Australian police say a knife attack in Sydney that wounded a bishop and a priest during a church service as horrified worshippers watched online and in person, and sparked a riot was an act of terrorism.

There is a woman hailing from Kerala among the 17 Indians who are onboard an Israel-linked cargo ship seized by Iran in the gulf region, her family said on Monday.

President Joe Biden is hosting Iraq's leader at the White House as fears grow for a major escalation in Mideast hostilities following Iran's weekend attack on Israel.

Israel is "strong and resilient" and, if needed, it will "confront Iran" after the recent attack, the Israeli envoy here asserted on Monday and said India should play a role in bringing stability in the West Asia region.

World leaders are urging Israel not to retaliate after Iran launched an attack involving hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.

Australian police are examining why a lone assailant who stabbed six people to death in a busy Sydney shopping mall and injured more than a dozen others targeted women while avoiding men, a police commissioner said on Monday.

The US destroyed more than 80 UAVs and at least six ballistic missiles launched by Iran at Israel, the Pentagon said Sunday.

Lahore/New Delhi: Amir Sarfaraz Tamba, an accused in the murder of Sarabjit Singh, the Indian death row prisoner in Pakistan, and a close associate of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror outfit founder Hafiz Saeed, was killed by unidentified gunmen in an apparent "targeted attack" in Lahore on Sunday.