Following are the top foreign stories at 1700 hours

    
     FGN43: CHINA-TAIWAN-MILITARY-DRILL
     *Chinese military practice control, occupation as part of 'strong punishment' drill around Taiwan
     Beijing/Taipei: China's military on Friday tested its ability to “seize power” as the People’s Liberation Army said its forces kicked off a second day of large-scale exercises around Taiwan in retaliation to its new President Lai Ching-te’s remarks rejecting Beijing's sovereignty claims over the self-ruled island.
    
     FGN30: UK-INDIA-BANKNOTES-AUCTION
     Rare Indian banknotes from 1918 shipwreck to be auctioned in London
     London: A pair of rare 10-rupee banknotes that were recovered as they floated away from a shipwreck on their way from Bombay to London in 1918 are to be auctioned next Wednesday.
    
     FGN11: SINGAPORE-TURBULENCE-LD INJURED
     22 passengers suffered spinal cord injuries, 6 had head trauma from turbulence-hit SIA flight
     Singapore: Twenty-two passengers from a Singapore Airlines flight that was hit by severe turbulence on Tuesday have spinal cord injuries and six others, including a two-year-old child, have brain and skull injuries, according to media reports on Friday.
    
     FGN44: MALDIVES-CHINA-WATER
     China sends second consignment of glacial water from Tibet to Maldives
     Male: China has gifted 1,500 tonnes of water from the Tibetan glaciers to Maldives, the second such donation in less than two months, a media report said on Friday.
    
     FGN25: PAK-IMF-TALKS
     IMF says 'significant progress' made in talks with Pakistan on new bailout package
     Islamabad: The IMF has said that “significant progress” has been achieved during talks with Pakistani officials towards reaching a staff-level agreement for an extended fund facility for the cash-strapped country.
    
     FGN45: UN-KISHORE
     Kamal Kishore starts term as special representative of UN chief for disaster risk reduction
     United Nations: Kamal Kishore, a top Indian official for disaster and climate risk management, has started his term as a special representative of UN chief Antonio Guterres for disaster risk reduction.
    
     FGN33: SINGAPORE-INDIAN MINISTERS-COURT
     Singapore High Court orders former PM Lee’s brother to pay damages to Indian-origin ministers in defamation case
     Singapore: Lee Hsien Yang, the brother of former Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, has been ordered by the High Court to pay SGD 200,000 (USD 147,880) each to Indian-origin ministers K Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan for defaming them over their rental of state properties in an affluent suburb here.
    
     FGN13: UK-ELECTION-INDIA-LD FTA
     UK’s July general election: Impact on India FTA, Indo-Pacific tilt
     London: The prospect of an India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) has been kicked into the long grass after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak surprised many this week with a snap summer poll on July 4, exactly a month after India’s election results on June 4.*

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)