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Dutch Summon Israeli Ambassador, Impose Travel Ban on Ministers 

Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir (C) attends a plenary session to vote on a bill for applying Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank territory, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 23 July 2025. (EPA)
Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir (C) attends a plenary session to vote on a bill for applying Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank territory, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 23 July 2025. (EPA)
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Dutch Summon Israeli Ambassador, Impose Travel Ban on Ministers 

Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir (C) attends a plenary session to vote on a bill for applying Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank territory, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 23 July 2025. (EPA)
Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir (C) attends a plenary session to vote on a bill for applying Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank territory, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 23 July 2025. (EPA)

The Netherlands will ban two far-right Israeli ministers from entering the country, in the latest European response to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Gaza, the country's foreign minister said. 

The ban and other measures were announced in a letter Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp sent to lawmakers late Monday evening, declaring “The war in Gaza must stop.” 

The ban targets hard-line National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, key partners in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition. 

The pair are champions of the Israeli settlement movement who support continuing the war in Gaza, facilitating what they call the voluntary emigration of its Palestinian population and the building of Jewish settlements there. 

Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway imposed financial sanctions on the two men last month. 

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar delivered a formal reprimand to the ambassador of the Netherlands in response to the criticism. 

Saar said in a post on X that the Dutch government “chose to convert a long-standing friendship with Israel into open hostility towards it, precisely during its difficult time, probably out of political interests”. 

Later on Tuesday, leaders will meet in Brussels to discuss a European Union response, including evaluating a trade agreement between the bloc and Israel. The Netherlands wants part of that agreement to be suspended. 

Ben-Gvir and Smotrich remained defiant. In a statement on social media, Smotrich said European leaders were surrendering to “the lies of radical Islam” and that Jews may not be able to live safely in Europe in the future. 

Ben-Gvir said he will “continue to act” and said that in Europe “a Jewish minister from Israel is unwanted, terrorists are free, and Jews are boycotted.” 

Pressure has been mounting on the Dutch government, which is gearing up for elections in October, to change course on Israeli policy. Last week, thousands demonstrated at train stations across the country, carrying pots and pans to signify the food shortage in Gaza. 

The government will also summon the Israeli ambassador to the Netherlands to urge Netanyahu to change course and “immediately take measures that lead to a substantial and rapid improvement in the humanitarian situation throughout the Gaza Strip,” Veldkamp wrote. 

After international pressure, Israel over the weekend announced humanitarian pauses, airdrops and other measures meant to allow more aid to Palestinians in Gaza. But people there say little or nothing has changed on the ground. The UN has described it as a one-week scale-up of aid, and Israel has not said how long these latest measures would last. 

Israel asserts that Hamas is the reason aid isn’t reaching Palestinians in Gaza and accuses its fighters of siphoning off aid to support its rule in the territory. The UN denies that looting of aid is systematic and says it lessens or ends entirely when enough aid is allowed to enter Gaza. 

Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, are currently wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. The men are accused of using “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid, and of intentionally targeting civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. Member states of the ICC are obliged to arrest the men if they arrive on their territory. 

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World

Trump Suggests a Standing Order to Attack Iran if it Assassinates Him. But Vance Would Make the Call

President Donald Trump listens to a translator at the beginning of a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the NATO summit in Ankara, Türkiye, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump listens to a translator at the beginning of a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the NATO summit in Ankara, Türkiye, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Trump Suggests a Standing Order to Attack Iran if it Assassinates Him. But Vance Would Make the Call

President Donald Trump listens to a translator at the beginning of a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the NATO summit in Ankara, Türkiye, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump listens to a translator at the beginning of a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the NATO summit in Ankara, Türkiye, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump is suggesting he has left standing orders for the US military to destroy Iran “at levels they've never seen before” if Tehran follows through on its long-standing threats to kill him.

But the US government has no way to create an automatic, preauthorized “dead man’s switch” that would prompt immediate retaliation, The Associated Press said.

Instead, if Trump were killed, the transfer of power to his successor is governed by the 25th Amendment and the Presidential Succession Act of 1947. Vice President JD Vance instantaneously would become commander in chief and have authority for any retaliation.

Under such a scenario, Vance could do exactly what Trump called for, though there also is a chance he could decide not to follow his predecessor's orders — or offer a direct response in a different way.

“The US has, for a whole variety of reasons, never utilized a technical ‘dead man’s switch,'” said Garrett M. Graff, author of “Raven Rock: The Story of the US Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself -- While the Rest of Us Die.”

The United States does have extensive contingency plans for continuity of government in the event of a nuclear attack or other major catastrophe that wipes out most or all of Washington. But those plans also do not allow for immediately launching retaliatory strikes upon the death of a president, even if that president had demanded that the military be ready to do so.

Trump nonetheless posted on his social media website Saturday that Iran had made threats “to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate” him and he said 1,000 “missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat.”

Iran's supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said hours later that Iranians would continue to avenge the killing of his father, Ali Khamenei. The elder Khamenei died in the initial US and Israeli strikes that started the war in late February, and he was mourned in funeral events throughout Iran this week. His son said retaliation “is the will of our nation and must certainly be carried out.”

“We pledge to take revenge for the pure blood of you and all the martyrs of these two wars from the criminal and disgraceful killers," he said in remarks aired on state television. "This revenge is the will of our nation and must certainly be carried out.”

The White House on Saturday did not immediately answer questions about what would become of Trump's military orders should he be killed.

During those recent funeral events, mourners repeatedly held posters or banners calling for Trump to be killed along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Israel alerted US officials to fresh Iranian plots to kill Trump. The White House has refused to comment, but Trump appeared to reference such threats in comments during this week's NATO summit in Türkiye, saying, “They want to take out the US leader — me.”

Sabrina Singh, former Biden administration deputy Pentagon press secretary, said “Iran wanting to target senior American leaders is something that we know is happening."

“You have to take these as credible threats,” Singh said.

US retaliations would almost certainly come, just not automatically Trump was targeted in two domestic assassination attempts during the 2024 presidential campaign and saw a gunman storm the White House Correspondents' Association dinner he was attending in April.

The US and Iran once again began trading strikes, jeopardizing last month's initial deal to end the war. Asked about Iranian threats, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, “I’m No. 1 on their list."

Graff said the US prepared years of plans for how nuclear launch authority would devolve in the event of a surprise attack. That included, during 30 years of the Cold War, the country keeping fleets of airborne command posts flying 24 hours a day with a general aboard one of them who could take over nuclear launch orders in the event Washington was lost.

“What I believe Trump is saying is that he’s left standing orders to attack if he’s killed, e.g., that the Pentagon should proceed with standard launch protocols,” Graff said. “There’s a lot of reason to doubt the legality of such standing orders, since in the event of a president’s death, the nuclear launch authority would immediately pass to the vice president or designated successor — and ultimately it would be up to him or her to determine whether to proceed.”

Trump’s post only refers to firing missiles at Iran, which the US has done scores of times since its war with Iran began. He did not expressly threaten involving nuclear weapons.

Graff said that, in addition to leaving standing orders in case of his death, Trump also might say “something to Vance like, ‘If I’m killed, nuke Iran,'" and that would make” more sense and would be absolutely legal.”

Biden administration once warned Iran about Trump, too Washington receiving credible threats against the president and top US leaders from Iran and other foreign adversaries is not uncommon and is often disclosed via national security briefings or other classified means. But far less common is Trump declaring publicly that he personally has been targeted by Iran.

Still, this is not the first time Washington has threatened Iran over threats against Trump.

In 2022, the Biden administration warned Iran against attacking US citizens after the Justice Department's disclosure that a member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps had planned to assassinate John Bolton, Trump's first-term national security adviser. Now a Trump critic, Bolton last month pleaded guilty to illegally retaining classified documents in a case led by Trump’s Justice Department.

President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in 2022 that “should Iran attack any of our citizens, to include those who continue to serve the United States or those who formerly served, Iran will face severe consequences.”

Two years later, in the heat of Trump’s campaign against Democrat Kamala Harris, Biden's vice president, the Biden administration again quietly warned Iran. This time, officials made clear that an attack on Trump would be considered an act of war.

World

Congo: Ebola Outbreak Spreads to Provinces Haut-Uele and Tshopo

FILE - A health worker prepares a patient's blood sample for testing at Bunia General Hospital in Bunia, Congo, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)
FILE - A health worker prepares a patient's blood sample for testing at Bunia General Hospital in Bunia, Congo, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)
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Congo: Ebola Outbreak Spreads to Provinces Haut-Uele and Tshopo

FILE - A health worker prepares a patient's blood sample for testing at Bunia General Hospital in Bunia, Congo, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)
FILE - A health worker prepares a patient's blood sample for testing at Bunia General Hospital in Bunia, Congo, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)

The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo has spread to two new provinces, Haut-Uele and Tshopo, the country's public health institute said in a report.

"Although current investigations suggest ⁠that all cases detected ⁠in these two provinces are primarily imported from Niania in Ituri (province), it is ⁠necessary and appropriate ... to consider these two provinces as an epidemic zone," the National Institute of Public Health said in its report.

The outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of ⁠Ebola ⁠has now affected five Congolese provinces. It has killed hundreds of people in the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.

World

Researchers: Over 2,700 May Have Died Due to England Heatwaves

People sit in the shadow of a tree to protect from the sun by the Daumesnil Lake during a heatwave at the Bois de Vincennes park in Paris on July 11, 2026. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)
People sit in the shadow of a tree to protect from the sun by the Daumesnil Lake during a heatwave at the Bois de Vincennes park in Paris on July 11, 2026. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)
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Researchers: Over 2,700 May Have Died Due to England Heatwaves

People sit in the shadow of a tree to protect from the sun by the Daumesnil Lake during a heatwave at the Bois de Vincennes park in Paris on July 11, 2026. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)
People sit in the shadow of a tree to protect from the sun by the Daumesnil Lake during a heatwave at the Bois de Vincennes park in Paris on July 11, 2026. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)

At least 2,700 people could have died in England and Wales as a result of heatwaves that struck in May and June, according to a study released Monday.

Experts from Imperial College London, the Met Office and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine used weather data, climate models and studies on excess mortality during heatwaves to arrive at their estimate.

"More than 2,700 people are thought to have died from heat-related causes during the May and June heatwaves in England and Wales," AFP quoted a statement as saying.

"Of those, it's estimated that 42% died as a result of the extra heat caused by human-induced warming," it added.

The UK and most of Europe experienced two unprecedented heatwaves in May and June, with monthly records set at 35.1°C and 37.7°C, respectively, in England.

"They were extreme heatwaves for the UK, and for all parts of western Europe, and they're particularly exceptional for the timing and how early in the year they occurred," Mark McCarthy, science manager of the Met's climate attribution team, was quoted as saying in the study.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) will publish its official estimate of heat-related deaths in the coming weeks, based on death records from recent heatwaves.

The study's models "while they are not a measure of observed mortality, they help illustrate the scale of risk associated with extreme heat and the growing threat climate change poses to our wellbeing," said Lea Berrang Ford, head of UKHSA's Centre for Climate and Health Security.

The study estimates that around 550 people died as a result of the heat between May 21 and 29, and nearly 2,200 died between June 18 and 28 in England and Wales.

The authors emphasize the role of climate change, which is making heatwaves more intense and frequent.

They estimate that maximum daytime temperatures were 3°C to 4°C higher than they would have been without global warming.

The Climate Change Committee (CCC), the body responsible for advising the government on climate change, warned last year the UK was "not ready" to deal with the consequences of climate change.

In a report published in May, it estimated 92 percent of British homes could be too hot by 2050, and recommended the government set maximum temperature limits in the workplace, as well as investing in air conditioning for public buildings such as hospitals and schools.