A coalition of the French left won the most seats in high-stakes legislative elections Sunday, beating back a far-right surge but failing to win a majority. The outcome left France, a pillar of the European Union and Olympic host country, facing the stunning prospect of a hung parliament and political paralysis. The political turmoil could rattle markets and the French economy, the EU's second-largest, and have far-ranging implications for the war in Ukraine, global diplomacy and Europe's economic stability.

According to the official results released early Monday, all three main blocs fell far short of the 289 seats needed to control the 577-seat National Assembly, the more powerful of France's two legislative chambers. The results showed just over 180 seats for the New Popular Front leftist coalition, which placed first, ahead of Macron's centrist alliance, with more than 160 seats. Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and its allies were restricted to third place, although their more than 140 seats still represented their best-ever performance.

The reformist Masoud Pezeshkian pulled off a stunning victory in the Iranian presidential runoff, reflecting deep dissatisfaction with the direction of the country in recent years and opening potential new avenues of cooperation with the west. Pezeshkian won 16,384,403 votes to defeat the ultra-conservative Saeed Jalili, who received 13,538,179 votes, on a final turnout of 49.8% - a big increase on the record low turnout of 39% recorded in the first round.

In the first round, Pezeshkian came top, defeating three Conservative rivals. The turnout included more than 1m invalid votes. Pezeshkian has been an advocate of letting women choose whether to wear the hijab and ending internet restrictions that require the population to use VPN connections to avoid government censorship. He said after his victory: "The difficult path ahead will not be smooth except with your companionship, empathy and trust."

The US and an array of other NATO allies will send Ukraine dozens of air defence systems in the coming months, including at least four of the powerful Patriot systems that Kyiv has been desperately seeking to help fight off Russian advances in the war, according to a new joint agreement. "The United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Italy will provide Ukraine with the equipment for five additional strategic air defence systems," US President Joe Biden said Tuesday at the opening of the NATO summit in Washington.

In addition, he said that in the coming months the United States and others will provide dozens of other tactical air defence systems and hundreds of munitions for them. The announcement was made with much fanfare as the summit opened at the Mellon Auditorium, where the North Atlantic Treaty was first signed in 1949, establishing NATO. Both Biden and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg spoke urgently about the importance of the alliance and the need to stand together in support of Ukraine.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told Russian President Vladimir Putin that peace is "of utmost importance" and a solution to the war in Ukraine "cannot be found on the battlefield". Putin - speaking before Modi at a televised meeting at the Kremlin on Tuesday - said their two countries enjoyed a "special strategic partnership" and praised the Indian leader for his efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. India has become an increasingly important partner for sanctions-hit Russia as it shifts its trade away from the West and seeks to demonstrate that Western attempts to isolate it have failed.

New Delhi has refrained from criticising Russia over the war and has increased its purchases of cheap Russian oil to record levels, while urging Ukraine and Russia to resolve their conflict through dialogue and diplomacy. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned India's prime minister for visiting Russia, calling the trip a "devastating blow to peace efforts".