Iran’s rulers were quietly preparing for a broader and potentially prolonged Middle East war even as Tehran publicly engaged in diplomatic efforts with the United States, according to an exclusive investigation by The Wall Street Journal.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump announced Sunday that he had ordered the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” military exercises with key regional ally South Korea, citing his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Seoul’s refusal to assist Washington in its confrontation with Iran.

Rescue teams in eastern Indonesia recovered six more bodies Sunday following a powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake, raising the death toll to at least 53 as Christians prayed for victims and rescuers struggled to reach isolated communities.

The U.S. Department of Defense is introducing a course centered on Christianity and Western civilization this fall in the schools it operates for military families, while casting Islam as a threat to both.

New York’s Jewish community was reeling Sunday as a judge ordered a man held on bail after prosecutors said he admitted to disrupting Shabbat services at Manhattan’s Central Synagogue and assaulting two people there.

Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten faced mounting pressure Sunday after two people died in a traffic accident linked to a farmers’ protest, while his government was drawn into a separate controversy over a prominent statesman’s comparison involving Israel and Nazi Germany.

Amid mounting military cooperation, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reaffirmed deepening ties with Russia in a message to President Vladimir Putin as Pyongyang marked the anniversary of “independence from Japan’s colonial rule,” state media reported Sunday.

The Russia-Ukraine war rapidly escalated Sunday as more than 800 Ukrainian drones targeted Russia in Ukraine’s largest such attack this year, killing at least seven people, officials said.

Firefighters backed by Dutch military helicopters battled Belgium’s largest wildfire on record Sunday as flames swept through nearly 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) of nature reserve and threatened areas near the German border, while deadly blazes raged elsewhere in Europe, including Greece.

Iran-backed Hezbollah threatened to retaliate after Israel said Saturday it had killed a commander of the group in an attack that killed at least 11 people.