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BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungary’s LGBTQ+ community is preparing for a face-off with the country’s autocratic government, and plans to push ahead with a march in the capital on Saturday despite a government ban and threats of legal repercussions.

The populist party of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in March fast-tracked a law through parliament that made it an offense to hold or attend events that “depict or promote” homosexuality to minors aged under 18. Orbán earlier made clear that Budapest Pride — marking its 30th anniversary this year — was the explicit target of the law.

But on Friday, Pride organizers along with Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony, European Commissioner Hadja Lahbib and Vice President of the European Parliament Nicolae Stefanuta said the march will take place Saturday despite official threats of heavy fines for participants and even jail time for the liberal mayor.

They expect the march to be the largest ever Pride event in Hungary.

“The government is always fighting against an enemy against which they have to protect Hungarian people … This time, it is sexual minorities that are the target,” Karácsony told a news conference. “We believe there should be no first and second class citizens, so we decided to stand by this event.”

A crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights

Critics of the Pride ban and other Hungarian legislation targeting LGBTQ+ communities say the policies are reminiscent of similar restrictions against sexual minorities in Russia.

Hungary’s recent law allows authorities to use facial recognition tools to identify individuals that attend a prohibited event. Being caught could result in fines of up to 200,000 Hungarian forints ($586.)

Orbán, seen as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest ally in the European Union, has in recent years prohibited same-sex adoption and banned any LGBTQ+ content including in television, films, advertisements and literature that is available to minors.

His government argues exposure to such content negatively affects children’s development. But opponents say the moves are part of a broader effort to scapegoat sexual minorities and consolidate his conservative base.

Fines and facial recognition

After police rejected several requests by organizers to register the Pride march, citing the recent law, Karácsony joined with organizers and declared it would be held as a separate municipal event — something he said does not require police approval.

But Hungary’s government has remained firm, insisting that holding the Pride march, even if it is sponsored by the city, would be unlawful. In a video on Facebook this week, Hungary’s justice minister, Bence Tuzson, warned Karácsony that organizing Pride or encouraging people to attend is punishable by up to a year in prison.

At the news conference Friday, Karácsony sought to dispel fears that police would impose heavy fines on Pride attendees.

“Police have only one task tomorrow: to guarantee the safety and security of those gathered at the event,” he said.

Speaking to state radio on Friday, Orbán said that attending Pride “will have legal consequences, but it can’t reach the level of physical abuse.”

“The police could disperse such events, they have the right to do so. But Hungary is a civilized country,” he said.

Right-wing counter-demonstrations

On Thursday, radical right-wing party Our Homeland Movement announced it had requested police approval to hold assemblies at numerous locations across the city, many of them on the same route as the Pride march.

Later, a neo-Nazi group said it too would gather Saturday at Budapest City Hall, from which the Pride march is set to depart. The group declared that only “white, Christian, heterosexual men and women” were welcome to attend its demonstration.

European officials respond

Hungary’s Pride ban has prompted a backlash from many of the country’s partners and allies. Over 30 foreign embassies signed a joint statement this week expressing their commitment to “every person’s rights to equal treatment and nondiscrimination, freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen posted on social platform X on Wednesday, calling on Hungarian authorities to allow Pride to proceed “without fear of any criminal or administrative sanctions against the organizers or participants.”

More than 70 members of the European Parliament, as well as other officials from countries around Europe, are expected to participate in Saturday’s march.

Lahbib, the European Commissioner, said Friday that “all eyes are on Budapest” as Pride marchers defy the government’s ban.

“The EU is not neutral on hate,” she said. “We cannot stay passive. We cannot tolerate what is intolerable.”

The Denver Zoo will close early on Saturday due to a planned social-media inspired “takeover” of the zoo’s surrounding park by a large group of teenagers.

A spokesperson for the zoo told NBC affiliate KUSA that it will open at 7:30 a.m. and close at 1 p.m. due to the gathering, which is being referred to as the “City Park Takeover” online.

A similar event took place in the city last weekend, with hundreds of teenagers descending at the Northfield Mall, causing some fights to break out that involved the response of law enforcement, KUSA reported.

It is unclear if there is a specific group organizing the events.

“We don’t know the exact nature of the event but we know previous events organized in a similar fashion have led to some disruption to local businesses, damage, vandalism, things like that,” zoo spokesperson Jake Kubie told KUSA.

Kubie said the early closure was a precaution against any disturbances.

“We don’t believe we’re a target of anything. We haven’t received any information that suggests that there is gonna be any impact to us,” he said. “We’re always leaning towards caution over everything else.”

No arrests were made and no property was damaged at the event last weekend, KUSA reported.

The Denver Police Department said in a statement that it is aware of the “takeover” events in the city and “will plan accordingly to try to minimize the impact of these events.”

Kubie told KUSA that the zoo is “prepared.”

“Being a zoo — an 80-acre campus with 2,500 wild animals and almost 2 million guests coming in every year — it’s our responsibility to be prepared for anything that can happen,” he said. “Fortunately we haven’t had any incidents along these lines, but we’re ready for whatever may happen.”

The former chief of staff to the late Rep. Gerry Connolly clinched the Democratic nomination to fill Connolly’s seat in a deep-blue Northern Virginia district, according to the local Democratic Party.

James Walkinshaw won with 59.54% of the vote in Saturday’s party-run primary, according to results posted by the 11th Congressional District Democratic Committee of Virginia. He beat a field of 10 candidates that included state Sen. Stella Pekarsky and state Del. Irene Shin in the race for the special election nomination.

Shin finished in second place with 14.27% of the vote, while Pekarsky placed third with 13.40%, according to the party’s tabulation.

Walkinshaw was Connolly’s chief of staff from 2009 to 2019 and has served on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors since 2020. Walkinshaw earned an endorsement from Connolly for this race before he died.

He ran a campaign focused on stopping Trump’s “dangerous” agenda, saying he would fight to protect the district’s more than 50,000 federal workers.

“I’m honored & humbled to have earned the Democratic nomination for the district I’ve spent my career serving,” Walkinshaw said on X. “This victory was powered by neighbors, volunteers, and supporters who believe in protecting our democracy, defending our freedoms, and delivering for working families.”

The race drew some outside spending, with Walkinshaw receiving over $2.4 million in support from Fight for Virginia’s Future and Protect Progress. Save Democracy PAC spent over $160,000 supporting Pekarsky, and People Over Monopolies spent almost $184,000 supporting Shin.

Fight for Virginia’s Future also spent money on negative ads and robocalls criticizing Pekarsky for supporting a bill that would hold a referendum on a casino in Fairfax County.

Walkinshaw will advance to the September special election, where he is the likely favorite to win, as then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried the district by 34 percentage points in 2024. He will face Republican Stewart Whitson, an Army veteran and former FBI official.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Saturday attacked Sen. Thom Tillis for opposing the party’s sweeping domestic policy bill, threatening to meet with potential primary challengers to the North Carolina Republican.

Tillis, who faces re-election next year in a battleground state, was one of two Republicans, along with Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, to vote against advancing the “big, beautiful bill” in the Senate Saturday evening.

“Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the Primary against ‘Senator Thom’ Tillis,” Trump wrote Saturday night. “I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks, looking for someone who will properly represent the Great People of North Carolina and, so importantly, the United States of America.”

Trump’ social media criticism came hours after Tillis said in a statement that he “cannot support this bill in its current form,” pointing to expected cuts to Medicaid he said would “result in tens of billions of dollars in lost funding for North Carolina, including our hospitals and rural communities.”

Trump accused the two-term senator of grandstanding “in order to get some publicity for himself, for a possible, but very difficult re-election.”

“Looks like Senator Thom Tillis, as usual, wants to tell the Nation that he’s giving them a 68% Tax Increase, as [he is] opposed to the Biggest Tax Cut in American History!,” Trump wrote, adding, “Thom Tillis is making a BIG MISTAKE for America, and the Wonderful People of North Carolina!”

Tillis is one of Democrats’ top targets for defeat in the 2026 midterm elections. He won his previous two Senate races by fewer than two percentage points.

Prior to Trump’s post, Tillis told reporters Saturday evening that he gave the president a heads up about his opposition during a call he characterized as “very professional” and “very respectful.”

“I had a very good discussion with President Trump last night. I told him at that point that I had problems with the [Medicaid] implementation. And I said the House bill, I think, would be a good mark,” Tillis said. “I do believe the president is really focused on getting the tax portion of the bill done, and I support that, full stop. But it has evolved from a tax bill to one that includes health care and other things. And I said that in non-tax areas, we have a problem.”

Asked if he was concerned about Trump endorsing a primary challenge to him, Tillis responded, “No.”

Trump has threatened to primary GOP lawmakers critical of him in the past, wielding his influence to unseat Republicans who voted to impeach him after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, including then-Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. Last week, two Trump advisers launched a super PAC aimed at removing Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., another frequent critic of the administration’s agenda.

But Trump hasn’t always followed through on the threats. For example, he stood down on a threat to back a primary challenger to Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., who endorsed Gov. Ron DeSantis’s 2-24 presidential bid.

A coalition of groups, ranging from environmental activists to Native Americans advocating for their ancestral homelands, converged Saturday outside an airstrip in the Florida Everglades to protest the imminent construction of an immigrant detention center.

Hundreds of protesters lined part of U.S. Highway 41 that slices through the marshy Everglades — also known as Tamiami Trail — as dump trucks hauling materials lumbered into the airfield. Cars passing by honked in support as protesters waved signs calling for the protection of the expansive preserve that is home to a few Native tribes and several endangered animal species.

Christopher McVoy, an ecologist, said he saw a steady stream of trucks entering the site while he protested for hours. Environmental degradation was a big reason he came out Saturday. But as a South Florida city commissioner, he said, concerns over immigration raids in his city also fueled his opposition.

“People I know are in tears, and I wasn’t far from it,” he said.

Florida officials have forged ahead over the past week in constructing the compound dubbed as “Alligator Alcatraz” within the Everglades’ humid swamplands.

The government fast-tracked the project under emergency powers from an executive order issued by Gov. Ron DeSantis that addresses what he views as a crisis of illegal immigration. That order lets the state sidestep certain purchasing laws and is why construction has continued despite objections from Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and local activists.

The facility will have temporary structures like heavy-duty tents and trailers to house detained immigrants. The state estimates that by early July, it will have 5,000 immigration detention beds in operation.

Native American leaders in the region have seen the construction as an encroachment onto their sacred homelands, which prompted Saturday’s protest. In Big Cypress National Preserve, where the airstrip is located, 15 traditional Miccosukee and Seminole villages, as well as ceremonial and burial grounds and other gathering sites, remain.

Others have raised human rights concerns over what they condemn as the inhumane housing of immigrants. Worries about environmental impacts have also been at the forefront, as groups such as the Center for Biological Diversity and the Friends of the Everglades filed a lawsuit Friday to halt the detention center plans.

“The Everglades is a vast, interconnected system of waterways and wetlands, and what happens in one area can have damaging impacts downstream,” Friends of the Everglades executive director Eve Samples said. “So it’s really important that we have a clear sense of any wetland impacts happening in the site.”

Bryan Griffin, a DeSantis spokesperson, said Friday in response to the litigation that the facility was a “necessary staging operation for mass deportations located at a preexisting airport that will have no impact on the surrounding environment.”

Until the site undergoes a comprehensive environmental review and public comment is sought, the environmental groups say, construction should pause. The facility’s speedy establishment is “damning evidence” that state and federal agencies hope it will be “too late” to reverse their actions if they are ordered by a court to do so, said Elise Bennett, a Center for Biological Diversity senior attorney working on the case.

Elon Musk launched a series of attacks on Saturday against a massive spending bill that would fund much of President Donald Trump’s agenda, renewing his criticisms as Senate Republicans rush to pass a package dubbed the “big, beautiful bill” in order to meet a July 4 deadline set by Trump.

“The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!” Musk wrote in a post on X. “Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.”

The billionaire and former Trump adviser amplified a poll that suggests the “big, beautiful bill” is politically unpopular due to its budgetary effects, a notion that was affirmed this month by several separate surveys. Forty percent of Republican respondents to a recent NBC News Decision Desk poll said “ensuring the national debt is reduced” is the most important issue as Congress considers the Trump-backed megabill. Overall, a majority of respondents said maintaining current spending levels on programs like Medicaid is the most important issue.

“Polls show that this bill is political suicide for the Republican Party,” Musk wrote on X.

Musk has long been a critic of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” balking at its expected impact on the national deficit and arguing that it would offset government savings brought in by the Department of Government Efficiency, an office Trump appointed him to lead earlier this year. He maintained that opinion Saturday, expressing it through several posts on his platform, X — including one post that attacked the bill’s expected effect on the deficit as “putting America in the fast lane to debt slavery!”

Trump previously argued that Musk only opposed the legislation because of provisions aimed at stripping away electric vehicle tax credits. Musk today called a provision in the bill that he framed as targeting clean energy production “incredibly destructive to America.”

The Tesla chief’s departure from the White House, where he formally served as a special government employee, came a day after he publicly expressed his criticisms of the bill during an interview with “CBS Sunday Morning.”

“I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, I don’t know if it can be both,” Musk said at the time.

While Musk no longer commands similar levels of influence in Washington, his past opposition to the bill emboldened Republicans lawmakers, some of whom, like Musk, took issue with its expected $4 trillion increase to the national deficit.

The renewed criticism by Musk comes as Senate Republicans rush to whip enough votes to pass the 940-page megabill amid breaks in the party over certain provisions, including expected cuts to Medicaid that could strip funding from rural hospitals. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., cited the loss of rural hospital funding in explaining his decision to oppose the bill.

Earlier this month, shortly after the House of Representatives passed its version of the bill, Musk urged his more than 200 million followers on X to tell Congress to “kill the bill.”

PITTSBURGH — Dave Parker, a hard-hitting outfielder who was set to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame next month, has died, the Pittsburgh Pirates announced Saturday. He was 74.

No further details about Parker’s death were immediately available. The Pirates informed the crowd of his death just before the start of their game against the New York Mets and held a moment of silence.

Nicknamed “the Cobra,” the 6-foot-5 Parker made his major league debut in 1973 and played 19 seasons, 11 for the Pirates. He was the NL MVP in 1978, won a World Series with Pittsburgh a year later and then won another championship in 1989 with the Oakland Athletics.

“All of us who grew up in the ’70s remember how special Dave was,” Pirates owner Bob Nutting said in a statement. “He had a big personality and his passing has left a bigger void for all who knew him. Our hearts go out to his wife, Kellye, and his family.”

Parker won NL batting titles in 1977 and ’78. He finished his career as a .290 hitter with 339 homers and 1,493 RBIs. He also played for Cincinnati, Milwaukee, the California Angels and Toronto.

Parker was elected to the Hall of Fame by a special committee in December. The induction ceremony in Cooperstown, New York, is set for July 27.

“We join the baseball family in remembering Dave Parker. His legacy will be one of courage and leadership, matched only by his outstanding accomplishments on the field,” Hall chairman Jane Forbes Clark said. “His election to the Hall of Fame in December brought great joy to him, his family and all the fans who marveled at his remarkable abilities.”

Born on June 9, 1951, in Grenada, Mississippi, Parker grew up in Cincinnati and was a three-sport star at Courter Tech High School.

After playing for Pittsburgh from 1973 to 1983, he signed with his hometown Reds and spent four seasons with the club. In 1985 he led the NL with 125 RBIs and was second in the MVP voting.

“He was such a big dude at a time when there weren’t that many ‘6-foot-5, 230-pound, dynamic defender, batting champion with power’ guys,” Hall of Famer and Reds teammate Barry Larkin said. “Everything about him was impressive.”

In a statement, the Reds said: “Dave was a towering figure on the field, in the clubhouse and in the Cincinnati community, where his baseball journey began, playing on the fields near his home and going to games at Crosley Field. Dave’s impact on the game and this franchise will never be forgotten.”

Parker was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2012.

He told reporters that he burst into tears upon learning of his selection to the Hall of Fame.

“Yeah, I cried,” Parker said after receiving the news. “It only took a few minutes, because I don’t cry.”

Parker homered for the A’s in the 1989 World Series opener and took credit for helping the Bash Brothers of Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire take the title with a four-game sweep of San Francisco.

“All of us throughout the game are deeply saddened by this loss,” baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “We will remember the Cobra forever, especially as his name soon officially joins the legends of our national pastime.”

Parker was a seven-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove right fielder, and when he retired after the 1991 season, he was one of only five players with at least 500 doubles, 300 homers, 150 stolen bases and 2,700 hits.

“I was a five-tool player. I could do them all,” Parker said after his Hall selection. “I never trotted to first base. I don’t know if people noticed that, but I ran hard on every play.”

The funeral for the Georgia woman who was brain-dead but kept alive by ventilators because of the state’s abortion law was held Saturday in an Atlanta suburb, NBC News affiliate WXIA of Atlanta reported.

The funeral took place at Fairfield Baptist Church in Lithonia, WXIA reported, and drew a crowd that included a number of Smith’s fellow nurses and other members of the public.

Adriana Smith, who turned 31 in June, was declared brain-dead in February after a CT scan found multiple blood clots in her brain, her mother, April Newkirk, told WXIA earlier this year.

She was nine weeks pregnant when her boyfriend rushed her to the hospital after he woke up to find her gasping for air and making what he described as gargling noises, Newkirk told WXIA.

Because of Georgia’s strict abortion law — known as the LIFE Act, which makes abortion illegal after six weeks of pregnancy — Smith was kept alive until her child could be born and survive on his own, according to WXIA.

The baby was born prematurely on June 13, weighing 1 pound, 13 ounces, Newkirk told WXIA at the time.

WXIA reported Saturday that Smith was taken off life support days after her son, Chance, was born. The baby is still in the neonatal intensive care unit.

“He’s expected to be OK,” Newkirk told the station earlier this month. “He’s just fighting.”

Smith also has an older son, Chase.

Smith’s funeral Saturday drew family, friends, community members and peers who wanted to honor her life.

The Atlanta Metropolitan Nursing Honor Guard performed a tribute to relieve Smith of her duties as a nurse, WXIA reported, and many who attended the funeral carried white roses.

“I’m thankful for everything that she’s taught me — her love, her kindness, her wisdom,” Smith’s younger sister, Naya, said, according to WXIA. “Family meant everything to her. So I hope that I can follow in her footsteps.”

The Israeli Defense Forces and the Israel Securities Authority killed Hamas co-founder Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issa in a strike in Gaza City on Friday, a statement from the IDF said.

Al-Issa was hit in the area of Sabra within the city, the statement said.

“Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issa was a key source of knowledge and one of the last remaining senior Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip who held high-ranking positions before October 7th, 2023,” the IDF said.

The Israeli military described Al-Issa as a senior figure in the militant group’s military wing and said he was considered a founder of both Hamas itself and Hamas’ military wing. At the time of his death, he was serving as head of its combat support headquarters.

Al-Issa was also a member of Hamas’ General Security Council, the IDF said. In the past, Al-Issa led the group’s “force-buildup efforts in the Gaza Strip” and served as head of the training headquarters.

The IDF said Al-Issa “played a significant role in the planning and execution of the brutal October 7th massacre,” but neglected to share what role he played.

More than 1,200 people were killed when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and took more than 250 people hostage. Nearly two years later, 50 people remain in captivity in Gaza, but 28 of those people are believed to be dead.

Israel’s retaliatory assault on the Gaza Strip has killed more than 56,000 people and has left thousands more wounded, displaced and with sparse resources, including food, water and medical supplies.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday indicated that a ceasefire might come into play within the next week. It was not clear whether it would be a temporary or permanent ceasefire, or if any prisoner exchanges would be involved like in past temporary ceasefire agreements.

During the war between Israel and Hamas, Al-Issa worked to rebuild Hamas’ organizational systems that were damaged in Israeli strikes, the IDF said. Also throughout the war, the IDF said Al-Issa advanced attacks against Israeli citizens and IDF troops in Gaza.

The IDF in its statement pledged to “locate and eliminate all terrorists from the different terrorist organizations who took part in the brutal October 7th massacre.”

Israel has killed a number of other high-ranking Hamas officials since the Oct. 7 attack, including chief Mohammed Sinwar in May.