Briefly

IRAN

Parliament approves bill for SCO entry

The Iranian parliament approved a bill on Sunday for Iran's membership to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, or SCO, the semiofficial Mehr News Agency reported. The bill was approved by the overwhelming majority of lawmakers. Abolfazl Amouei, a spokesman for the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of parliament, said the parliament's approval of Iran's membership to the SCO contains an international message of "Iran's multilateralism tendency in the field of foreign policy". Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian welcomed the parliament's move on Twitter, saying that the categorical vote for the bill is indicative of Iran's "resolve and seriousness to develop regional, international and economic cooperation and bolster (the country's) approach to Asia".

AFRICA

Equatorial Guinea reelects president

Equatorial Guinea's incumbent President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has been reelected as leader of the Central African country, according to official results published on Saturday night. The results were published by the national electoral commission, as quoted by the official website of the government. Obiang's ruling Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea, which is allied with 14 other parties, won all 100 seats in the National Assembly, all 55 seats in the Senate and all 588 municipal seats, the results showed. Some 419,817 people registered to vote in the elections, with 413,148 actually voting and 411,081 considered as valid votes, and 1,264 constituting null votes and 803 blank votes.

JAPAN

Support for cabinet drops to new low

The support rate for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's cabinet dropped to 33.1 percent, the lowest since it came to power last year, a Kyodo News survey showed on Sunday. The latest opinion poll showed that the approval rating for Kishida's cabinet was down 4.5 percentage points from 37.6 in the previous poll conducted in late October, a record low since Kishida took office in October 2021. Kishida's leadership has been increasingly questioned after three of his ministers were sacked in less than a month amid falling public support. When asked when they want the prime minister to resign, 30.2 percent of respondents replied "as soon as possible".

AUSTRIA

Strike brings trains to standstill across nation

Austrian rail traffic ground to a halt from midnight, impacting around 8,000 connections and some 1 million passengers, as workers held a 24-hour strike on Monday in a dispute over pay. The strike affected transport at all levels, from public transport to regional services and long-distance night trains, as well as rail freight lines. The head of the nation's rail network said services would be more or less back to normal by the following day. Wedged between eight countries including Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, Austria is an important hub for European rail travel. The main rail workers' union had called for a 400 euro ($417.88) monthly pay rise.

Xinhua - Agencies