Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has won a third term with 89.6% of the vote, the national election authority reported on Monday. According to the election authority, the turnout was “unprecedented” at 66.8 % of the 67 million registered voters, an increase from 41% in 2018 and 47% in 2014. El-Sisi will begin his third and final six-year term in office in April.
The thirteenth round of the UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations was held from 18 September to 15 December. It included virtual talks and in-person sessions in London and Delhi. Like Round 12, this round focussed on complex issues, including goods, services, and investment. The two countries will continue talks to arrive at a comprehensive and ambitious FTA, with the fourteenth round of negotiations taking place in January 2024.
India’s Raman Research Institute (RRI) has launched its inaugural winter expedition to the Arctic. The historic venture was flagged off at Prithvi Bhavan in New Delhi and marks a significant milestone in the country’s scientific exploration. The expedition is spearheaded by the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR-Goa) and will witness RRI researchers delving into uncharted territories. They will focus on characterising the radio frequency environment in the Svalbard region of the Arctic. In the initial phase of the expedition, four scientists will go to the Indian station Himadri in Ny-Alesund, Norway’s northernmost community. The journey aims to explore the Arctic’s profound influence on global climate, sea levels, and biodiversity.
South Korea, the US, and Japan on Tuesday activated a system to share real-time data on North Korea’s missile launches, Seoul’s defence ministry said, as the three countries are seeking to bolster security cooperation against the North.
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that a “paradigm shift” was needed in how his country approaches the South China Sea issue, as diplomatic efforts with the Asian superpower were headed “in a poor direction.” “To this point, we have resorted to the traditional methods of diplomacy ... but we have been doing this for many years now, with very little progress,” Marcos said during an interview in Japan.
On Monday, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and his Lithuanian counterpart, Arvydas Anusauskas, signed an agreement to deploy a brigade of German soldiers in Lithuania permanently. The deployment of a brigade with around 5,000 soldiers will begin in 2024 and will reach its total capacity in 2027. Pistorius called the decision “historic,” as it marked the first time that German troops had been stationed abroad permanently since the end of World War II.