Turkey faces election runoff, Erdogan seen with momentum

By Huseyin Hayatsever, Orhan Coskun and Birsen Altayli ANKARA (Reuters) -President Tayyip Erdogan led comfortably on Monday after the first round of Turkey’s presidential election, with his rival facing an uphill struggle to prevent the president extending his rule into a third decade in a runoff vote on May 28. Turkish assets weakened on the…

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U.S. Supreme Court allows death row inmate’s lawsuit after failed execution

By Andrew Chung (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday allowed a challenge by an Alabama death row inmate who sued months before surviving a botched execution claiming that the state’s troubled lethal injection process would violate constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment. In an unusual case that has returned to the justices because…

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US Supreme Court takes up bid to revive South Carolina voting map deemed racially biased

By John Kruzel WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a bid by South Carolina officials to revive a Republican-crafted voting map that a lower court said had unconstitutionally “exiled” 30,000 Black voters from a closely contested congressional district. The justices took up an appeal by South Carolina officials of a…

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US candidate Amy Pope wins tense contest to run UN migration agency

By Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber and Emma Farge GENEVA (Reuters) -Former White House adviser Amy Pope was elected to head the U.N. migration agency, prevailing on Monday in a tense contest against a Portuguese incumbent who had the support of European countries. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Pope would become the first woman to lead…

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Migrant crossings drop at U.S.-Mexico border after Title 42 expires

By Sarah N. Lynch and Tyler Clifford WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border have unexpectedly fallen, not risen, since Title 42 curbs expired and reinstating criminal penalties for illegal entry is likely the biggest reason, the Biden administration said on Sunday. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said border patrol agents have seen…

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Russia’s defence spending jumped 282% y/y to $26 billion in Jan-Feb -budget data

(Reuters) – Russia spent 2 trillion roubles ($26 billion) on defence in January and February alone, a 282% jump on the same period a year ago, data on the budget portal showed, illustrating the spiralling costs for Moscow of its conflict in Ukraine. Rising military production and huge state spending are keeping Russia’s industry buzzing…

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Tesla owners sue over impact of software update on EV batteries

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A group of U.S. Tesla Model S and Model X owners filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against the electric vehicle maker in California Friday over automatic software updates that reportedly decreased driving range or cause battery failures. The lawsuit claims Tesla’s updates and their effects violate state and federal…

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