Hamburg Pride draws 300,000 with increased security, a week after a fatal attack in Berlin

BERLIN (AP) — Hamburg's Pride parade, one of Germany's biggest, made its way through the port city with increased security on Saturday, a week after a fatal extremist attack near its counterpart in Berlin.

Police and organizers said that about 300,000 people attended, compared with around 260,000 last year, German news agency dpa reported. Hamburg's police chief said earlier this week that roughly twice as many officers as last year would protect the event.

The Hamburg event's motto this time was “Queer in solidarity. Take a stand — for a future without fear.”

A late addition to the dozens of trucks taking part was one representing the Berlin Pride event — or Christopher Street Day, CSD for short, as the parades are known in Germany. People on that truck were asked to wear dark clothing as a sign of respect for the victims of last week's attack.

“After the brutal attack on the CSD in Berlin, many are unsure in the queer community but also in society whether here and today is the right place,” Hamburg's deputy mayor, Katharina Fegebank, told RTL television. “I say, now more than ever.”

“When you look at the atmosphere here, you can see that there’s still joy. At least, that’s how it seems to me,” CSD organizer Manuel Opitz said. “I think we carry the grief in our hearts — and Berlin in our hearts, too — but we’re bringing our pride out onto the streets, and you can see that.”

Late on July 25, a driver plowed a van into people a few hundred meters (yards) from the closing party of the Berlin Pride event before cutting others with what appears to have been a machete. A woman was killed and many other people were injured.

The 21-year-old suspect, Abdul Ballout, was killed in a confrontation with police on Sunday. Investigators later found a video in which a person believed to be the suspect claimed responsibility and pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.

Prosecutors have said Ballout, who was born in Germany and has Lebanese roots, traveled to Lebanon in 2025 with the goal of going to Syria to join IS. He made contact with several people who were presumed members.

A truck from the Schmidt Theater bearing the CSD slogan "Queer in Solidarity. Take a Stand—for a Future Without Fear!" drives down Steindamm during Hamburg Pride 2026, the Christopher Street Day (CSD) parade, in Hamburg, Germany, Saturday Aug. 1, 2026. (Georg Wendt/dpa via AP)

A truck drives down Steintordamm during Hamburg Pride 2026, the Christopher Street Day (CSD) parade, in Hamburg, Germany, Saturday Aug. 1, 2026. (Georg Wendt/dpa via AP)

A police officer stands on Steindamm at the edge of Hamburg Pride 2026, the Christopher Street Day (CSD) parade, in Hamburg, Germany, Saturday Aug. 1, 2026. (Georg Wendt/dpa via AP)

A reveller holds a placard during the Hamburg Pride 2026, the Christopher Street Day (CSD) parade, in Hamburg, Germany, Saturday Aug. 1, 2026. (Georg Wendt/dpa via AP)

Under the rainbow, from left to right: Member of the Bundestag; Matthias Miersch (SPD), Chair of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag; Katharina Fegebank (Greens), Second Mayor of Hamburg; Oliver Greve, Hamburg Pride e.V.; and Olivia Jones, drag queen; along with other participants, stand on Luebecker Strase at the start of the Hamburg Pride 2026 parade for Christopher Street Day (CSD), in Hamburg, Germany, Saturday Aug. 1, 2026. (Georg Wendt/dpa via AP)

The Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo is now the fastest-growing one in history, and new challenges keep emerging even as work begins on a study of two badly needed treatments for a type of Ebola that currently has none.

A strike this week by unpaid workers at an Ebola treatment center at the heart of the outbreak could light the flame for others in a remote region already suffering from bare-bones infrastructure, rebel threats and misinformation asserting that the deadly virus isn’t real.

Nearly 2,000 cases, including 702 deaths, have been confirmed. Now cases are suspected in two more provinces, including one of Congo’s largest cities, Kisangani, as responders struggle to understand how far Ebola has spread. Experts have said the outbreak was missed for weeks because tests were conducted for a more common type of Ebola, and its origin is still not known.

Here’s a look at the outbreak and the growing effort to contain it.

The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a type of Ebola that has no approved vaccines.

Ebola is highly contagious and can be transmitted to people from wild animals. It spreads in the human population through contact with bodily fluids such as vomit, blood or semen, and with contaminated surfaces and materials such as bedding and clothing.

Traditional funerals in which loved ones wash and prepare bodies have been restricted, to some anger by residents.

The disease is rare but severe and often fatal. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and at times internal and external bleeding. Outbreaks often occur in remote villages in Central Africa, near rainforests.

Associated Press journalists have witnessed the aftermath of attacks on health centers by a wary, highly mobile population that has long been traumatized by armed groups.

Outsiders can be looked upon with suspicion, and community outreach teams have worked to spread the word about Ebola prevention measures in the face of abuse and accusations that the outbreak is a scam.

Part of the outbreak is unfolding in a major city and humanitarian hub, Goma, that rebels backed by neighboring Rwanda seized over a year ago, further complicating the response.

Now there is unrest among local Ebola responders themselves after weeks of risky crisis work and little or no pay from the Congolese government. On Monday, staff at a treatment center in Ituri province, the outbreak’s epicenter, closed the facility and blocked access, burning a tire. Striking staffers included epidemiologists, case investigators, drivers and gravediggers.

Congolese officials have said they are in talks with the health workers to find a solution. A labor strike that spreads to other overstretched and underequipped facilities would be another serious blow to Ebola containment efforts.

The strikes come at a vulnerable time. Earlier this month, researchers began a study of two possible Ebola treatments and began enrolling participants.

One is Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir, a broad-acting antiviral approved to treat COVID-19 that has shown some hints in lab tests that it may help fight the Bundibugyo virus. The other is Mapp Biopharmaceutical’s experimental MBP134, antibodies engineered to target Ebola viruses including Bundibugyo.

The World Health Organization has said patients will be randomly assigned to receive today’s best standard of care as well as remdesivir, MBP134, both or neither.

The United Nations body has warned it could take months and possibly as many as 1,000 study participants to tell if either drug works.

Currently the study is offered in just one Ebola treatment center in Ituri province — not the one where the strike has begun. Officials plan to expand the study to other locations once it is safe to do so.

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Health workers are seen at the treatment centre in Bunia General Hospital in Ituri, eastern Congo, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Dieudonne Dirole)

A health worker dries boots that were washed to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus at the treatment centre in Bunia General Hospital in Ituri, eastern Congo, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Dieudonne Dirole)

A health worker waits to be sprayed with disinfectant at the treatment centre in Bunia General Hospital in Ituri, eastern Congo, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Dieudonne Dirole)

Health workers disinfects an ambulance at Ebola Treatment Center at Bunia General Hospital in Ituri, Congo, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)

A health worker stands outside at Ebola Treatment Center at Bunia General Hospital in Ituri, Congo, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)

Health workers disinfects an ambulance at Ebola Treatment Center at Bunia General Hospital in Ituri, Congo, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)

Health workers disinfect a coffin of an Ebola victim at Ebola Treatment Center at Bunia General Hospital in Ituri, Congo, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)

Rubble set on fire as health workers involved in Congo's Ebola response go on strike as they protest over payment issues in Bunia, Congo, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Constant Same Bagalwa)

A health worker at an ebola treatment centre in Bunia, Congo, Monday, July 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Prosper Heri Ngorora)

Workers at an Ebola treatment center go on strike over unpaid salaries and bonuses at Rwampara General Hospital, in Ituri, northeastern Congo, Monday, July 13, 2026, (AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)

Workers at an Ebola treatment center go on strike over unpaid salaries and bonuses at Rwampara General Hospital, in Ituri, northeastern Congo, Monday, July 13, 2026, (AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)