May 16, 2023

*) Türkiye 2023 election goes to runoff Türkiye's 2023 presidential election has gone to a runoff after no candidate was able to clear the required 50 percent of the vote in the first round on May 14th. The country’s incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won 49.51 percent of the vote, while his main opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu secured 44.88 percent. The run-off will be between Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu on May 28. *) Fresh Russian air attacks on Kiev Explosions have rocked Ukraine’s Kiev as air defence systems repelled Russian air attacks on the capital and other places in the country. Ukraine downed an entire barrage of Russian drones and missiles, including six advanced Kinzhal missiles. The developments show Ukraine has bolstered its air defences after a winter of systemic strikes on key infrastructure. *) Tunisia sentences Saied's opponent A Tunisian court has sentenced Rached Ghannouchi, one of the main opponents of President Kais Saied, to a year in prison following his arrest last month. Ennahdha party leader Ghannouchi had appeared in court on terror-related charges at the end of February after being accused of calling police officers "tyrants". Human Rights Watch had called his arrest a move "to neutralise the country's largest political party". *) Teen kills multiple people in New Mexico An 18-year-old gunman has shot three people to death and wounded six others in a US town before he was fatally shot by police outside a church. Local police said they responded "to find a chaotic scene where a male subject was actively firing upon individuals" in a residential area. Two officers, who were struck in an exchange of gunfire with the suspect, were among those wounded in the shooting in northwest New Mexico. Three civilians were killed. *) 31 Abrams tanks The US Defence Department announced that 31 M1 Abrams training tanks have been sent to Germany a few weeks ahead of a US-led training program for Ukrainian forces. Expected to last several months, the training program is aimed at prepa