As MPs arrived in Britain's parliament Monday after a general election, Conservatives exchanged kisses and handshakes while a new bloc of Scottish nationalists faced their first battle -- finding their way around.

While the House of Commons does not formally sit until next Monday, most lawmakers have already come to London to set up their offices, meet colleagues and gossip about the result.

Nepal's government said Sunday it has denied entry to three British military helicopters sent to help the earthquake relief effort because of fears they could damage buildings when landing.

A foreign ministry spokesman said the Chinook helicopters, which arrived in New Delhi last week en route to the quake-hit country, were too big to land.

French President Francois Hollande congratulated Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron on his election victory Friday and invited the leader to Paris, his office said. 

"The president noted the value he places on the deep friendship between France and the United Kingdom and in reinforcing their partnership in all areas, particularly within the European Union," the Elysee Palace said in a statement. 

Against all predictions, David Cameron on Friday won the first Conservative majority since 1992, securing himself another term as Britain's prime minister and silencing his critics -- at least for now.

The 48-year-old's failure to win a majority in the House of Commons at the last election, after 13 years of a Labor government, had dogged him for the past five years as he led a coalition with the smaller Liberal Democrats.

The leader of Britain's Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg resigned on Friday after his party suffered what he called a "crushing" defeat in a general election.

"The results have been crushing," Clegg, who was the deputy prime minister for five years under David Cameron, told supporters.

Britain's political leaders entered the final hours of campaigning Wednesday in the most unpredictable election in living memory which could yield no clear winner and weeks of haggling over the next government.

A win for Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives on Thursday would raise the risk of Britain exiting the European Union because he has promised a referendum on leaving the EU by 2017.

A Nigerian court has ordered the extradition to Britain of a former senior finance ministry official accused of taking bribes in exchange for a contract to print bank notes, court documents showed Monday.

Emmanuel Okoyomon headed the Nigerian Security, Minting and Printing Company in 2006 when an Australian firm, Securency International, won a contract to produce low denomination polymer bank notes for Africa's most populous nation.  

British opposition leader Ed Miliband was in Scotland Friday in a bid to stop support draining away from his Labor party to Scottish nationalists at next week's general election. 

Miliband's rare campaign stop north of the border came a day after he ruled out a post-election deal with the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), saying that he would prefer not to govern than to compromise with them.

Politicians are often accused of pursuing their own interests and British Prime Minister David Cameron did little to dispel this impression Friday when he remarked that next week's election was "career-defining."

"This is a real career-defining... country-defining election that we face now in less than a week's time," the Conservative leader said as he urged people to vote on May 7.

Iran is actively trying to buy nuclear technology through blacklisted companies, according to a confidential U.N. report, citing information from the British government.

The claims -- which if true would violate U.N. sanctions -- were made to a U.N. panel of experts just weeks after world powers reached a framework deal with Iran on curbing its nuclear program.