Counting underway in Indonesia as polls close

Today's news: in Pakistan agreement between Muslim League and Pakistan Peoples Party for a government led by Shehbaz Sharif, Imran Khan: 'stolen elections'; Erdogan in Cairo for thaw visit with al-Sisi, Gaza top of agenda; Facial recognition systems in new security cameras in Hong Kong; For the Russian governor of Kaliningrad also the philosopher Kant 'guilty' for the war with Ukraine.

INDONESIA

The polls for the presidential elections in Indonesia have already closed at 1pm local time, where over 205 million people were called to vote in what is the election with the highest number of voters in the world in a single day. The first partial results are expected in the next few hours, but from all the pre-election polls, the victory of former general Prabowo Subianto, credited with more than 50% of the vote, would seem to be a foregone conclusion.

PAKISTAN

Nawaz Sharif's Muslim League and Bilawal Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party announced last night the agreement for a governing coalition in Pakistan together with two other smaller parties, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid. The agreement would relegate to the opposition the deputies linked to Imran Khan, who from prison shouts about "stolen elections" claiming that in many seats the outcome of the popular vote was changed to prevent candidates close to him from achieving a majority. Meanwhile, Nawaz Sharif has announced that he will not lead the government, but his brother Shebhaz who was already prime minister after the motion of no confidence in Imran Khan in April 2022.

EGYPT-TURKEY-GAZA

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi will receive his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Cairo today, after years of broken relations between the two countries. Erdogan's visit to Egypt is the first since Cairo and Ankara appointed ambassadors last year to restore relations at the highest diplomatic level. The Turkish president said Israel's war on Gaza will be high on the agenda of the talks.

HONG KONG

2,000 new cameras will be installed in Hong Kong by the end of 2024 to improve public safety. The devices - said the city's police chief Raymond Siu - could also be equipped with facial recognition functions. Asked whether the security cameras will also be used for functions related to the disputed National Security Law - which has made any form of public dissent impossible in Hong Kong - Siu replied that the devices will help address "all illegal issues".

PHILIPPINES

In San Jose del Monte, near Manila, the balcony of a Catholic church collapsed, killing an elderly woman and injuring 53 people, during a crowded Ash Wednesday Mass. According to initial surveys carried out by local authorities, the wooden structure of the 30-year-old church of Saint Peter Apostolo was weakened by termites.

TAJIKISTAN

The president of Tajikistan, Emomali Rakhmon, has decreed a general turnover of judges in courts and institutions, adding that he will grant everyone, including officials, a year "for the in-depth study of foreign languages", an indispensable but so far not mandatory measure , failure to comply with which will result in the forfeiture of one's position.

RUSSIA

The governor of the Russian region of Kaliningrad (formerly Könisberg), Anton Alikhanov stated that the German philosopher Immanuel Kant - a native of the region - "has direct responsibilities in the war conflict with Ukraine", as he would have "exalted Western rationalism, denying higher spiritual values”, provoking the indignation of citizens.

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