Pakistan carried out a second missile test in three days on Monday, and India said it ordered several states to conduct security drills, as fears mounted that the neighbours could be heading to a confrontation over a deadly attack in Kashmir.

An Israeli parliamentary committee on Monday began debate on a law that would impose an 80% tax on non-government organisations that receive the majority of their funding from foreign entities in a bid to reduce foreign influence on the state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday an expanded offensive against Palestinian militant group Hamas would be “intensive” after his security cabinet approved plans that may include seizing the Gaza Strip and controlling aid.

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has resigned, and his Social Democrat party is to leave the government after a right-wing nationalist candidate won the first round of the presidential election.

The New Zealand government said on Sunday it had set aside NZ$2 billion ($1.19 billion) in its upcoming budget to replace the Defence Force’s aging maritime helicopters, as global tensions increase.

Hamas has executed a number of alleged looters after several incidents in which heavily armed gangs attacked food stores and community kitchens in the Gaza Strip this week, sources close to the Palestinian militant group said.

Two people are dead and another two are fighting for their lives in hospital after a car crash north of Sale in Victoria’s Gippsland region on Sunday afternoon.

Iran’s Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said that Tehran would strike back if the United States or Israel attacked.

One of Pope Francis’s popemobiles is being transformed into a mobile health clinic for children in the Gaza Strip, fulfilling one of his final wishes, the Vatican’s official media outlet said on Sunday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke to his Pakistani counterpart on Sunday and offered Russia’s help in resolving tensions between Pakistan and India over Kashmir, the Foreign Ministry said.

One of the men accused of taking part in a wave of sectarian violence against Syria’s Alawite minority two months ago has told the BBC that he and other armed civilians who travelled to the area were advised and monitored by government forces there.

An international NGO that intends to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza by sea said on Sunday it was in talks with Malta’s government about allowing the vessel to enter Maltese waters to repair damage caused by a drone attack.