But as prime minister, this advocate of “illiberalism” gradually reversed that progress.

More than seven decades have passed since the first explosions over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the world is still in the nuclear age. The latest conflicts in the Middle East have once again raised questions about nuclear weapons and which countries possess them.

The conflict between Iran and Israel began on June 13 this year, when Israel launched surprise airstrikes on key Iranian nuclear and military facilities. Iran responded by launching ballistic missiles at Israeli cities. The United States joined the conflict on June 22 with airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities. In retaliation, Iran launched missiles the next day at a U.S. military base in Qatar. A ceasefire was declared after 12 days of intense fighting.

One of the immediate causes of the attacks was Israel's claim that Iran had accelerated uranium enrichment and was nearing the capability to build a nuclear weapon – reports N1.

From the "Manhattan Project" to the Global Arms Race

It all began during World War II. The U.S., with help from its allies, developed the first nuclear weapon through the Manhattan Project. The bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki marked the beginning of the nuclear age.

After the war, the Soviet Union detonated its first atomic bomb in 1949, starting the Cold War and an accelerated arms race. France, the United Kingdom, and China followed with their own nuclear programs. In an effort to curb further proliferation, the U.S. and other nations negotiated the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in 1968 and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996. These became the foundation for recognizing nuclear powers under the NPT framework.

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Arms Control

At the time the NPT was signed, the nuclear stockpiles of the U.S. and the Soviet Union numbered in the tens of thousands. Starting in the 1970s, American and Soviet leaders negotiated a series of bilateral arms control agreements that helped limit and later reduce the size of nuclear arsenals.

Which Countries Possess Nuclear Weapons Today?

Today, nine countries possess nuclear weapons: the U.S., Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel. Some countries are also suspected of secretly developing nuclear capabilities.

Countries with nuclear weapons fall into two categories: those recognized as nuclear-armed under the NPT, and those that possess nuclear weapons but are not NPT signatories.

The following five countries are permanent members of the UN Security Council and recognized as "nuclear weapon states" under the NPT:

Russia
About 5,580 warheads, with powerful ICBM systems (Yars, Sarmat), SLBM Bulava, and a large number of tactical warheads.

United States (USA)
About 5,200 warheads, including strategic intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM Minuteman III), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (Trident II), and B61 nuclear bomb aircraft.

China
Estimated at around 500 warheads, rapidly expanding its arsenal with new ICBM DF-41 and JL-3 submarine systems.

France
About 290 warheads, mostly deployed on submarines (M51 SLBM) and strategic aircraft with ASMP-A missiles.

United Kingdom
About 225 warheads, deployed exclusively on Vanguard-class submarines with Trident II missiles.

Some countries have developed nuclear weapons outside the NPT and do not officially acknowledge possessing them:

India and Pakistan – around 170 warheads each, with regionally focused ballistic and tactical systems (Agni, Shaheen, Babur).

North Korea – estimated up to 50 warheads, with new ICBMs Hwasong-17 and Hwasong-18.

Israel – a country that has never officially acknowledged possessing nuclear weapons but is estimated to have around 90 warheads, with Jericho III missiles and nuclear-capable submarines.

Countries suspected of pursuing nuclear weapons programs or possessing the capability to develop them covertly include Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Syria.

Countries that have voluntarily given up their nuclear arsenals include South Africa, Belarus, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan.

Why Do Countries Still Seek Nuclear Weapons?

Nuclear weapons remain the ultimate guarantee of security for many regimes.

As the world enters a new phase of global insecurity and rising international tensions, the issue of nuclear arms remains one of humanity's greatest challenges.

Leading Western news agencies reported tonight on clashes in downtown Belgrade, stating that police used tear gas against anti-government protesters.

The American agency Associated Press reported that riot police “fired tear gas at thousands of anti-government protesters at a major rally against populist Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.”

Tensions were high both before and during the rally, which was organized in support of demands for early parliamentary elections, AP noted.

The agency added that police were stationed around government buildings and near the “camp of Vučić loyalists” – in Pionirski Park in downtown Belgrade – where “clashes broke out between police officers and groups of protesters.”

The report also mentioned that students, at the end of the official part of the rally, told the crowd to “take freedom into their own hands.”

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The French agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that Serbian police used tear gas and stun grenades against protesters in central Belgrade, where tens of thousands of people had gathered demanding snap elections.

More than four hours after the start of the protest, clashes erupted between groups of demonstrators, some of whom threw smoke bombs, and security forces who responded with tear gas and stun grenades, according to AFP journalists in Belgrade.

The agency Reuters reported this evening that “Serbian police clashed tonight with anti-government protesters” who are demanding early elections and an end to President Vučić’s 12-year rule.

Dozens of riot police officers were deployed around government buildings, particularly the parliament and the nearby Pionirski Park, where crowds of Vučić supporters from across the country gathered for a counter-protest, Reuters stated.

The agency added that some protesters, who wanted to confront Vučić’s supporters, threw flares at police officers after the protest ended around 10:00 p.m., and that the police used pepper spray to disperse them.

The protesters chanted “Drop your shields!” calling on the police to halt their intervention, Reuters noted.

Source: Danas

Marius Borg Høiby, the 28-year-old son of the Norwegian princess, has been charged with 23 criminal offenses, including three counts of rape, the Norwegian police announced.

Høiby, the son of Princess Mette-Marit from a relationship prior to her marriage to Prince Haakon, has been under investigation since his arrest on August 4, 2024, reports "The Guardian."

After news emerged that he had been accused of assaulting his girlfriend, a wave of new allegations surfaced.

He is suspected of violating a criminal statute concerning “sexual intercourse with a person who is unconscious or otherwise unable to resist,” the statement said.

“What police can say about the rape is that it concerns a sexual act without consent. The victim, it is claimed, was not capable of resisting,” police added, according to the Daily Mail.

Previous Incidents

Borg Høiby was initially detained on August 4 following a nighttime altercation in the apartment of a woman he was in a relationship with. At that time, he was charged with causing bodily harm. Police found a knife embedded in the bedroom wall.

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In September, he was arrested again for violating a restraining order. When arrested on Monday, he was in a car with the alleged victim from the August incident.

On Tuesday, police stated that the suspicions from the August incident have now been expanded to include domestic violence. It is still undecided whether Borg Høiby will remain in custody.

Who is Marius Borg Høiby?

He was born in 1997 from a relationship prior to Mette-Marit's marriage to Crown Prince Haakon, the future king of Norway. He and his half-siblings – Princess Ingrid Alexandra (20) and Prince Sverre Magnus (18) – were raised together. Unlike them, Marius has no official public role.

Three weeks after a fire broke out on a cargo ship off the coast of Alaska, the vessel has sunk in the Pacific Ocean with thousands of cars on board, according to U.S. media reports. All 22 crew members were successfully evacuated, and the Coast Guard reports that there are currently no signs of pollution.

The fire broke out on June 3 aboard the Morning Midas, a 183-meter-long, 46,800-ton ship, but no crew members were injured, the U.S. Coast Guard stated earlier.

The ship, which was carrying around 3,000 vehicles including 800 electric cars, was sailing under the Liberian flag. It departed from China and was en route to Mexico.

🇨🇳 🇲🇽 BUQUE CON AUTOS ELÉCTRICOS SE HUNDE EN EL PACÍFICO 🚢

Morning Midas, un buque con más de 3,000 vehículos eléctricos procedentes de China con destino a México, se hundió en el Pacífico tras incendiarse por fallas en las baterías.

El incidente ocurrió a 770 km de Alaska. La… pic.twitter.com/qYMMEIkoB2

— México Ahora (@AhoraMex) June 26, 2025

The company operating the ship, “Zodiac Maritime,” stated that smoke was first detected on the deck and that the crew failed to bring the fire under control. However, the ship’s owner has not been disclosed.

The vessel was built by the Chinese company Xiamen Shipbuilding.

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Liberia has announced it will launch an investigation into the cause of the fire, while “Zodiac Maritime” is conducting a separate internal investigation.

Both the company and the Coast Guard emphasize that it is too early to draw conclusions about whether the electric vehicles caused the fire.

Fires involving electric vehicles are often harder to extinguish and more dangerous, and on cargo ships, the cars are packed in ways that limit ventilation, which can accelerate the spread of fire, Bloomberg notes.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “shows zero tolerance for separatist activities aimed at Taiwan’s independence,” said a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Defense on Thursday, when asked about recent speeches by Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te.

The PLA will enhance combat readiness to firmly safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, said spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang at a regular press briefing, according to Reuters.

“Lai’s administration is constantly pushing Taiwan into a dangerous war situation; they are the source of threats to the lives of the Taiwanese people,” Zhang stated, adding that Lai’s comments reveal his “malicious intentions.”

On Sunday, Lai began a series of 10 speeches on “national unification,” stating that the democratically governed Taiwan is “naturally a state” and that China has neither legal nor historical rights over it.

Beijing and Taipei have clashed over their opposing interpretations of history in an escalating war of words.

Beijing stated that it is impossible to “invade” what is already Chinese territory.

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Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control and harbors a particular resentment toward Lai, labeling him a “separatist.”

Taiwan strongly opposes China’s sovereignty claims and says the island’s future should be decided by its own people.

Tensions between China and Taiwan now include the daily deployment of air and naval forces near the island.

China’s most recent military drills in April and October were widely viewed by regional military attachés as a test of a potential blockade of Taiwan.

The U.S. and its regional allies are closely monitoring the situation, with some officials warning that China’s troop deployments and military modernization have increased the likelihood that Beijing might one day act on its threat to seize Taiwan by force.

At protests across Kenya organized by youth against police brutality and poor governance, at least eight people were killed and more than 80 hospitalized on Wednesday due to gunshot wounds and beatings, according to human rights groups.

The state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights reported demonstrations nationwide, with more than 400 people injured and over 60 arrested during protests that spread to 23 out of 47 counties – reports Danas.

The protests marked the first anniversary of anti-tax demonstrations in which 60 people were killed and 20 went missing.

The Parliament and the presidential office in Kenya’s capital Nairobi were barricaded with barbed wire, and police blocked all access roads.

Thousands of protesters clashed with police who fired tear gas, opened fire, and beat people.

The demonstrations, which spread to major cities including Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, and Nyahururu, escalated into calls for the president’s resignation over poor leadership.

During last year’s protests, demonstrators stormed Parliament where a law increasing taxes was passed, setting part of the building on fire while lawmakers fled. Bodies lay in the streets, and medics and watchdogs said police had opened fire. The army was deployed.

Youth in Kenya remain frustrated with the government over corruption, rising cost of living, and police brutality, as well as the recent death of a blogger in custody. A close-range shooting of a civilian during recent protests has further fueled anger.

President William Ruto on Wednesday called on demonstrators who were storming his office in Nairobi not to “destroy the country.”

Young Kenyans used social media to organize protests to honor those killed last year. Government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura said on Monday there would be no protests and that Wednesday would be a “normal working day,” but that did not happen.

However, businesses in Nairobi remained closed on Wednesday, and police restricted vehicle movement in the central business district.

Hundreds of Kenyans were already in the streets early in the morning, chanting anti-government slogans as police fired tear gas at them.

An Associated Press journalist witnessed one protester being shot by police and another being struck in the head by riot officers, after which medics took him away by ambulance.

Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja stated on Tuesday that unauthorized persons would not be allowed entry into protected zones such as Parliament and other government buildings.

Protester Rose Murugi said, “Police brutality must stop and Ruto must go.”

Another protester, Derick Mwangi (25), said, “We are tired, even though we’re still young.”

“People are being kidnapped, people are being killed,” he said.

The headline of the major newspaper “The Standard” on Wednesday read “A luta Continua,” Portuguese for “The struggle continues,” a slogan used by rebels during Mozambique’s war for independence from colonial rule.

During the protests, the Communications Authority banned live broadcasts and shut down some free TV signals, sparking condemnation from human rights groups.

Political analyst Herman Manyora warned that demonstrators remain dissatisfied because “the government has been unyielding and has only strengthened the youth’s resolve to continue fighting.”

During last year’s protests, President Ruto dissolved the government accused of incompetence and corruption, but retained most of his former ministers in the new administration.

The finance law proposing high taxes, passed by parliament, was repealed but new taxes were later introduced through amendments to the same law.

Last year, President Ruto appointed opposition party members to government and in March signed a political pact with his electoral rival, opposition leader Raila Odinga, but the situation has not improved.

Tensions between the United States and Iran have reached their highest levels in decades after President Donald Trump on Sunday ordered direct strikes he said “destroyed” key nuclear facilities across the Middle Eastern country.

Iran has remained America’s biggest regional adversary since the 1979 Islamic Revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, which overthrew pro‑Western Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Since then, the two nations have clashed over issues including Iran’s nuclear ambitions, its support for regional proxies, and US political interference, writes Al Jazeera.

Last week, Israel—who long viewed Iran as a threat—launched unprecedented strikes across Iran after accusing the country of developing nuclear weapons. Those Israeli claims lacked credible proof, but Trump drew the US into war following Israel’s action.

On Sunday, after days of the Israel‑Iran conflict, the US directly attacked Iran in what the Trump administration called a highly sophisticated covert operation involving over 125 aircraft and 75 precision bombs. Washington said the Iranian nuclear facility was “destroyed,” while Tehran warned of retaliation.

Timeline of US–Iran Relations since 1953:

(1953) US‑backed coup and the Shah’s restoration: Tensions initially rose when democratically elected PM Mohammad Mossadegh nationalized the Anglo‑Iranian Oil Company. The UK appealed to the US, and the CIA helped orchestrate a coup that reinstated Shah Pahlavi

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(1957) Atoms for Peace: The US and other Western allies supported the Shah’s nuclear ambitions. They signed a civil nuclear agreement; Iran received a reactor and uranium fuel under Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” initiative :contentReferenc.

(1979) Islamic Revolution: Widespread protests toppled the Shah in early 1979. Ayatollah Khomeini returned from exile and established the Islamic Republic.

(1980) US severs ties: After Iran harbored the Shah and students seized the US embassy, holding 52 Americans hostage for 444 days, Washington cut diplomatic ties and imposed sanctions.

(1980–88) US backs Iraq: During the Iran‑Iraq War, the US supported Saddam Hussein’s invasion, deepening hostility.

(1984) Designated state sponsor: Reagan labeled Iran a “state sponsor of terror” following attacks in Lebanon, including the Beirut barracks bombing that killed 241 US troops. The Iran‑Contra affair later revealed secret US‑Iran dealings.

(1988) USS Vincennes incident: A US warship shot down Iran Air Flight 655, killing 290 civilians. The US paid compensation but did not formally apologize.

(1995) Tighter sanctions: President Clinton banned US‑Iran business and penalized foreign investment in Iran’s energy sector.

(2002) Axis of Evil: After 9/11, President George W. Bush labeled Iran part of the “Axis of Evil.” Iran cooperated with the US briefly on counter‑terrorism, but its uranium enrichment raised concern.

(2013–15) Nuclear deal: Under Obama, Iran agreed to the JCPOA in exchange for sanctions relief. Enrichment was capped at 3.67%.

(2018) US withdrawal: In 2018 Trump pulled out of the deal and imposed “maximum pressure” sanctions.

(2020) Killing of Soleimani: A US drone killed IRGC Commander Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad. Iran retaliated with missile strikes against US forces in Iraq.

(2025, Mar–Jun) Nuclear talks: Trump invited Iran to resume negotiations. Five rounds took place in Oman, Rome, and Muscat, but no agreement was reached. Israel launched attacks before the sixth round.

(2025, Jun) US strikes: On June 21–22, the US launched “Operation Midnight Hammer,” deploying over 125 aircraft and dropping 75 precision bombs on Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan nuclear sites—the first US direct military operation on Iranian soil since 1979. Trump declared it a “spectacular success.” Iran responded with missile attacks within Iran‑Israel conflict context.

The escalation triggered global concern over oil prices, regional security, and a rare “Worldwide Caution” alert for Americans abroad.