With relations between NATO on the one hand and China and Russia on the other at a low ebb, analysts believe that Beijing wanted to send the alliance a warning message with the timing of the drills.

NATO leaders said in a declaration at their summit in Washington on Wednesday that China had "become a decisive enabler of Russia's war against Ukraine".

Leaders from the 32-nation military alliance were looking to put on a show of resolve against Russia during three days of pomp-filled ceremony in the US capital marking NATO's 75th anniversary.  

The visit is Modi's first since Russia launched its campaign in Ukraine and since he was returned to power last month as leader of the world's most populous country.

"The President has asked Gabriel Attal to remain prime minister for the time being in order to ensure the country's stability," Macron's office said in a statement.

In rejection of the 28-year-old Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) party, categorized as “extreme-right” by the French Council of State, mass demonstrations have broken out in many parts of the country.  

Jokowi issued the statement in a message posted on social media platform X on Monday, five days after Schoof's inauguration.

"Our people have clearly rejected the worst-case scenario," said the three-time presidential candidate of the France Unbowed (LFI) party.

China is "willing to work with the new UK government to consolidate mutual political trust and expand mutually beneficial cooperation", Li told Starmer, according to state news agency Xinhua.

The 87-year-old pope was in the northeastern city of Trieste for a flying visit -- his fourth trip within Italy in just over two months as he prepares for a 12-day journey across Asia in September, the longest of his papacy.

Under the slogan "Enough! Let's put limits on tourism", some 2,800 people -- according to police -- marched along a waterfront district of Barcelona to demand a new economic model that would reduce the millions of tourists that visit every year.

Britain, once renowned for political stability, has lurched from crisis to crisis since the 2016 vote to leave the European Union, through the COVID-19 pandemic, increasingly stretched public services and a cost of living crisis.

Starmer was greeted by huge cheers and took time before making his speech to shake hands with and hug aides and well-wishers who lined Downing Street - scenes that were reminiscent of Labour predecessor Tony Blair's arrival in government in 1997.

Corbyn, 75, who has represented the London constituency of Islington North for more than 40 years, won the seat comfortably -- but for the first time without Labour affiliation.

With many results still to be announced from Thursday's vote, centre-left Labour has already won more than 326 of the 650 seats in parliament, with an exit poll suggesting it would capture about 410.

Two hundred and twenty-three days after far-right leader Geert Wilders swept to an election victory that stunned Europe and the world, Schoof took over from Mark Rutte after 14 years in power.

In December 2022, then-Prime Minister Mark Rutte acknowledged that the Netherlands bore a responsibility for transatlantic slavery and had profited from it, and apologised.

The RN and allies had 33 percent of the vote, followed by a leftwing bloc with 28 percent and President Emmanuel Macron's centrists with just 20 percent, official results from the interior ministry showed on Monday. 

The leftwing alliance and President Emmanuel Macron's camp will be hoping that tactical voting to prevent RN candidates winning seats will leave it short of the absolute majority.

"The North Atlantic Council decided to appoint Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as the next Secretary General of NATO, succeeding Jens Stoltenberg," the alliance said in a statement, adding that he would take over on October 1. 

The Indonesian and French militaries agreed to improve defense cooperation during a meeting between Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Agus Subiyanto and his French counterpart.

The unidentified gunmen launched simultaneous attacks in Dagestan's largest city of Makhachkala and in the coastal city of Derbent.

With less than two weeks to go before the first round in the snap elections called by Macron in response to the far right drubbing his party in European polls, the president's party is trailing badly.

While being reluctant to endorse a peace plan for the Ukraine war produced following a two-day world leader summit in Switzerland, Indonesia asserts its commitment and the importance to uphold international law to push for peace both in Ukraine and Gaza.

More than two years after Russia invaded, leaders and senior officials from more than 90 states gathered in a Swiss mountainside resort for a two-day summit dedicated to Kyiv's plan to end the largest European conflict since World War II.

Azerbaijan is gearing up to host the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku come November, and plans to flex its diplomatic chops in urging parties to leave the blame game at the door and calling for a "COP truce" in ongoing conflicts toward agreeing a new climate finance goal that reflects the current reality.

Ninety states and organisations have registered to take part in the summit on Saturday and Sunday in the alpine resort of Lucerne, which will seek to build support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's peace proposals, including the full withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.

The US president and other G7 leaders agreed at a summit in Italy to use the profits from the interest on the assets to back the loan to provide help this year to Kyiv as it struggles in its third year of war with Russia.

The G7 summit in Puglia comes just five months before a nail-biting US presidential election that is testing not only America's democracy but also causing huge uncertainty for its allies.

Zelensky's speech came at the start of a diplomatic whirlwind tour to shore up support for Kyiv's battle against Russia.