Voters in Istanbul will take part in a re-run of the mayoral election on Sunday after a vote in March was annulled over alleged irregularities.
Local elections around Turkey on March 31 showed the ruling party of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan remained the most popular overall, but it suffered a shock defeat in Istanbul, as well as losing the capital Ankara.
It was the first time in 25 years that neither Istanbul nor Ankara were under the control of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) or its predecessors.
However, the main opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu's success was short-lived in Istanbul after Turkey's top election body accepted claims of fraud by the AKP and called a re-run for June 23.
It did not annul the votes for the city council that were cast at the same time, and where the majority of seats went to Erdogan's party.
Binali Yildirim, an Erdogan loyalist and former premier, lost by around 13,000 votes to Imamoglu of the Republican People's Party (CHP) in March.
After .

Erdogan in lose-lose situation after Istanbul vote: analysts

PTI Automatic

Xi Jinping has loomed large over China since becoming president, with a huge personality cult growing around his leadership, but in Pyongyang he looked bigger than usual when a giant portrait was unveiled at a propaganda event.
The Chinese president, who is making the first trip by a Chinese head of state to North Korea in 14 years, was treated to a special performance of the spectacular "Mass Games" by his host Kim Jong Un.
It is a show that could only be mounted by a country as single-minded as the North -- Guinness World Records lists a 2007 performance as the world's largest gymnastic display, with 100,090 participants.
Months in the preparation, the Mass Games feature tens of thousands of people in synchronised displays enacting scenes from Korean history and modern life.
Behind them, around 15,000 children turn the coloured pages of books in sequence to create an ever-changing backdrop of giant images rippling across one side of the cavernous May Day stadium -- an analogue ...

Big picture: Xi on show in Pyongyang

An Ecuador court ordered the release Thursday of a Swedish national with ties to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and who was accused of computer hacking, as his detention was deemed "arbitrary."
Ola Bini had been arrested while trying to travel to Japan April 11, the same day Ecuador rescinded Assange's seven-year claim to asylum in their London embassy.
"There was effectively a violation to (Bini's) right to freedom," and his detention was "illegitimate and arbitrary," judge Patricio Vaca said in his ruling, ordering his immediate release.
The court will require Bini to periodically appear before authorities and banned him from leaving the country as investigations continue on his alleged hacking attacks.
"I am out of prison tomorrow, but I am not free as long this illegitimate investigation is going on," Bini said, and his lawyers insisted the entire case against him was baseless.
Ecuador has linked Bini to WikiLeaks's Assange -- a damaging charge, as Quito has declared that any ...

Ecuador court orders release of Swede linked to Assange

All eyes will be on Mohamed Salah on Friday as the Egypt star looks to help the Africa Cup of Nations hosts launch their bid for a record-extending eighth title in style against Zimbabwe in the opening match of a tournament expanded to 24 teams for the first time.
After avenging last year's Champions League anguish with Liverpool three weeks ago, Salah is now on a mission for redemption with the Pharaohs after injury wrecked his World Cup campaign in Russia -- ruining Egypt's return to the global showpiece after a 28-year absence.
Egypt top the betting as favourites to lift the trophy in Cairo on July 19 and have won the competition as hosts three of the previous four times, with the last of those in 2006 sparking an unprecedented run of three successive triumphs.
Authorities are confident the infrastructure is in place to host the continent's largest football contest, awarded to Egypt at just six months' notice, and which kicks off against a backdrop of terror attacks and only days ..

Salah, hosts Egypt set for Africa Cup bow in stifling heat

Roger Federer admitted that he got lucky after avoiding a major setback in his preparations for Wimbledon in a gruelling 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 7-5 victory over Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the ATP event in Halle on Thursday.
Federer, 37, appeared firmly on course for a place in the quarter-finals at a set and a break up before an impressive comeback from Tsonga took the second-round match to a decider.
"I knew when I gave away that lead that it would be tight. Then it was about holding my nerve," he said.
"The third set was more of a battle. I tried to stay calm.
"It had a bit of everything: happiness, sadness, frustration. I maybe got a bit lucky, but you need that sometimes.
"It was a bit emotional at the end, which was nice." Federer said he felt for the defeated Tsonga, who returned to the tour this year after a seven-month absence due to a knee operation in 2018.
"I was pleased for him when he got an ovation at the end." The Swiss, who is eyeing a record tenth career title at Halle .

Federer survives 'emotional' Tsonga scare to reach last eight in Halle

Former world number one Andy Murray made a victorious return after what he described as "life-changing" hip surgery at a raucous Queen's on Thursday.
The three-time Grand Slam champion partnered Spain's Feliciano Lopez to a 7-6 (7/5) 6-3 victory in his first competitive match in five months.
Playing on a packed centre court including his wife Kim, Murray showed little fear in stretching himself despite being off the circuit since January.
His friend Lopez did not show any sign either of being burdened by the allegations made against him of match-fixing in the Spanish media, which he strongly denied on Wednesday.
Murray said afterwards he would be playing doubles at Wimbledon with Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
Murray said he had learned quite a bit from the match.
"I expected to be the worst player on the court and to not feel particularly good on the court which you know was probably the case in the first set," he said.
"I started to play better in the second and have zero ...

Sizzling Murray makes winning return at Queen's

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza refused to write off his side's chances of qualifying for the World Cup semi-finals despite a 48-run loss to reigning champions Australia at Trent Bridge on Thursday.
"I think still you never know," Mashrafe told reporters.
"I think, we have still three matches left. We have to play hard and then let's see."
"And it's going to be difficult for sure, even if we win all those three matches," added Mashrafe, whose side next play strugglers Afghanistan in Southampton on June 24.
Only the top four at the end of the 10-team round-robin group phase will advance to the knockout stages and Thursday's defeat left Bangladesh, who have beaten both South Africa and the West Indies, in fifth place.
They are two points behind fourth-placed India, having already played two games more than Virat Kohli's men.
The current top four of Australia, New Zealand, England and India are starting to look uncatchable even though there are several rounds of group matches ...

Bangladesh's Mashrafe still aiming for semi-finals despite Australia loss

Lionel Messi was looking at a glass half full after his penalty kept alive Argentina's hopes of reaching the Copa America knock-out stages following a 1-1 draw with Paraguay.
Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Messi's 57th-minute penalty cancelled out a first-half opener from Paraguay's Richard Sanchez on Wednesday night.
But Argentina also had goalkeeper Franco Armani -- perhaps lucky to still be on the field at that point after denying Derlis Gonzalez a clear goalscoring opportunity in the first half -- to thank for saving a second-half penalty.
"We have to think positively and keep our confidence," said Barcelona forward Messi.
"We need to improve and arrive in the best shape possible for the next match ... and we have to win." Defeat would not have ended Argentina's hopes of reaching the quarter-finals since eight of the 12 participating teams will progress to the knock-out stages.
As well as the top two in each of the three groups, the best two third-placed finishers qualify.
"It would 

Messi focussing on positives as Argentina's Copa hopes hang by thread

Top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas came perilously close to joining a host of big names exiting at Queen's on Thursday by coming from a set down to beat journeyman Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 4-6, 7-6 (7/0), 7-6 (7/4) and reach the quarter-finals.
The 20-year-old Greek came through two matches to reach the last eight having polished off his rain-delayed first-round clash with Kyle Edmund earlier in the day.
Resuming at 3-3 in the second set, Tsitsipas eventually sealed a 6-3, 7-5 win against the British number one on his seventh match point.
Tsitsipas struggled to overcome 32-year-old Chardy when he returned to the centre court for a near three-hour contest that will have drained the Greek's resources for Friday's quarter-final with Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Canadian rising star Auger-Aliassime also came through two matches on Thursday as Nick Kyrgios made a characteristically explosive exit.
The Australian accused a line judge of match-rigging in his first-round victory over Spaniard Roberto ...

Tsitsipas edges through, Kyrgios blasts officials

Struggling South Africa need a miracle to make the World Cup semi-finals but coach Ottis Gibson said the team have plenty to play for in their remaining three matches.
The Faf du Plessis-led side have flopped badly at the 50-over event in England and Wales, recording just one win, over minnows Afghanistan, in their six matches so far.
The Proteas did put up a fight against New Zealand on Wednesday but lost a tense game mainly due to Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson's brilliance with the bat.
South Africa, ranked fourth in one-day internationals, play Pakistan on Sunday before taking on Sri Lanka and Australia.
"We've still got three games to play and I'd like to think that we can at least play the way we know we can play," said Gibson.
"The thing about the squad is that there are guys playing their last World Cup and I'd like to think that they will leave the world stage having signed off on a strong note."
"And there are some youngsters here that I'm sure will play in future World Cups. .

South Africa aim to sign off from World Cup with a flourish

Two goals from Koji Miyoshi helped Japan secure a hard-earned point in a 2-2 draw with Uruguay at the Copa America on Thursday.
Miyoshi twice fired Japan into the lead only for Uruguay to level through a controversial penalty from Luis Suarez and a second-half header from Jose Gimenez.
The draw means Japan have an outside chance of reaching the quarter-finals from Group C, with one game remaining against Ecuador.
Uruguay, who trounced Ecuador in their opening game, missed the chance to make certain of their place in the last eight against a Japan team who had been trounced 4-0 by Chile in their opening game.
Japan had been let down by poor finishing in their defeat to Chile, but were a different proposition at the Arena do Gremio as coach Hajime Moriyasu range the changes in his starting line-up.
Former Leicester City striker Shinji Okazaki started alongside Hiroki Abe up front as Moriyasu relegated Ayase Ueda and Takefusa Kubo to the bench.
Miyoshi meanwhile provided attacking thrust 

Japan, Uruguay draw after new VAR controversy

The United States made it a perfect three wins out of three at the Women's World Cup on Thursday by beating Sweden 2-0 to top Group F, while Ajara Nchout fired Cameroon into the last 16 with a last-gasp winner.
The Americans will continue their bid to defend their world title against Spain in Reims on Monday after a win that saw them make it 18 goals for the tournament and break the 24-year-old record for the number of goals scored in the group stage held by Norway.
Lindsey Horan opened the scoring when she tapped home Samantha Mewis' flick with two minutes on the clock, and Tobin Heath helped make sure of the points by firing past Hedvig Lindahl via a big deflection off Jonna Andersson four minutes after the break.
Andersson's own goal somehow survived a VAR check from referee Anastasia Pustovoytova despite substitute Carli Lloyd looking to be offside in the build-up.
However afterwards Lloyd claimed she hadn't seen the incident, with Heath saying that she would "take the goal" all ..

USA advance with Sweden win, Cameroon snatch dramatic last 16 spot

David Warner said he felt "just so grateful" to be playing for Australia after his run-laden return continued with a World Cup hundred against Bangladesh.
Warner's international career came to a juddering halt when he was given a 12-month ban for his part in a ball-tampering scandal during a Test against South Africa in Cape Town last year.
At that stage, there was widespread speculation that Warner -- widely regarded as the instigator of an event that saw Cameron Bancroft apply sandpaper to the ball -- might never play for Australia again.
But having completed a year-long ban, the 32-year-old Warner has been in superb form for the reigning champions at the World Cup.
The left-handed opener made Bangladesh pay for dropping him on 10 at Trent Bridge on Thursday by scoring 166 -- his second century of the World Cup -- in a total of 381-5.
That proved too much for the Tigers to chase, with Australia winning by 48 runs to go top of the 10-team round-robin table.
Bangladesh's total was ...

Run-machine Warner 'so grateful' for World Cup chance

US President Donald Trump, who officially launched his campaign for re-election this week, pitched himself to Hispanic voters Thursday during an interview with the US Spanish-language network Telemundo.
"I love immigrants," Trump said, when presenter Jose Diaz-Balart asked the president about his administration's policies on child separation, on the DACA program protecting people brought to the US illegally as children -- which the president ended -- and on his "zero-tolerance" border plans.
"You mean illegal immigrants," Trump said. "Because I've been very good to immigrants." "This country is based on immigrants," he said, insisting he'd welcome even more to help fill the industrial jobs he says he's brought back to the US during his tenure.
During the interview -- his first with a Spanish-language TV network -- Trump boasted of his popularity among Hispanics, claiming a 17-percent polling improvement among the group, and said his presidency has seen the lowest-ever rate of ...

Trump courts the Hispanic vote: 'I love immigrants'

Taiwan's richest man Terry Gou said Friday he would cede control of his company Foxconn to a committee, leaving the Apple-supplier tech behemoth in uncharted waters while he runs for president.
Gou has been at the helm of Foxconn, the world's largest electronics assembler, for more than four decades but has set his sights on becoming Taiwan's next president.
The island goes to the polls in January, with the contest set to be dominated by relations with China.
Gou -- whose company is China's largest private employer -- is seeking to run as presidential candidate for the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) although he still has to win a party primary.
As that contest intensifies, Gou announced plans to hand the reins at Foxconn to a nine-member committee of trusted lieutenants.
"I have decided to fade out of Hon Hai and it's been decided that the company's operations will be handed over to the nine-member team in the operations committee," Gou said at the start of a shareholder meeting, ..

Gou cedes Foxconn control as he eyes Taiwan presidency

Boris Johnson will face Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt in a run-off to become Britain's next leader after a final ballot of MPs on Thursday, with the winner tasked with guiding the country through Brexit.
In the fifth round of voting, former foreign minister Johnson secured the support of 160 out of 313 Conservative lawmakers, while his successor and rival Hunt won 77.
Johnson, a former London mayor, said he was "deeply honoured" to have such emphatic backing from his colleagues.
"I look forward to getting out across the UK and to set out my plan to deliver Brexit, unite our country, and create a brighter future for all of us," he tweeted.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove, who with Johnson had led the successful 2016 referendum campaign to leave the European Union, was narrowly eliminated after winning 75 votes.
The contest to replace Theresa May as prime minister will now move to around 160,000 grassroots Conservative party members, with the winner installed in Downing Street before 

Johnson faces Hunt in battle to be British PM

Hundreds of protesters poured into Hong Kong's main government complex early Friday to demand the resignation of its pro-Beijing leader over a controversial extradition proposal that has sparked the city's biggest political crisis in decades.
The protest comes after the government refused to meet the demands of demonstrators, who have marched in their millions this month to oppose a bill that would have enabled extraditions to the Chinese mainland -- and the movement has transformed into a larger rebuke of the administration of Chief Executive Carrie Lam.
Opposition groups had called for the complete withdrawal of the legislation and for Lam to step down.
People starting converging at the complex around 7:00 am (2300 GMT Thursday), many dressed in black -- the colour of choice at the rally on Sunday that organisers said drew millions, making it the largest in Hong Kong's history.
Protesters, who have been largely leaderless during the anti-government rallies, were asked to "hold ...

Hundreds converge on Hong Kong parliament in fresh anti-govt demo

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Thursday a US surveillance drone "violated Iranian airspace" before being shot down earlier in the day, providing coordinates to back his claim.
The drone "was targeted at 04:05 at the coordinates (2559'43"N 5702'25"E) near Kouh-e Mobarak. We've retrieved sections of the US military drone in OUR territorial waters where it was shot down.

Iran FM gives location drone shot down after 'violated Iranian airspace'

Guatemala will hold a total vote recount after fraud allegations in the wake of last Sunday's presidential and legislative elections, the country's Supreme Electoral Court announced Thursday.
Court president Julio Solorzoano told journalists in the Central American country that he had ordered a recount to "clarify disagreements." Speaking at a news conference, Solorzoano said the recount would begin on Monday.
Center-left former First Lady Sandra Torres leads the presidential poll with 25.7 percent of the vote, ahead of conservative Alejandro Giammattei, with 14 percent.
Both had been expected to contest the August 11 run-off round before Thursday's announcement.
The leftist Movement for the Liberation of Peoples -- whose candidate Thelma Cabrera came fifth in the presidential race -- denounced "evident electoral fraud." Solorzoano said he had invited Cabrera and her party to the court to check her complaint.
The tumultuous campaign to succeed outgoing President Jimmy Morales saw two .

Guatemala to hold vote recount over poll fraud allegations

Iran said Thursday it had recovered parts of a US spy drone in its territorial waters, after downing the aircraft in a missile strike slammed by President Donald Trump as a "big mistake."
Under pressure to respond to the high-stakes incident in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, where a series of tanker attacks have sent tensions soaring with Iran, Trump initially struck a combative tone.
"Iran made a very big mistake!" he tweeted in response to news Iran had shot down the Global Hawk surveillance aircraft -- which the Pentagon says was above international waters at the time.
"This country will not stand for it, that I can tell you," he said later at the White House.
But as the overnight incident whipped up fears of open conflict between the United States and its declared foe Iran -- sending crude oil prices up more than six percent -- Trump moved swiftly to dial back tensions.
"I find it hard to believe it was intentional, if you want to know the truth," Trump said. "I think that it ...

Iran says downed US drone recovered in its territorial waters

The World Food Programme (WFP) announced Thursday the "partial suspension" of aid to Yemen's capital Sanaa, controlled by Huthi rebels, citing problems with "diversion of food" from the neediest.
The suspension would initially target Sanaa city only, affecting 850,000 people, the UN agency said in a statement. But nutrition programmes will remain in place for malnourished children, pregnant women and nursing mothers.
Ultimately, the suspension will affect all areas in Yemen "under the control of the Sanaa-based authorities".
The WFP said its decision was taken after negotiations stalled on an agreement "to introduce controls to prevent the diversion of food away from some of the most vulnerable people in Yemen," adding "some individuals seek to profit by preying on the vulnerable."
"WFP has been seeking the support of the Sanaa-based authorities to introduce a biometric registration system that would prevent diversion and protect the Yemeni families we serve, ensuring food reaches ...

AFP

AFP

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