At the invitation of the Republic of North Macedonia authorities, the North Atlantic Council (NAC), chaired by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, will visit Skopje on 2 and 3 June, the Alliance Press Office announced.

The EU Civil Protection Mechanism has been activated yesterday for tackling forest fires, following a request for assistance from the Israeli authorities made previous night. In an immediate response, the European Union has already helped mobilise four firefighting planes, two from Italy and two from Cyprus are dispatched swiftly to the affected areas.

The US Justice Department unveiled 17 new criminal charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Thursday, saying he unlawfully published the names of classified sources and conspired with and assisted ex-Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in obtaining access to classified information.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds talks on Friday to form a new cabinet to tackle a stuttering economy and other challenges facing his second term after winning a big majority. Official data from the Election Commission showed Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party had won 296 of the 542 seats up for grabs and was ahead in seven more, up from the 282 it won in 2014. The BJP would have the first back-to-back majority in the lower house of parliament for a single party since 1984. Votes will be fully counted by Friday morning.

Ukraine's President Zelenskiy disbanded the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament on Tuesday and scheduled snap parliamentary elections for 21 July, news wires reported. The 41-year-old TV comedian, who won 73% of the presidential vote last month, promised the early vote in his inauguration speech on Monday, saying that current lawmakers were too focused on self-enrichment and lacked public trust.

Joko Widodo has been re-elected as Indonesia's president after last month's vote, beating former general Prabowo Subianto. According to the results, which were released a day ahead of schedule in the early hours of Tuesday, amid fears of unrest, Widodo won 55.5% of the vote to Prabowo's 44.5%.

The White House announced Sunday afternoon the first part of its Middle East peace proposal, what officials are calling an economic "workshop" aimed at encouraging capital investments in the West Bank, Gaza, and the region, CNN reported, citing a senior administration official.

The TV star Volodymyr Zelenskiy was sworn in as Ukraine's new president on Monday and his first step was to disband parliament and to set up early elections in two months, news wires reported.

At least a dozen people were injured after a tourist bus was hit by a roadside bomb Sunday near a museum being built close to the Giza Pyramids in Egypt. The exact number of injured was not immediately known, but Egyptian officials told the AP at least 16 people were hurt.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that the purchase of S-400 defense systems from Russia was a done deal, adding that Ankara would also jointly produce S-500 defense systems with Moscow.