Israel has carried out a wave of air strikes across the Gaza Strip, triggering the mass displacement of hundreds of Palestinian families, witnesses say.
Rescue teams recovered the bodies of five people, while dozens of injured civilians were evacuated to Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, according to local reports.
The bombardment follows one of the largest evacuation orders issued since the war resumed in March.
It comes amid increasing pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refocus efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement.
Residents in Gaza City said dozens of Israeli air raids targeted densely populated eastern neighbourhoods, including Shujaiya, Tuffah, and Zeitoun.
Videos posted by activists on social media captured scenes of chaos and explosions illuminating the night sky, followed by flames and thick plumes of smoke rising above the skyline.
One of the strikes reportedly hit a school in Zeitoun that had been sheltering displaced families.
The five fatalities reportedly occurred in a strike at the Al Shati camp, to the west of Gaza City.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had earlier ordered residents to leave large parts of northern Gaza, in anticipation of the attacks. Most of those displaced overnight moved westwards within Gaza City rather than to the southern region as instructed by the IDF.
“We had no choice but to leave everything behind,” said Abeer Talba, a mother of seven who fled Zeitoun with her family.
“We got phone calls recordings in Arabic telling us we were in a combat zone and must evacuate immediately.
“This is the seventh time we’ve been forced to flee,” she added. “We’re in the streets again, no food, no water. My children are starving. Death feels kinder than this.”
Amid the growing humanitarian crisis, fears are mounting that the evacuation orders and sustained air strikes are part of a broader Israeli plan to expand its ground offensive deeper into Gaza.
But there is also speculation in Israeli media that some generals are close to concluding that military operations in Gaza are near to being achieved.
That is also the view of many former army leaders who fear that the descent of the Gaza campaign into more attritional, guerilla-style warfare would lead to more deaths – of hostages, civilians and soldiers.
The Israeli prime minister’s next moves are being closely watched. While Benjamin Netanyahu’s instincts have always been to continue the war and defeat Hamas, he is coming under increasing pressure at home and abroad to pursue a new ceasefire agreement.
At least 50 world leaders gather in Seville to address global concerns, including hunger, climate change and healthcare.
The United Nations Conference on Financing Development has opened in the southern Spanish city of Seville, as member states are expected to discuss global inequality amid a significant financial loss following the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funding cut.
The once-in-a-decade event will be held from Monday to Thursday, aiming to address pressing global concerns, including hunger, poverty, climate change, healthcare, and peace.
At least 50 world leaders gathered in Seville, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Kenyan President William Ruto.
More than 4,000 representatives from businesses, civil society and financial institutions are also participating in the fourth edition of the event.
But the group’s most significant player, the US, is snubbing the talks following President Donald Trump’s decision to slash funding shortly after taking office in January.
People march in Seville, Spain, demanding a UN-led framework for sovereign debt resolution on the eve of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, June 29, 2025 [Claudia Greco/Reuters]
In March, US State Secretary Marco Rubio said the Trump administration had cancelled more than 80 percent of all the USAID programmes.
Moreover, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France are also making cuts to offset the increased spending on defence, being imposed by Trump on NATO members.
But the series of cuts to developmental aid is concerning, with global advocacy group Oxfam International saying the cuts to development aid were the largest since 1960.
The UN also puts the growing gap in annual development finance at $4 trillion.
‘Seville Commitment’
The conference organisers have said the key focus of the talks is restructuring finance for the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted at the last meeting in 2015 and expected to be met by 2030.
But with shrinking development aid, the goals of reaching the SDGs in five years, which include eliminating poverty and hunger, seem unlikely.
Earlier in June, talks in New York produced a common declaration, which will be signed in Seville, committing to the UN’s development goals of promoting gender equality and reforming international financial institutions.
Zambia’s permanent representative to the UN, Chola Milambo, said the document shows that the world can tackle the financial challenges in the way of achieving the development goals, “and that multilateralism can still work”.
However, Oxfam has condemned the document for lacking ambition and said “the interests of a very wealthy are put over those of everyone else”.
Russian warships and coastal missile systems struck simulated maritime targets with cruise missiles during exercises in the Sea of Japan, TASS state news agency reported on Monday, citing Russia’s defence ministry.
The ships and missile systems, all part of Russia’s Pacific Fleet forces, “carried out a joint missile strike against a complex target setup in the Sea of Japan, simulating enemy ships”, TASS cited the ministry’s statement as saying.
“All targets were successfully hit.”
The Fleet’s flagship, the Varyag Guards missile cruiser, carried out a live launch of a Vulkan anti-ship cruise missile, and two missile boat strike groups attacked targets with four Moskit cruise missiles, TASS reported.
The combat crew of the Bastion coastal missile system launched an Onyx anti-ship missile, it said.
The missile firing zone had been closed in advance to civilian shipping and air traffic, the agency reported.
Women can be drafted into the Danish military as Russian aggression and military investment grows
HOVELTE: Peering across a dense stretch of woodland outside of Denmark’s capital with camouflage paint smeared across her face, 20-year-old Katrine scans the horizon for approaching threats.
After nearly four months of military training, the young soldier and the rest of her unit spent early June completing their final exercises near the Danish army’s barracks in Hovelte, 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of Copenhagen.
Katrine and other female soldiers, all of whom spoke to The Associated Press on June 11 on the condition that only their first names be used because of operational security, volunteered for military service earlier this year. Until now, that was the only way for women to be part of the armed forces.
The Scandinavian country is seeking to increase the number of young people in the military by extending compulsory enlistment to women for the first time. Men and women can both still volunteer, and the remaining places will be filled by a gender-neutral draft lottery.
“In the situation the world is in now, it’s needed,” Katrine said. “I think it’s only fair and right that women participate equally with men.”
Under new rules passed by Denmark’s parliament earlier in June, Danish women who turn 18 after Tuesday will be entered into the lottery system, on equal footing with their male compatriots. The change comes against a backdrop of Russian aggression and growing military investment across NATO countries.
Russia’s looming threat
Even from the relative safety of Denmark, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine casts its shadow. Lessons from the Ukrainian battlefields have even filtered down into their training.
“That makes it very real,” Katrine said.
Denmark’s gender-parity reforms were originally outlined in 2024 as part of a major defense agreement. The program was originally expected to be implemented by early 2027, but has been brought forward to summer 2025.
Col. Kenneth Strøm, head of the conscription program, told AP the move is based on “the current security situation.”
“They could take part in NATO collective deterrence,” Strøm added. “Raising the number of conscripts, that would simply lead to more combat power.”
Denmark, a nation of 6 million people, has about 9,000 professional troops. The new arrangement is expected to bring up to 6,500 annual conscripts by 2033, up from 4,700 last year.
Under Danish law, all physically fit men over age 18 are called up for military service. But because there are usually enough volunteers, there’s a lottery system so not all young men serve. Women, by contrast, could only volunteer previously, making up roughly a quarter of 2024’s cohort.
“Some will probably be very disappointed being chosen to go into the military,” Anne Sofie, part of Katrine’s cohort of volunteers, said of the new female conscripts. “Some will probably be surprised and like it a lot more than they think they would.”
The duration of service is also being extended from four to 11 months. Conscripts will first spend five months in basic training, followed by six months of operational service, plus additional lessons.
Military buildup
The move is part of a broader military buildup by the Nordic nation.
In February, Denmark’s government announced plans to bolster its military by setting up a $7 billion fund that it said would raise the country’s defense spending to more than 3 percent of gross domestic product this year. Parts of the conscript program are being financed by the so-called Acceleration Fund.
“We see a sharpened security situation in Europe. We have the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. We have focus on the Baltic countries, where Denmark is contributing a lot of soldiers. So, I think it’s a general effort to strengthen the Danish defense,” said researcher Rikke Haugegaard from the Royal Danish Defense College.
But Haugegaard notes there are many challenges, from ill-fitting equipment and a lack of additional barracks, to potential cases of sexual harassment.
“For the next year or two, we will be building a lot of new buildings to accommodate all these people. So, it will be a gradual process,” she added.
In 2017, neighboring Sweden instituted a military draft for both men and women after its government spoke of a deteriorating security environment in Europe. Norway introduced its own law applying military conscription to both sexes in 2013.
Wildfires rage in Turkey with firefighting efforts continuing
In Turkey, wildfires raged for a second day in the western province of Izmir, fanned by strong winds, forestry minister İbrahim Yumaklı said, forcing the evacuation of four villages and two town neighbourhoods, AFP reported.
Turkey’s coastal regions have in recent years been ravaged by wildfires as summers have become hotter and drier, which scientists say is a result of human-induced climate change, AFP added.
A note from our own environmental team at the Guardian tells me that:
Fire weather – a combination of heat, drought and strong wind – is increasing in some parts of all continents.
Human-caused climate breakdown is responsible for a higher likelihood of fire and bigger burned areas in southern Europe, northern Eurasia, the US and Australia, with some scientific evidence of increases in southern China.
Climate breakdown has increased the wildfire season by about two weeks on average across the globe.
Smoke rises as firefighting efforts continue both from the air and on the ground in response to forest fires in the Menderes district of Izmir, Turkiye. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Key events
German navy to patrol the Arctic against rising Russian threat
Germany’s defence minister said the country would send navy ships to patrol Arctic waters, citing the threat from a Russian military build-up in the region, AFP reported.
“Maritime threats are mounting… To name but a few, Russia is militarising the Arctic,” Boris Pistorius said at a press conference alongside his Danish counterpart, Troels Lund Poulsen.
Germany’s defence minister Boris Pistorius (R) and Denmark’s defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen (L) hold a joint press conference at the Danish Ministry of Defense in Copenhagen, Denmark. Photograph: Liselotte Sabroe/EPA
The announcement comes at a time when attention to security in the Arctic has been heightened, with US president Donald Trump vowing to annex the Danish autonomous territory of Greenland for security reasons – while accusing Denmark of having under-invested in its security, AFP noted.
EU trade commissioner to fly for trade talks with US after new Ukraine deal
EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said on Monday he will fly to Washington on Tuesday for trade talks with the US administration.
European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security and for Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency, Maroš Šefčovič, addresses a press conference on the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area in Brussels, Belgium. Photograph: Olivier Hoslet/EPA
“We are absolutely focusing on … a positive outcome,” he told reporters, Reuters said.
Šefčovič spoke after announcing the EU had agreed a new long-term trade deal with Ukraine, covering imports of food products from the war-torn country that have angered EU farmers.
You can see the EU’s full press release on the agreement here.
Kremlin says anti-government protests could amount to attempted ‘colour revolution’
The Kremlin said on Monday that it could not rule out the possibility that anti-government protests in Serbia, a close Russian ally, could be an attempted “colour revolution”, but that it believed the Serbian leadership could restore calm, Reuters reported.
A drone view shows Serbian students and other demonstrators lighting mobile phones flash lights during an anti-government protest demanding snap elections at the Slavija square, in Belgrade, Serbia. Photograph: Đorđe Kojadinović/Reuters
The agency added that Serbian police on Saturday clashed with anti-government protesters demanding snap elections and an end to the 12-year rule of president Aleksandar Vučić.
On Sunday, Vučić insisted that he would not cave in to the 140,000 protesters who rallied in the capital overnight demanding early elections, while vowing more arrests following clashes, AFP added.
AFP journalists saw riot police using tear gas and batons as protesters hurled flares and bottles at rows of officers in several clashes following the massive gathering in Belgrade.
Tens of thousands gather in central Belgrade to deliver an “ultimatum” to the populist government, demanding early elections after months of student-led strikes across the country. Photograph: Oliver Bunic/AFP/Getty Images
Months of protests across Serbia, including university shutdowns, have rattled Vučić, a populist, whose second term ends in 2027, when there are also parliamentary elections scheduled.
Putin wants Ukraine’s capitulation, German foreign minister warns in Kyiv
German foreign minister Johann Wadephul is in Kyiv today, where he warned that Russian president Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to surrender and is not ready for peace talks.
Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul in the Bundestag, Berlin, Germany. Photograph: dts News Agency Germany/Shutterstock
“Putin is not ceding on any of his maximalist demands – he doesn’t want negotiations, he wants a capitulation,” he said, as reported by AFP.
“Ukraine’s freedom and liberty is the most important task of our foreign and security policy,” Wadephul said in a statement released by his ministry, as he warned that Putin was “betting on a weakening of our support”.
His comments come after Russia has fired more than 500 aerial weapons at Ukraine overnight on Sunday, in a barrage that Kyiv described as the biggest air attack so far of the three-year war.
The bombing appeared to target several regions far from the frontline, he said, including in western Ukraine. The Russian army said on Sunday its overnight attack hit Ukrainian military-industrial complex sites and oil refineries, and that it had intercepted three Ukrainian drones overnight.
Jakub Krupa
Let’s take a moment to catch up with other, non-weather-related events across Europe.
Spain records highs of 46C and France under alert as Europe swelters in heatwave
Ajit Niranjan, European environment correspondent, andSam Jonesin Seville
A vicious heatwave has engulfed southern Europe, with punishing temperatures that have reached highs of 46C (114.8F) in Spain and placed almost the entirety of mainland France under alert.
A woman carrying a fan and a wheeled suitcase walks next to Sagrada Familia Basilica during a heatwave in Barcelona, Spain. Photograph: Albert Gea/Reuters
Extreme heat, made stronger by fossil fuel pollution, has for several days scorched Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece as southern Europe endures its first major heatwave of the summer.
The high temperatures have prompted the authorities in several countries to issue new health warnings and scramble firefighters to prevent wildfires from breaking out.
“Extreme heat is no longer a rare event – it has become the new normal,” said António Guterres, the secretary general of the United Nations, at a development conference in Seville on Monday.
Hottest ever opening day at Wimbledon in London
This year’s Wimbledon tennis championships have begun with the hottest opening day on record, according to the Met Office, as reported by PA.
Spectators use fans to cool down on day one of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London. Photograph: Jordan Pettitt/PA
Temperatures reached a provisional high of 29.7C (85.5F) at Kew Gardens in west London on Monday afternoon, surpassing the previous record of 29.3C set in June 2001.
Spectators queued from the early hours to enter the All England Club in south-west London, with many using fans, umbrellas and sunscreen to cope with the heat.
Vicki Broad, 57, a retired nurse from Swansea, who was the first person in the queue, said: “The sun has been tough but we’re in the shade now.”
You can follow all the action live on our tennis live blog here:
Spanish street thermometers show temperatures higher than they are
Sam Jones
Reports on scorching temperatures in Spain often feature photos showing street thermometers with terrifying readings that are often higher than the actual temperature.
Why?
Because street thermometers, which are exposed directly to the sun and to hot road surfaces, reflect the temperature of their electronic sensors, which are encased in boxes.
That’s why the temperature readings are higher than in the surrounding area. So best to take those readings with a pinch of salt.
Weather experts – such as Spain’s state meteorological office, Aemet – use specially constructed and officially regulated thermometer posts for their readings.
They explained all of this in this helpful social media thread last year.
Jakub Krupa
Earlier today, a reader has kindly shared a picture of a street thermometer in Seville, Spain showing 48 Celsius (11:56).
A street thermometer in Seville, Spain, showing 48 Celsius in a picture shared by a reader. Photograph: Elaine Loebenstein/Reader submission
But, as Sam Jones, tells me, these measurements need to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Over to him to explain.
Wildfires rage in Turkey with firefighting efforts continuing
In Turkey, wildfires raged for a second day in the western province of Izmir, fanned by strong winds, forestry minister İbrahim Yumaklı said, forcing the evacuation of four villages and two town neighbourhoods, AFP reported.
Turkey’s coastal regions have in recent years been ravaged by wildfires as summers have become hotter and drier, which scientists say is a result of human-induced climate change, AFP added.
A note from our own environmental team at the Guardian tells me that:
Fire weather – a combination of heat, drought and strong wind – is increasing in some parts of all continents.
Human-caused climate breakdown is responsible for a higher likelihood of fire and bigger burned areas in southern Europe, northern Eurasia, the US and Australia, with some scientific evidence of increases in southern China.
Climate breakdown has increased the wildfire season by about two weeks on average across the globe.
Smoke rises as firefighting efforts continue both from the air and on the ground in response to forest fires in the Menderes district of Izmir, Turkiye. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Sam Jones
travelling from Madrid to Seville
Just boarded train to Seville and a lovely member of staff of the state rail company, Renfe, has handed me this fetching fan.
A fetching fan issued by the Spanish state rail company Renfe during a heatwave in Spain, on 30 June 2025. Photograph: Sam Jones/The Guardian
“Boys don’t normally go for them,” she laughed as I grabbed it from her gratefully.
It is so bloody hot – and will be much, much worse in Seville.
Your experiences of European heatwave
Jakub Krupa
Thanks for more emails from you on how you’re dealing with the heatwave.
Lluís tells me he is just about coping with this heat “over the past few days, in Premià de Dalt, a small town 20 min north from Barcelona.”
“My son Pau (10) and daughter Llúcia (8), already on vacation, have intensively used our community pool.
But the most challenging is night-time, when our house is still warm from the day’s heat and outside the temperature has not gone below 26º C (not a minute throughout the night!). AC is paramount!”
Jamie and his friends were “lucky to have camped last night at 2000m just above Ax Les Thermes in southern France.”
“It was a balmy 30C at midnight and likely to peak at 34C today. We drank a decent whisky with ice cold water from an unpolluted mountain stream. It was pretty tidy. Pity the poor souls down in the valley where it’s to be 41C+ this afternoon.”
Michael emails in to say he and his friends just incredibly “completed a 40 mile walk over 4 days through hilly Southern Tuscany in 34C”
“Starting early, wide brimmed hats, sunscreen, 2 litres of water each and a hotel with a cool swimming pool at the end of each day kept us going.
Now off to cool down in Florence where it is 38C!”
Make sure to get some gelato while there!
And finally, my favourite email of the day so far from Neil in “very hot Évora, Portugal (already 36 degrees at 11am, going to reach the low 40s again later today!)”.
In case you needed some different content, I am sharing some pictures of Nina, my pig, cooling off in her bath before the afternoon heat comes. Feel free to use!
Yes, Neil, we love pictures of pigs cooling off from the heat!
So, everyone, meet Nina:
A picture of reader’s pig Nina cooling herself off during a European heatwave, in Évora, Portugal on 30 June 2025 Photograph: Neil Bailey
How are you being affected by the heatwave?
We would like to hear from people in the south of Europe who are experiencing high temperatures. How are you coping and what steps are you taking to deal with high temperatures? What is your home and working environment like?
You can also separately email me on jakub.krupa@theguardian.com, as before!
Spanish weather agency confirms new June record
Temperatures in southern Spain soared to 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit) on Saturday, a new record for June, the national weather agency said on Monday, AFP reported.
The mercury climbed to its new high on Saturday at 1440 GMT in Huelva, near the border with Portugal, edging out the previous record, 45.2C that was set in 1965 in Seville, it said.
The last three years have been the hottest on record for Spain, according to weather authorities.
Europe swelters under heatwave – in pictures
Arnel Hecimovic
Tourists protect themselves from the hot sun with umbrellas during the first summer heatwave in Seville, southern Spain. Photograph: Marcelo del Pozo/ReutersUsing a fan to keep cool as the temperature rises in Bournemouth on the south coast of England. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty ImagesA tourist cools off in a fountain during a heatwave in downtown Barcelona, Spain. Photograph: Toni Albir/EPAA woman fans herself while under an umbrella at Praça Camoes as high temperatures hit the city in Lisbon, Portugal. Photograph: Horacio Villalobos/Corbis/Getty Images
Two firefighters were killed by gunfire while responding to a brush fire in Coeur d’Alene, a lakeside town in the northwestern US state of Idaho.
The local sheriff’s office reported that a shelter-in-place order was lifted on Sunday night after a tactical team found the body of a man with a firearm nearby. The dead man is believed to be the suspect.
Officials did not disclose his identity or specify the type of weapon recovered.
What happened in Idaho, and when?
Officials said crews responded to a fire at Canfield Mountain in the city at about 1:22pm (20:22 GMT), and gunshots were reported about a half hour later at 2pm (21:00 GMT).
Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris said the shooter used high-powered sporting rifles to open rapid fire on first responders.
Two firefighters were killed and, according to authorities, a third one came out of surgery and is in a stable condition but “fighting for his life”.
Norris told reporters on Sunday that authorities believe the suspect intentionally started the fire as “an ambush”.
“We do believe he started it and it was totally intentional what he did,” he added.
However, officials have not spelled out any possible motives for why the suspect might have wanted to ambush the firefighters.
According to reports, more than 300 law enforcement officers and FBI agents responded to the emergency, while police snipers searched the area from helicopters.
Video footage from the area showed smoke rising from forested hillsides, with multiple ambulances and emergency vehicles seen arriving at a local hospital.
Multiple heroic firefighters were attacked today while responding to a fire in North Idaho. This is a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters. I ask all Idahoans to pray for them and their families as we wait to learn more. Teresa and I are heartbroken.
The Canfield Mountain area is on the eastern outskirts of Coeur d’Alene. It is a popular 24‑acre (10-hectare) natural space featuring hiking and mountain‑biking trails.
Coeur d’Alene, a city of about 55,000 people, is located roughly 260 miles (420 km) east of Seattle.
The mountain is densely covered with trees and thick brush, and its network of trails extends into a national forest.
Who was the shooter?
Based on preliminary evidence, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office believes there was only one shooter involved in the attack. Initially, authorities had suspected there might be as many as four.
Authorities located the suspect after detecting mobile phone activity in the area and tracing the signal.
There, they discovered a man who appeared to be deceased with a weapon found nearby. They did not say how the man died, or what firearm was discovered. Norris said that authorities believe the dead man was the shooter. However, the police have not yet revealed his identity.
Police said a man called 911 to report the fire but said that it was unclear if the caller was the gunman.
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) June 30, 2025
What do we know about the victims?
Kootenai County officials said they would not release the names of the two firefighters who died.
“Their families will need support,” Sheriff Norris said.
“This is a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters,” Idaho Governor Brad Little wrote on Facebook.
Officials said the bodies would be transported in a procession to nearby Spokane, Washington, accompanied by a convoy of official vehicles. One of the firefighters was working with the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department; the other served with Kootenai County Fire and Rescue.
An armoured police vehicle leaves an area where multiple firefighters were attacked when responding to a fire in the Canfield Mountain area [Young Kwak/Reuters]
Is the area now safe? Was the fire controlled?
The shelter-in-place notice was lifted at 03:50 GMT on Monday.
The wildfire on Canfield Mountain scorched approximately 20 acres (81 hectares), Norris said on Sunday, but no structures were lost in the fire, authorities confirmed.
At 03:00 GMT, authorities confirmed that the fire was still burning.
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, has said that India must review its policies and cannot impose its will on Pakistan.
Speaking at the Foundation Day ceremony of the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad, Dar warned New Delhi against unilateral actions and reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to regional peace and sovereignty.
He strongly criticised India’s use of “false flag operations” to justify aggression against Pakistan, particularly citing the Pulwama incident, which he said was used by India to stage a fabricated narrative. “India must revisit its strategic choices and end its policy of coercion,” Dar stated.
Tensions between Pakistan and India escalated on April 22, when an attack in Pahalgam killed 26 people. India blamed Pakistan for the incident. Pakistan has categorically rejected Indian accusations.
India then undertook a series of hostile actions the next day on April 23, suspending the 65-year-old Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), cancelling visas for Pakistani citizens, closing the Wagah-Attari border crossing and ordering the shutdown of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, among others.
Read: Pak IWT stance vindicated by arbitration court
Both the countries subsequently reduced diplomatic staff at their respective embassies in the other’s territory.
Referring to water disputes, Dar asserted that India cannot unilaterally suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, accusing it of attempting to weaponise water against Pakistan.
He reaffirmed Pakistan’s resolve to safeguard its territorial integrity and uphold its sovereign rights.
On the Kashmir issue, the DPM said the dispute is internationally recognised and its peaceful resolution is essential for regional stability.
He accused India of openly violating international laws, while reiterating Pakistan’s adherence to the principle of peaceful coexistence.
Commenting on global affairs, Dar welcomed the ceasefire between Iran and Israel and reaffirmed Pakistan’s longstanding support for Iran’s legitimate stance.
He called for dialogue-based resolution of Iran’s nuclear issue and expressed concern over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, condemning ongoing atrocities in the region.
Separately, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s Supplemental Award on the Indus Waters Treaty, calling it a major vindication of Pakistan’s stance.
Read more: Bilawal condemns US attack on Iran, warns India over IWT breach
The ruling confirmed that India cannot unilaterally suspend the treaty or its dispute resolution mechanisms.
In a statement on Sunday, the PM said water is vital for Pakistan and praised Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and Attorney General Mansoor Awan for their legal efforts.
The court stated that the Treaty remains binding unless terminated by mutual consent and does not allow one-sided suspension by either party.
Earlier, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had said that Pakistan would consider war if India refused to honour the Indus Waters Treaty.
“India must choose between honouring the treaty or losing control of all six rivers,” Bilawal said, reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to protecting its share of water under the 1960 World Bank-brokered agreement.
The comments followed an earlier statement made during a political rally in Sukkur, where Bilawal declared, “Either the river will flow or their blood will.”
Two firefighters were shot dead while responding to a fire in northern Idaho and the body of a man was later found with a gun nearby, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office said on Sunday, as it lifted a shelter-in-place order.
Sheriff Bob Norris had earlier said law enforcement officers and firefighters were taking sniper fire and urged people to stay clear of the area around Canfield Mountain, a nature zone popular with hikers near Coeur d’Alene, about 260 miles (420 km) east of Seattle.
“This evening, members of the SWAT team located a deceased male on Canfield Mountain. A firearm was found nearby,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
“At this time, the shelter in place is being lifted, however, there is still an active wildfire on Canfield Mountain. Residents in the area are advised to be prepared and ready should further action need to be taken.”
The sheriff said the shooter had used high-powered sporting rifles to fire rapidly at first responders, with law enforcement initially unsure of the number of perpetrators involved.
They were in a spot “with heavy brush and they are well prepared and blending in with their surroundings,” Norris added.
Law enforcement is investigating whether the fire could have been intentionally set to lure first responders to the scene, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Howard told ABC News.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been briefed on the Idaho shooting, ABC News reported.
Video footage from the scene had earlier shown smoke billowing from heavily wooded hillsides and armed responders preparing, while several ambulances and emergency vehicles were seen entering a nearby hospital.
“FBI technical teams and tactical assets are currently on the scene providing support,” FBI deputy director Dan Bongino wrote on X. “It remains an active, and very dangerous scene.”
FBI technical teams and tactical assets are currently on the scene providing support. It remains an active, and very dangerous scene. https://t.co/yYcfiYeI3b
Firefighters received the first call of a fire around 1:21 p.m. (2021 GMT), Norris said, and about 40 minutes later, reports emerged that they were being shot at.
“This is a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters,” Idaho Governor Brad Little said on X. “I ask all Idahoans to pray for them and their families as we wait to learn more.”
Multiple heroic firefighters were attacked today while responding to a fire in North Idaho. This is a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters. I ask all Idahoans to pray for them and their families as we wait to learn more. Teresa and I are heartbroken.
Gun ownership is widespread in the US, where the country’s Constitution protects the rights of Americans to “keep and bear arms.”
Deaths related to gun violence are common – 17,927 people were murdered by a gun in 2023 in the US, according to the most recent available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
