Abdul Ballout, a 21-year-old German citizen of Lebanese descent, was killed by police on Sunday, following a nearly 24-hour manhunt for the deadly attack at Berlin's Christopher Street Day (Pride) celebration.

Authorities classified the incident as an Islamist terrorist attack, stating Ballout drove a white van into a crowd in Berlin’s Tiergarten park around 10 p.m. on Saturday (July 25) before allegedly stabbing several people with a machete.

The attack left one woman dead and 29 others injured, including three with life-threatening conditions, prompting the immediate cancellation of the festival’s closing rally.

Police spokesman Florian Nath earlier said the suspect was known to investigators because of his alleged ties to Islamic groups in Berlin.

"The suspect is known to police. He is known to us as a member of Islamic circles here in Berlin, and our search for this person is proceeding at full speed," Nath said. "We still have no information whatsoever regarding his specific motives, the exact sequence of events, or his role in the crime itself."

Ballout had a documented history of attempting to join the Islamic State (IS) group, according to the authorities. In May 2025, he traveled to Lebanon and attempted to enter Syria to join IS militants but was arrested by Lebanese authorities and later extradited to Germany.

Although he had previously received a suspended sentence for planning attacks and disseminating IS propaganda, he was released from detention in May 2026. During the final confrontation in Berlin’s Spandau district, Ballout allegedly charged at SEK tactical police units with a weapon, leading officers to fatally shoot him.

"Everything we see here points to us dealing with an Islamic terror attack," German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said. 

Dobrindt and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned the act as a heinous assault on German society and freedom.

The Christopher Street Day (Pride) event, which typically draws over one million participants, was shut down immediately after the violence, and police deployed more than 2,000 officers to secure the area. While Ballout was the primary suspect identified by prosecutors, another man was also arrested on the night of the attack and charged with multiple crimes in connection with the van incident.

Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft, carrying NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, returned to Earth at 1027 UTC, July 26, 2026, after a 241-day mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), concluding the Expedition 74 crew rotation. The capsule undocked from the station’s Rassvet module at 0703 UTC and executed a parachute-assisted landing on the Kazakh steppe southeast of Dzhezkaz.

The crew's departure activities began on Saturday morning with a change-of-command ceremony aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Kud‑Sverchkov handed over the reins of the orbiting lab to NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, part of the transition from ISS Expedition 74 to Expedition 75 (which officially began when Soyuz MS‑28 undocked). The crew then gave their farewells and closed the hatches between the ISS and Soyuz MS-28 on Saturday night.

Following a fiery re-entry and a 10-minute descent under parachutes, the crew was recovered by Russian teams who provided medical checks and traditional matryoshka dolls bearing their likenesses. Williams was flown to Karaganda and then to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, while the cosmonauts returned to Star City near Moscow.

The crew completed 3,856 orbits covering 164 million kilometers, marking the first spaceflight for Williams and Mikaev, and the second for Kud-Sverchkov, who previously served on Expedition 64-65 (2020–2021) and now has logged 426 days and 9 minutes in space.

William, a former medical physicist and astrophysicist, conducted two spacewalks to replace a joint on the station’s robotic arm and prepare for new solar blanket installations, while also participating in research on cancer treatments and in-space manufacturing. Kud-Sverchkov and Mikaev also performed maintenance spacewalks outside the Russian segment of the station.

The departure marked the beginning of Expedition 75, commanded by Meir. The new crew, consisting of Anil Menon, Pyotr Dubrov, and Anna Kikina, arrived at the ISS on July 14 via Soyuz MS-29. Soyuz MS-28 launched to the ISS on Nov. 27, which was Thanksgiving Day.

President Donald Trump ordered a halt to U.S. military strikes on Iran on Friday, ending a 13-day streak of consecutive nightly attacks to create space for diplomatic negotiations. He reportedly met with advisers to discuss potential escalation and weighed whether to launch a "massive attack;" as military officials raised worries about U.S. readiness for wider conflicts with adversaries like China.

The decision came shortly after an Omani delegation arrived in Tehran to discuss reopening the Strait of Hormuz, with Trump telling reporters at the White House he preferred to "make a deal" while keeping the military "locked and loaded."

"We're talking to [the Iranians] right now. I think they're getting more and more serious as the days go by. We're locked and loaded and ready to go, but we're talking to them," Trump said.

Later on Friday, during his remarks at the White House Correspondents Association dinner, Trump said he didn't think Iran is ready to make a deal at the moment, "but I'm willing to listen."

The Israeli security cabinet and Israel Defense Force reportedly expected another round of U.S. strikes on Friday and prepared for a massive U.S. attack that could trigger a retaliatory attack on Israel, Israeli officials say.

Trump's decision comes at a critical juncture as regional conflict spreads, maritime blockades persist, and U.S. ammunition stockpile depletes. Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz, while U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has maintained an active maritime blockade to prevent tankers from entering or exiting Iranian oil terminals (such as Kharg Island).

As part of the blockade operations, U.S. forces targeted non-compliant oil tankers—including firing a Hellfire missile directly into the engine room of a vessel attempting to run the blockade—disabling its propulsion system without sinking the ship. Dozens of vessels have been turned back or redirected, according to CENTCOM.

Meanwhile the conflict is escalating on another front, as Iran-aligned Houthi forces launched coordinated ballistic missile and drone strikes overnight on Saturday, targeting major Saudi Aramco refining facilities in Jizan and Yanbu along the Red Sea. Satellite thermal imaging and geolocated footage confirmed active fires and smoke plumes at the Jizan refinery complex.

With transit through the Strait of Hormuz severely disrupted, attacks on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea oil infrastructure directly threaten alternative export routes, compounding global energy market volatility.

Regional mediators are currently pressing for an extended cease-fire or de-escalation off-ramp, as threat of all out war remains high across CENTCOM's area of responsibility.

The ceasefire broke down in early July 2026 after Iranian forces attacked non-compliant commercial vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, after Tehran accused the US of breaking the memorandum of understanding.

The US responded with renewed strikes on Iranian military targets (air defenses, command sites, small boats, radars, etc.) to protect navigation. This led to multiple nights of US action, Iranian retaliation (including on US bases), and blockade enforcement. CENTCOM conducted strikes on Iran for roughly 13 consecutive nights until Friday, targeting capabilities threatening shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.