Blog

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.

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.

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.

As this…

— Brad Little (@GovernorLittle) June 29, 2025

Where exactly did it happen?

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.

Update: pic.twitter.com/S60CnpFsyX

— 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.

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.